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RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement
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letsrig
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 7:00 pm    Post subject: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

Has anyone tried the Rocky Mountain Westy designed TIG-welded aluminum Fuel expansion tank replacements? Or does anyone know where to get stock replacements? Samba and google search for a stock replacement source has been fruitless.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:16 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

letsrig wrote:
Has anyone tried the Rocky Mountain Westy designed TIG-welded aluminum Fuel expansion tank replacements? Or does anyone know where to get stock replacements? Samba and google search for a stock replacement source has been fruitless.


the coolant pressure tank is nicely made. The gas expansion tanks are probably nice, but 400 bucks for a pair is big bucks for a tank that need not be so nice as it need not be pressurized, but if thats all that s available, and you need it, it is the price you pay.

I wonder if these tanks are CARB appoved? I imagine one of the smog nazis may not pass it if not. I have had them fail my van for a non CARB approved vent hose.

Based on the coolant tank I have, these are likely good products.

I wonder if they will sell an aluminum front window washer bottle? That would be nice, them bottles can be hard to find new or used.

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jlrftype7
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 9:07 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

Yes, I installed them very recently. Pricey, yes, but well made and fit well too.
Unless someone else starts making the Plastic Versions for us , these are the only New Tanks around.
Even if you haven’t broken a nipple off a stock tank, they are getting old and showing signs of cracking, badly, and are not going to last forever.
PM me if you want my old tanks. Nothings broken on my stock ones, so they should be good for someone who really needs them.
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tencentlife
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 8:05 am    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

I agree they're extremely overbuilt for what they do as an unpressurised vessel not subject to much in the way of exterior stresses either, but we small manufacturers make things using the tools and technologies available to us with the capital flows we can manage. RMW is well-equipped for most kinds of metal fab, but not plastics molding, so they make things from metal, and this is what you get. To reproduce the stock tanks would use rotomolding. Any kind of plastics molding requires sizable upfront investments in molds and testing. Like injection molding, it's the kind of technique that's profitable at tens of thousands of units but you'll lose your shorts if you only sell hundreds. GoWesty has the deepest pockets of all the Vanagon boutique vendors, and notice even they don't have any proprietary injection or rotomolded products in their catalog. There just aren't enough Vanagons on the road to promise the sales volumes that would make those techniques profitable.

So often on here I see people blithely propose a vendor make some part or item while totally ignoring the limitations small manufacturers face, as if wishing for a thing will make it so, or quite often as if a market of one should have its demands met, just because. Bring 10,000 more customers and we can talk.

But the need for replacement parts is there nonetheless, so you get things made of metal. Unless you can find serviceable used parts, it's all you're gonna get.

Looking forward to the musings about how these should just be 3D printed.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 9:43 am    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

letsrig wrote:
Has anyone tried the Rocky Mountain Westy designed TIG-welded aluminum Fuel expansion tank replacements? Or does anyone know where to get stock replacements? Samba and google search for a stock replacement source has been fruitless.


I still have my original as it's in good shape. Local wreckers would be my choice for a used replacement. Lots of vendors have new replacements (Gowesty,RMW ,Vanagain) if you want to go stock replacement route.
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jlrftype7
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 10:25 am    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

wesitarz wrote:
letsrig wrote:
Has anyone tried the Rocky Mountain Westy designed TIG-welded aluminum Fuel expansion tank replacements? Or does anyone know where to get stock replacements? Samba and google search for a stock replacement source has been fruitless.


I still have my original as it's in good shape. Local wreckers would be my choice for a used replacement. Lots of vendors have new replacements (Gowesty,RMW ,Vanagain) if you want to go stock replacement route.
Are you maybe thinking of COOLANT EXPANSION tanks, I'm not aware of any NEW Fuel Expansion Tanks being sold other than the Metal version from Van Café/RMW.
A quick search of GoWesty doesn't show plastic Fuel Exp. tanks on their site either... Confused Confused Confused
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Wildthings
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 10:39 am    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

If it were possible to find new factory tanks, I would have no qualms with using them. Some of the originals are 40 years old at this time, something that would be hard to beat.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 10:48 am    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

jlrftype7 wrote:
wesitarz wrote:
letsrig wrote:
Has anyone tried the Rocky Mountain Westy designed TIG-welded aluminum Fuel expansion tank replacements? Or does anyone know where to get stock replacements? Samba and google search for a stock replacement source has been fruitless.


I still have my original as it's in good shape. Local wreckers would be my choice for a used replacement. Lots of vendors have new replacements (Gowesty,RMW ,Vanagain) if you want to go stock replacement route.
Are you maybe thinking of COOLANT EXPANSION tanks, I'm not aware of any NEW Fuel Expansion Tanks being sold other than the Metal version from Van Café/RMW.
A quick search of GoWesty doesn't show plastic Fuel Exp. tanks on their site either... Confused Confused Confused


My bad! I did find a replacement fuel expansion tank at my local wrecker for $75 CAN a few years ago. Wrecker told me anything Vanagon is going up in price. I didn't realize RMW was making aluminum tanks.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:17 am    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

What years/models are these equipped on??
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Zeitgeist 13
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 12:27 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

Another in a large list of niceties that come along with a diesel swap is that you can delete the tanks, and just run the tank vents back to the top of the rear pillars.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:09 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

Syncronoid wrote:
What years/models are these equipped on??
I thought all the Gas models got them, no?
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:10 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

Zeitgeist 13 wrote:
Another in a large list of niceties that come along with a diesel swap is that you can delete the tanks, and just run the tank vents back to the top of the rear pillars.
Do you have to do anything special like put a screen over the ends of the hose or tubing to prevent insects from blocking off with a nest?
The only reason I ask is that when I got my Vanagon, I spent time and time again finding and removing Mud Wasp Nests in places I really wasn't expecting.
I guess that's way better than Rodent Damage though..... Razz Razz Razz
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:48 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

./quote] I thought all the Gas models got them, no?[/quote]

Do Syncro's have expansion talks? I didn't think they did
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Syncronoid
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 3:44 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

I can't find any on my Syncro.

kiltedhiker wrote:
I thought all the Gas models got them, no?

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Last edited by Syncronoid on Thu Feb 13, 2020 9:54 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Zeitgeist 13
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 9:16 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

jlrftype7 wrote:
Zeitgeist 13 wrote:
Another in a large list of niceties that come along with a diesel swap is that you can delete the tanks, and just run the tank vents back to the top of the rear pillars.
Do you have to do anything special like put a screen over the ends of the hose or tubing to prevent insects from blocking off with a nest?
The only reason I ask is that when I got my Vanagon, I spent time and time again finding and removing Mud Wasp Nests in places I really wasn't expecting.
I guess that's way better than Rodent Damage though..... Razz Razz Razz


Yes, mason bees and mud daubers are a big issue here. I snaked the vent lines up each pillar, gave them a arched 180 degree bend and then used old Beetle inline fuel filters with one end of the bowl sawn off. In essence it's like a cone air filter at each end.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 9:43 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

Syncronoid wrote:
I can't find any on my Syncro.

kiltedhiker wrote:
./quote] I thought all the Gas models got them, no?
. Whoops, forgot about the very different fuel tank of the Syncros... Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 7:36 am    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

Syncronoid wrote:
What years/models are these equipped on??


2wd fuel tanks. I don't know if factory diesels included the expansion system but all gasoline models had to have it.

Syncros include the necessary expansion space inside the tank.

On 2wd with their wide flattish tank they moved the expansion space outside. Had they tried to include space within the tank, the already-low working fuel capacity would have been reduced by 1 or 2 gallons and more complicated filling plumbing would have been needed.

The only question I've ever had about it was why they didn't redesign the 2wd tanks after they dropped the aircooled engines, the trough needed for coolant pipes and gearshift linkage could have been much smaller than what was there to accommodate the aircooled's heater ducts, so they could have increased fuel capacity by a couple gallons at least. They redesign parts year after year but let this one slide when it could have markedly improved range, one of the van's real shortcomings.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:21 am    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

tencentlife wrote:
I don't know if factory diesels included the expansion system but all gasoline models had to have it.


Yes, the 2WD diesels have the expansion tanks.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:46 am    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

Look in the Bentley, page 82.12 to see one reason why.
VW continued to install optional BA6 and DA6 aux heaters in many T3 vehicles long after the aircooled engines were dropped.
These use the fuel tank trough for the main heated duct air path to the dash area.
The home and primary markets for VW T3 often had cold winters.

Mark

tencentlife wrote:
.........
The only question I've ever had about it was why they didn't redesign the 2wd tanks after they dropped the aircooled engines, the trough needed for coolant pipes and gearshift linkage could have been much smaller than what was there to accommodate the aircooled's heater ducts, so they could have increased fuel capacity by a couple gallons at least. They redesign parts year after year but let this one slide when it could have markedly improved range, one of the van's real shortcomings.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:35 pm    Post subject: Re: RMW Aluminum FUEL Expansion Tanks or Stock Replacement Reply with quote

I'm sure you've pointed that out before, Mark, and I just as surely forgot, but thanks.

Nonetheless, considering only a small minority of vans got factory fuel heaters, a tank with the missing volume restored would have been nice to have standard, and the old style offered with the heater options.
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