Gary Lewis wrote
The fuel systems on these trucks are fraught with problems. Ford keep working on them, coming up with changes every couple of years. In fact, it wasn't until in the 90's that they seem to have worked the issues out....
Are you talking about the late '90s? Like '97 for the F-150/F-250 and '99 for the F-250HD/F-350? Because I don't think Ford fixed the dual tank issue until they stopped putting dual tanks in trucks. I haven't had trouble with my current '97 F-250HD, but I did have the issue with my '95 F-150 where fuel would return to the rear tank even when I was using the front one. Common issue in the 9th gen trucks (or transferring to the front tank, just depends on which FDM went bad).
My '71 Bronco had a 3-way ball valve for a tank selector and a switch on the dash for the fuel gage. There was no return line so that wasn't an issue. I will say that system was a bit of a pain. I was able to reach the ball valve from the driver's seat which made it tolerable. But it was still surprisingly difficult for me to have the switch and the valve both on the same tank. Especially with the tiny aux tank on the Bronco it wasn't uncommon enough that I'd run out of gas with the gage reading full (at least that error always leaves you with a full tank to switch to).
I would think that having separate valves for the supply and return lines would be even worse. I suppose if both were inaccessible under the truck it shouldn't be too hard to discipline yourself to switch them together. And they could be mounted so the handles are always parallel which would make it easier to know you had it right.
But if it was me and I was going with a ball valve I'd at least think about not switching the return line. You'd have to run on the tank with the return line first, then switch to the other tank, and then you could possibly switch back to the first tank again. Sort of a pain, but it would be a simpler system.
What I actually did on my Bronco was get a "6-way" solenoid controlled valve and wired that to work with my dash switch. (I needed to add a return line when I fuel injected it. I took the return line out when I went back to a carb, but that's another story.) That hasn't been ideal either (I had one aftermarket valve fail, stranding me with one full tank).
As far as material goes, I think I'd lean toward brass rather than stainless, but I don't have any data to back that up, so take it for what it's worth.
Bob
Sorry, no '80 - '86 Ford trucks
"Oswald": 1997 F-250HD crew cab short box, 460, E4OD, 4.10 gears
"Pluto": 1971 Bronco, 302, NV3550 5 speed, Atlas 4.3:1 transfer case, 33" tires
"the motorhome": 2015 E-450-based 28' class C motorhome, 6.8L V-10
"the Dodge": 2007 Dodge 2500, 6.7L Cummins
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