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Topic: Dipping my fuel tank
Posted By: David0725 on 01/29/23 10:48am

Found my problem getting full to my generator. Bad fuel line. I'm lower then a 1/4 tank of fuel so I think it's a good time. Has anyone ever pulled the tank if so what im I getting in to? Pros and cons

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Posted By: TechWriter on 01/29/23 12:49pm

I'm in the same boat, but I'm having a local shop do the work as they've done it before.

The shop uses 4 jacks to slowly lower the tank -- even if it's full. But remember that diesel weights 7 pounds per gallon.

Good luck.

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Posted By: JRscooby on 01/29/23 02:11pm

Never on a MH, but have dropped more than a few tanks. Can't imagine the need for 4 jacks on tank, but I have a plate I can replace the load pad on floor jack.
Once I get a large tank (over about 50 gallons) down I pump it MT, just to ease control going back in. (Really prefer tank be near MT coming out, put often the neck will not allow)
One thing you need to watch is be sure you have vehicle high enough to get tank out, or that you can do what you need under the vehicle.

Posted By: oldave on 01/29/23 02:38pm

I think it's going to matter a great deal what coach you're talking about.

Are you sure you can't get to the fuel line/top of the tank?

Have you tried tightening the hose clamps?

Posted By: Brian in Michigan on 01/29/23 03:08pm

I have dropped my tank a couple of times. It's a 60 gallon tank. One of the times it was half full. I used a harbor freight 1000lb hydraulic table. I removed the handle so it was to lay flat to get it underneath the motorhome. I was able to jack it up to the tank and support it while I unbolted the straps and bolts. I dropped it slightly so as to remove the hoses. Then I was able to drop it all of the way down and roll it out from underneath.

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Posted By: larry cad on 01/29/23 03:15pm

David0725 wrote:

Found my problem getting full to my generator. Bad fuel line. I'm lower then a 1/4 tank of fuel so I think it's a good time. Has anyone ever pulled the tank if so what im I getting in to? Pros and cons


Maybe I misunderstood, but the generator fuel line is not supposed to empty the tank, but rather, it only goes down to 1/4 full. This is to prevent the tank from emptying which would prevent the DP from running (to get more)!

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Posted By: Rick Jay on 01/29/23 07:11pm

Brian in Michigan wrote:

I have dropped my tank a couple of times. It's a 60 gallon tank. One of the times it was half full. I used a harbor freight 1000lb hydraulic table. I removed the handle so it was to lay flat to get it underneath the motorhome. I was able to jack it up to the tank and support it while I unbolted the straps and bolts. I dropped it slightly so as to remove the hoses. Then I was able to drop it all of the way down and roll it out from underneath.


I believe my tank is 75 or 80 gallons (gasoline). I used the same hydraulic table to drop the tank. One of the spot welds used to hold a tank baffle developed a leak. After playing around with sealers which would only work for a couple of months at a time, I decided to have the leaking spot patched with a weld. My cousin did the welding for no cost. No problems with fuel leaks since! (Yes, we know gas tanks are a challenge to weld safely and many won't attempt it. My cousin is a master at it and knows how to do it safely.)

I figured that hydraulic table was worth the price over paying someone else to drop & clean the tank and then weld it. It allowed me to safely lower the tank in a controlled manner. My tank is fairly long, and even with just a little liquid in it, the shift of weight as it tilts makes it a handful to deal with. The large platform on the hydraulic table made it a fairly straight forward one-man operation.

Now, I often use it as a portable, rolling table, so it still gets some use.

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Posted By: Fulltimers on 01/29/23 08:41pm

David0725 wrote:

Found my problem getting full to my generator. Bad fuel line. I'm lower then a 1/4 tank of fuel so I think it's a good time. Has anyone ever pulled the tank if so what im I getting in to? Pros and cons


If you are lower that 1/4 tank, that's your problem. The generator will not pick up fuel from a tank that is lower than 1/4.

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Posted By: Brian in Michigan on 01/30/23 04:35am

One thing I discovered is my suction line for the generator goes all of the way down to the bottom of the tank. So not all fuel tanks are created equal. The reason I pulled the tank was to replace fuel lines that were 25 years old ( Preventative Maintenance ) It was a good thing because the main fuel line had a goofy hose that was set up like a miniature hydraulic line. I had to take the hose to a hydraulic place with a new fuel hose and he took the fittings off of the old hose and put them on the new one. Try and get this done while broke down on the road.

* This post was edited 01/30/23 04:45am by Brian in Michigan *

Posted By: 4x4van on 02/03/23 10:49am

Fulltimers wrote:

David0725 wrote:

Found my problem getting full to my generator. Bad fuel line. I'm lower then a 1/4 tank of fuel so I think it's a good time. Has anyone ever pulled the tank if so what im I getting in to? Pros and cons


If you are lower that 1/4 tank, that's your problem. The generator will not pick up fuel from a tank that is lower than 1/4.
I think that the OP means that since it is currently lower than 1/4, it's a good time to drop the tank (lighter and easier to handle).

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Posted By: Gjac on 02/05/23 12:23pm

I used a motorcycle jack to drop mine. It was not a difficult job. It took about an hr or less to unbolt and lower the tank, another 2 hrs to run to the store and buy a new pickup hose and then install it. It was a half day job when all was said and done. An empty or near empty tank makes the job easier to move the tank and line up the holes to reinstall the bolts.

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