Does anyone know if Anyone sales larger fuel tanks for the Zilla. I would love a 5 + gallon tank.
Years ago I think there was a tank for one of the LT's, but it wasn't much bigger.
Your only option is to custom build a tank, add an additional one elsewhere, or modify the existing one with a heat gun and pressurizing the tank.
Most limiting factor is the plastic over the tank...there's only so much room underneath it for a fuel tank.
If you don't care for the plastic, rip it off and bolt a bigger fuel tank on.
There was a post, not sure if it was on here or the old site, that had a procedure for expanding the OEM tank.
Don't quote me but I think it was:
empty tank of all gas
keep tank on bike & plastics on tank from here on out
Fill with boiling water
let sit (for how long I can remember)
Put a modified cap on that will allow you to pressurize with compressed air (usually a tusk z400 aluminum one with the rubber bladder removed should work)
Blow up the tank with compressed air and hold until tank is cool enough to hold the new shape
Drain all water
refill with gas & use
**leave plastics so new tank shape will adhere to plastics otherwise the plastics will not fit
Maybe somebody has the link to the old post for more exact details
I saw Dez had a bigger tank in some of his pic of his Baja rig.
The aluminum tanks I've experience with dont use the single backbone frame like on qrs. the hot water/air pressure maybe the only option. Unless you have fabrication skills.
Trx250r 6 gal tank, older style 5.2 gal tank in the flyer
The Zilla in my avatar uses the banshee tank with the C&J Roll frame
No aftermarket options for the lt500 250 that I know of
This flyer is way old like from 1989... So the phone # probably won't work!
Yes, I had posterd a few months back the procedure of using boiling water and schrader valve on cap vent tube to expand the tank. It worked well, but I want more. I like the idea of a heat gun so I could s have better control over what part of the tank expands. I was hoping that some after market company sold a larger tank. I guess with 25 year old, discontinued machines we are at the mercy of zilla enthusiasts to make custom parts.
Someone get ahold of Metal Tech, they can make custom tanks that would fit under the plastic, heck I am in for 1 or 2 tanks, zillaz need a 5 gal tank over that 3.4 gal.
Looking at the tank on the quad, yeah I can see room with the sides being solid, maybe a bit more forward, and about 1" lower dont know how much fuel that would add
I was thinking that a thin tank underneath the seat (or part of the seat)would get some extra capacity on both LT's.
You'd either need an interconnect line or a separate filler behind the seat and a tee with a shutoff into the fuel line to make it work.
There's space for the tank to sit lower than the frame rail, but not a whole lot unless you relocated the air filter farther down (carb height is the limiting factor in fuel flow unless a transfer pump is used).
If a guy could make the tank double as a seat frame, you could theoretically get even more capacity.
Run the main tank dry, then switch over to the seat tank as a reserve.
Now that would be a hell of a sleeper mod...
Alternatively, a thin walled aluminum tank will give you extra capacity in the same place as the OEM tank.
Make the clearance tighter around the backbone, and lengthen the edges that droop around the backbone with an interconnect line between both sides (or dual petcocks feeding into a single fuel line).
Couple that with the tank being farther back, farther forward, bulging out to actually touch the plastic, and a taller filler neck...5 gal might be a reasonable capacity.
You could get even more if you weren't worried about it looking OEM by raising the top of the tank and cutting out the plastic around it, then paint the exposed portion of the tank to match the yellow plastics.
Form fitting an aluminum tank to compound curves isn't easy, and it'll cost you, but there's a lot of capacity to be had compared to the OEM tank.
Perhaps a fiberglass tank would be easier (and probably lighter)....you could use the plastics as a mold to form the top half of the fuel tank.
On the bottom half, you can lay down a thin sheet of foam padding on the backbone, then form fit the fiberglass over it and shape as needed.
Join the two halves, add a filler neck, fittings, maybe add some aluminum strips under a layer or two for added strength, and you've got a lightweight form fitting tank with extra capacity.
Another way to build a fiberglass tank...
Coat plastic and frame with release agent (or saran wrap), install the plastic over the frame, turn the frame upside down, and slowly fill the cavity with expanding foam.
This will make a form fitting cast of the tank area.
Flip the frame over and test fit the foam mock-up, add foam in areas that it didn't fill (or areas that you want extra fuel tank), sand or cut the foam as needed to shape and fit the mock-up to the quad.
Once you get the shape you want and it fits good, sand off a thin layer of foam (1/4" or so) from the entire mock-up.
Here's where it gets interesting.
Coat the foam with epoxy and let harden (think of it as a gel coat for the inside of the tank), fiberglass over the foam mock-up and let cure, then pour gas into the newly formed tank.
The gas will dissolve the foam, leaving only the fiberglass that you laid up around it.
Clean out any remains of foam, add fittings and filler neck, and you've just made a form fitting tank without a ton of work.
Learned that trick from homebuilt aircraft manufacturing...
I was gunna build a gas tank area where the old seat was, and make a new seat to go on top, for a higher riding position.
The aluminum tanks I've experience with dont use the single backbone frame like on qrs. the hot water/air pressure maybe the only option. Unless you have fabrication skills.
Trx250r 6 gal tank, older style 5.2 gal tank in the flyer
The Zilla in my avatar uses the banshee tank with the C&J Roll frame
No aftermarket options for the lt500 250 that I know of
This flyer is way old like from 1989... So the phone # probably won't work!
I had a few customers that bought those nice looking 5-gallon tanks for their TRX 250 R Honda desert racers around 1990. The tanks would never go more than a couple races before the tank would split the welds along the bottom seam.
Fuel tanks that have welds along corner where two planes meet, will eventually crack. Tanks flex along the seams or intersection of two planes. Welds should never be placed where the majority of the flex needs to occur.
Tanks that do not have any flat sides or corners that have any 90 deg. corners will be the most durable. Properly designed tanks place the welds so that they are in tension or compression and never where they are bending as the flat panels are attempting to assume the shape of a round tank as the fuel sloshes aroung inside the tank.
We had to pad the square frame tubes w/ heat hose to let the tank live, springs like what are used on the pipes exhaust flange held it the frame. You couldn't try bolting the 48 lbs of fuel and the tank down without it failing. Many tried.
We used to carry a bar of hand soap to rub into any cracks/leaks that developed.
An English fabricator Rob North used to make the Camel Pro TT bike fuel tanks back in the late 80's. iirc he said he was getting $675 a tank.
He made the tank for this banshee, it was held down with 1/4" thick rubber bands, an held 5 gallons.
Same banshee just different paint scheme
Hmm. WOULD bring the Zilla up to 5 gallons...
