Hey all! I have always considered adding a second gas tank. I though it would be a good idea. A friend of mine had his gas tank for sale for $50, so I bought it.

I have an 04 Xterra and this is my plan....

First, since I have a body lift, I am also going to lift the gas tank up another 2". I am also going to do the same for the secondary gas tank that I am going to be installing.

So the new gas tank is identical to the stock gas tank. When I put this new gas tank on, I am also going to have a set of 3/16 steel skid plates made for them.

There are a couple of things that have to be moved in order for it to fit. First I have to move my driver's side rear shock. I am going to have to move it so it is on the rear of the frame rail, not the front.

Secondly, I am going to have to remove my exhaust. I am going to go true dual exhaust. I am going to have to buy a secondary cat, piping, hangers, heat shielding, and mufflers.

This is the design that I have in mind



Now you will notice the location of the tanks. They will be in an identical location on either side of the driveshaft. For the heat shields on the muffler. I am going to buy Muffler heat shields from this page once I decide which muffler to go with.

http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/products/index.php?ma...17+or+51022+or+51222

Now here is one question I have for everyone:

If you look at the stock location of the exhaust, you will notice that it is very far away from the gas tank. After studying other vehicles, I have came to the conclusion that there is no law on how close of a proximity your exhaust can be to a gas tank. Even with this comfort, I would still like to put some heat shielding on there in between the length of the two tanks. What do you recommend for that part?

Also, here is my plan for the tanks.

The primary tank will be used as normal.

I will mount a line that is about 1.5" diameter near the top of the tanks. This will allow the fuel to flow from primary to secondary before the automatic stop kicks in, so that both tanks are full at all times.

When the primary fuel tank is low, the gas light will come on

I bought an all purpose fuel pump that I am going to mount to a crossmember. It will be switch operated.

When I see the low fuel light, I will turn the switch on.

the switch will take suction from the bottom of the secondary fuel tank and go straight into the primary tank.

I will watch the primary tank fill up and will stop it when it it near full.

Here is my second question:

I was considering adding an idiot light in my secondary tank as well. The problem is, the float only gives the level on your gas gauge. The thing that turns the light on is a wet/dry sensor. This sensor runs through your ECU.

Now a friend and I were testing these sensors. We were trying to figure out a way that I could rig a secondary light that says I am low on the secondary tank preventing burning up the fuel pump.

While we were testing these sensors, he noticed that the ohm meter was reading different as he raised and lowered the float. A direct linear correspondence.

What kind of electrical component could I buy to make a second low fuel light work?

Thanks!

-James

I'd just use a switch to toggle the sensors.

X2 on the toggle. Run both of your sensor wires to a toggle switch on your dash, then one wire back to where you spliced in.

Heat shields can be made from thin sheet metal and welded directly to the pipes with standoffs. Here is an example:



I used sort pieces of 1/4" rod as stand-offs. Welded it in place. Use enough supports to keep it from vibrating. A couple of bends or curves will make it much stiffer.

This project went to the crapper.....

Sold the tank today.

I could have done it with only a fair amount of work, but decided against it.

A few reasons why are the cost involved with the exhaust. another, is weight gain would be like taking one step forward and one step backwards

Nice idea though. Two tanks would be pretty cool in an X.

There are cheaper ways of doing the exhaust. True duel is never cheap

Setting up the 2nd tank and synchronizing it with the primary tank would be expensive. It's more practice to carry extra jerry cans.