[davemcgrath]

Petroworks make a bolt in 15 gallon tank for the Sierra. Thats 56L or extra 26L over the standard tank.
Has anyone used this tank, and if so how did it perform? What sort of fuel pump did you use?

Cheers

[Blkfxx]

FYI stock is 40L

[davemcgrath]

Ah, so only holds an extra 16L

[alien]

16L @ 10km/L is a decent increase in range though.

There's a few things you'd need to check going a bigger tank:
- Does it hang down lower? (you'll hit it on things)
- Does it clear your suspension setup?
- Does it meet ADRs? (There's rules on fuel tanks if you're worried about legalities)
- What's it made of? (ie: Aluminium will fatigue/crack, plastics aren't always UV rated...)

[Reubs]

One of my Coilies had an 85L tank from Long Ranger. Used the stock filler pipe, pickup and gauge sender.

FYI stock is 42L.

Is your sierra cconverted to EFI?

[davemcgrath]

I'm about to start a Baleno conversion.
Petroworks tanks are DOT something rated polyethylene. Made in the USA though, so I'll have to check if they comply with ADR as I want my rig to be legal.

[alien]

When you find out, post back here as i'd be interested to know =) Be nice to fit more than 35L in my tank. lol

[davemcgrath]

These are the Victorian requirements for replacement fuel tanks.

12.1.3 Replacement or Additional Fuel Tanks Replacement fuel tanks and drop tanks must meet the following requirements:

The vehicle must have a minimum ground clearance of 100mm and meet the minimum ground clearance requirements as defined in ADR 43

No part of any fuel tank or fuel system component must lie below a plane created as a component of that vehicle’s Departure Angle (Departure Angle is the greatest angle between the horizontal plane and the plane from the static loaded rear tyres to the lowest, rearmost extremity of the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM) permanent body work)

Any fuel tank or fuel system component must be at least 100mm inboard of the OEM permanent body work (excluding the filler neck and assembly)

Any fuel tank or fuel system component with a ground clearance of 200mm or less must be adequately protected by shields or adjacent vehicle components

In the event of any tyre being deflated, no parts of the fuel tank or fuel system may touch the road surface If a replacement tank of a 125% or larger capacity than the original uses the original mountings, their strength must be checked and shown to be adequate by a VASS Signatory

Replacement fuel tanks must not adversely affect the suspension travel, controllability, handling or road holding of the vehicle

The fuel filler inlet and cap should be located on the outside of the vehicle. Where an inlet is located inside a vehicle, it must not be inside the passenger compartment and the inlet must be separately sealed from the rest of the vehicle to ensure fumes do not enter the passenger cabin and that provisions are made to ensure any fuel spills are localized and drain outside the vehicle

The fuel tank and filler shall be so arranged that any overflow or leakage of fuel cannot accumulate or contact the exhaust or electrical systems Any apertures created to allow for the installation of the fuel tanks must be suitably sealed to prevent the entry of exhaust, road or petrol fumes into the cabin of the vehicle

[davemcgrath]

Also found part of ADR 43 relating to ground clearance;

43.4.4. 'Ground Clearance’

The 'Ground Clearance' of a vehicle, other than an L-Group vehicle, measured from a horizontal road surface to any point on the underside of the vehicle except the tyres, wheels and wheel hubs shall, under the conditions of ‘Maximum Loaded Test Mass' loading as specified in the relevant braking Rule, be not less than:

43.4.4.1. for any point in the. width of the vehicle which is within one metre fore and aft of any 'Axle', 100 mm;

43.4.4.2. for the mid-point between any 2 consecutive 'Axles', the dimension in millimetres obtained by multiplying the distance between the 2 'Axles' in metres by 33.33; and

43.4.4.3. for any other point, ‘Ground Clearance' such that if the wheels of one 'Axle' are on one plane and the wheels on the next consecutive 'Axle' are on another plane which intersect the first so that the angle between them is 7 degrees 38 minutes the point will pass over the apex transverse to the vehicle formed by that intersection, as shown in Figure 3.

[davemcgrath]

Having read over all that now I am sure the tank would pass on all points. I can see from photos that when mounted up it sits well above the bottom of the diff. My diff is 230mm above the road so there will be no problems with ground clearance.

The only point I am not certain about is:

"No part of any fuel tank or fuel system component must lie below a plane created as a component of that vehicle’s Departure Angle (Departure Angle is the greatest angle between the horizontal plane and the plane from the static loaded rear tyres to the lowest, rearmost extremity of the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM) permanent body work) "

Can anyone interpret that one clearly?

[davemcgrath]

I think it's worth sorting out if the Petroworks tank is legal here. The 'Long Ranger' brand tanks available here are $1000 AUS The Petroworks tanks are only $395US from LROR and considering I'm about to order parts from there the shipping will only be an extra $100

[atari4x4]

departure angle is the departure angle... from tyre to lowest rear most point.

[davemcgrath]

Yeah, so in the more simple terms, the tank cannot be mounted such that it crosses the departure angle.

[atari4x4]

bingo

in saying that, i wonder if the long ranger tanks comply as they hang pretty low from memory?

[alien]

on a sierra the lowest point on a pure departure plane is the rear shackle... the tank is quite tucked up when stock, its just in a vulnerable spot which is why we all dent them. If the tank mostly follows the profile of the rear springs you should be ok.

this image appears to see it cutting it close:

From: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... cks/page11

and this one:

From: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... le-Samurai

[jdk81]

Id be worried about staking the tank.
I've come close to staking my tank.
I have staked my front brake line (one that runs across the chassis supported by the plastic shroud)
Someone on the forum staked the floor and it was close to going through the passenger seat (it penetrated a dodgy weld repair) but very scary.

I wouldnt offroad with a poly tank mounted externally

[alien]

I think it'd be OK when its protected by what looks like 5-6mm plate.

[atari4x4]

i see lots of unproteced plastic...

[tanshi]

not sure why you would want a bigger tank in a sierra.

a lot cheaper and easier to invest in a jerry can

[Gwagensteve]

I'm interested in the legality stuff of this for other (Clive related) reasons, but here's my take.

It's expensive, freighted, least of which because you need the tank with the pump.

It's going to be $550+ and freight is going to sting you $200 easily. (it's bulky)

It's 16 litres extra, and depending on how accurate the gauge is, that might be 100km extra range... maybe even less.

It's no more space efficient - that 16 litres looks to be all below the stock tank. That tank is going to be an anchor, even if it's not damaged, it's going to drag everywhere.

You want a legal car. Therefore you need an engineers cert for the engine. Move a crossmember, and with your body lift, fit a SWB 2.0 tank. 55 litres from memory tucked up as high as possible and get that thrown on the cert too - It's not going to cost any more, and you can use it as an excuse to play with the rear shock mounts and pick up some droop.

If that's too hard, leave the spare at home and run a jerry on the back door.

Steve.

[atari4x4]

* SV vitara's = 70l capacity, approximately 66l useable.

[davemcgrath]

Hrmm the extra capacity was appealing but I agree it compromises the departure angle. I think i'll just buy a new (non-genuine) coily tank at $395 and be done with it. Would be good if the baleno pump is compatible.

[Blkfxx]

Pretty sure Cairnszook used a Baleno pump and pickup/flange in a coily tank, Just lengthened the pickup tube.

[davemcgrath]

Yeah, I think that will be the cheapest and easiest solution.
BTW, is there any reason I can't use the Baleno alternator? I have a complete Baleno donor car. The whole car is in good condition. Only done 130,000 k's

[jdk81]

You can use the baleno alt, and I would if I didnt have a falc alt installed.
Most people go a falcon alt for extra capacity, the baleno alt has some extra capacity over a Sierra, just not as much as the falcon alt.

[Gwagensteve]

No. Use the baleno alt. It has moar powers than the Sierra one.

[Joshyboy26]

Does anyone have any links to thise adrs.

Is there anything about the construction of the tank. I have a body lift and i reckon with a better shaped tank taking up the right space i coyld fit a heap more capacity in.

[jdk81]

If you have a BL, you can fit a lwb vit tank with a bit of squeeze, exhaust mods, filler hose mods and shock absorber tweaks (make a relocation bracket iirc b4t did this) or use a lror shock brace
I tweaked the shock placement 1st time around
I did a slight chassis extension second time around

You need to hack the sierra tank mounts off and fab your own.
It isnt overly hard and the extra capacity is awesome.

Biggest suck factor, is its extra weight behind the rear diff.
But it's lower than a jerry can in the back

Can pick up a lwb vit tank for about $50

My 4th iteration is a custom tank under and behind passenger seat, where the stock muffler used to be.

[Joshyboy26]

Cool ill have a look into this cheers

[got_bar_work]

Does any one know whats the rules are on custom tanks.
Does it need to be made by someone special or can any fab shop tig one up and do a pressure test as per engineer specs. Then just get the engineer to ok it when they do the rest of the car ?