Long range poly tanks

I have the ARB one in a Ford Ranger and the only potential sloshing issue could be length ways as the tank is orientated that way, as is the standard tank. Haven't noticed any effect at any time.

I do know what the effect you are talking about as I once owned an XY Falcon with the 36 gallon tank and for me as a driver I did find it noticeable at around a half tank full on winding roads. Disconcerting the first time but then usually prepared for it.

I have a brown Davis steel tank in my BT50. I chose that over the poly tanks because the poly tanks don't have a swirl pot. BD steel tanks do.

A swirl pot provides a mini reservoir at the fuel pickup point. With a low fuel load the swirl pot allows an amount of fuel at the pick-up point even if the angle of the tank sends the fuel way down the back or elsewhere. How much, I don't know. A litre or maybe half? But enough to keep the engine going for a while in all but the most extreme situations.

I like to drive tracks, many of them steep, like in the VHC. If you have a low fuel load and you're on a steep, difficult section of track for some time, as in a recovery or some such, then without a swirl pot your engine could starve as the fuel drains away from the pickup due to the slope.

OTOH, poly tanks are lighter, perhaps more tolerant of rock strikes and scrapes.

I doubt that unbaffled sloshing would be perceptible in a Ranger, given that the OEM tanks are poly with no baffles and therefore pass Ford's no doubt stringent QA standards. ;-)

Cheers

I have an ARB poly LR tank and it is great. It has a very flat bottom but I have never had any issue picking up the fuel even when nearly empty. I do not know for sure but I think it must have baffles otherwise it would not perform as it does.

You might find this short video interesting https://youtu.be/CIkCCnfLdzg

I have DIY HDPE roto moulded plastic diesel tanks in the OKA that are now 16 years old. Bullet proof.
I am now in the process of making 2 more tanks for a new OKA motorhome project. I had the first samples moulded recently. They are nominally 200L . I will mount one each side, one for diesel and another for water. One of the features of roto moulding is that the wall section can be anything you choose. You could have 4 tanks all moulded the same day and each could have a different wall thickness. They could also be different colours if that turned you on :)

The weight of these tanks including all of the metal mounting components will be a tad less than the 105L OEM tank it replaces.
The mould to make a simple rotomould tank is easily fabricated from 2mm cold rolled steel in 2 pieces, something that many people can do at home with the help of the local sheet metal worker down the road to do the bending.

This is the mould for the second tank, currently at the moulder.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Fitted my ARB poly tank to my Ranger 90,000 k's ago without any issue whatsoever - love it !!

Cheers
Gazz

Hi buddy
I have an ARB Frontier 128l tank fitted to my Pajero NX.
It certainly does make a sloshing sound when just a bit below full but more obvious is that I can feel it through the floor. It is a bit annoying for sure, but I just put up with it because the extra capacity over the old 90l steel OME tank is worth it on long travels in the outback.
I am surprised by all the responses here saying they don't notice it. Maybe just where the Pajero tank is located drivers side and front mount point up close to where my feet are when driving.
Cheers and good luck
Peter

Hi Lachie,

Have a 180 Ltr. ARB Poly tank fitted to replace the OEM 45 Ltr. Auxiliary tank in my LC200. Cannot say that I have noticed any sloshing of the fuel. Chose the poly tank for weight saving.

Macca.