Letting the side down..........

[pw8757]

On Saturday I was out shooting and the ground was soaking wet.

Short version, I went into a muddy patch and bellied out on the underslung LPG tanks. This stopped me having enough traction for Mr Goodrich to get me out.

I was assisted by another member of the shoot with his 4x4.

Only trouble was that it was a Nissan pick up truck! The igmoney!! Of course he spent the rest of the day completely forgetting how I had pulled him out before, it was Nissan this and Nissan that in every breath!!

All of which brings me to the point - I have been meaning to get shot of the two bombs under the car for a while and I know you can get a 90 litre doughnut tank that goes where the petrol tank lives. You then need a small reserve of petrol, which goes into a 5 litre tank in the offside wing.

I know the excellent Chris at RPI does these, but the whole conversion is a little expensive ( the little petrol tank from Chris is over 300 scoops alone ) and I have been told that other LPG specialists are a bit cheaper.

Anyone had this done elsewhere? Prices?? (I'm in North Yorkshire)

Thanks for any responses..................Land Rover pride at stake!!

[disco_al]

A mate of mine had a similar setup on his Range Rover, although he also had the sill tanks still fitted too - giving a decent gas range.

Basically, the original tank had been removed and replaced by two torpedoes mounted in it's place, and it had a smaller reserve tank in the rear quarter panel.

Why not have a look along the fuel cell route and mount it in the boot?

[Bowie69]

The corner tanks do come up in breakers and on Ebay from time to time, I was looking at one point and found a few without problems, and they were going for reasonable money ~£50 as opposed to £300!

I guess you need the boot space? Otherwise a regular internal torpedo tank mounted behind the back seats works well.

[mickeyw]

When I converted my RRC I went through all the research to avoid having a tank in the boot.

The end result was 2x40 lit tanks where the petrol tank used to be, and a little tank (6-7 lit-ish) in the rear wing.

I agree the 80 lit toroidal tanks are 'kin pricey. 2x 40 lit 4-hole cylinders with valves etc worked out somewhat cheaper than the donut tank. The downside is they are less easy to mount. I came across Autotanks who make skid units for multiple tanks, as well as dinky petrol tanks. It seems they are now owned by Tinley Tech which is where I bought my tanks and front end kit.

Anyway I was put off by the price of such skids and side tanks, so I decided to make by own from 3mm mild steel. Cutting was done by angel gringer and jigsaw, yes a painfully slow process, but quite pleasing once done. All put together with a MIG welder

Typical example of a skid, not mine, but from Auto tanks' old website. IMO a much better option than hanging them from thin straps, and it affords a good deal of under protection.

The petrol tank was modelled on a mate's long range fuel tank for his RRC. I can dig out more pictures tonight if you're interested. It houses the original fuel pump and level gauge.

I would imagine your Disco (Series 1?) would be pretty similar underneath.

Let me know if you want any more details. I know the DIY route is not for everyone.

[pw8757]

I guess you need the boot space? Otherwise a regular internal torpedo tank mounted behind the back seats works well.

Thanks for the replies so far.........re the above, two Labradors required in the boot space.

Didn't know I might be able to move the two cylinders to a skid system where the petrol tank lives...........some dimensions will be very useful Mickey.

Although I can weld a bit - seems to me making a fuel tank is probably a job for someone who can weld a LOT, but I have a contact in that department, so we might be getting somewhere................

[andy2986]

Hi,

My truck is a 97 V8 Disco 1

Ive got 2 x 40 litre tanks where the petrol tank used to be and a small petrol tank in the rear wing, Ive also got two sill tanks (36L i think)

Ive been thinking of removing the sill tanks for a while now as even with the lift on the truck (2") they seem to always be what gets me stuck.

Trouble is it will really reduce the range of the disco, and with only a 4 gallon petrol tank as back up.

I can get about 300 miles with all the tanks topped up (petrol and gas) but would maybe get less than 200 miles if I lost the sill tanks....

Also got two Dogs and three kids and all the tools I have to carry around as its a landrover so boot tanks are out me as well...

Andy

[mickeyw]

My RRC set up is the same as Andy ^^^^, with 4 tanks (2x36 lit sill & 2x40 lit under boot). It does make a huge difference to range between fuel stations. I added my sill tanks before heading across the Channel. I've also managed 300 miles before a fillup, not run them right out yet to see how far they'll take me.

My RRC is my luxury transport barge, not used for off-roading (have a Ninety for that), so hitting the tanks on the deck is unlikely.

Point to note: PW8757, your sill tanks will not fit under the boot floor, they are too long. Unfortunatley you will have to buy new tanks if you want to go this route.

[pw8757]

Great stuff folks - thanks for all the tips.

I've spoken to the people @ Tinley Tech (thanks for this link) and they seem to have reasonable pricing, but as stated above, I can't move the existing torpedoes.

I've been getting 145 (ish) miles range on 2x30 litre tanks, new tanks will be a total of 80, so I'm comfortable with that, because I've got six LPG sites near me and plenty more around my usual haunts.

I'll probably do the swap over the Christmas Break, so watch this space for photo's.........................