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Old 02-19-2015, 07:53 AM   #1
MrRobinGrimes
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RDS Tank install - with photos.

We took a 2000 mile trip last summer from Spring, Tx up to Dallas, then over to Roswell,NM and then up into Colorado. My TV is an 08 Ford F250 with the 6.4L. It gets about 12mpg pulling the RV which is about a 300 range, or really 250 with a reserve.

I spent the entire drive time watching the gas gauge like a hawk. Filling up every 200 miles. Worried about not being near a station, selling diesel, on those long West Texas and NM stretches. That discomfort drove me to look into Aux tanks.

I settled on the RDS model#71804 37-Gallon Capacity, $480 delivered from Amazon. I chose it because of the dimensions L x W x H (in.): 52 x 21 x 11 1/2. It fits well under my Bak flip cover and in front of the Pullrite Superglide. I could have gone with a bigger tank but it might have been a tight fit. Plus 65gal total equals a 780 mile range, which is well beyond my "bladder" range anyway.

Here are some pics of the install with the adjustments I made.

1. Materials
Tank arrived on a pallet with the locking gas cap broken. I bought a replacement nonlocking version from Napa auto parts for $6 after calling RDS for the part number. Amazon site says 32gal but it's actually 37.



For the connector kit I bought the Dee Zee Kit (DZ97960) specific to my Ford. I liked the shutoff valve better on the DeeZee version of the kit.


Also bought an electric Solenoid so I can shutoff the flow from inside the cab.


Lastly I engaged the help of my wonderful Father-in-law Bill to work with me in on the install. Install is much easier with two people. One in the bed, one under the truck.


2. Tank Install
Rather than have the tank sit directly on the truck bed, I used a heavy rubber mat that I found at Lowes, in the rug section. It's just recycled tire rubber made into a long door mat. I cut it into 4 sections to place under the tank.


The tank came with two side tabs and one center tab across the front. After placing and centering the tank, we drilled pilot holes through the tabs and the bed. Then I crawled under truck to check hole placement. Had to move the tank about an inch back from cab so holes didn't hit bed cross beams. After several test fits, we drilled out 5/8in holes for 3 bolts.


Before bolting in tank, Bill drilled a hole on the lower left side of bed and used a grommet to protect the feed hose.



Then we installed tank and bolted it down.



3. Feed line install
Next step was to remove the filler neck on the truck. I removed the 3 bolts holding the filler neck. I stuffed a rag in the neck to ensure I didn't drop a bolt into the tank.


Next I crawled under truck and loosened the 2 straps holding the filler neck and the vent tube.


Then used the new tube from the kit as a guide to cut down the filler neck.



Then we ran the 3/8 tube through the bed and gromet down to tie into the filler neck. Tightened everything up and zip tied hose.




Last step was to add the solenoid and a low pressure fuel pump beside the tank in the bed. Both are wired to the #3 10A Upfitter switch in the cab. So a flick of the switch opens the solenoid and turns on the pump. Pump only moves about 35gal/hr, but that is plenty to keep ahead of the trucks burn rate.



I did try just the gravity feed prior to intalling the fuel pump, but the gravity feed was very slow, slower than the burn rate.

In the future I would like to add a fuel level sending unit with a guage in the cab. Currently there is just a manual guage on top of the tank.

Entire project took about an 1.5 hrs with two people.
Total cost:
Tank $480 delivered
Connector kit: $56
Solenoid: $8
Fuel Pump: $55
Rubber door mat: $8
Bolts,wire etc: $20

Total $627

 
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Old 02-19-2015, 08:10 AM   #2
RichR
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I like it-looks good!
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Old 02-19-2015, 08:29 AM   #3
DarMar
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Yep, your reasons for buying make complete sense to me. Now with the extra capacity we have one less thing to worry about especially when travelling a new route.

We have a straight gravity fill with a manual valve, so that solenoid gets my interest. Where did you find it?

Nice install, thanks for the pics.
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Old 02-19-2015, 09:02 AM   #4
MrRobinGrimes
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Solenoid is NC (normally closed). Apply 12V and it opens. Bought on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also had to buy a couple of hose fittings for it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 02-19-2015, 09:23 AM   #5
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Thanks so much!!!
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Old 02-19-2015, 09:33 AM   #6
pineranch
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Low pressure pump has my attention, where did you find it?
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Old 02-19-2015, 10:32 AM   #7
MrRobinGrimes
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You can buy transfer pumps on eBay, from really cheap ($20) to very pricey. Search for "Fuel Transfer Pump, low pressure". The one I bought was from NAPA Auto parts. 6psi, 35gph for about $55. The cheap ones are 2-3psi which is to low/slow.
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Old 02-19-2015, 01:15 PM   #8
Happycamperscolorado
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Wow just picked up my 60 rds tank yesterday and was looking at installing mine soon. This post u put out will really help me out. I see u are in castle rock. We are in parker and have a 2010 3400rl Yours is going in a 2013 ford sd. Thanks again
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Old 02-19-2015, 02:18 PM   #9
DQDick
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Nice install. Thanks for the pictures.
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Old 02-21-2015, 01:05 PM   #10
Mover480
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Nice writeup and pictures on your install.

I have the same tank along with the Bak flip cover on my 2011 F250. Have used it for over 25,000 miles on the RV plus other trips. I don't have an aux pump, it is gravity drain into the fuel line fill adapter and it works just fine. Are you sure you have the tank vented properly and the fill adapter check valve is on the top of fill line? This tank shouldn't need a pump.

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Old 02-21-2015, 01:15 PM   #11
DarMar
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I am wondering if the 1/4" solenoid is too small??? Without a pump or a solenoid my gravity feed rate will more than keep up with the burn rate???
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Old 02-21-2015, 02:06 PM   #12
MrRobinGrimes
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I think you're correct DarMar. The solenoid probably restricted the flow, so I added the pump. I really like being able to switch it on/off from the cab so I'll keep my current setup. If I had it to do over, I'd try a bigger solenoid without the pump.
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Old 02-23-2015, 08:12 AM   #13
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Same here for always looking for fuel. After the Pusher with the large tank, the 35 gal on the Ram just was not working for me.

My Ram has 19" deep bed sides and with a Truxedo bed cover, a combo tank/tool box would be too high for the cover and I did not want to mess with a electric valve.

I also went with a RDS tank. A 60 gallon with the RDS fill neck adapter. When driving, just open the valve on the RDS tank and drive for about 5-600 miles and when the dash gauge starts dropping you know the 60gal is gone. Now you are on the main tank with 35 gallons left to find a station.

Ordered thru a local shop that only does Diesel PU work and they were as cheep? as Amazon or Northern Tool. Installed about $800, took about 1 1/2 hours for them to do it.

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Old 02-23-2015, 09:13 AM   #14
Happycamperscolorado
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That is my next project in a couple of weeks. Waiting on fuel connection parts. Going with gravity feed for now.
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Old 03-18-2015, 02:34 PM   #15
captl27
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Thanks for sharing. I thought all aux tanks cost lots more then this. Nice job.
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Old 03-19-2015, 04:18 AM   #16
richfaa
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Nice install. We have the F-350 long bed with a larger Fuel capacity and to be honest we stop every 200/250 miles when on the road for a leg stretch and fuel while stopped since we are never in a hurry. We did consider the extra fuel tank but decided it was of little advantage to us. Our main concern was Diesel being hard to find but after a couple trips around the country we found that was not the case. We can squeeze over 40 gallons in the OEM tank which gives us about a 350 or better range towing.

I can not remember ever being below 1/4 tank in our 8 years on the road.
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Old 03-19-2015, 04:58 AM   #17
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After almost running out of fuel on interstate 10 in L.A. at 4pm I called Transfer Flow in Chico and had them replace the OEM tank with a 45 Gal tank. They recalibrated the fuel gauge and solved the problem. Expensive but now no worries and I still have the bed where I have a box for additional storage.
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Old 03-19-2015, 05:57 AM   #18
MrRobinGrimes
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Hi Kiltedpig, I did look at the Titan version of the replacement tank for my truck, Transfer Flow seems a little better on price than Titan. Titan tank was $1300+labor for 51gal. I ended up spenting $627 total for 65gal gross capacity using the RDS low profile in bed 37gal tank.

You are very right that it is a trade off: Replace factory tank vs in bed tank. I gave up the bed space PLUS I can't see total fuel on dash gauge.
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Old 03-19-2015, 06:00 AM   #19
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I hated to spend the money but peace of mind and the DW's sealed the deal.
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