Van Upgrades: 40-Gallon Fuel Tank
I’ve had the van for almost 7 years and have done a fair amount of upgrades. I’ll write about many of them here in my blog—from the inexpensive to the not-so-inexpensive. Did they matter? Would I do it again? I’ll try to answer those things.
I wish I had the wherewithal—and that the tech had existed back then—to have done all these upgrades from day one. But alas, many of them came out later, or I simply didn’t know what I’d need until I hit the road. That said, each one has been helpful in its own way.
I’ll start with one of the most recent and most impactful upgrades I’ve made: S&B 40-Gallon Fuel Tank for 2019–22 Sprinter
While they were installing the gas tank, I saw this beast of a rig. I’d ditch the duallys for super singles, but other than that, what a perfect setup! One day, when I’m retired, I’ll figure out a larger but still 4×4 capable setup like this one.
🚐 The 40-Gallon Fuel Tank
My stock Winnebago Revel Sprinter came with a 24-gallon tank. For many situations, that’s plenty. In fact, I have a Sprinter cargo van we use for my business, and the tank size is never an issue. It’s always driving around town. You’re never far from a gas station. Even if you run low, it’s no big deal.
But when you’re traveling and camping like I do—off-grid, no reservations, winging it day by day—that 24-gallon tank created a ton of anxiety.
I’d always start worrying when I hit half a tank. And if I was driving fast (like 80 mph fast), that gas disappeared in a hurry, and I was constantly looking for gas stations, often settling for whatever I could find rather than waiting for a better option. Frequently, the gas stations I could find, were well out of my way and not convenient. On long trips, at high speeds, I was filling up every two hours. It felt like I spent more time planning fuel stops than actually enjoying the drive.
With the new 40-gallon tank, all of that changed.
🧘♂️ Freedom from Fuel Anxiety
On my last trip, I was never able to get the tank below a quarter. That’s still 10 gallons of diesel left. It meant I could fill up when I wanted, not when I had to. I didn’t backtrack once. I didn’t stress once.
Oh yea, you can save money too! I passed up overpriced stations (like the kind you find at National Parks) without worry. If you’re more strategic than I am, you could use GasBuddy or another app to time your fill-ups for the best prices. Either way, having that flexibility is huge.
You are able to drive into more remote areas without worrying about range, and even camp deeper off-grid without thinking about the next fill-up. And with a diesel heater in the Revel, I had peace of mind knowing I’d never run out of heating fuel overnight (since the system shuts off at ¼ tank to keep you from being stranded).
Basically, I stopped thinking about gas—and started thinking more about the places I wanted to go.
🛡️ Safety: A Hidden Bonus
What surprised me most was how this upgrade improved my safety.
In all my travels, the sketchiest situations I’ve been in have involved filling up at night—usually in unfamiliar places when I was already tired and vulnerable. I’ve been approached by aggressive panhandlers. I’ve had methed out strangers ask if I could “help with their car around the corner.” I’ve been given looks that made me want to keep one hand on my hip where my tanto blade is.
Thanks to the larger tank, I didn’t have to fill up after dark once on my last trip. I had full control over when and where I stopped, and that meant I was always fueling up during daylight hours at safe, well established gas stiations. It was a massive relief.
💳 Card Skimming: Another Hidden Risk
On a coastal trip through Oregon and Washington this past summer, I had two different credit cards compromised. I almost got into trouble without having enough gas money to get home. I had to work out a system with the credit card companies where I called right before I was using the card each time. It was a nightmare.
I can’t say for certain where it happened, but my best guess is it was at smaller, independent gas stations—places that might have had skimming devices installed on their pumps.
That experience taught me to be more cautious. Now, I try to stick to larger chain stations with modern pumps—especially those that support tap-to-pay.
And here’s the thing: tap-to-pay (either with your card or through Apple/Google Pay) is much harder to skim. It uses tokenization and encryption, so your actual card number never transmits. It’s safer than swiping or even chip insertion. Most of the big stations have it now, and it’s just one more reason I’m grateful for the fuel flexibility the 40-gallon tank provides—I can wait for the right place to stop, not just the first place I see.
🔧 Where to Get It + Who to Trust
I went with the S&B 40-Gallon Fuel Tank for 2019–22 Sprinter, made available through Agile Offroad. It’s well-built, fits right into the existing space, and gives a massive upgrade in range with minimal change. There are models with even more capacity but they don’t fit my Revel setup.
That said, did I install it myself? Hell no. I would never trust my fuel supply to a monkey like myself. I get all my major work done by the pros at Sierra Adventure Vehicles.
Get a bigger tank—you’ll save money, time, and maybe even your life.
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