An auxiliary diesel fuel tank installed in the bed of your diesel-powered truck may be just what you need if you travel to remote areas where diesel filling stations are far and few between. An auxiliary fuel tank can also extend your traveling range by several hundred miles. By installing a tank that has a pump handle attached, you can fuel your own truck as well as any other diesel powered vehicle from the supply of fuel in your auxiliary tank. An auxiliary diesel fuel tank can be installed in one day.
Clean out the bed of your truck at the front where the tank will be installed. Remove the bed mat if equipped.
Use a helper and lift the auxiliary tank into the bed and place it at the front of the bed near the passenger compartment. Position the tank so there is plenty of clearance around the front and sides of the bed. Do not allow the tank to touch the bed or road vibrations could wear a hole in the tank.
Attach a 9/16-inch drill bit to an electric drill and drill holes through the truck’s bed, using the holes in the tank mounting flanges as a guide.
Push ½-inch galvanized bolts through the mounting flanges and into the drilled holes. Attach lock washers and lock nuts to the threaded end of the bolts from underneath the vehicle and tighten with an adjustable wrench in a clockwise direction.
Prime the tank’s pump by removing the fuel filter located on top of the tank with a filter wrench in a counterclockwise direction. Fill the filter with diesel fuel and thread it back onto the filter housing by hand until tight. Tighten the filter an additional ½ turn with the filter wrench in a clockwise direction.
Remove the fuel filler cap at the top of the tank and fill your auxiliary tank at a diesel fuel filling station. Replace the cap. Turn the pump on at the top of the fuel tank and place the fuel nozzle into your vehicle’s fuel filler opening when you want to transfer fuel from the auxiliary tank and into your vehicle’s primary fuel tank. Depress the nozzle handle to start the flow of fuel, and let go of the handle when the primary tank is full. Turn the fuel pump off when finished.
