Fuel tank repair

I've had trouble with a few of my tanks. When you pull the straps you will find lots of corrosion. I've sent mine out to a local shop they rolled bands and welded them on. They did a very nice job and they don't look bad. A couple hundred bucks is what I paid last time.

 

If your keeping the truck long-term rebarrel it. Banding it works also but brings with it other headaches such as the saddles not being the right radius any more. Plus the possibility of leaks between the tank and the band. A good welder won't have those issues but everyone has a bad day sometimes. Where I live they want around 500 to band it and 900 to rebarell it. That's my thoughts on it.

 

Check into a new tank before rebarelling it. http://www.trpparts.com/Parts/Section/80/fuel-tanks

We pay about $900 for a new tank through Peterbilt, so it doesn't make any sense for us to rebarell. We have a local welder that will put 2 bands on for $250 if we drop the tank off. We've had 3 trucks done so far with no issues.

When we install a new tank, we put mylar tape on the tank under the straps. You can get this any any good trailer shop. It's what they put between steel crossmembers and the aluminum rails to resist corrosion. It seems to help keep the moister under the straps off the aluminum tank.

 

Preventive maintenance - I was lucky, I took my tanks off for more room to pull my tranny and found a bunch of pitting where the straps angle away from the tanks and dirt settles in the crevice. I cleaned the pits out real good and primered and painted the strip where the straps lay. Some of them pits were over halfway through.

Before I did that though I checked online and considered brazing them with some expensive rods everyone said good things about. But since I didn't have any actual holes I just opted to paint since all it cost me was time.

 

What I've done in the past is purchase a damaged tank from a salvage yard. I then cut out small pieces and welded them on the leaking tank. After welding, I check for leaks using a regulated air line with soap and water. The repair can be done with the tank on or off the truck after draining.