Do the (factory) ABS tanks start breaking down given enough time? Do they become 'weaker' and more prone to crack?

Reason for asking, I suddenly realized today the 36 gallon tank I have from a '76 Ramcharger is almost 50 yrs old. It was last used back about '98 and has been sitting empty in storage since then.

I need to get rid of it, but don't want to sell someone a potential hazard.

Anyone?

(and no, this is not a for sale ad, so don't turn it into one )

Thanks!

i am not sure about the plastic going away but i do know that if you leave the later ones with the elec fuel pump in it, the top of the pump, starts to go away along with the vent valve and what ever other plastic is on the pump assembly. i have a r/c tank and i went out to look at it and it seems fine. it is a 78 or 79 i think. it has been empty for years and stored inside garage.

Google want ads for '91 ~ '93 Ramcharger tanks. LOTS of wants, no supply. My hemi Ramcharger tank is cracked out to the point of uselessness. 2¢

I would suspect the plastic tanks probably become more brittle as they age, and could crack if put under an unusual load. One would want to be a bit more careful when dropping the tank for any reason, so as not to add too much stress to the neck or the sides. I wouldn't be too concerned about the tank having problems under normal operating use.

I have 3 early 90s Dakota plastic tanks in use right now, should one of them fail under normal use, I'd probably have replacement a tank made out of steel. If one of those Dakota tanks failed because of abuse, I'd likely replace it with another Dakota tank.

I would doubt that your factory tank is made from ABS. Most fuel tanks are made from HDPE or High Density Poly Ethylene.

I tried googling it before posting my question, and kept coming up with ABS. Perhaps it would have been better if I just said 'plastic'??

Thanks for the replies.

I always wondered if it was the pressure from the metal straps causing the cracking.

and a lot of those Older tanks Never had Ethanol in them . Just like inboard Boat Gas Tanks , Just like the Manufactures say , We built these Tanks BEFORE we had Ethanol . Some are NOT Ethanol Resistant , and WILL Fail / Crack .

John if I came across an uncracked tank I would probably take a chance on it if the price was right…….but I would also not expect it to last very long.

When I built my 76 True Spirit about 15 years ago I could not find a tank that wasn’t cracked and I looked at a bunch of them.

I’m in Arizona and besides age I suspect the high temperature and extremely low humidity also plays a part in the deterioration.

“…..LOTS of wants, no supply……” Yeah same problem I ran into when I did my truck.

I ended finding an aluminum fuel cell that I could adapt to the factory hangers. I ended up using flexible fuel fill hose to connect it to the factory fill and adapted it for the factory sender/pickup. It worked well, but I did lose some capacity.

Just throwing that out for the people who are desperate.

Cell install 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr


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I wonder if some of the tank liner products out there would protect the plastic from the ethanol?

Didn't think about the ethanol issue. When did they start using that crap? Early 2000's? If that's the case, this tank has never seen it.

Extreme desert heat is another good point. I'm in TX, but where its humid. Tank has, for the most part, been inside out of the sun for the last 20 yrs.

Thanks guys.

Well supposedly all the plastic floating in the ocean will last millions of years so you should be good to go!

Good point!

I have a 73 which Id bet has the original plastic tank, it's holding up just fine.

I would think location would have something to do with it too. If it's from a place with a lot of sun and heat it might make them more dried out and britle especially if it was stored out in the open or with the bed off and exposed for years. Same if someone is trying to work on it in -30 temperatures.

I live in the hot dry high desert and have owned a lot of the tin grills including my 73 W200 that my dad bought new. I've only had maybe one tank crack and that was at the filler neck.

I have never had a bad plastic tank in any of the 72-87 trucks, ramchargers, etc.

But I have had to find tanks for 88-93 before. Not sure what they did, but something was definitely better on the earlier tanks.

The only one I've ever seen bad was the one in my son's 80stepside, and I did play hell finding one. An 81-87 would have fit but you need to swap the cross member from the donor truck along with the tank.
What I wish were more available would be tank straps.