Auxiliary Truck Tank & Toolbox Install

A beautiful day without much to do...so, I decided to install the auxiliary fuel tank I bought.  One of the things that irritates me is having to fuel the truck while towing Voyager (fifth wheel) and since the truck only gets around 10-11 mpg while towing, the best option for me was to install an extra tank that can pump into the truck's primary tank.  The F250 gets about 275 miles towing because the tank is only 28 to 30 gallons.  The new tank is made by RDS and I ordered it online.  It has an additional 50 gallons so I'll more than double the time I can tow.  This is the tank:

An additional feature is a small integrated toolbox.  Looking at the pic, you can see the separation.  There are 3 tabs on the tank--left, right, and front--that I had to drill through and then continue through the bed of the truck.  Before I drilled through, I looked thoroughly underneath to ensure I wasn't going to hit something that didn't need drilled like say A FUEL TANK.  No problem.  Now, I have the holes lined up, I pulled the tank out and tilted it up so I could install the valve and fuel line.  While out, I also drilled the hole through the bed for the fuel line and covered it with wire cover so the metal from the cut hole didn't rub through the fuel line.

Looking at the pic above, you can just make out the hole with the wire cover.  It is to the left of the valve.  The purpose of the valve is to shut the fuel flowing to the truck tank.  Just below the valve, you can see where I installed the carriage bolt through the tab and the bed of the truck.

In order to pump fuel into the truck's tank, you have to remove the filler tube and cut about 4 or 5 inches of the tube off, and attach the in-line kit.  At Norther Tool (online) where I bought the tank, they also sell this "Gravity Feed Kit".  I didn't like the thought of gravity feeding so I decided on using a switch-activated pump.  Gravity feed is slower and some people have had issues with leaking.  So, I bought the kit and between the tank to the filler "T", I installed the apparatus below.  

Diesel flows from the auxiliary tank valve through a line to the clear fuel filter on the right in the pic above.  It continues through the pump which I wired to a switch in the cab of truck.  The filter should keep additional debris out of the main truck's tank and help the fuel pump last longer.

Take a look at the pic above and you see the assembly installed.  Because the pump and filter are very lightweight and the fuel lines secure the assembly pretty well, I opted to just zip-tie the assembly in a few places versus hard mounting the pump.

Looking at the cab behind the blinker handled in the pic above, you can see a switch with a blue LED light on.  That is the fuel pump and when on, the pump adds additional diesel from my new tank into the truck.  As an added safety feature, I wired it from an uplifter switch (another switch on the truck) so really, both switches have to be on.  Most Ford trucks have 4 "anything" switches.  I have 3 extra so the built in feature will hopefully help keep accidental pumping.  The LED is also very bright so that helps as well.

That's it.  Install complete.

Garden Update - Spaced Out

Thought I'd post some pictures of the garden as of today.  The title refers to the Mylar blankets that I wrapped around the tomatoes.  The primary purpose is to trap moisture from the demanding tomatoes.  I hope they'll also provide additional warmth to the soil, refract light to the underside of the plant for more growth, and deter insects.  Really, the only insect damage I see is a little on the eggplant, but no bugs seen when I check.  See pic below.  I'm very happy with the progress so far.

On the right, you might remember the Chinese Red Noodle bean.  It's a really long "green bean" type bean and they're actually red (ish).  In that pot are also the Eggplant just mentioned.  You can click on any picture to enlarge if you so choose.







To the left are 3 cucumber plants and 3 Charantais Cantaloupe plants.  The Cantaloupe leaves were damaged when the temperature got below 45 degrees a couple nights ago.  Most of what I planted can't tolerate temps that cold for long.  Broccoli is the exception.  Still, it's recovering and nothing else was damaged.

To the right in the pic are two crooked-neck summer squash and two New England Sugar Pie Squash which is really a small pumpkin.  Yes, pumpkin is a squash, a winter squash!

The Broccoli is coming along nicely.  The pots I planted them in are really old fruit tree pots I had lying about.  I attempted to use them as SWCs, but they aren't really stiff enough.  The plant on the far left collapsed.  All said, they are awesome specimens.

One of the Broccoli plants is beginning to head.  For those that don't know, these plants were bred to produce a large flowering head.  We consume them normally before the buds turn into little flowers.  Look closely in the middle.

First tomato set.  Beautimous.  For a refresher, I planted both an Arkansas tomato called the Traveler and an heirloom called Chocolate Stripes.  Can't tell yet which this one is as I lost track of which was which.

 This pic represents the growth of the tomatoes so far.  Each one has had all the suckers removed to promote upward growth and limit bushiness.  Except for 3 that have a green bush bean, each SWC also has a pepper in the container with the tomato.  See previous posts for variety.  The peppers are also budding and I expect flowers soon.

The pic to the left shows the space blankets I referred to at the beginning of the post.  Hope you enjoyed this visit.

Reagan Vs. Obama - Social Economics 101

Found this obscure and interesting video.  To put it politely, I agree.

Garden Update - Strung Tomatoes

A little update on the garden to document the technique I used to string the tomatoes and some other veggie pics for comparison and later reflection.  This first pic displays the row of tomatoes with the tomato twine attached.

Now, a little closer with the tomato tie.  The tie firmly grasps the twine and encircles the plant stem.  It is very easy to attach and most of them, I used only one hand.  They can also be attached, removed, and attached again over and over.

Below are some random pics of the garden.  If you look through the pictures, you can see there is almost no pest damage.  So far, the garden is impressing me, and being right out the back door, it's turning out to be a fun project.

Spring is in the air and I thought I'd end this post with a little Turtle porn 'cause it's funny to me.  Caught these little buggers going at it next to my deck.

Garden Update Video

I have a Canon camera that Gina bought for me last Christmas.  It has pretty darned good video.  Giving it a go with this vid on the garden.  Keep in mind that this has been significantly reduced to fit online.  You'll have to trust that the original copy is quite good in full HD.

Famping

Returned from camping with the sibs and sib-kids this past weekend, 30 March - 1 April.  Had a great time.  There was a little drinking, some games, some grilling, some music, some tenting, and some roasting of marshmallows, but most of all, there was family.  We talked a lot and we gossiped a little.  In between, we took some pictures.

It started out bumpy.  I had reserved site A3 and A4 at Clear Springs on Wright Patman lake near Texarkana.  It's the same spot Glyn, Skye, Gina, and I camped in January 2011.  Figured it would be a great spot for meeting half way.  The day before we were to leave, the Corps of Engineer auto-cancel message came due to flooding.  I managed to get two sites near each other down the road a little at Piney Point on that same lake.  Getting the family there was tough.  Some of us had some difficulty....shhhhh, it wasn't me and that's all I'll say.

All arrived Friday night and departed Sunday afternoon.  The time between was a lazy and fun.  I'm very greatful for the visit.  Gina and I were going to stay another day, but being there without family and us wanting a free day prior to going back to work, we decided to leave also.   We agreed to stay in touch.

The title of this post is "Famping."  Renee called it family camping; combining the two, you get the title.  How original, eh?