I don’t think anyone actually enjoys stopping for fuel. Although smartphone apps like GasBuddy have made it easy to identify nearby stations with the best prices, it’s still not fun.
Then there are the gas stations with filthy pumps, loud promotional messages, or even some stupid video playing as you watch the dollars and cents roll over and over. Hey gas station folks, I don’t want a Slurp N’ Gulp for $2.99, or buy one Bite-Me Burger, get a Bite-Me Burger free. I just want to get fuel, and get going.
At least the price of fuel has come down significantly over the past few months. In case you haven’t noticed, the price of fuel has come down about 12.5% since April. The national average for regular gas is around $3.23, but we’ve been finding regular gas south of $3.00. Diesel is about .45 cents more.
Since electric trucks are still somewhere in the distant future, fuel stations are a fact of truck camping life that’s here to stay. But what if we could extend our time on the road and pass a few more gas stations? What if we could get a bigger fuel tank for our trucks?
Well, companies like Transferflow and Titan Fuel Tanks offer exactly that kind of solution. They manufacture larger fuel tanks that replace factory fuel tanks that are typically in the 30-35 gallon range with tanks that have up to 58 gallons of fuel. These tanks are located under our trucks, exactly where the factory fuel tanks were located. Most replacement tanks are designed only for diesel fuel, but gas truck systems are available as well.
There are many questions to consider when evaluating one of these tanks. First, the weight of the additional fuel will substantially decrease your payload when your tank is full. Second, the cost of these tanks, and their installations, is also substantial; often in the $1,000 to $1,500 range. That amount of money buys a lot of fuel, or Bite-Me Burgers.
This week’s Question of the Week is, “Would you consider, or do you already have, a replacement fuel tank system?”
If you already have an auxiliary fuel tank system, tell us what you have and if the benefits have been worth while. If you would like to get a replacement fuel tank system, tell us why. And you can always tell us, “No way Jose! We don’t need no stinking replacement fuel tank.” We love those responses too, although no one here is actually named Jose.
Please note that we’re only interested in tanks that are mounted under the truck as in-bed tanks push the center of gravity back and conflict with the intended design of truck and camper rigs.