Personally, I don't know if I would move a tank to behind the rear axle either.
There is a scenario that I have mentioned before on the list, brought to my
attention by and old timer. That is a rear end collision in which the bed, or
parts of it get pushed into the cab, rupturing the tank He said it has happened.
After talking with him I took a look at the bed. To move the whole bed into the
cab would take enough impact to shear six bolts and rupture the whole back of
the cab. However a smaller area of impact, inside the bed sides could easily
push
one or more of the boards forward. They are only held down by the strips,
nothing to keep them from sliding forward once the rear sill is pushed in. After
considering this I thought the suburban or 47/48 pickup location might be
preferable to in the cab.
Grant
50 Chevy 3100
52 GMC 150
john dorsey wrote:
> Bob, I would never challenge you on old truck knowledge, but this is out
> of that area and is about how vehicles react in impacts.
>
> For over twenty years I have been dealing with wrecked vehicles, and
> have extricated a large amount of victims both living and dead from
> mangled vehicles. In all that period of time I have only seen one crash
> that the victims Burned To Death after the crash. It was a 1 ton pickup
> with a fuel tank mounted in the bed up against the cab. They had slid
> sideways into a tree that impacted right were the cab meets the bed, the
> back window shattered and allowed fuel into the passenger compartment.
> The passenger was probably killed on impact but the autopsy on the
> driver showed lung damage from the fire. A witness said the driver was
> trying to get out while he was on fire.
>
> It would take less intrusion into the cab to cause a tank leak than to
> kill you instantly. Most fatality victims do not die on impact, but from
> shock and blood loss over at least several minutes. Even if a wreck is
> bad enough to give fatal injuries at the same time it releases gasoline
> I think spending the last few minutes of ones life on fire would be less
> than pleasant!
>
> The safest place for a gas tank is inside the frame rail in front of the
> axle and if I had a pickup that's where I would put it.
>
> --
> John Dorsey
> Wauchula, FL
> '49 Chevy Panel http://www.strato.net/~jrdorsey/truck.htm
> '52 GMC Firetruck http://www.strato.net/~jrdorsey/fire/fire.htm
> '51 Chevy suburban http://www.strato.net/~jrdorsey/burb/
>
> Advdesign1@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > the safest place for your gas tank is inside the cab. If you put it behind
> > the rear axle it is vulnerable in a rear end collision. I can't understand
> > why this downgrade is so popular.
> > Bob ADler
> > oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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