Removing fuel tank from M1008 in the morning!

I will be attempting in the morning, by myself to remove the fuel tank from my M1008.
I plan on cleaning out tank and replace the fuel sender unit since it gives me bad readings and plus I think the sock is clog with gunk.
My truck does have a 4 inch body lift so removing the tank from below is not the proble.
My problem is that I have to disconnect the fuel lines and the sender wire from the tank before I can even lower the tank to the ground.
Since I will be working by myself, how can I reach the fuel lines so that I can disconnect them.
I cant even get my hand between the cab of truck and the bed to reach the sending unit.
If I had the right tools like a lift or even a few friends to help me I would remove the bed.
I dont have thiat as a option.
So how can I reach the fuel lines now to disconnect from sending unit before lowering the tank off.

Get everything nice and square, establish a center placement of the bottom of the tank and get a small piece of plywood. Support the tank on this, lower it until you can fit your hand in there and disco the wires and chop the rubber. Need to replace the rubber anyways if you are going in there.

First remove the clamp for the filler neck hose and the vent hose from the tank side of them and work the hoses free (may have to twist to get them to break free).

Undo the rear support bracket and strap, use a jack stand to support the rear of the tank (lower it about 4".)

Then loosen the front mounts. place a floor jack and a block of wood to hold the front of the tank while you undo the brackets, FYI you MUST take the ground wire for the sending unit off of the frame before lowering. (its on the inside of the frame rail near the front mount and comes through a hole in the frame).

Once the wire is off, you can remove the bolts and lower the front of the tank with the jack. As kenny says, you may as well just cut the rubber lines since you have to replace them anyways. there are three lines hooked up to the tank, one of them is smaller and is capped off on the crossmember under the bed. The two larger ones are used on the truck, try to mark them so they get hooked up correctly the first time. What i did was to drop the tank then remove the rubber hose on both sides from just one of the connections (removing both cut pieces of just one hose) so you just put that new one on first, then do the other one. Its ok to make the new hoses a few inches longer to make it easier to put them in. (you will thank yourself).


If you have any other questions just ask, I had the pleasure of replacing my fuel tank after last years GA rally.

Got the new gaskets for unit and new rubber lines.
How hard is it gonna be to reconnect the hoses back to the fuel line when putting the tank back in?

Not bad, leave a little extra but be cautious, too much hose can chave or kink.

Not that bad. What i did was to put the rear support on first and slide the tank onto it. Then hook up the lines and raise the front enough to get the support in place.

While you have the tank out, dump all the fuel out of it, makes it very easy to handle.

I would unbolt the filler neck at the top "behind the door" rather than mess around with the rubber part. They can be a real pain and I dont think you can a new one because the opening is bigger on the cucv. You'll notice a greater transition from the tank side to the filler neck bolted to the body.

as for the hoses you can leave em a little long just make sure they don't bind or kink when you raise the tank. The other option is to unbolt and remove the bed or cut a hole in the bed and make a removable cover plate.

unbolting the top part can lead to snapped off screws, since they havent been off since it was made, i had the snapping issue when i swapped my bed.

Was thinking about taking the inner bed wall of closest to the cab but their is 3 bolts right above the fuel tank which would make this impossible to do unless I unbolt the bed and move the bed back about 4 inches to access the fuel lines.
Why couldnt they have made a access plate in the back of the cab?????

On the subject, about how many feet of rubber fuel line is there in this thing? I'd like to know so I can buy enough the first time.

i would say to get about 2ft of 1/4" and 3ft of 3/8"

I would work on moving the bed out of the way first. Unbolting it and sliding it back can be done with one person and a couple of 4x4 posts. Then you can do all the work from the top without dropping the tank.

I think that is my only choice. Move the bed back so I will have access to the sending unit.
Take the sending unit off and then remove the tank for cleaning.
Ill probably try again this weekend. Ill just get a local drunk to help me move the bed back some and back into place and buy him a 6 pack.

ssgtwright-usmc said:

I think that is my only choice. Move the bed back so I will have access to the sending unit.
Take the sending unit off and then remove the tank for cleaning.
Ill probably try again this weekend. Ill just get a local drunk to help me move the bed back some and back into place and buy him a 6 pack.

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Just wait to give him the 6 pack until after you move it