Fuel Pickup Tube Replacement

[Tandem]

I am about to replace a fuel pickup tube that broke off due to deterioration. This seems to be a common problem with Bobcats.
Why are these tubes made of vinyl? Is it a bad idea to use rubber fuel line instead?

 

[Peter 315]

I think rubber would tend to curl up and not pick up all the fuel.. The plastic or vinyl would stay straight and stay a little bit off the bottom of the tank....

 

[laurencen]

if you use rubber put a length of stainless wire inside to prevent it curling and a loop on the end to keep it off the bottom of the tank, thats what we did on our sons machine and it works fine

 

[FTG-05]

For fuel line applications requiring the fuel line to be submersed, use only SAE J30R10 fuel line:

Gates Submersible J3R1 E85 Safe Hose 3/8″ PER INCH – Fuel System Depot

http://www.napabeltshose.com/~/media/napa/documents/napa-submersible-hose.pdf?la=en

 

[Tandem]

Sorry for the late reply.

At the end I ended up using the vinyl line supplied with the screen. Just had to heat it up in order to straighten it first.

 

[PILOON]

I found that vinyl when used with fuel goes hard an brittle.
For my fuel pumping I went to radiator hose and that remains nice and flexible even under cold.
Also radiator hose is designed for the oily fuel environments.