Marty, I am really glad to see a thread like his start. I have some of the same concerns running around in my head. I have taken a lot of what I have seen in racing and thought of it when building our truck. And yes, I have seen ATL and Fuel Safe cells get hit and leak. Nothing is full proof but good practice always helps. I built our stainless cell myself. It does not have a bladder, but I did use the vaporworx system. I think this is a very safe system since the pump is in the tank. In my mind the tank adds protection to the pump. Our tank is completely surrounded in the rear by the 2x4 frame rails. Including across the back. I will try to post some pics tomorrow. They are on my other computer. Should be some in my build thread too. It doesn't hang below the frame rails until you get closer to the rear end housing. If it gets hit, the offending vehicle will be a foot deep under the truck.
Let me speak quickly about the 1x1 steel tube type cages built for fuel cells. Similar to the pics above. I don't like those. In almost all cases I saw a high quality cell fail, it was because one of those tubes punctured the tank in a hard rear impact. If you hit a sheet metal can it will buckle and bend but rarely creates spears to puncture the cell. I am a fan of flat stock to build a cradle to hang the cell. It will bend with the sheet metal and rarely rips.
I'd like to hear what people have to say about in tank pumps like the vaporworx system used with foam in the fuel tank. Does it become a problem?
The last question I have goes back to your comment Marty about product liability insurance. I wonder how many small vendors carry it? Especially those making critical safety items. Fuel cells, suspension components, chassis, sub frames, etc, etc.... This is a subject I am going to educate myself on in the future. I was talking to a gentleman recently about our hobby. He is not a car guyat all and was intrigued by the pics of our project. As we talked and learned that some of these suppliers are small start up businesses, he asked this same question. Turns out he was a lawyer. His advice was to ask up front if the manufacturer carried product liability insurance. If the answer was no, he said move on. So what does everyone think?
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