- Location
- Green Valley, CA
Hey guys... I'm just putting this here so that Gen Right can get some feedback on this prototype XJ tank I talked them into making.
Working with Gen-Right, I got a tank in my 98 XJ before taking it to Easter Jeep Safari in Moab. It is about 25 gallons... although I've not run the Jeep out of gas completely, I've done 50 miles a couple of times with the needle full on E and the tank takes just under 25 gallons at that point.
It is an aluminum tank with a 3/16 inch steel skidplate. This one is a prototype, we are trying to figure out what the XJ community wants more- clearance or capacity.
It is the same height as the stock tank as you can see, but it gets spaced about 1/2 inch off the floor of the XJ (in the likely even of dropping off a ledge onto the tank and compressing the XJ floor- you know the 3/16 skid is gonna put up a bigger fight than the XJ mounting points), and the 3/16 skid with the 1/8 inch foam between the aluminum and the steel means it hangs about an inch lower.
For other Jeeps, Gen-Right makes both a higher clearance tank (ability to move the axle back up to 6 inches) and a higher capacity tank (basically what I've got now). The company isn't sure that the XJ market would bear both tanks for the XJ, not to mention the difference between early and late XJs resulting in 4 part numbers and other issues on the business side of things. Right now, the leading idea is a stock-ish sized tank, making the most of the space back there for whatever capacity that yields.
Tony from Gen Right figures we could make it have about 2 inches more clearance (from bottom of tank to ground) than stock and still get the stock capacity, thanks to the squared off corners. Right now I've got enough space to move my axle back 3 or 4 inches if I wanted (about like stock). Tony also figures we could go forward (make front of tank grow towards axle) with the tank another inch or two, which would gain from 3-5 gallons more and still have about two inches of axle clearance.
You can see the skid in the background of one of the pictures. We used the stock mounts with nuts welded to strips to mount the front of the tank, while the rear of the tank is mounted to the rear "c" channel section with a bolt strip. The limit for expanding the tank forward would be the stock mounts that are being used. Sorry, I don't have pics of the mounts, but I know Tony took some, and one of his guys, Robert is on here too.
I'm now getting about 350 miles out of tank, assuming no 4-low usage or rockcrawling. Heck, in Moab I was up to 9600 feet, with 40 or so miles in 4WD in the snow, 10 psi in the tires, and still got over 300 out of a tank.
Here are a couple of sneak peeks of the prototype tank I'm now running. Like all the Gen Right tanks, it uses the stock fuel pump, the stock vents on the top of the tank, is 1/8 inch aluminum (IIRC), and has a beefy 3/16 inch skid.
For you pre-97 XJ guys, the plan is to nail down one single design for the XJ tank on my 98, or my 97 that is in Gen Right's possesion for prototyping (as the early and late XJs appear to be very similar in regards to unibody design and the way it affects the gas tank) and then apply that to the earlier XJ. Gen Right has all the parts for you early guys to reuse your fuel pump, but there really isn't any point in prototyping two tanks simultaneously.
BTW, I'm not affiliated with Gen Right... like so much else in this world its not what you know its who you know... and in this case, its needing a place to put a 97 XJ shell, and coincedentally knowing a company that wants to start making XJ stuff... LOL.
What do you guys think?
Working with Gen-Right, I got a tank in my 98 XJ before taking it to Easter Jeep Safari in Moab. It is about 25 gallons... although I've not run the Jeep out of gas completely, I've done 50 miles a couple of times with the needle full on E and the tank takes just under 25 gallons at that point.
It is an aluminum tank with a 3/16 inch steel skidplate. This one is a prototype, we are trying to figure out what the XJ community wants more- clearance or capacity.
It is the same height as the stock tank as you can see, but it gets spaced about 1/2 inch off the floor of the XJ (in the likely even of dropping off a ledge onto the tank and compressing the XJ floor- you know the 3/16 skid is gonna put up a bigger fight than the XJ mounting points), and the 3/16 skid with the 1/8 inch foam between the aluminum and the steel means it hangs about an inch lower.
For other Jeeps, Gen-Right makes both a higher clearance tank (ability to move the axle back up to 6 inches) and a higher capacity tank (basically what I've got now). The company isn't sure that the XJ market would bear both tanks for the XJ, not to mention the difference between early and late XJs resulting in 4 part numbers and other issues on the business side of things. Right now, the leading idea is a stock-ish sized tank, making the most of the space back there for whatever capacity that yields.
Tony from Gen Right figures we could make it have about 2 inches more clearance (from bottom of tank to ground) than stock and still get the stock capacity, thanks to the squared off corners. Right now I've got enough space to move my axle back 3 or 4 inches if I wanted (about like stock). Tony also figures we could go forward (make front of tank grow towards axle) with the tank another inch or two, which would gain from 3-5 gallons more and still have about two inches of axle clearance.
You can see the skid in the background of one of the pictures. We used the stock mounts with nuts welded to strips to mount the front of the tank, while the rear of the tank is mounted to the rear "c" channel section with a bolt strip. The limit for expanding the tank forward would be the stock mounts that are being used. Sorry, I don't have pics of the mounts, but I know Tony took some, and one of his guys, Robert is on here too.
I'm now getting about 350 miles out of tank, assuming no 4-low usage or rockcrawling. Heck, in Moab I was up to 9600 feet, with 40 or so miles in 4WD in the snow, 10 psi in the tires, and still got over 300 out of a tank.
Here are a couple of sneak peeks of the prototype tank I'm now running. Like all the Gen Right tanks, it uses the stock fuel pump, the stock vents on the top of the tank, is 1/8 inch aluminum (IIRC), and has a beefy 3/16 inch skid.
For you pre-97 XJ guys, the plan is to nail down one single design for the XJ tank on my 98, or my 97 that is in Gen Right's possesion for prototyping (as the early and late XJs appear to be very similar in regards to unibody design and the way it affects the gas tank) and then apply that to the earlier XJ. Gen Right has all the parts for you early guys to reuse your fuel pump, but there really isn't any point in prototyping two tanks simultaneously.
BTW, I'm not affiliated with Gen Right... like so much else in this world its not what you know its who you know... and in this case, its needing a place to put a 97 XJ shell, and coincedentally knowing a company that wants to start making XJ stuff... LOL.
What do you guys think?
