I used nylon rope to hold my fuel tank in place while getting the fuel lines started and tightened up. Worked better than a jack & board, plus the jack was not in my way.

 

when I did mine, the toughest part was getting it through my thick skull that I could just strap up the tank and THEN connect lines. (body lift, FTW) No, really, I kinda got under there and put my shins underneath the tank straps with the tank on top of them and bent my knees upwards. YMMV though.

Ps: don't try it with a hitch, you'll hurt your chances at making little ones, or at least your dignity.

 

Dude, when I changed my stuff under there, the new sending unit had leads that were about 2 inches shorter than the old one, man was that hard to get those lines on when they had no slack to begin with... I did the knee/shin method and my stomach muscles were sore by the time I finally got the lines on. It must have taken at least a six pack

 

I have legs like tree trunks. Heh.

 

You could pull the filler neck hose off the back of the tank and siphon most of the gas out. I replaced my fuel pump last summer and thats what I did. The tank should be all plastic so very light once you get it fairly empty. Disconnect the front strap first and when you loosen the back strap the front of the tank should almost touch the ground. Make sure all your lines are disconnected first though. The one at the front top of the tank is tricky to get to.

 

correction: the tank on the 2nd gen MAY be all plastic. My first gen has a steel tank with plastic baffles inside.

 

^ that is correct.


as for the filler neck, leave it off.

just put a rag in the neck of the tank (or tape a plastic bag over it) and put the metal filler neck in after (bolt it to the body 1st). then slip on the rubber filler hose & vent line. much easier too if you spray the rubber hoses with a little WD40 prior to slipping it on.

as for getting @ the lines on top of the tank............it's a little tight, but if you angle the tank about 60* (driver's side up) you can sqeeze in between the tank & the frame to connect them.

and if i can do it with a size 54 jacket, i'm sure most of you can.

but regardless of that, @ this time of the year it's a RPITA unless your indoors.

thank God i was able to push my Dad's project car outside just before Christmas, since my youngest brother's '94 Jimmy had the pump crap out on him.

GL brother, if you haven't already got 'er done.

 

Thanks for all the inputs and I some very good ideas and I will put them to use. I have to get some work done on my daughters Previa Van and than the gas tank. Right now in Biloxi, MS the weather is perfect for working on cars. Not to hot and not to cold.

 

Saturday I pulled the tank, removed the old sending unit, transfered the fuel pump to the new sending unit and installed the new sending unit in the tank. I also removed the remaining fuel in the tank and vacuumed out the inside before installing the new sending unit. Early sunday morning (6 AM) I started installing the tank into the Jimmy and by 8 AM I was done. The only thing I that I was cautious on was the lock ring for the sending unit. I did not know if there was a tool to remove but I ended up using a hammer and a screwdriver and it worked just fine. I also got 5 gallons of gas 1/4 tank to add to check the fuel gauge accuracy. I added about gallon at first just to check for leaks, once I was satisfied there was no leaks I added the rest of the gas and the gauge reading was just under a 1/4 tank. Perfect. I re-installed the plastic cover and called it done. Thanks for all the inputs.

 

don't know if there is (was) a tool designed for that, but that's how i've always done them. never had an issue either, unless the ring was rotten.


glad to see you got 'er done without any issues.