Need advice for bed cover that will work with aux fuel tank in bed

[JEO]

I’d like to get a cover for my F350 truck bed so I can keep stuff in the back out of sight and out of the weather. I like the idea of the soft covers. My truck has a 63 gallon auxiliary fuel tank in the front of the bed and the fuel cap protrudes above the side of the bed about 1 ¾”. Can anyone recommend a bed cover type that might work with this fuel cap sticking up? Any suggestions appreciated, thanks.

Jim

[DaveDsl]

You will not want the Tank Covered, it has a Vent system to allow for heat expansion or cold contraction, with vapors in the tank and a long Sunny day the bed becomes a Fuel Air Mixture Bomb, similar to boats that explode as the driver fails to vent the engine compartment.

[JEO]

I should have mentioned that the aux tank is for diesel so I'm not very concerned about the fumes turning into a fuel bomb. I can always route the tank vent hose outside the truck bed if that becomes a concern.

[CecilD]

It is going to be tough to find a compliant bed cover when the filler cap protrudes above the bedrails. I would try to find a more shallow cap to work with. My tank (ATI) came with a semi-shallow cap and they advertised that they use an automotive style cap. Even then, I had to modify the cap to keep it below the bedrails and fit underneath my Extang Trifold cover. Should you be able to get it down, I would consider a Bakflip 4 fold cover.

My trifold front section is not moveable so I installed a kayak hatch cover for access for filling. The cover is dual layer with foam inside. A hole could have been cut on the underside layer to give you maybe an extra half inch for clearance. Maybe the Bakflip is the same.

[JEO]

Originally Posted by CecilD

It is going to be tough to find a compliant bed cover when the filler cap protrudes above the bedrails. I would try to find a more shallow cap to work with. My tank (ATI) came with a semi-shallow cap and they advertised that they use an automotive style cap. Even then, I had to modify the cap to keep it below the bedrails and fit underneath my Extang Trifold cover. Should you be able to get it down, I would consider a Bakflip 4 fold cover.

My trifold front section is not moveable so I installed a kayak hatch cover for access for filling. The cover is dual layer with foam inside. A hole could have been cut on the underside layer to give you maybe an extra half inch for clearance. Maybe the Bakflip is the same.

I saw an older post (2018) where someone cut a hole for their aux tank filler in the forward section of a tri-fold. I thought about replacing the locking tank cap with a regular one but it's the filler neck that protrudes more than the cap. I like your idea of a hatch, If I found a taller rigid cover I would certainly do that. Thanks for your input.

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by DaveDsl

You will not want the Tank Covered, it has a Vent system to allow for heat expansion or cold contraction, with vapors in the tank and a long Sunny day the bed becomes a Fuel Air Mixture Bomb, similar to boats that explode as the driver fails to vent the engine compartment.

Mine is used for 40 gallons of gasoline and does NOT vent to atmosphere. It is tied into the vehicle's carbon canister, the only way to respect EPA emissions and keep the CEL off. I am thinking of covering my bed myself.

Diesel is a non issue for me.

[mokurt]

A friend of mine just bought a bed cover for his 2018 Duramax that has a tool box in the front.
There was no after market cover that would fit correctly.
The truck accessory store tried one and it was 4 " to short so then they tried another that was to too long.
So my friend took the long one and went to a local upholstery shop and had it modified too fit correctly.

So maybe try an upholstery shop too modify it.

[JEO]

Thought I'd post what I ended up using, maybe it'll help someone else. After looking at lots of covers online it seemed like a roll up cover was what I needed. The rigid tri fold covers fold up on the part of my bed where the auxiliary fuel tank is so unless I cut a hole in the forward panel it's unlikely one of them would work. It seemed a soft roll up cover with bed rails that were raised instead of flush would give me a little bit more clearance and if the cap pushed the cover up a tiny bit that would be OK. The Access Original looked good but I'm cheap and wanted to spend less $$ so I chose a MaxMate (made by Tyger) soft roll up because it had the raised rails like the Access Original but was only $179. I didn't want to spend much because this is something I only plan on using when I'm towing a trailer and traveling away from home.
The cover arrived really well packaged today with no broken or missing parts. It was a pretty easy install. Before installing I replaced my locking cap on the auxiliary diesel tank with another cap that was a little bit shorter but still extended above the bed rails. The cover looks good and clears the diesel tank cap. Mission accomplished.