ravencr

Well, drumroll please! I'm so excited to say that it runs, and everything but two things are done: The filler hose is impossible to find as of yet, and I haven't began the skid plate yet. Other than that, the wiring and tubing are connected and it runs perfectly so far. No test drive yet, because I still have to clean up outside, but here's the pics so far:











Chris

ravencr

Chris

ravencr

Chris

ravencr

So, the skid plate & filler tube are next and other than painting, it will be a successful gas tank relocation. Stay tuned for more soon,

Chris

ravencr

I haven't been able to do anymore work on it, but I'm pretty sure that after trying to find a filler tube, I'm going to take the truck to a muffler shop and have them make a cusom bent Stainless Steel tube that will mate up to the different size tubing, and then I'll be rockin' and rollin'.

The skid plate plate will be made out of 3/16" plate, will stretch the full length of the tank, and will be surrounded from the bottom to the middle point on the tank at least 3/4 of the width of the tank. It will have a hole cutout for the drainplug, and probably some additional bracing in the bottom bend, which will be the primary point of contact on the rocks.

Chris

FilthyRich

Looks Awesome. good work. can't wait to see how change in departure angles is off road

seaflea

That opened up the break over angle on the belly. now you just have to get a budbuilt cross member for the tcase. the tank location looks great! cant wait to see it with all the protection and bumper back on there.

NCSU-4runner

not to steal the thread, just showing my setup for comparison, maybe not as ideal for trucks driven more on the street than the trail. Sometime soon i'm going to cut out the floor and recess it down as far as possible. Its right above the rear axle so i wont have to make any protection for it. Just from eye-balling it only 6 inches or so of the tank should remain in the cab in the end. I'm also going to get a line connected to the fill neck so i can fill it from outside the truck and completely prevent fuel fumes from getting inside. Right now its only bad for 5 minutes after i put gas in it.


Fuel Cell (rear shot)

Fuel Cell (top shot)

MSD high PSI/flow fuel pump and fuel line routing into the cab

Motor end fuel connections

NCSU-4runner

the filler neck has a spring loaded flapper so dont think its just open into the tank all the time

ravencr

Yepper! That's the plan! The crossmember I'm probably getting is made by Front Range Off-road. They aren't done with them yet, but it's a sweet design from what little I've seen of it so far. It will leave me with a completely flat underbelly that will also be fully protected from rocks. All factory crossmembers will be eliminated and replaced with the FROR unit, and possibly replace the rear one too, just higher up. I haven't decided on that yet.

Chris

ravencr

Thanks man! Like I've said before I wish it had been about 2-3" higher up, but once I build the overkill skid plate it won'r really matter, and it definitely won't be something that hangs me up like the underbelly stock tank location.

Chris

anthony1

iTrader: (1)

Just incase you got the lines cross....There's three lines to the tank. One is to the injection system, one is the vapor line and last is the return line. If you get the last two ( vapor and return) lines mixed up, it will starts fine and drive fine for awhile till the engine gets pretty hot. ( maybe 45min. on the frwy in the summer). Your engine will choak and die. You'll get gas running down through the charchoal canister. This happened to me cause the guy that did the work for me got the lines mixed up.
I've been running fine since I've switch it back. didn't change anything else.

ravencr

I'm pretty sure I've got them hooked up right, but that's something I'll definitely keep an eye out for. Thanks for the heads up, because I'd hate for that to happen.

Chris

ravencr

Today, I fit the filler tube I got bent at meineke muffler shop. It works perfectly! I switched two of the wires thinking the gauge might start working, but it's a no go on the gauge at this point. When it gets low, the low fuel light comes on, so for now, I'm good to go until I figure out the range of the toyota and isuzu's gauges differences.

The only thing left to do is the skid plate, which I think I'm going to have bent for me, and I'll make the side support pieces. Not 100% sure, but the way the tank is design, I'd need to cut, weld, and grind 5 35" pieces, which is a lot of welding, grinding wheels, and cutting wheels. I think it would be best to have Cherokee Millwright do it for me.

I'm going wheeling tomorrow with Joe Darlington to see if everything continues to work out well. I've got to take it easy with the tank exposed, but I'll let everyone know what happens.

Also, yesterday when driving back from Knoxville, my exhaust burned through the plastic wire cover and melted the wires together, resulting in the truck shutting off. It sucked, but with a new 15 amp fuse and electrical tape, I got home.

Today, I also cut off the remainder of the tubing past the muffler and welded on a 90 degree downward bend so the exhaust blows into the ground rather than straight onto the tank. In addition, I raised my entire exhaust system 3", so other than my two stock crossmembers(will be gone soon), and the stock lower control arms frame mounts(also will be gone), I have a completely flat underbelly. The muffler is tucked up above the frame rails instead of hanging 1-2" below the frame.

In addition, I covered the wiring this time around with heat shield from Thermo-tec. It's wire encased tubing that can withstand some really high temperatures, so hopefully I won't have any melted wires again.

Well, that's the update for today!

Chris

Albuquerque Jim

Chris, Schaefer got one?

ravencr

Yep, that's possible because they already made the one for the dual case setup. Mine and other 3rd gen tacomas and 4runners are different, and they should be done any day now. I can't wait!

Chris

ravencr

Here's a pic of the prototype for the tacoma's and 3rd gen 4runners without a dual case setup:



Chris

Albuquerque Jim

Steve has the X member, I don't think he has the skid.

ravencr

It's possible it's the same crossmember, but they have a skid plate setup for his rig that's different than this one. The one they are already making is on their site, and this one isn't it. The crossmember and skidplate combo is what I'm getting. The above picture is a rough draft of what I'll be getting.

Chris

ravencr

was cut short due to me breaking my passenger side upper suspension link. All I can say is that I was lucky as hell to get out of th trail and tow my wife's dirtbike home. It sheered off right at the axle bushing. I'm hoping I can sleeve it, then weld it back together. But, I'll probably buy 2 RE joints to help with the flex.

The tank worked great! No trouble at all, except I did bump it a tad, but nothing major. I did have a leak on the return tube, but I fixed that before the trip. Other than that, the tank has been a success so far. Now I just have to make a skid plate for it!

Chris