gas leak!

[bnelson]

So went on a road trip down to buddy of mine that lives a bit north of Boerne in the Texas hill country. Anybody that knows Texas is probably familiar with HWY 281 that runs north and south through the hill country. Real nice drive. I stopped in Marble Falls for some gas and a couple tacos but when I came out I noticed that gas was pouring out from the roll pan! I pushed it to the side of the lot, and luckily I made my bed removable by drilling, tapping, and bolting the SS bed on instead of pop riveting. Some fellow hot rodders stopped by and with all the help and tools a guy could need, we had it off and fixed in matter of 20 minutes or so. Seems when I recently removed the sending unit to drill hole and add ground wire from sender to frame to get my fuel gauge to stop jumping around, I did not get it all the way seated in those notches that lock it in place :( After a bit of driving it loosened up. You couldn't believe all the attention that truck got from passers by! Must of had 12-15 cars/trucks stop just to check it out and take pictures. Pretty cool, and met some real nice, helpful, country boys.

Moral of the story? Ya might wana think about making that bed removable for access to things underneath!

[RuffShod]

Moral of the story.....TEXAS!!!

Glad ya got it fixed!

[edwardb]

Glad you got it worked out. I realize roadside repairs require unusual actions. Just curious why though it would be easier to lift the entire bed versus dropping the tank? My build will have full fenders, running boards, etc. Not considering the bed to be removable once it's completed. Tank drops out with a couple bolts.

[bnelson]

Glad you got it worked out. I realize roadside repairs require unusual actions. Just curious why though it would be easier to lift the entire bed versus dropping the tank? My build will have full fenders, running boards, etc. Not considering the bed to be removable once it's completed. Tank drops out with a couple bolts.

I did not need to lift entire bed. I did some mods to mine so the fenders, roll pan, and such are connected independent. Only had to lift out the wood and unscrew the flat SS bed portion up to about the middle and lift up the back to get access (about 8 hex screws you can see in picture belows). Also I relocated the filler tube to behind the tailgate so did not need to mess with that.The tank to lower would not be an easy operation. It is covered by roll pan, and the other cover, and of coarse the fuel lines and filler tube would need to be disconnected. And of course you would have to have the truck jacked up and supported somehow to be safe.

142265
142266

[chuck35truck]

So went on a road trip down to buddy of mine that lives a bit north of Boerne in the Texas hill country. Anybody that knows Texas is probably familiar with HWY 281 that runs north and south through the hill country. Real nice drive. I stopped in Marble Falls for some gas and a couple tacos but when I came out I noticed that gas was pouring out from the roll pan! I pushed it to the side of the lot, and luckily I made my bed removable by drilling, tapping, and bolting the SS bed on instead of pop riveting. Some fellow hot rodders stopped by and with all the help and tools a guy could need, we had it off and fixed in matter of 20 minutes or so. Seems when I recently removed the sending unit to drill hole and add ground wire from sender to frame to get my fuel gauge to stop jumping around, I did not get it all the way seated in those notches that lock it in place :( After a bit of driving it loosened up. You couldn't believe all the attention that truck got from passers by! Must of had 12-15 cars/trucks stop just to check it out and take pictures. Pretty cool, and met some real nice, helpful, country boys.

Moral of the story? Ya might wana think about making that bed removable for access to things underneath!

I am getting ready to move in that direction. Did you drill and tap the frame cross pieces or use rivnuts? If tap, what size worked for you?

What type of bed do you have on top of SS and how is that attached to SS?
[/I]

[bnelson]

I am getting ready to move in that direction. Did you drill and tap the frame cross pieces or use rivnuts? If tap, what size worked for you?

What type of bed do you have on top of SS and how is that attached to SS?
[/I]

I drilled and tapped 1/4-20 for the SS bed to truck frame. The rivnuts might be better. Give it more threads to grip. I used SS button head hex screws and they hold the plywood up 3/16"" off the SS and create an air gap and lets water drain from under it. For the wood I used a piece of Oak plywood and made 1/8X1 strips to simulate a regular bed. I am just finishing that up now. To hold that I used counter sunk wood screws for the strips to the plywood. To hold plywood to bed I just drilled a few of the screw locations all the way threw the strips and wood to the SS bed and tapped #8/24 and used flat head machine screws in those locations. I did nine total. Front, middle, and rear on the left, right, and center strips. Its solid. I'll post some pictures when I put it all back together. Have the strips off to paint right now.

[David Hodgkins]

Awesome that it was an easy fix. No pix of the oglers?

:)

[McGuyver]

Glad to hear you are in good shape. I am liking the idea of making the wood and stainless removable more and more. I have trans cooler, electric e brake and charcoal canister all above gas tank. It also opens up the option of putting a larger battery in the stock location. As always, look forward to your write up and pictures.

[chuck35truck]

Thank you.