Thread: Long Ranger Main Tank Fitting Tips

Fitted the long range tank from Long Ranger yesterday and today. Instructions say 3 hours, I reckon I could probably do the second one in that time....
So a few tips in addition to the instructions that I've attached.

Removal
You might forget, but just remember to clean the hell out of the top of the tank before you disconnect the fuel hoses. A vacuum cleaner is a good option.
Everything else is pretty straight forward.

Preparation
Clean up the chassis legs and try to get as much stones, dust, sand etc off the various ledges as you can before you put the new tank in, saves getting it in the mouth, eyes and ears later.
Might be a good time to wash the chassis rails out now too, maybe blow first then wash, you need the inside to be as clear of debris as you can get it.

You might consider now removing the bracket that supports the fuel pipes, the new tank is about 3" lower, so you have to pull them down of it anyway. I found this out afterwards, but reckon removing it might be the best option, I'm going to cross my fingers.

This is a great time to clean out your fuel pump, the disassembly is pretty straight forward and covered in td5-fuel-pump-maintence-repair-tutorial.html. I used brake cleaner to wash out stuff. I found what looked like metal particles in my screens.


Now the really important bit of prep -

OK, now, the nuts welded on a long strip of metal, these get poked down the chassis legs, it's a **** design IMO. They should just use the rear bolts of the existing cradle and use rivnut inserts for the sides.
Take these strips and weld the nut on the long side, mine were welded on the short side only and because you are going to cut that back as much as you dare, it's best to have the other side welded.
OK, having welded, cut the tab back so that the nut is right at the end, when you poke it down the chassis it now won't hit the cross tube brace and/or crud caught up against it.
Next, drill a small hole at the other end of the tab, you'll want this so you can tie some string to it later.

Now check the breather hoses for fit on the two spigots and the breather on the filler fitting in the body. I couldn't get the tube on the spigots once the tank was in (didn't try before) nor the breather or the pipe that was the breather.
If this is the case, go and get some new fuel hose and a brass T piece and 6 hose clamps to make your own one. The next size is a sloppy fit, but appears to seal and this is a relatively low pressure connection anyway.

Don't leave the breather on the tank, you won't get it on the vehicle.

Next check the spigots for the breathers, they should all poke out about the same length, if any are significantly longer, then expect to have to cut it down. The tank has virtually no clearance to the chassis rails and can't be tilted to fit, so if they touch when you lift it, it will almost certainly need to be trimmed. One of mine did....

Fitting
Not much to note here, do as they say, getting the rear bolts to engage the nuts on the tabs is a chore, you can only poke one finger or two in the gap between bumper and chassis end, so you can't hold it or move it...
However, before you try this, tie some garden wire or string through the hole you drilled and tie it to a bit of the chassis somewhere. This way, if you should drop it you don't have a big bit of metal rattling around the chassis forever or face the choice of removing the rear bumper to retrieve it.

Once you actually have the bolt engaged and tightened they say to drill a hole and rivet it in place. Good luck with that. You drill through the chassis and then the tab bends, you then can't pull the tab back down with your one finger enough to get the rivet to attach the two pieces. I reckon drill the hole and if you can do a bit of a puddle weld to keep it in place, or forget about it.

The breather connection might be better making two short pipes from the spigots to the t piece and one long piece up to the filler pipe connection. They have two long and one short, it makes it all a bit of mess with some odd angles, it works, but I think this might be better.
You have a choice as well, you can connect the hose to the filler breather directly or cut the breather pipe (the one with the pig tail twist) and connect to that and have the push fit fitting. I did the latter, my pig tail had collapsed and I think was leaking too, so no loss.

That's about it, I'd give Long Ranger some feedback, but I don't expect them to make mods to the design at this stage in the D2s life.

It was bliss to go the servo and fill up and know exactly how much fuel was in the car for a change.
I actually ran out of fuel in the garage when I was trying to get it on the ramps, so I had to put in about 5L to get it going again.
The old plastic tank then drained near enough 10L once removed...
The new tank read as shown in the pictures with 20L in (might be a bit more or a bit less, but <1L of uncertainty), and then we filled 109.8L at the servo after a 3KM drive, so it has 130L in the second picture.
The fill to 130L was easy too, that was first cut out with full pressure on a standard pump.
Much easier than the normal fiddle with the standard tank.

Last tip! Don't throw away the old plastic tank, I checked prices and they are pricey. Seal it up and store it, you may need it or you may be able to get a few $ one day.

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2BDD30AA4CC3138_tr56.pdf

If you think that is hard , just try to get the small tank in.

It seems to me that the holes in the chassis brackets are in slightly the wrong place, and I had to grind down the tabs to get the bolts done up although I did use 8MM bolts.

I had to remove the mud flap support to realistically get the hoses to the second tank done up and the front mounting holes drilled.

But its great to have 155 litres, although mine is second hand and has a few dents so maybe 150 litres.
Regards Philip A