floorpan welding - gas tank concerns

[MAK]

I just pulled out my seat and belts and was getting ready to do some cutting and prep work to begin some patching on my floor pans and got to thinking about the gas tank. Hadn't thought about the proximity to the in-the-cab tank until now. Repairs are all toward the front of the cab and a couple small patches at the sides right over the floor supports.
I guess to be safe I'm going to have to drain and pull my tank??
I suppose if that's the case I'm going to have to put this off until I can be off the road longer. Not like this is my daily driver but I still tend to need it most weekends.

[jzjames]

Should be easy to pull out the tank. Take like an hour, and then you can work clean.

[wt4speed#2]

Hell I never even considered that I just welded away .Hmmm lucky I'm still here....

[69bumptruck]

[gonzalo medina]

Take that sucker out

[wt4speed#2]

Too late I'm done . Still got the garage and the truck . . I never thought about . I drained mine dry when I put it in the garage and it has been sitting in there nearly 20 mnths(prior to any welding) . I dont know if it will ever see gas again . And i welded all around the tank, I guess it never "SPARKED" any concern to me. But I will consider the area shuold anymore welding be done on the truck .

[averagef250]

Probably not the smartest thing, but I never seam think about the gas tank. Of coarse, taking the tank out just makes sense, but if it's full, or mostly full I'm pretty sure I'll just leave it in there.

Ever throw a match in a bucket of gas? It's alot worse to throw a match in an empty bucket of gas.

For me, it's always the things I would never in a million years expect to try to kill me that try to. I just filled my oxy/acetylene tanks (got the big ones) and I'm doing some exhaust work on the rack when an explosion knocked me right on my ass! Before I come to my senses I hear a huge crash and thud and see my giant acetyle tank hitting the ground and toppling over (wasn't even hooked up yet). The buttheads that filled it left the tiny pipe plug in the bottom of it loose and it was leaking acetylene, the weld sparks lit it up and turned the bottle into a rocket. Must have launched it 5 or 6 feet in the air.

I ran my legs over working on my '70 once. Not going to elaborate, but it was real stupid. I was fine.

[merclover]

sue em buy another truck hahaha

[merclover]

i never took my tank our n i just finished my floors

[Kurt Combs]

Make real certain you don't strike an arc on an empty tank or mostly empty tank! Either remove it, or fill it clear up. I heard a story of a guy who struck an arc on a full tank in a car, he lived to tell about the stream of burning gasoline because the tank was full. The car was completely burned, but he lived. All that said, I did mine with the tank in, but I did a really good sniff test before welding.

[FLATBEDFORD]

A full tank should be less of a hazard than en empty one. The fumes in a empty tank are more likely to explode. Didn't they determine that a the TWA flight 800 crash off in Long Island, NY about 10 years ago was due to fumes in an empty fuel tank?

[averagef250]

Not sure I believe all that crap. Jet fuel is refined diesel with icing inhibitor. It's about as explosive as a bad fart, but I guess strange circumstances can make unusual things happen.

When I was in the Navy I spent a lot of time in the ship's oil lab "testing oil" (goofing off). We'd fill soda cans with JP-5 jet fuel and light them to keep the oil lab warm in cold climates.

[FLATBEDFORD]

They said it was fumes 'cause the tanks were empty. Maybe it was a bomb and they kept it secret?

[foghorn]

Its true a empty tank will explode faster than a full one will. More fumes and air space to expand in.




Foggy

[ima71 trucks are older]

I've tested it with what I thought at the time was a good arc welder simulation.

Full tanks burn, almost empty tanks explode. A metal gas can or old tank full of fuel with a bug zapper on top of it will catch on fire after a few bugs die and it sparks a few times. The same tank with only a gallon or so in it will send bug zapper and parts of the tank into the neighbors driveway and the sherrif shows up.

Somehow I survived being a drunk teenager.