Installation and Review: Trail Tank High Capacity Fuel Tank

[christopher]

Its the desire to AVOID that plastic can on the back that pushed me towards this new fuel tank.

Now, I get to go down and take the whole thing off again.

Totally spaced installed the new Copper Donuts I got for the exhaust manifold which requires that the fuel tank be OFF the sled.

I swear, i am going to be an expert and installing and removing this thing!!

 

[TNytro162]

Its the desire to AVOID that plastic can on the back that pushed me towards this new fuel tank.

Now, I get to go down and take the whole thing off again.

Totally spaced installed the new Copper Donuts I got for the exhaust manifold which requires that the fuel tank be OFF the sled.

I swear, i am going to be an expert and installing and removing this thing!!

Practice makes perfect,,,,I think this is the third time,,,didn't you remove the stock one for your Airframe running boads??,maybe not,,Just think of all that you've helped including me.

 

[BordnBill]

Sounds like the newer tanks fit much better. I have the older tank, and let me tell you, it's a pain in the arse to fit. The use of ratchet straps and a 2x4 is needed every time.

 

[christopher]

Wow.
Nothing like that at all.
It slid right into place without ANY force at all.
In fact, I think they could easily get another full gallon of full out of the space left over.

 

[motojunkie101]

Sounds like the newer tanks fit much better. I have the older tank, and let me tell you, it's a pain in the arse to fit. The use of ratchet straps and a 2x4 is needed every time.

Mine isn't quite that bad, but its a bear to get on and off. If they can do the newer style with the turbo cutout I will be upgrading eventually.

 

[christopher]

After a couple months of waiting on parts to be installed it was time to get back to work on this tank!!

Last night I filled the tank for the first time in order to test start the engine with the new MPI Supercharger.

 

[christopher]

Time at last to start fitting the body panels to the new fuel tank.

Here is the untouched OEM fuel tank panel.

Step One is to cut the foam to allow the three pieces to be separated as the side covers will NOT be used with the new tank.

 

[christopher]

Flip the cover upside down.

Then separate the three pieces.

 

[christopher]

The raw tank installed on the Nytro.

2 small mounting bolts have to be removed.

Then the center portion of the tank panel is reinstalled.

 

[christopher]

Getting the two holes lined up was TIGHT.
It would probably fit better if the holes in the panel were "widened" just a bit before you did the install.

Bolts reinserted.

And the panel is in place

NOTE:
Trail Tank suggests that the extra tabs on both sides of this panel be trimmed away to give it a more finished look.

Once I get my side panels back on the sled I will probably trim these tabs off.

 

[richracer1]

Chris, the "WARNING" labels really need to go away.

 

[christopher]

Think it's time to peel them off?

 

[HDEMWET]

Hey Christopher,

So how close are you to getting the beast out on the snow? Quite possibly the most bolt ons I've ever seen done at once...lol. Do you have snow where you are? We have maybe 6-8" here tops, just enough to get in trouble, so I'm waiting patiently as are many folks from the sounds of it.

Looking good though!
I'm sure all that hard work is gonna pay off
Derek

 

[christopher]

Last part is due in on Tues/Weds.
Then she goes for a ride.

There is more then enough snow in the local mountains for the first test ride.

 

[christopher]

Well, last night was the moment of truth for the new fuel tank.
Everything else on the sled was done and it was finally time to install the side pannels.

First off I had to remove all of the TWIST LOCKS on the panels as the trail doesn't not use them.

With a snip of the retaining ring on the back side the locks come right off.

Trail tank replaces those locks with the older style Thumb Screws that mate smoothly into the fuel tank itself.

The new screw mounting points

Molded directly into the fuel tank

 

[christopher]

But the problem is, when I slipped the nose cover onto the sled and went to screw it into place the screws and the holes did NOT align!

The cover is clearly too HIGH and too far FORWARD.

When you look at this picture you can see where the plastic cover should mate up with the fuel tank. But they don't.

So "ASSUMING" that the front end of the sled has not changed, and that the nose cone of the sled has not changed, that leaves me only with the Fuel Tank has moved.

 

[christopher]

This picture shows it best when I lift up the edge just a bit to show where the screw hole is.

So.
I am now going to go back and remove the seat and see if there is any slack left in the mounting slots of the fuel tank that would allow me to PUSH IT FORWARD on the sled a half an inch or so...

I don't think there is, as I "THINK" I mounted the fuel tank as far forward as I could, but the only way to know is to drill out the rivets from the seat, unbolt it and expose the tank mounts and take a look.

WHAT A PAIN!

 

[christopher]

These three photos from post #35 is what its all about now.

DID IT MOVE BACKWARDS AT SOME POINT without me noticing it during the installation???

 

[wilmot]

Good luck getting it to all line up correctly. My plastic on the top of the tank would not line up so i just left it; seems okay though. I have the Skinz Air frame hood, it was a pain at first but after taking it off and on several times and forcing it into place it now lines up. How are your side panel's fitting? I had large gap's where it meets the tank I took a heat gun and molded it to fit nicely.

 

[christopher]

When all else fails, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.

SIGH.....

This was a case of me being CARELESS and not closely following the printed instructions.

The tank was mounted just fine.

I made a mistake in how I attached the nose cover.
There are two small tabs at the front that tuck into the dash and help lock the nose cover into place.

Those tabs also cause the nose to pull forward about 1/2 inch.

The TrailTank instructions CLEARLY STATE not to insert those tabs, but rather to allow them to sit on top of the dash insert.

Sure enough.
When I did that I was able to get all of the screws to line up.

Its a TIGHT TIGHT FIT.
Make no mistake about it.

It will no longer be super friendly to remove the nose cover from the nytro in the field. Its 100% doable, but when it comes time to put it back on, you will need to do so with much more care and attention to get the holes to line up for the thumb screws to go into.

What only took SECONDS on the OEM configuration will take a couple MINUTES with the new system.

I will get some photos showing all of this shortly.