Fuel Filler Pipe Repair
Some of you may not know: I built the New Cruiser. This was 6 years ago. And I'm not talking about a cool custom bumper, or a leaf spring install, or a bolt-on turbo kit, or an interior purpose-built for extended travel. I'm talking about all of those things and more - the whole body, fabricated from marine grade aluminum sheets, completely welded together. Some call it cool, some call it ugly, and I shrug, knowing that everyone is right. And then I smugly call it mine.
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The truck just south of the Nogales border crossing in Sonora, Mexico.
Believe me, when you set out to design and construct the body of a vehicle, you learn a lot, and you overlook a lot. These oversights eventually become the cause of serious headache. This story is about one of those oversights, leading to one of those headaches.
I know it's simple, but I'll explain it just to round out the story: A leaf spring is somewhat parabolic. On one end is an eye, on the other end is a shackle. When a leaf spring compresses, it gets flatter and longer, and the shackle rotates to compensate for the extra length. In doing so, it causes the tire which is bolted to the axle which is fastened to the spring, to move not only up with the compresson but (in the case of of the rear axle) backwards.
And that was the point of my oversight. Right - the tire will move backwards, about 2 1/2 inches when it compresses into the wheel well.
I designed the fuel filler pipe to run inside the rear passenger wheel well, thinking that the clearance I gave it would be enough. In short order I realized that the tire was rubbing the pipe and would eventually wear through. The easy fix was to lower the bump stop on that side of the vehicle. I did that, and it worked for years. Recently, that bumpstop was removed (another story), and prior to embarquing on this trip I failed to replace it. And so, under the extreme flex due to the extra expedition load in the truck, the rear tire began to rub again.
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The fuel filler pipe showing bad signs of wear from the rear passenger tire.
I kept hearing that awful scrape, with that silent hope that the schedule 40 aluminum pipe would have enough meat to last 6 months, and around 25,000 kms. Of course, reality sunk in, and one day I woke up to 12 miles per gallon.
The truck normally gets 18.
We were in Mazatlan when I realized what the problem was. Of all the places this could happen, this is where I wanted to be. A large city, on coast, with a port. That would mean aluminum specialists, tank fabricators, and all the good stuff I might need to get the job I needed done. And, at the end of the day, there would always be a warm ocean to clean off in.
So, I found what I needed. An aluminum shop, who could repair tanks. Diesel was everywhere under the truck, which made it impossible to be sure where the leak was, even though I suspected the filler pipe. So, there I was parked on the side of a stinky Mazatlan street, in the 35 degree humid sun, siphoning out my own tank into empty 4 L water jugs.
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Siphoning the tank into a jerry can and water jugs.
I dropped the tank, and brought it inside the shop. I was pleasantly surprised when the owner pulled out a box of various rubber stopper plugs and sealed each port on the tank, and then procured a little paint brush with soap and coated each welded seam on the tank while putting just enough compressed air into it. Bubbles would form at the location of any leak in the tank. This was the same procedure I used when building the tank to ensure I had fully sealed my welds. This made me very happy.
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Diesel tank with rubber stoppers in each port.
And so, with full confidence that the leak was from the filler pipe, we then went in search of a solution. The aluminum pipe had to be removed. So we cut it off, and (after a long search through town) we found a suitable fuel hose pipe and installed it in place of the hard pipe. To protect it we bent up some 1/4" aluminum plate and bolted it to the top of the wheel well.
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Filler pipe cut off. My arms are sweating and full of diesel by now.
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New replacement hose placed on pipe stub.
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Hose fastened to tank.
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Using a tiger torch to bend up the aluminum plate.
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The new plate fastened to the truck.
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Ready to refill the tank (thanks to mountainpete for the expo sticker).
And so, the story is hopefully over. It was about 3000 km's ago that the fix was completed, and to date it is holding up perfectly. I'm not sure I'm completely happy with it as permanent, but I can wait until I get home to come up with a more solid solution. In the meantime, while headaches are trying, Raenelle and I can walk away proud of another successful field fix.