Do you guys think that it would be safe to install a larger fuel tank on the xb?

Why do you want a larger fuel thank?

Yeah??? Reason would be????

i'd love to go 600 or more miles on a tank.

i used to drive a truck that went 900 miles between fill-ups

what like a big rig?

I CAN GUARANTEE that a bigger fuel tank would void your warranty! :!:

yes like a rig. international 4900 35' flat bed (think tow truck, but bigger)

i really cant see why having more fuel would void my waranty.
remeber that they would have to prove that the bigger fuel tank is the cause of your problem.

I want an aluminum tank but just to shave weight. If I could get one bigger that weighs less it'd be cool.

I've been under my box a few times. Looks like the tank iss undder the rear seat and pretty much fills up the space.. so maybe an aux tank someplace... I'm with you though.. it gets 33ish mpg, but only holds 10 gal, so I'm still filling up every other day. I have a 72 chev that can hold 60+ gal. I could fill it up in NY and drive all the way to SC. pretty cool.

I've never understood why most car manufacturers seem to want to limit you to around 300 miles ... I guess it makes you get out and catch your snap on long road trips, but when you're just driving around town, who wants to fill up that often?

Bring on the bigger tanks!

only 10 gallons.. that really sucks... BRING ON THE BIGGER TANKS!!!! someone needs to post a mod for this

LOL.

1) jack the car up
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10) put flames out by stop, drop and roll technique

I love my xB, but like others on this post I hate having to fill up every other day! Any ideas on installing a larger fuel tank?

As far as your conversion is concerned, the bigger tank would mean you would have to change or add a new sender so it read properly. The extra weight would also affect your performance, impact your suspension, make items under your car wear sooner. All those things could be attributed to your fuel tank and help void your warranty.

Engineering a car to hold more fuel would mean higher costs and besides, for every person you know that drives 50 miles or more a day there are probably 5 that don't drive 50 miles a week.

Needless to say any time you make changes to a vehicle beyond its designed purpose you do impact other items that can become problems in the future.

Still 500 miles between fillups would be cool, it may also have a psychological factor we are not thinking about .

btw, the tank is 11.9 gal. if you are filling up 10 at a time, drive an extra 60 mi

I CAN GUARANTEE that a bigger fuel tank would void your warranty! :!:
You seem quite certain about this. Do you understand the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975? My understanding is that it says something to the effect that a modification to your vehicle could end the warranty on only those parts, or possibly the affected systems. But changing the fuel tank would be highly unlikely to affect your warranty on, say, your steering or braking systems unless they, too, were modified.

A quick search finds this online:
...the law basically states that you have a right to use aftermarket, non-OEM parts on your car and still retain the factory warranty. However, if there is a failure and the manufacturer...can show that the failure was caused by the aftermarket part, they can deny coverage.

The important thing is that your dealer cannot VOID your entire warranty just because the part is on the car. There have been cases where a dealer would tell a customer that their new car had no warranty because it had an aftermarket exhaust. Granted, the exhaust is not covered, however the rest of the car is still under the normal warranty.

Something as simple as a gas tank could void your brake warranty. Again, you are increasing the overall weight of the vehicle which will impact certain systems, like your brakes. I saw the dealer tell a friend of mine that his brake rotors were not defective because they were wearing every 20K miles, the result was that the combined weight of him and his wife were the contributing factor to the failure of the part.

Combined they weighed close to 900lbs, and therefore were blamed for the excess wear and no warranty for you .. Cruel, but true in there case.

As far as your conversion is concerned, the bigger tank would mean you would have to change or add a new sender so it read properly. The extra weight would also affect your performance, impact your suspension, make items under your car wear sooner. All those things could be attributed to your fuel tank and help void your warranty.

You make some excellent points, but I think that if you keep the additional weight below the vehicle's safe carrying capacity (payload allowance is what...about 850 lbs?) you should be OK (safety- and warranty-wise). Gasoline is around 6.5 lbs/gallon IIRC.

Also, if you could hang a secondary tank at the same level as the original tank, and the two were joined so that fuel could easily flow between the two, a new sender might not be needed.

I would try to talk to the guys at www.supertanks.com . Bigger tanks are thier bussiness. All of thier tanks use the stock pump and or sending unit. Sure they only do full size pick ups, but that may be because nobody else asked them to make anything else. If you can show an interest They might at least look into it.

Personally, I don't see a need for more range. After 300 miles I'm ready for a potty/food/smoke break anyways. LOL
Plus all the extra weight of the extra fuel will surely cut down the mpg's.

Just purchase some gas cans and place them in the back. Bigger gas tank, oh brother. :doh:

As a professional driver.. my biggest concern with installing a larger fuel tank on a toaaster is the increased exposure to fire in the event of a crash,, It would seem to me that the space surounding the existing tank is used as a "crush zone"..if one was to eleminate this by using a larger tank.. the resulting exposure to puncture/fire is a major concern.
as a side note. the Peterbuilt carries 300+ gal. has gone as much as 1800 mile between fills.(6.5 mpg)
285 gal fillup x $3.26 per gal..= $929.10 every other day...ouchies

I agree that Safety could be a big concern with a bigger tank don't know that there is room for an extra tank.

Ready to be flamed..

Ok then...

A fuel cell in the cargo area with a solenoid drop valve. Run the OEM tank empty...drop in the reserve fuel .....

Fuel cells are less likely to rupture in an accident.

This is called thinking INSIDE the box.

I personally believe the capacity of the factory tank on the xB might be "marginal" for the vehicle, but I probably wouldn't consider more than a 20-30% increase to be reasonable. The xB isn't designed as a 'long-haul' vehicle, but as an 'Urban Utility Vehicle' - an around-town general-purpose wheeled box, a "Metro Marauder."

I've jacked up the fuel capacity of some of my vehicles - one of my Toyota Land Cruisers had a 57 gallon capacity. Thing is, the extra capacity was required for extended off-road travel where there weren't gas stations every few miles... :P

Running 'round town I'm seldom more than a mile from a refill, and scooting along the metro area freeways it's usually no more than maybe ten miles between options.

On trips there is sometimes a 40 mile gap, but even then, that's within range of the "Hey! Stupid! Add fuel" light. :D

In those areas where it might be 100 miles to the next fuel stop, intelligent drivers (all of us, at least, right?) plan ahead and make sure they have the fuel load required.

I can see those who consistantly put on 200 miles or more a day (0.001% maybe?) might want a larger capacity, rather than 'wasting' 5 minutes a day refueling, but those on long trips should really be stopping at least every 300 miles just to get out and do one lap around the car, if nothing else. :P

I'll stick with my tiny tank. :)

supertanks.com makes tanks for diesel trucks- I doubt they would be hot on the idea of engineering a tank for a tiny xB. Diesel fuel also behaves differently, which is why it's possible for them to add a bolt on tank.

Also, is $875 for a tank really worth it? You could probably save that much in gas by choosing your fillup station wisely.

Something as simple as a gas tank could void your brake warranty. Again, you are increasing the overall weight of the vehicle which will impact certain systems, like your brakes. I saw the dealer tell a friend of mine that his brake rotors were not defective because they were wearing every 20K miles, the result was that the combined weight of him and his wife were the contributing factor to the failure of the part.

Combined they weighed close to 900lbs, and therefore were blamed for the excess wear and no warranty for you .. Cruel, but true in there case.

This is just dealer BS. What car would have a cargo weight of less then 900lbs. Only way I could see some crap like this working is on a motorcycle or some tiny sports cars, (but being fat myself, no 2 people with a combined weight of 900 are riding in either one together).. I mean even the xB/XA are rated to haul more then that.

Dunno about the xB, but manufacturers will often sell vehicles with different tank capacities in different countries. Australian and South African vehicles are often outfitted with larger tanks, to reflect the larger distances between gas stations.

As to figuring out if that's true for an xB and how to actually get one, you're on your own.

I wouldn't put an aux tank anywhere behind the rear axle because of the exploding Pinto scenario... and you could probably have a new oversized tank fabbed locally to fill the available space, but it'd be expensive, and would introduce fuel system warranty issues.

As has been pointed out, the actual tank capacity is 11.9 gal, giving a realistic hwy range of 350 miles between fillups...

Uh, Spider, here is a quote from your Owner's Manual...
Vehicle capacity weight (occupants+cargo): 375 (825) kg(lb.)


Here's a recent thread...
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=112221

(Still, though, that's nearly half a ton capacity, which is a lot for a tiny car. Many others have even less capacity...

Honda Element - 675 pounds
Honda Insight - 365 pounds

(I picked those two because when I first saw them I was amazed. The capacity of the Element does NOT match it's "supposed" SUV ruggedness and size, and the 4 passenger insight definately needs lightweights... My ex biz partner would almost max out an Insight all by himself - 6'7", 330 pounds.)

The rated maximum load capacity is something few people even bother to check on. :lalala:

With the Honda Insight (a hybrid) the batteries weigh so much that there is little load capacity left - essentially one person and their luggage is all that "4 passenger" car can carry...

(UPDATE: I just checked the load capacity of the 5 passenger Toyota Prius (hybrid) and it's maximum load capacity is also 365 pounds, just like the Honda Insight. One more reason I think the hybrids are a poor joke with a bunch of "economy" numbers that do not make real-world sense.)