Can anyone tell me if a 1988 Softail's fuel tanks are the same as those on a 1999 Softail?

 

I am not sure specifically about 88 but if you have the 88 you might know your own specs. My 86 had 4.2 gallon tanks. I put 99 tanks on my softtail. The 99 tanks are 5 gallon. The only difference I say was that the venting was a little different...I needed to add a valve to the vent too for if the bike were to be on it's side the fuel wouldn't leak out the vent tube. It is a common valve you can get at any automotive store. On the 86 the venting came out a tube that went from underneath the right gas cap and out the front part of the tank. On the 99 tank, the vent was on the left side near the top of the right tank...I just added a tube and valve there.

If your 88 already has the 5 gallon take I imagine it should be very close to the 99 tank. The venting may be the only difference.

The only problem I had with a 5 gal tank over the 4.2 was that I needed different wind deflectors since the larger tank would hit my original deflectors. This was on an FLST, soif you have the FXST or if you have never installed wind deflectors, you will not have this problem.

 

I'm not sure either but I've owned a 99 and a 94 FXSTC, the petcock is in a different location but the mounts looked the same. You might want to include your model for a better answere.

Doug

 

Thanks. Mine is a 1999 FXST.

 

ok, the 1988 FXST tanks were 5 gallon tanks...I was referring to the FLST that had the smaller tanks, I think from 86-89. I am not sure of any other difference except for the possible venting difference and, as Doug said, the petcock position. I noticed too that mine was farther back on the 99 tank and closer to the center on my 86 tank.