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Old 07-11-2016, 07:16 AM   #1
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Lowering Fuel Tank

I would like to change my generator fuel line. Has anyone lowered the tank to swap this line that can provide any advice. How much does it have to be lowered? Not sure I want to take this on and have a facility that will do the job but they are an hour away. That is my backup if this task is too much to do in the driveway.
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Old 07-11-2016, 07:45 AM   #2
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I have dropped a half dozen or so tanks. I can't remember any of them being fun. Make sure you wait until the tank is 3/4 empty.(or less) If your floor is directly over the tank, No basement, and the bed is over the tank, You can cut a hole in floor and if in the future you need a fuel pump, you will have easy access. If you have to drop it, Attach a piece of 2X10 to a floor jack. Drop the tank down enough to access the hose. You should not have to remove the tank and all the attachments. Use NAPA fuel hose. Their best hose will last forever. (well almost) This is not a really hard job, It is made easier if you pressure wash the area first. There is usually a lot of sand and dirt caught in the tank and straps. It is better if you have help to steady the tank. I would replace all the rubber hoses while there.
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Old 07-11-2016, 12:18 PM   #3
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I did it on a 2002 Fleetwood Flair P32. I only tilted the tank and was able to reach the generator fitting on top. Workhorse used a 3' rubber line to connect to the hard line to the gen. The 3" line rotted, I replaced the line all the way to the generator. It took 3 people, 2 floor jacks, and a 12 pack of beer.
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Old 07-11-2016, 01:07 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mgscott4 View Post
I did it on a 2002 Fleetwood Flair P32. I only tilted the tank and was able to reach the generator fitting on top. Workhorse used a 3' rubber line to connect to the hard line to the gen. The 3" line rotted, I replaced the line all the way to the generator. It took 3 people, 2 floor jacks, and a 12 pack of beer.
Uh oh, I only have one person, two floor jacks, a transmission jack and no beer.
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Old 07-11-2016, 01:41 PM   #5
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I replaced the fuel pump once.
Used hydraulic leveling jacks to raise RV (2003 P32). Held RV in place with mechanical stands. Attached ropes with four pulleys at each corner. Cut filler and vent hoses close to tank fittings (fasteners were tightened from the top). Used four small pulleys on the four corners and nylon ropes to lower tank partially. Generator fuel hose became accessible, but had to disconnect fuel lines to lower tank completely onto a crawler. Pulled out crawler with tank from underneath RV.
Some of this one man process may be of use to you.
Lots of luck.
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Old 07-11-2016, 05:36 PM   #6
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I would think the fuel pump line would be metal but not sure. If rubber, I would think special clamps are required.
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Old 07-11-2016, 11:23 PM   #7
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Garyspang, what mileage did you get out of your original pump? Did it go out, or did you replace as a precaution? I'm wondering if vettenuts should go and replace his while he's down there. I know that on my Chevy trucks, they go at 150,000. Our motorhomes get half the mileage of a truck.
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Old 07-12-2016, 10:01 AM   #8
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Got some contaminated 10% ethanol fuel that wrecked the pump at about 80K miles. Second pump gave out about 30K miles later (delivered only 7psi). Left bad pump in activated, added auxiliary in-line fuel pump with fuel filter before and after pump in filter area. Hear pump whining on exterior, but quiet inside. Details with pictures, posted on IRV2 somewhere else.
Now at about 150K mi and all is well.
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Old 07-13-2016, 06:41 AM   #9
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Hi,

I dropped and removed my W-22 fuel tank as I had one of the tanks that leaked at a baffle spot weld. After several years of patching, I decided to drop it and have it welded.

The tank is big and pretty heavy empty. Add 20-25 gallons of fuel to it and there's another 130 lbs. or so. And that weight will shift if one side of the tank drops more than the other. You can use the generator pick-up tube as a syphon to remove as much gas as possible, but that will leave the above mentioned 20-25 gallons in the tank. You do want to run the tank as low as possible beforehand unless you have LOTS of 5 gallon jugs lying around.

I had the benefit of two growing sons to help me drop the tank, but when it was time to put it back up, they had other commitments so I ended up using one of these 500 lb. Capacity Hydraulic Table Cart from Harbor Freight. It gives a much broader platform and is much easier to control the tank positioning than trying to use regular hydraulic wheeled jacks. In my opinion, it was well worth the expense for the extra safety factor. Now I use the lift table as a portable work table around the garage, and even as a make-shift step stool.

Reaching the generator fitting is doable, but if you have short arms, might be problematic. I'm almost six feet tall and found I could just reach the fittings when I was reconnecting things putting the tank back up. But I had the benefit of an empty tank and I could put it at any height. If it was just lowered a bit, I'm not so sure I could've maneuvered into the proper position to get at the connection.

Also, the fuel tanks have filler ports on both sides. The one connected to your fuel filler requires that the filler hose be disconnected. There is a hose/cap on the unused filler port which also had to be removed before the tank would lower between the rails. The problem, on mine anyway, is that the clamps they used to hold these hoses on were put on BEFORE the house was attached to the chassis, so the screw drive of the clamps were very difficult to access from down below. And the C-shape of the rails made it difficult to access as well.

Since I had my tank down and welded, I also had the welder add about 2" or so of tubing to my generator pick-up tube, so now the generator will work until the tank only has about 10 gallons in it. This should also help IF I ever need to drop the tank again.

I ended up changing my fuel pump (about $330 or so) as a precaution. I only had about 28,000 miles & 10 years on the original, but decided to change it.

Anyway, CAN you do it in your driveway? Probably. But in my opinion, it's not trivial. I'm sure when I was 20+ years younger, it wouldn't have been quite the challenge, but I'm finding tasks such as these to be more challenging with every passing year (now 55 & counting). Bad eyesight, back issues and just plain old old-age certainly take some of the "fun" out of jobs like these.

So, if you know someone reliable who will do it for a reasonable cost, I'd say go for it. You might want to consider having them change out the fuel-pump, too, while the tank is down.

Good Luck,

~Rick
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Old 07-14-2016, 05:43 AM   #10
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Interesting how you found the clamps. I found the opposite so I am wondering if my tank might have been previously removed for some reason.
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Old 07-24-2016, 07:07 AM   #11
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Yes, Vettenuts I think you are correct. Mine has the hose clamp tighteners pointing upwards as well. No one should ever assemble a chassis this way, but Workhorse did so. Grrrr!
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Old 07-24-2016, 08:07 AM   #12
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Trick is to hit one autozone or a parts store and buy a carb style generic 12v electric fuel pump, a hose long enough to reach the fuel in the bottom of your tank and a 5 gallon gas can. Pump as much gas out of the tank as possible and put it in other vehicles, save the last can for a trip to the gas station. next you will need a floor jack and a piece of plywood or 2x4 to place on the bottom of the tank. Raise the jack, disconnect the ground wire, disconnect the straps, remove them if possible. Balance the tank as you let it down. use some 4x4's on the ground to prevent it from scraping on the ground and allow you to pull floor jack out. As you drop it be sure to watch and disconnect the wiring harness and hoses. The tanks look huge and are intimidating, but if you balance them right it is no problem. In my old age getting up and down for tools is usually the worse part.
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Old 07-24-2016, 08:56 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lonfu View Post
In my old age getting up and down for tools is usually the worse part.
Unfortunately, I am finding the same thing
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Old 07-24-2016, 07:43 PM   #14
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On my Monaco built motor home the fuel line from the tank was steel and the last six feet was rubber. The hard part was getting the crimped clamp off the old rubber hose that had collapsed inside. It turned into the inside of the frame and pinched there. Trace your rubber line back and see if it just goes back to the steel line from the tank like mine.
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