My 90 series Auxiliary Fuel tank Build - with pictures!

[Beau]

Well, it's not exactly a build because I'm using a tank that's been made already...But it is something I thought I'd share. This was done about a month ago in preparation to a trip to Paris. It was a little rushed at the time as I only had couple days to pull it off. I actually finished off the wiring in Paris

The tanks out of a 2002 Toyota 4runner which has the same chassis as the colorado's. The only difference is they have there tank alongside the chassis rather than the rear (That's where there spare wheel hangs). This meant it should fit!

The tank itself is 65/70 litres. Managed to source it off a guy who was breaking a 4runner and have had the tank for a while now. Picture below off the net as I didn't take one at the time...

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First step was to see if it would actually fit. It was tight and I had to do some trimming on the seams in certain places, especially where the driveshaft UJ was, but eventually I was happy with the fit.

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I then made up some secure brackets/fixings to hold it in place. I used whatever I had lying around at the same as I was in rush to complete the Job for a trip to Paris. Would have preferred to use straps but there was just no where viable to hang things off without further modifications needed to be made

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The wire above is the fuel level sensor wire which I hope to wire into a gauge. Not too sure where to start here, anyone got any ideas or help? There's a good amount of wires coming out from it.

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Once it was hung I ran the main filler hose and a temporarily filler neck just below the standard one. This isn't ideal but at the time all I had. The filler neck piece was out of a Toyota Soarer, which I had lying around... I plan on merging a filler neck into the original one so I can be selective about which tanks to fill. At the same time I could just T into the original filler neck joint into the tank, as I'll only be using the Aux tanks on long trips meaning both tanks will need to be full anyway...No need to have the Aux tank filled up and not the Main one, right?

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Once that was done I mounted a fuel pump which was a lift pump out of a mini cooper I believe... Slow but it does the Job! I then T pieced the tank breather entrance Twice on the main tank. This would be for the fuel feeding in from the auxiliary tank. The second T piece was done above that piece and was the breather for the Aux tank. The Tank actually had a smaller breather attached to it but I imagine this was just for when the fuel was leaving the tank and not entering it.

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(Above) The red Lines are the fuel lines. The right one is the hose coming from the Aux tank. The one leaving to the left is going into the Main tank. The hose coming out from the Aux tank is connected to the standard pick up piece so that it can suck from the bottom. You can also see the main entrance into the tank just below that. Purple wire running to it is the power wires. I mounted all the hoses over the suspension so that with articulation and compression, the suspension would not affect anything.

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(Above) The coper T to the right is the feed from the Aux tank, and the one above it to the left is the breather piece. As it's at a slight angle gravity feeds the fuel down at this stage.

Once all the was done, I ran the wiring for the pump and mounted a switch on the inside. Fuel Gauge not installed yet, but am working on that.

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And a light to show when it's in use!

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Quite pleased with how well the tank sits. It doesn't protrude lower than the chassis rails which I think is great. I'm now just a little worried about stones hitting or chipping up at the tank, so am probably going to make a custom guard out of some Aluminium or Mild steel sheet.

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The following day I used it on a trip to Paris where it performed faultlessly. This should now give me a combined total of 90+70 litres = 160 litres of Diesel. That's including the massive 20 litres reserve tank on the main so lets say 140 comfortable litres. Averaging 28mpg which is what I normally achieve on the motorway, I should be able to comfortably achieve 800+ miles. On the trip to Paris I managed a roundtrip of 760 miles, just entering the reserve tank as well + the truck was fully loaded with luggage and 5 adults. This was a mixture of Motorway and back roads through France as well. Quite pleased with the range now. Could even fit another one on the opposite side if I didn't have the exhaust silencer in the way...

I just need to sort out the Fuel Gauge and a proper filler neck and she's done! Anyway, What do you guys think...

Forgot to mention... Fuel transfer rate is slow but for me it's not a problem. It takes just over hour to empty the entire 70 litre Aux tank into the main. Not the fastest but for Long distance travelling it's not a problem at all. I prefer the use of low pressure pumps knowing the chance of a leak is very small.

 

[greengrass]

Well done Beau, nice little conversion.

 

[Ben]

Nice work.

 

[Graham]

looks good. the 120 series also uses the longditudinal tank, so perhaps the collie owners mighe be able to use each othere tank as a auxiliary tank ?

 

[Beau]

Thanks Guys

And I think the 120 series tank is a 90 litre tank and may be too Big as it's more of a shaped tank specific for the underneath of the 120 series, where as the 4runner tank although smaller in volume was pretty much made to fit under the same chassis the Colorado has.

 

[Bounder]

Big savings to be made if you fill up in the Supermarket filling stations most of them are 1.29 euro per litre which is a good saving compared to the Motorway Aire's which are around the 1.44 mark.

 

[MisterCruiser]

That looks to be a good fit regards the tank, nice bit of custom work there. So basically, when you flick the switch in the cabin, the pump starts to pump the diesel from the aux tank into the main tank and then the main tank is used as nomal, so when you see your main fuel gauge nearing the quarter mark you can just hit your switch, is that the way it works, yeah?

 

[Beau]

That looks to be a good fit regards the tank, nice bit of custom work there. So basically, when you flick the switch in the cabin, the pump starts to pump the diesel from the aux tank into the main tank and then the main tank is used as nomal, so when you see your main fuel gauge nearing the quarter mark you can just hit your switch, is that the way it works, yeah?

Yes, that's correct. The aux tank feeds into the main tank and the main tank is used as normal. I normally flick the switch to fill it up when my reserve light comes on as I can then empty the entire Aux tank into the mains. At the moment I have no Aux Fuel Gauge so am having to guess, but it seems to be working well. I must say, it's a satisfying and strange feeling seeing your fuel gauge going up whilst cruising down the motorway

And Yes, it does save cost in the Long run. I also like the idea of not having to stop much for fuel and going longer Distance between fills.

 

[Graham]

and also remembering if or not you have made the trasfer or not. would be quite. upsetting hitting the transfer switch then realising you had done a transfer some many hours earlier.

 

[Shayne]

Think i would have them linked so my normal fuel gauge barely moved , when it hits empty you would probably only have 250 miles or something to find a station .

 

[Rockall]

Great write up as I was about to post a question about long range fuel tanks for a 90/95
However none of the photo's are visible - it there some special IT button or pump I need turn on to get visibility

Regards

Bill

 

[Beau]

Hmm, not too sure why the photos aren't displaying. I'll post up what I have for you...

 

[Rockall]

Beau
Thank you for all the effort - much appreciated. Very neat looking fit

Regards

Bill