Dual tanks on a CJ5

Has dual tanks ever been an option?
My 69/70 has the under seat tank and one in the back. There's a switch mounted on the floor between the seats.
I haven't taken to close a look at the back one yet, there's a mound of fire ants underneath it at the moment.

 

I can't answer if the factory provided dual, but it seems a common mod. (My mind is fuzzy but I didn't see dual tanks in my FSM, will try to remember to look again.)

Mine had an underseat, then the PO moved it to the rear.

I'll be adding the underseat back and putting a tank switch / solenoid so that the tanks operate on their own circuits and the 'lie-meter' on the dash works on both also. IIRC, there's a standard branded solenoid that has 5 or 6 outlets to handle the return lines as well, my 76 powerwagon only had a simple 3 outlet setup, and you could use two of these in 'reverse' sort of to make it work if you want your return line to work.

AS a note: with dual tanks, I found in high-school (late 80s) it very smart to switch tanks when it hit 1/4 empty so I had, like on an old motorcycle, a little 'reserve' (at 10mpg tops, with a 22g and a 28g tank, 1/4 might get you to a station, but then it might not depending on where I went). Walking out of the boonies in the rain sucked and I learned that quickly.

I've looked at rockauto, and the fancy solenoid is about $60, the special 'weatherpack' style wire-adapter is another $15. the two-position tank switch (5-pole I think) is another $10 or so. I think they wanted about $35 for the simple 3-way solenoid.

Splitting hares on which way you go, but I think there are others that have done the 'two-solenoid' switches here and can may be describe it better.

D

 

Common owner mod. Never a factory option.

The tank was moved to the rear to comply with DOT rules that required the fuel tank be outside the passenger compartment. Same thing happened to pickup trucks - tanks behind the seat were typical before ca 1969. Your Jeep likely was delivered with the rear tank, if it's a '70.

If you have no fuel return line or vapor recovery system, all you need is the three-way valve on the floor in front of the driver's seat. I put the under-seat tank in my '73 back in '73, and that's what I used. Installing the under-seat tank in a Jeep without one is fairly simple. Owners also would remove the tool box and put another tank on the passenger side, for even more fuel capacity.

 

That makes sense. It didn't have the under seat tank when I got it but the hole and brackets are there and the correct gas cap was in a box of "stuff" that came with it. The back tank actually looks like its made from 1/4" plate but that could just be overkill on a skidplate. I need to get underneath and
get a better look... but them damn ants.
Going to clear up a
spot in the garage once I get the frame done on my 78, then I'll get a better idea of what's going on.
Would be nice if the rear tank has a sending unit on it.. in that case I'll just run two gauges.
So far I've only run the motor off a soda bottle so I don't even know if that rear tank is any good.

 

My '71 (rear tank) came with a dandy thick tank skid plate. Not overkill in my mind.

 

Just as an idea:
rockAuto.com

switch faceplate: FV2
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=660981&jnid=8&jpid=0

Tank Solenoid Valve: FV1
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=660980&jnid=8&jpid=2

or the fancy one:
Tank Solenoid Valve: FV5T
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3778482&jnid=8&jpid=6

AND it's fancy wire connector:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=660984&jnid=8&jpid=1


Products can be found on Summit / Amazon and elsewhere...

The simple switch:
http://www.amazon.com/Drake-Off-Roa...917&sr=1-8&keywords=fuel+tank+selector+switch

 

I just braved the ants and took a better look at it.
It just has a skid plate on the bottom. I initially thought the hole thing was made from 1/4" plate.

Thanks for the links Dane. Can definitely see the advantage/necessity of having a second tank. I think that front tank would only get me back and forth to the gas station.

 

Gotta jump in here. I have a 63 with dual tanks. The speedo even has a main and auxiliary fuel tank gauges. I’ve owned a lot of jeeps over the years and this is the first one with that speedo I’ve ever seen.

 

Please post a picture when you can. I would like to see that speedo.

 

Me too,

 

I took one, trying to figure out how to resize it and up load it now.

 

here it is.

 

Not seeing any pics

 

That gauge has definitely been messed with. You can see the paint line just above the alternator and oil lights. The lettering looks like rub-on transfers. Nice work by somebody!

Here's a normal gauge for comparison:

 

Wow, that’s a cool mod done on the speedo! The SW gauges would easily swap side to side, as the temp and fuel gauges are the exact same size. First I’ve ever seen this done.

 

Agreed. It's pretty clever.

 

Yup, now that you point it out it’s pretty obvious haha. Thanks for being the second set of eyes. This cj5 is just full of surprises but they’re all subtle. Cool thing is all the round Stewart Warner gauges work and look great. This even had a round SW temp gauge that starts at 60 degrees, never seen one of those.

 

A toggle switch switch would be a whole lot easier but an A for effort.

 

Yep