The problem, as was encountered on Power Tour this year, were the very high temps, espcially through Dubuque stop and go traffic combined with very high underhood temps and return lines located in engine compartments. This is compounded by many of us running pumps that need to supply enough fuel to support 700-900 HP at full throttle but at idle we are utilizing only 1/100th of that capacity. Therefore all that heat that gets picked up by the return line is transfered to the fuel. at a rate of about 100 gallons or more per hour. On this leg of the tour I had underhood temps exceeding 150-160 degrees based on my intake air temp sensor. After time that heat from the returning fuel builds up in the tank to the point you can't even touch the bottom of the tank. On top of this the trunk is packed full of suitcases, coolers, booze, tools and everything else under the sun, compounding the problem even further. The end result is it starts taking out the pump.
The ultimate solution is to plumb a "returnless" style system as Mopar and other do. The return is kept back at the tank with the regulator located there as well. This greatly reduces/eliminates the hot tank syndrome that plauged many of us on this year's Power Tour.
Also, another excellent pump is the Bosh 0-580-254-044. Extremely quiet, reliable and run by the IRL boys.
Actually, for Jody et. al., for that pump to survive like it did is amazing. As far as I know, through Nashville, the pump was still going strong after they sorted the situation out. The pump was never the problem. The environment it had to live in though was brutal.
If at all possible you will want the pump inside the tank. 99.9% of the time it will stay cooler and also will be nice and quiet.
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