VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Trucks and Vans 1948 Chevy truck gas tank

Hello I am new to this site, however I recently bought a 1948 Chevrolet thrift master 3600 off of my dad. The body is in pretty good shape and it was running up until about 6 years ago when he took it to a mechanic to work on and the guy did not do anything with it for 6 years (gas lines are bad now as well shocking). When my dad took it to the guy the gas tank was having issues and was rusting out. I took it to a shop close to where I live about 3 months ago, where they have tried 3 different gas tanks and none of them have worked. They are assuming that the bed is a different year than the cab but cannot figure out what year the bed would be. Can anyone tell me if there is a way to figure out the year of the bed or if there is something else we should try doing?

I am not a truck guy, but friends like LMC. Click below.

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/ca/full.aspx?Page=33

From 1949 and up the gas tank on a cab type was mounted inside of the cab behind the seat.
On a 1947 and 1948 it was mounted out side on the side of the frame rail.
Are you sure of the year?
The 1949 had the 3600 numbers under the Chevrolet name plate on the sides of the hood. A 1948 had just the Chevrolet name.

agree with gene in that u ned to be sure why year truck u have. I had a chevy COE, 1939 model, that had 1940 on the title. I assume that back then, it wasn't uncommon for the title to call out the year the vehicle was sold, not the model car. mike

http://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=64/mode=cat/cat64.htm

They may have a universal tank that will work if it is a 1948.

I doubt that there would be any problems mounting the tank on the chassis rails with either model but the early model behind the seat would need to be correct to fit properly. It would not be difficult to mount a tank on the chassis rails and adjust the plumbing and guage wiring to suit. I would guess many long distance trucks had extra tanks mounted that way.
Tony

Thank you! I will get that to my mechanic and see what they can figure out. I really appreciate the help! Also the cab is titled as a 48 but we are thinking the bed is a different year. From the research I found on the VIN it comes up as a 1948.

Do you have any pictures, that you can post ? 1947, and 48 model Chevrolet and GMC pickup trucks, 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and 1 ton, all had the fuel tank mounted to the frame, on the passenger side, with the fuel spout emerging through the side of the bed, just above the running board, and next to the front stake pocket. 1949-54 trucks this same style, had the fuel tanks mounted inside the cab, with the fuel spout emerging through the cab, below the beltline, right behind the passenger door handle. 47, and 48 tanks are very hard to find, and the 1/2 ton tank, is actually shaped different than the 3/4, and 1 ton tank. The 1/2 ton tank is reproduced, but the 3/4-1 ton, is not, last time I checked. There are a few Truck only sites you may want to check out, where this problem has occurred. One is, www.stovebolt.com , and the other is, www.oldgmctrucks.com