I know, I know, the simple answer is just to go fill it up, problem is it's not empty yet :P

My dad just bought a new truck and for my birthday he gave me his old one. It's a '95 F-150 XL, I-6 5-spd. 167k miles and it runs like a dream. Other than a few little cosmetic things the only thing the truck really needs is an exhaust system, the current one is rusting off.

Anyway, I've had the truck since the 6th and dad was good enough to fill up both fuel tanks before he gave it to me. Some 244 miles later I haven't run the front tank empty yet, even though it's been floating on E all day. I'm expecting to get around 250 miles out of it before it's completely dry. BTW I have heard that running a tank completely dry isn't really good on the pump anyway.

What I'm curious about though, can I count on the rear tank for more miles or less? I was inclined to think that the rear tank was larger, but it seems like the more I look online, the more confusion there is. I can't help but wonder then, does the capacity of the optional thank depend on what body style you have or by year? That's the only thing I could think of that would explain why there is so much confusion about the issue.

In another week or so when I need gas, which tank am I gonna find holds more?

Thanks,

Nathan

 

I've got a 94 Lightning and I'm pretty sure the front is 16 and the back 19
Bill

 

It can be kinda confusing, but for the most part, gasoline engine trucks w/ dual tanks all have an 18.2 gallon rear tank, but the size of the front tank depends on the size of the bed; shortbeds have a 16.5 gallon front tank, and longbeds have a 19 gallon front tank.

 

Just be thankful you have two.
Years ago I went camping with a buddy in his 95 shortbed with one tank.
We were pulling a medium sized trailer.
I didn't know nothing about his tanksize or towing mpg.
We agreed to split the gas and we couldn't go 100 miles without stopping.

It was a nightmare of historic preportions.
I was broke before we got to the campsite and couldn't figure out how he cheated me out of all my money.

 

Awesome, that makes sense. I was able to see that a single tank truck was supposed to be 18.2 gallons, and a short bed double tank truck was 34.7 total. The trouble was knowing which was which!

Thanks guys!

 

For my intended usage it looks like I'm gonna be able to go at least three weeks without filling up. Granted I'm not towing anything!

 

In both cases, the truck must have been a 4x4 shortbed. They were the only truck that year to come with a single tank (18.2 gallons).

 

I can't swear that was a 1995, it was an early ninties.
It wasn't 4x4 so, 95 is out.
I was so filled with blind rage I didn't know what State I was in.

 

Thats good info. I knew that mine were virtualy the same.

 

Running a tank completely dry isn't really good for the pump, but even once the needle is at "E" you still have another good 20 miles or so before the motor flat out stalls.

Isn't the 2wd XL the longbed model?

 

I agree completely. The fuel pump is cooled by the fuel it's pumping, so making it suck air is not good for it. I'm only doing it this time so I'll know how far I can go on that tank if I absolutely have to.

It's been reading E for two days now. I can't believe how far I've managed to get on this tank. I was expecting it to be dry at least 20 miles ago. I'm at 280 right now! I probably won't even get out of my driveway today before it craps out.

Maybe it was an option, but it certainly wasn't required. I've got mine and a friend of mine has had one as well. He also had an XLT short bed 2WD.

 

Finally ran the front tank dry this morning and the pump shut off at 16.78 gallons. I went ahead and squeezed it up to 17 gallons for a nice round number. I guess 16.5 is in fact the right number!

 

Keep in mind that tank size doesn't include the fill neck, so if you truly fill it all the way, you'll get more than the tank size in there.

 

I have 95 SWB. Front tank 16.5; rear 18.2 gal

My problem is that I think I have fuel pumps going out but not sure how to trouble shoot. Oh yea, 163K miles, 4.9L 300.