I recently bought a 1996 Ranger for my son. Long story short it has a 20 gallon tank and it has a crack in it. At this point I have learned that since no one makes a replacement tank for these my only options are to find a used one or repair the old one. I have also learned that the 17 gallon tank must have been more popular than the 20 gallon tank because you can actually finds these. My question is can I use a 17 gallon tank to replace a 20 gallon one? I'm not worried about the 3 gallon difference as long as it mounts properly and doesn't leak. I have since repaired the old one but I'm not real confident in it. It may last the life of the truck but I would like to have a back up plan just encase.

 

You plastic weld the tank to fix it, life time fix.

Regular cab used 17gal
Extended cab 20.5gal

Yes, wrecking yards puncture plastic tanks so none there usually

You could probably retro fit 17gal tank, but would need new fuel pump/sending unit with it and new straps
Shouldn't be to hard with bed off the truck, just 6 bolts to take it off