Aluminum, Carbon Fiber, Gas Tank Thread

Nice tank!! What do you think about the thickness of the material and what type of aluminum? 6061?

What about aluminum stampings? Inside would have the bottom and the outside would have the ends and get welded to it.

The rear aluminum tanks i have from Mecca are stamped two piece, with the welds along the flat smooth faces, and not along any angled piece or joint.

Seems like its inherently stronger that way.

They are surprisingly thick.

tanks

6061 is too stiff for a gas tank. most of your alum tanks are made of 3000 series , with a few out of 5000 depending on the temper. most are a H32 or 16, half hard or quarter hard. a stamping die to do a tank would be pretty prohibitive. the tanks built for the centenial husky were about 1,100.00 and that was about 5 years ago. die's aren't cheap, and you would need a hell of a lot of stoke to stamp either piece. not to mention how many to just break even. more likely a short run of tanks done on a english wheel. also, you will have bikes using a pump for EFI and others with a standard carb. no pump...

Derek
A whole custom tank would be very expensive. If you go that route I would use 5052 aluminum it forms and welds easily. I use it for racecar tanks all the time. It is also used in the aviation industry for that purpose.
I had the same problem on my sons ktm 85. no one makes a bigger tank. When we went trail riding fuel was always an issue. I built an aux. tank that went under the left side panel, it held about 1.3 gallons and was hardly noticeable. I installed a tee in the fuel line and a shutoff in the aux. tank. He would run off the aux. tank untill it ran out then shutoff the petcock on the aux. tank and turn on the main tank, restart the bike and take off. He could do it in about 10 seconds. I will see if i can find a picture. Its kind of like Scooby's but tucked in more. on an 85 it is under the side number plate.

Good luck with your project...Todd

That tank is 1/8 inch thick,,could go thinner in certain areas that wont be susceptible to high impact damage... Most tanks I've seen(which are not that many) where made of a 3-5000 series aluminum.

Actually thats the strongest way to make a tank...If your dealing with just cut out pieces of alum to weld together to make the tank,it is best to cut the tank body in half,weld the outside/outer pieces on from the outside of the tank and also weld them on the inside of the tank,,then weld the tank body back together.....Takes more time,,but it is more than half again as strong.

Guess I should of just read down a little further before posting,,,there is your answer.