To my knowledge? No

Odds are, yes it has. Show me a fuel pump that lasts 18 years and I'll show you a very surprised Ricky, lol.

Any tips on dropping the tank would be appreciated, I've never done it before.

 

get the truck higher than 3" off the ground to start. sorry, just being a smart ***. but really, jack it up as high as you can. and try to do it on an empty tank...gas can get pretty heavy, especially when it starts sloshing around. put a jack under the tank with a block of wood so you dont punch a hole through it and hold it up with that. unbolt the straps and disconnect the filler tube. let the tank down a little and reach up on top to disconnect the gas lines and harness to the pump. let it donw slow and check on it to make sure everything is disconnected. im not sure about your year truck, but this is a pretty generic GM procedure. they're all pretty much the same. but you may need some special fuel line release tools on yours, or they may just be a double flare at the connection. you'll figure it out. have fun!

 

Tips.
Your tank is heald in place with 2 lower straps and 4 bolts. 18 year old rusted bolts. There is all sorts of crap that will fall in your face, wear glasses or googles. Torch, yea right, next to a gas tank full of fumes. Only if you like dieing.

Gas weighs 8 pounds per gallon. 5 gallons of gas is roughly 40 pounds. Plus the weight of the tank. I tried to use a jack, however it only got in the way. I used my knees to hold it in place until I could use my hands, and that wasn't needed until I had all 4 bolts loose.

Bolts. Hmm torch is out. Spray PB Blaster on all the bolts. Let it soak and do it again. If you can spray it every day for a week that would be great. To speed the process you can spray, tap the bolt with a hammer, spray and tap. The tapping lets the liquid seep into the threads. Longer it soaks the deep it goes into the threads. Impact gun would be great here. If you don't have one I highly recommend a piece of pipe about 2'-3' long (big enough to fit over the end of your rachet handle), about 18" of socket extensions, and a closed end wrench. Buy new grade 5 or 8 bolts at the hardware store with lock washers. Tose the old bolts once you get them replaced.

The tank has 2 straps on the bottom and 2 straps on top. You only need to remvoe the 2 straps on the bottom. However there will be three hoses that go over one of the top straps. They have to be disconnected before the tank will come out. The kicker is you cannot get to them until the bottom straps are loose. I took off one bolt on each strap and tipped the tank so I could see on top.

To remove the rubber hoses, saturate them with WD-40. The WD-40 will soften the hoses so they can come off. Them hoses have been on there a long time too. If you still have trouble, use a screwdriver to pry the ends loose, then twist and pull. Almost there don't stop now. I used "white out" to mark which hose went were. Don't hook the hoses up backwards.

Yours should have a wiring harness and a ground wire. I just cut the ground wire as close to the ground bolt as possible. Spliced on a short piece of wire with quick connects and reground it when I reinstalled the tank to a new bolt. If you can use the same ground bolt hole, great, if not. drill a new one.

8 hours later and the tank is finally out. Yea, you laugh now monkey boy. just wait, you'll be monkey boy taking that tank out.

Now comes the fun part.
There is a metal ring on top of the tank that holds the fuel pump and fuel pressure sending unit assemble in the tank. This ring has to spin until the tabs and slots line up. Best thing you can do here is clean the top with a shop vac, spray the crap out of that ring with PB Blaster. Chisle all the crap off and use the shop vac again. You don't want the dirt in the tank.

Now that you have it out. Repalce the fuel pump, strainer, and make sure the fuel sending unit is clean. Replace teh rubber gasket on top, should be part of the fuel pump kit, if not buy it, only a couple bucks.

Once everything is out of the tank do an assesment of the tank. Clean off all the rust. Patch any holes with JB Weld. I used a product called POR-15 gas tank sealer $60 to clean the inside of my tank and seal the inside. Do a websearch for it. Highly recommended by the auto restore mags. If you haven't noticed by now, there is a rubber gasket between the gas tank and the straps. I scraped all the rubber stuff off and painted my tank with "under body rubber coating". Then we painted it Chevy orange.

Here is a link to my refurbished gas tank project. While we had the tank out, we also replaced all 4 shocks, did a rear brake inspeciton, and painted our rear drums. Yep you guessed it, Chevy Orange.
Hanr3 gas Tank project

 

Awesome, I'm gonna take my lowering blocks and leafs off the back so I'll have a little more room to work.

I printed that, awesome advice Hanr3 and Zero!

Sounds like I'm gonna have to wait until I get a full day off of work, sounds like an all day job.

I should go ahead and paint mine while I have it off! Sh*t, I oughta go ahead and put my fuel cell in, I don't wanna drag thru the tank!

 

nice tank! and i thought i was the only one crazy enough to spend so much time on a tank.

[IMG]local://upfiles/39/9655BFE6373340E4B98E0A733AE360E3.jpg[/IMG]

 

A whole day. [sm=funnypostabove.gif][sm=happybounce.gif]

Mine took a whole week. The POR-15 took the most time. I had to let it sit for hours to do its thing. You should be able to do it in a weeked right Zero.

Zero,
Your tank looks great also. And hear I thought I was the only crazy b.astard to paint my gas tank. Especially whe it is covered by that plastic shield. Looks like you left your rubber gasket material on the bottom side.

Here is a pic of the it painted with the rubber under coating.


Ah what the heck, a pic of it being painted Chevy Orange.

 

Hanr3 it took you 8 hrs? damn that sucks. I did it in 2hrs the first time. And 1wk later it went out again and it only took me 1 hr with it raining outside at the gas station it went out at, 12 hrs away from my house.

 

im leaving the plastic shield off. i made a cutom tank mount so when i air up the rear end, you'll be able to catch a glimpse of the painted tank and link bars from the rear and between the spokes of the rims.

at work it usually takes me about 30 minutes to r&r a pump. but thats with a lift and air tools. in the driveway, itll take a little longer.

 

I did mine in a gas station in AL when I live in IL, with my 2 cousins(who know nothing automotive), and a very very limmited supply of tools, one not being a jack.

 

I had to put the plastic cover back on, we take it 4wheeling and I need all teh protection I can get back there.

Yea, it took me a long time. My bolts were all rusted solid. I broke an impact socket. Ended up using a 3' cheater bar, and then I still warped my 1/2" drive rachet handle. Was not one of my favorite tank drops. When I did the one in my '00 it took me 2hrs, also no jack and that includes 1/2hr travel time to get a new pump.