A little Vegistroke Excursion Tank History

[Fordnut74]

So in my shop at the moment I have the very First Excursion, and second truck not including my own that I ever converted- Back in Oct of 2005. This was before even the V1 or FN74. I had a Donaldson mounted under the Cowl, an Aeromotive pump on the frame, Aeromtive Pressure regulator on the cowl, purge solenoid on the MAP sensor bracket, Heat exchanger on the valve cover, and a check valve manifold in the valley somewhere. Was truly the ORIGINAL vegistroke pressure differential design. At the time I i thought it was ingenious. I didn't shut off the diesel pump, and tied into the Diesel lines feeding the engine with the return only tied to the plugged ports thorugh the pressure regulator. With the system off, the truck ran at OEM fuel pressure through most of the OEM fuel system and fuel bowl. The pressure regulator on the return side was set to about 85psi so when on diesel, it was effectively closed and did not allow any fuel through. Then when the Aeromotive came on, the system would pressure up to 85 psi casuing the OEM fuel system to go into recirculation, and the WVO would flow through the engine and now return to the WVO tank through the Regulator that was closed when on diesel. Biggest problem with this was it was a real bummer to plumb, and I had a hard time keeping the regulator from seeping diesel back to the WVO tank when on Diesel Only.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the Torpedo tanks that were my first attempt at Excursion tanks. Yes, these are seriously heavy duty, made from 1/4 steel tube. Baffled, heated and cross connected, I failed to make the air vent big enough and they never did fill all the way and filled extremely slow. These were such a PITA it would be another 3 years before I would attempt excursion tanks again. So the owner of the truck has decided it is time to get with the times and have me install a modern aluminum EXC tank. And I am also installing a prototype onboard filling station. I will be mounting a Whale Diaphragm pump to an extra port on the EXC tank and have a hose with a quick connect fitting in the back so he will be able to fill from tote, cubie, barrel or whatever else need be. The tank will still have the standard fill door as well for filling at guel stations and with external pumps too. If this works as well as we hope, I may offer this an option for future tanks. Though it will be somewhat spendy.









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[greasyX]

Speaking of vegistroke history.............When I called RDS for my new sending unit,the tech line told she thinks I got the only 36 gallon cargo bay tank for the X......is this true?I ordered V3 before they were released and while you were developing under body tank (12/07?).I see drawbacks and advantages to this tank,,,Advantage,quicker warmups in winter(couple of moving blankets on top of tank),extra heat in back,easily serviced.Drawbacks,TOO HOT in side during summer,gave up some cargo area,Knock on wood but If I ever had a leak it would be INSIDE.Any other V3 Excursion mods and versions enter here....................greasy

[Fordnut74]

I don't recall ever having made a cargo tank for the Exc. Maybe as a one time deal, but deffinately never production. So if you have a cargo EXC tank from us, then I would say it is likely the only one we ever had made....

[greasyX]

Yeah it was from you............you me and james had a speakerphone chat over pros and cons......it was 6-9 months prior to under body tank.....just about when frybrid started toying with the colaboration will you all.I remember you telling me you were gonna try to get me one of there tanks but said they were still working out the kinks.We went that route instead of halitosis'(dieselstop fame) set-up.........love it .off to start a new tread about my junk front hubs...........lol.........greasy

[billman]

This is an idea based on an aux tank in the cargo area of the ex let me know what you think:


How about this: Connect a locking ball valve off a 90 degree nipple that attaches to your tank drain (yes the underbelly one). Put a ball valve on the aux. tank and a line(with queck connect if desired) to connect the two and you can gravity feed from there. Open main tank(under belly) valve before traveling and use the aux ball valve when you need to fill up (and watch the gauge). shut the valve and you're on your way. You should still have enough positive pressure to fill the underbelly tank from the bottom up. locking ball valve underneath for when you are not using the aux tank (you can remove things easy w/o draining the main tank. I would just need to figure out where to pop a hole to run a line and how to plug/seal the hole when not running an aux tank.

[skyskijason]

Originally Posted by billman

This is an idea based on an aux tank in the cargo area of the ex let me know what you think:


How about this: Connect a locking ball valve off a 90 degree nipple that attaches to your tank drain (yes the underbelly one). Put a ball valve on the aux. tank and a line(with queck connect if desired) to connect the two and you can gravity feed from there. Open main tank(under belly) valve before traveling and use the aux ball valve when you need to fill up (and watch the gauge). shut the valve and you're on your way. You should still have enough positive pressure to fill the underbelly tank from the bottom up. locking ball valve underneath for when you are not using the aux tank (you can remove things easy w/o draining the main tank. I would just need to figure out where to pop a hole to run a line and how to plug/seal the hole when not running an aux tank.

Brilliant! What about a $40ish solenoid valve so you can refuel 'in flight'?

After having a 200gal main VO tank on my truck for the last couple years, I've really gotten spoiled with the range!! I get 500-600 miles/tank out of my X tank, but would love to avoid stopping to refill at rest areas, etc so often!

Btw, been using my whale pump to refill X. LOVE IT. Plug'er into cig lighter and transfer 30 gals out of (4) 15 gal tanks sitting on hitch carrier basket thingy. Its quiet and plenty fast!!

[billman]

Originally Posted by skyskijason

Brilliant! What about a $40ish solenoid valve so you can refuel 'in flight'?

After having a 200gal main VO tank on my truck for the last couple years, I've really gotten spoiled with the range!! I get 500-600 miles/tank out of my X tank, but would love to avoid stopping to refill at rest areas, etc so often!

Btw, been using my whale pump to refill X. LOVE IT. Plug'er into cig lighter and transfer 30 gals out of (4) 15 gal tanks sitting on hitch carrier basket thingy. Its quiet and plenty fast!!

I think you have something threre. I was thinking about how it may take some time to gravity feed, but with a solenoid switch you could flip a manual switch and keep an eye on the fuel gauge. When your'e close to full just flip the switch to the off position. Pulling a TT there is not any room to put a tray on the back thus the idea of the cargo space. Now I need to pick a fuel container and go to work.

[mankypro]

Careful guys, lest you be lambasted for putting cubies on your hitch platform, I caught so much shiatzu for it on other forums it was kind of absurd. Of course I learned why to avoid infopop after that.

[skyskijason]

Originally Posted by mankypro

Careful guys, lest you be lambasted for putting cubies on your hitch platform, I caught so much shiatzu for it on other forums it was kind of absurd. Of course I learned why to avoid infopop after that.

Ya mean like THIS:



I've been haulin' (4) of the 15gal plastic jugs ya see in the cargo area on my rack. This was 60+ gals of BEAUTIFUL 'carnival' oil. I can't help but stop at EVERY carnival I see anymore, that oil is sooooooo freakin' clean!!! 2/3rds of this was for funnel cakes only and looks NEW, the rest was corndogs, so it has a lttle fat settled out of it - otherwise equally purty!

Btw, screw those guys!! I'm laughing all the way to the house with my free fuel. infopoop stinks, pun intended!