Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Relating to fuel tanks, long range, fuel type, fuel filters and other fuel related queries
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by JohnBoyZA »

I see the Browne Davis is aluminium coated SS, not sure what the advantage is...
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by Peter Connan »

These look like really well designed tanks! But that price is a bit tough to swallow...

Lots of guys have had problems with the Northern tanks (leaks and stuff). Personally, I don't like stainless for a fuel tank on which the mounting brackets are welded directly to the tank. It is far too susceptible to fatigue. But good design can overcome the problem.

I have around 200l in total (roughly 140l and 60l), but I have no idea who made them. It may have been Silverton in Krugersdorp. Apparently they used to do stuff like this, and one of the tanks had a Silverton sticker on it.

My tanks are not that well designed. They suffer quite badly from air locks when filling, the sub-tank fills from the main tank and there is no way to stop fuel transferring from one tank to the other on steep hills. And I have had some issues with leaks on the seams too. But the extra capacity is worth it in my opinion. I really don't like unnecessary weight up on the roof.
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by Kirbster »

Pearly wrote: 22 Jan 2020 13:46 @kirbster, was that your silver patrol with the gull wing windows rear at r and d?
Yes it was
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by Kirbster »

JohnBoyZA wrote: 22 Jan 2020 14:59 I see the Browne Davis is aluminium coated SS, not sure what the advantage is...
From what I read aluminum doesn't do well as a fuel holder. Some chemical reaction with fuel over an extended period. The SS handles flexing and bending and doesn't degrade due to contact with the fuel like aluminum. The aluminum coating is on the outside to prevent corrosion.
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by Kirbster »

mvcoller wrote: 22 Jan 2020 14:44 Northern Offroad sells a stainless 139lt tank that fits in the place of your old standard tank. There is a heck of a lot of wasted space in where that standard tank fits. I fitted that on my previous 4.2i SGX Automatic GQ Y60 Patrol, with an additional 70lt (self designed, made by Uys of Stofpad Products) tank where the sub-tank sits on my current Y61. The 139lt tank cost me about R3995 fitted, at the time. :oldtimer:

Uys charged me about R2000 for the additional tank

That gave me a total fuel capacity of 210lt on the vehicle. Back in 2010 when I did Faces of the Namib Tour, I needed that (plus 2 x 2lt Jerry cans). At the end of that trip from Solitaire, I had 33lt of fuel left (when we got to Walvisbaai) of the 250lt I started the trip with, returning 2.23km per litre!! To fill it, was about R2500 in 2010 :surprised:

I think that Northern Offroad currently charges about R10k for the tank, fitted..... :mytwocents:
You sure the extended range when travelling in Nambia!

I went the Browne Davis as they are used on quite a few of the Australian 4x4 guys that I follow on YouTube and have very good reviews. I see in early days they too had problems with their tanks, but that seems to be a thing of the past now.

I see some guys have problems with the fuel pump in the tank getting blocked with weld burs from the tanks, but that is resolved by putting in a few magnets into the tank before fitment to help reduce the likelihood of that happening
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by Rhett »

If anyone is interested, and it’s a medium to long-shot, my fabrication department has done fuel tanks for the industrial industry, out of polyethylene. Problem is the price for the actual design is where the costs lie. I have considered getting them to make me a bigger tank but everyone needs a salary and they won’t design it for free.

This is an option for any kind of tank, you want one in the back of your trailer for fuel, or a flat tank for under your drawer system for water etc... I’m not promoting anything, they are already very busy, but if there is enough of a market, who knows?
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by Tinus lotz »

Iam not a fan of stainless steel tanks ...they break .... :imsorry:
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by mvcoller »

As soon as I bought my Terrano in 2002, I took it to Wouter Gerber of Gerber's 4x4 - at the time he had his workshop at Britz 4x4 and worked for them, but when they were quiet, could do private jobs at their workshops.

He made a 60lt stainless tank for me that fits and works exactly the same as the Sub tank in the Patrol, with a switch and pump to transfer fuel into the main tank. The only difference was that it filled from the overflow from the main tank when the main tank was filled. It did not have a seperate fuel filler.

In 13 years I did 350,000km with that Terrano, on some very bad and corrugated dirt roads, probably 20 trips into the Botswana wilderness, more than 6 to Namibia, Hwange in Zimbabwe, to Moz, Malawi, Tanzania, along the Great East Road and also the Great North Road in Zambia (and those who have travelled those roads know how bad they can be in places), the rocky road to the Serengeti and some really atrocious road in Angola.

Not once did that tank crack or give a problem. I know that stainless can get brittle if welded incorrectly, but experienced tank builders in the know, will make sure they do it so that it lasts. And I filled the tank to the brim every time, not once did I only fill it partially, even around town. It was always carrying a heavy load.

On most of my trips I towed my stainless Desert Wolf trailer that had a 100lt stainless water tank and a 60lt stainless aux Diesel tank. I always had the water tank full on trips, but only seldom had fuel in its Diesel tank. The Desert Wolf (I had it for 10 years and it also did the trips into Africa - behind the Terrano - except to Angola) and that also never cracked anywhere.

So if properly welded (not letting it get too hot and allowing the molecular structure of the metal to change and become brittle) there is hardly any chance of it cracking.

That is my personal experience with stainless tanks.

I did however have one problem with the tank from Northern Offroad. The inlet into the tank was well below the top of the tank and its breather and overflow into the aux tank caused some airlocks and filled slowly because these pipes were only 6mm pipes. I took it back and they replaced these pipes with 12mm pipes and it was much better, the fuel filling the aux tank a lot faster, because the displaced air got pushed out of the tanks a lot faster with the bigger diameter breathers.
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by graham1 »

Im not a fan of aftermarket tanks - on my old GQ it had a massive aluminium tank, think it was 135l maybe. It cracked on the weld when we were in the Kruger, couldnt get to it properly to seal it with pratleys, ruined the holiday.
I'll stick to the OEM tanks and carry jerry cans.
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Re: Browne Davis Long Range Fuel Tanks

Post by Dungbeetle »

Cage like enclosures with bladders inside - that's the way. The military around the world do that. I have not seen any commercial available units...
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