Do M809 trucks have the same troublesome fuel pickup tubes as the M939s?

I drove my M813 up a steep road with 2" of fuel in the tank and it gulped some air and almost stalled out when the fuel sloshed to the back of the tank. This got me wondering if the in-tank fuel pickup tubes are the same ones as in the M939 trucks that seem to be susceptible to corrosion. I haven't really read of the 809s being mentioned in those threads, but should I be inspecting mine just in case?

The 939s have baffle inside of them. I am sure the 809s have the same thing. With 2 inches of fuel it went to the back and the baffle was sucked dry. My wrecker does it when I am running low on fuel and I pick up something heavy off the back and it squats. fuel to the rear of the tank and its not being picked up.

One way to rectify this would be to pull the tube and add a spounge to it like a fuel cell has. I will add that the fuel pickup tubes do not go all the way to the bottom of the tank. they sit just above it an inch or so. I ended up on my 939 tanks installing a new tube and cutting it with an angle in the tube so the tube would touch the bottom of the tank and still pickup fuel.

Thanks for the quick reply. Do you happen to know if the stainless versions sold by one of the members are longer than stock?

I believe your 809 tank is not as tall as the 939 tank but i could be wrong. 74M35A2 is who i believe was selling em. Everything you would need to make your own is found at home depot. Good time to replace your hard line with some push lok hose to prevent any future air sucking issues on the metal line.

Member Tedcat designs and fabricates them. Very heavy duty thick wall 5000psi hydraulic rated stainless tube, professionally TIG welded to a stainless 90 JIC fitting. He offers them for suction and/or return dip tubes, in stock or extra long lengths (you cut to fit). Direct thread in replacement. Unbendable, so you will have to pull the tank or lift the bed to install it. Changes fuel tank connection to male flare (stock is female flare), so great time to upgrade your soft suction line anyway. Ted can also send along Push-Loc hose and fittings for such.

Ted just had his second child born, but he is now back to work, I'll have him chime in here so you can all bother him.

I need sonething else to keep me busy..... I have m939 tubes on hand. Working on making more. Can you measure fuel tank depth and post some pics? Have you removed the old one? The m939 ones I made are pretty close to stock and leave about 3/4 of an inche of the bottom with a 30* or so angle cut to it. Any questions?

TedCat said:

I need sonething else to keep me busy..... I have m939 tubes on hand. Working on making more. Can you measure fuel tank depth and post some pics? Have you removed the old one? The m939 ones I made are pretty close to stock and leave about 3/4 of an inche of the bottom with a 30* or so angle cut to it. Any questions?

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I might be able to remove it and get some measurements for you this weekend. No questions at the moment, but I'll probably have one or two once I get the sender out.
With 4" of fuel in the tank the gauge is reading just past a half tank so something is amiss...

US6x4 did you make any headway on your fuel issue?

TedCat said:

US6x4 did you make any headway on your fuel issue?

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TedCat, thanks for checking up on me
To be honest I've been keeping the tank at least half full and haven't had a problem since then so work on my tank has drifted to the back burner. My fuel gauge still reads incorrectly so the sender needs attention, but I do a visual check before a trip nowadays.

It can happen to almost any diesel powered truck. Years ago, I was driving back from Georgia to my home in Virginia and I was getting low on fuel. It was only five miles or so to the house so I pressed on only to be forced to make a sudden and fast stop avoiding an accident that would not have been my fault as a vehicle ran a red light coming from a side road. Coming to a stop at the traffic light, my 2001 Ram 5.9L idled down and quit as the light turned green. It would not start and I was blocking a busy lane of traffic. Soon a State Police Officer arrived, reviewed the problem, and advised me that I did not know enough to be driving my truck and threatened to write me a citation. Fortunately, a second truck was following me ,stopped, and we quickly pushed everything to the side of the road out of traffic. The good news is that I was able to avoid a ticket and I learned a valuable lesson.

pmramsey said:

It can happen to almost any diesel powered truck. Years ago, I was driving back from Georgia to my home in Virginia and I was getting low on fuel. It was only five miles or so to the house so I pressed on only to be forced to make a sudden and fast stop avoiding an accident that would not have been my fault as a vehicle ran a red light coming from a side road. Coming to a stop at the traffic light, my 2001 Ram 5.9L idled down and quit as the light turned green. It would not start and I was blocking a busy lane of traffic. Soon a State Police Officer arrived, reviewed the problem, and advised me that I did not know enough to be driving my truck and threatened to write me a citation. Fortunately, a second truck was following me ,stopped, and we quickly pushed everything to the side of the road out of traffic. The good news is that I was able to avoid a ticket and I learned a valuable lesson.

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What, the Super Trooper has never made a mistake in his life? Sheesh.