What is the best reason for the people making trucks to stop offering dual fuel tanks?

I understand not offering the high capacity fuel option in the grocery getter short beds.

Unless it's a mind kink ploy.
The
Truck companies think the consumers are idiots.
And think we'ed rather see three small totals at the gas pump instead of two or three large gas bill totals.

I would imagine a single tank is cheaper, thus increasing profits.

36 gallons in a 8' box Silverado isn't small

You can still get dual tanks in a 3500 Silverado chassis for a total of 65 gallons

People that live in rural areas, a common buyer of trucks, don't always have competitive pricing near home or may have to go many miles for fuel and it's nice to be able to buy in quantity.
Also as mentioned, when you carry a big load or pull a trailer, your mileage suffers and having a larger capacity is needed.
As for breaking the capacity into two tanks, that involves extra plumbing, wiring, an extra gauge and other misc. items too.

Probably related to costs involved in 2 higher pressure fuel pumps needed for fuel injection. You also must have a return line, which if the switching failed would return fuel to s possibly full tank creating all sorts of problems.

I had a 88 GMC company truck with fuel injection and I think it was twin tanked. One gauge never worked, that seemed to be the norm as most only had one that was accurate as I recall.

Don’t miss the feature even a little. Current 36 gallon singe is a great option.

Cost and space. I’m sure the fake ABC news story of side saddle, tanks outside the frame rails, being super dangerous didn’t help.

Plus maybe, it was obnoxious and sometimes a long process depending on the lines to fill two tanks. Most pumps here didn’t have hoses that would reach both sides of a pickup.

Funny stories, I’ve helped a few people over the years that ran out gas and didn’t know they had two tanks or that you had to press a switch to make it work. Usually kids or young ladies driving the husband or dads farm truck.

Had a 95 F150 that had two tanks. Fillers were on the same side. Good feeling to flick the switch and see the gauge go from E to F.

Dual fuel tanks require a lot more parts and are more expensive to build because of that (Filler neck, door, different bed for the 2 fills, 2 sending units, 2 sets of fuel lines, 2 fuel pumps, diverter valve, wiring for diverter valve, switch. etc. A LOT more to go wrong once the truck gets old compared to a single tank!

I'd always opt for the larger tank. A lot of people don't see that way when putting gas in and only put a set $ amount. BUT, the reason for a 36 gallon tank option on a short bed, is people that want to tow things. When I tow my boat with my Expedition on the highway, I'm only getting 11-12 mpg........with a 24 gallon tank it really restricts range and refueling with a 30' long boat/trailer is a pain in the ass in some gas stations when traveling.

quote:

Originally posted by Pyker:
Had a 95 F150 that had two tanks. Fillers were on the same side. Good feeling to flick the switch and see the gauge go from E to F.

My '91 has two tanks as well. The gauge for the larger tank no longer works so I reset the trip odometer with each fillup. I use it first and can comfortably get 200 miles out of it before I switch to the other tank.

Mine has a 37 gallon tank and is one of the reasons I chose a long bed. The newer ones have 48 gallon tanks.

Only once have I felt limited by the tank size in 6 years and 130,000 miles. Coming back to Florida from Alabama after evacuating for Irma, all of the stations between Tallahassee and Spring Hill along US19 were out of diesel. We went that way to avoid the I10 and I75 parking lots, but there are very few stations on that stretch of US19. My wife was little anxious with each station we passed being out for 200 miles. I had two 5-gallon jugs as well, but I was still going to need to stop once to make it home. Diesel was plentiful once we got to Tampa/St. Pete, so it all worked out.

Mostly, I plan ahead. For example, I top off before Atlanta because I don’t want to be wandering around Atlanta with the 5th wheel looking for fuel and I have no idea how long it’ll take to get through Atlanta if there’s a traffic issue. Or, while we are at our house in MI and the nearest diesel is 20 miles away, I top it off when I’m in town and have a half tank or less.

So you folks are telling me that the newer pickups are available with much larger capacity fuel tanks
But
They only have one filler door.

Is this for fords ,Chevy and the rest of the 1/2, 3/4 and one tin trucks ?

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
So you folks are telling me that the newer pickups are available with much larger capacity fuel tanks
But
They only have one filler door.

Is this for fords ,Chevy and the rest of the 1/2, 3/4 and one tin trucks ?

Ford and Ram offer a bigger tank option on most "half ton" (in quotes because some half tons have a ton or more payload). Ram is 32 and Ford 36 GM has it as standard on longbed options I think. On HDs, it's a weird mix as diesels eat tank capacity with the lousy emissions systems. Again, cab/bed type determines tank size. On the Tundra, I think a bigger tank is part of an option package.

I've used a 48g transfer tank in a older pickup, have me an extra tank and a half when exploring old logging roads for hunting with my grandfather.

Found that to be a better option than the dual tank setup.

Is that an 8ft. Cargo bed ?

My guess would be that the 1980ish chevy with a 454 and dual thanks that I drove, got around 8 mpg If I kept my foot out of it.

Trucks nowadays get double that, or better. No need for dual tanks.

FWIW As an option, if you want to add more fuel capacity to your existing truck, consider a single replacement aftermarket thank, such as from Transfer Flow LINK.

At my suggestion, my best friend replaced the exisiting tank in his Toyota Tundra with one that had something like roughly 50% more capacity, IIRC. Seamless, easy, reliable, he was happy.

You could also get a in-the-bed transfer tank, and even that you could get built into a tool box.
.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
So you folks are telling me that the newer pickups are available with much larger capacity fuel tanks
But
They only have one filler door.

Is this for fords ,Chevy and the rest of the 1/2, 3/4 and one tin trucks ?

New owner here of a 2022 3500HD Silverado 8Ft bed, 36 gal gas tank, and one filler door. I top off once a week at 3/4 tank so it does not hurt so much.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Is that an 8ft. Cargo bed ?

The 36gal tank is an option in all three lengths in the F-150. Generally they are part of tow pkgs. but I’m pretty sure they can be ordered separately.

Kinda nice in the flex-fuel trucks to keep a nice range using E-85. Danged nice when towing.

We had a 1984 Chevy with the dual (20ea?)tanks. It was more trouble than it was worth. The gauge didn't read accurately, the switching valve would stick or freeze up in the winter and repositioning to the other side of the pump to fill the second tank was a hassle. I'll take the current tank sizes and mileage any day.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
We had a 1984 Chevy with the dual (20ea?)tanks. It was more trouble than it was worth. The gauge didn't read accurately, the switching valve would stick or freeze up in the winter and repositioning to the other side of the pump to fill the second tank was a hassle. I'll take the current tank sizes and mileage any day.

THIS. I bought back my dad's 1985 GMC K15 with an 8 foot bed and single tank a year ago and have been working on various things freshening it up. Every single Youtube video or article about the dual tanks on these trucks I have seen is not good. Its pretty rare their tank switch mechanism works anymore and if it gets stuck it can be a big hassle so most owners with dual tanks just find which tank and fuel pump works and keep it with that. 20 gallons at sub 10 MPG sure doesn't get you far down the road, but few people are using these things as commuters or cross-country rigs anymore. Modern trucks have much higher MPG and were able to increase tank size through better engineering so they can probably get the same mileage off one bigger tank with more reliability and cheaper.