Anyone run a marine fuel tank on the roof rack when off-roading?

[MooseT4R]

This was our solution this summer/fall. I true NATO spec can with matching mount. Painted some plywood spacers running down the length of the can to 1) allow the can to be slid off the roof rack without hitting and 2) give us 4 attachment points to the rack. The can is filled to the bottom of the fill neck when laid on it's side (a little over 3 gallons). We kept an eye on it for swelling and before our trip I stored it in the garage, spout down for about 3 weeks to see if it had an leaks; it didn't. There's no perfect solution but this worked pretty well for us.

Trying to get pic to post from google, standby!

 

[Grug556]

Just a thought... you could put your spare on the roof and mount a decent amount of fuel under the truck in the spare mount location.

Sounds like a modern Pinto. Guys who laugh at my fuel comments on it being dangerous. In a wreck or an offroad rollover, these portable storage tanks will likely burst, the fuel will go somewhere.. plenty of areas where it can be ignited.

Look at any decent race supply shop, fuel cells come in all shapes and sizes with varying prices. Better to have something designed to take a hit as well as deal with the venting of fumes during temperature change.

For those who want to carry liquid fire strapped right above their heads..hey its a free country...have fun!

If I didnt have a fuel cell, I would put gas cans on back bumper area, not perfect, but for offroad out of traffic likely the safest place.

 

[-E5J-]

Sounds like a modern Pinto. Guys who laugh at my fuel comments on it being dangerous. In a wreck or an offroad rollover, these portable storage tanks will likely burst, the fuel will go somewhere.. plenty of areas where it can be ignited.

Look at any decent race supply shop, fuel cells come in all shapes and sizes with varying prices. Better to have something designed to take a hit as well as deal with the venting of fumes during temperature change.

For those who want to carry liquid fire strapped right above their heads..hey its a free country...have fun!

If I didn't have a fuel cell, I would put gas cans on back bumper area, not perfect, but for off-road out of traffic likely the safest place.

Thank you, yes... I was referring to a specific, fuel cell sized to fit where the OEM spare usually sits... as I recall though, they're fairly expensive.

And because (I assume) the intended use would be long, off road trips, I wouldn't imagine traffic (Pinto concern) would be an issue.

It would certainly be a significant amount of weight though...

 

[delloro]

If I didnt have a fuel cell, I would put gas cans on back bumper area, not perfect, but for offroad out of traffic likely the safest place.

Maybe we have different driving styles, but I expect the rear end to get damaged 100x more often than a vehicle rolls over.

Your off roading sounds more exciting than mine, that's for sure.

 

[Johncmng]

Here's mine. It worked great, even in rough conditions. I have the 6 gallon container.

 

[nglayton]

**Liquid Fire**

This thread cracks me up, good stuff and hilarious. Some of you guys are paranoid, it must be rough.

Never could understand why you would buy a ladder just to mount stuff on the steps, negating the purpose of the ladder. My bad for thinking if I bought a ladder that I could actually climb up the steps. It does look cool though, I will give you that. Just not for me.

Fuel cell main the cargo area, I like it. Wish I had one. I think this has too many other issues like no matter how careful you are I suspect fumes, and then where do I put my cargo stuff? Up on top? in the rain, snow, wind? I'll pass on that.

On my first gen I had a second tank mounted above the spare tire. It was fantastic! It held about 20 gallons and I loved it. Safe in a rear end collision? After 226,000 miles I never found out. Sadly I traded it off with the tank installed and I've been kicking myself for 20+ years now.

Here's how I store my "liquid fire" :flame:

Two 4 gallon rotopax mounted flat, double stacked. Believe it or not they even sell a bracket for just this purpose. Before this I used to take along two 5 gallon jerry cans standing straight up on the roof, again they make mount racks just for this purpose. :doh:

Three different 4runners and more miles than I can remember - Rarely do I vent them. And I mean rarely. More often, I just empty them into my T4R when there is room in the main tank. Why mess with venting 3-5,6 times a day when you can just empty them?? I'm not carrying them for looks or to put into someone else's rig or to help my buddies, they have their own damn fuel. Carry a fricking siphon hose if you want to save the other fool who ran out of gas.

Do they swell? Yup. Do they shrink up in cool air? Yup. Have they leaked? Sure a little bit once in a while, but nothing that even marks up the paint. Have they exploded, never. Not even close. Especially AFTER they've been emptied on the first night away from the corner gas station....

Can't remember the last time (if ever) I personally saw an accident with a vehicle that was flipped on its lid or a rear end collision that was tall enough to have smashed the roof rack of an SUV. If you ask me the fuel is a whole lot safer up top than mounted midship right under my passengers butt cheeks. Side impact collisions happen everyday but then again I don't recall many cars bursting into fireballs.

Not a great pic, but you get the idea.

Gotta go now, I think Jupiter and Venus are just about ready to align and I haven't set up my tinfoil yet.........

 

[nglayton]

PS. [MENTION=50362]jayhat[/MENTION] [OP] - Great Idea, wish I had seen that before I bought the rotopax. Just Do it!

 

[jayhat]

Sounds like a modern Pinto. Guys who laugh at my fuel comments on it being dangerous. In a wreck or an offroad rollover, these portable storage tanks will likely burst, the fuel will go somewhere.. plenty of areas where it can be ignited.

Look at any decent race supply shop, fuel cells come in all shapes and sizes with varying prices. Better to have something designed to take a hit as well as deal with the venting of fumes during temperature change.

For those who want to carry liquid fire strapped right above their heads..hey its a free country...have fun!

If I didnt have a fuel cell, I would put gas cans on back bumper area, not perfect, but for offroad out of traffic likely the safest place.

Don't act like it's SO "OMG liquid fire" dangerous. Tons of people run jerry cans on their rear bumper, back of the truck bed, roof rack. Several aftermarket companies make fuel tanks for the rear spare tire area. Unfortunately there is only 1 for the 5th gen that I know of and it's like over ~$4000.

 

[jayhat]

This thread cracks me up, good stuff and hilarious. Some of you guys are paranoid, it must be rough.

Never could understand why you would buy a ladder just to mount stuff on the steps, negating the purpose of the ladder. My bad for thinking if I bought a ladder that I could actually climb up the steps. It does look cool though, I will give you that. Just not for me.

Fuel cell main the cargo area, I like it. Wish I had one. I think this has too many other issues like no matter how careful you are I suspect fumes, and then where do I put my cargo stuff? Up on top? in the rain, snow, wind? I'll pass on that.

On my first gen I had a second tank mounted above the spare tire. It was fantastic! It held about 20 gallons and I loved it. Safe in a rear end collision? After 226,000 miles I never found out. Sadly I traded it off with the tank installed and I've been kicking myself for 20+ years now.

Here's how I store my "liquid fire" :flame:

Two 4 gallon rotopax mounted flat, double stacked. Believe it or not they even sell a bracket for just this purpose. Before this I used to take along two 5 gallon jerry cans standing straight up on the roof, again they make mount racks just for this purpose. :doh:

Three different 4runners and more miles than I can remember - Rarely do I vent them. And I mean rarely. More often, I just empty them into my T4R when there is room in the main tank. Why mess with venting 3-5,6 times a day when you can just empty them?? I'm not carrying them for looks or to put into someone else's rig or to help my buddies, they have their own damn fuel. Carry a fricking siphon hose if you want to save the other fool who ran out of gas.

Do they swell? Yup. Do they shrink up in cool air? Yup. Have they leaked? Sure a little bit once in a while, but nothing that even marks up the paint. Have they exploded, never. Not even close. Especially AFTER they've been emptied on the first night away from the corner gas station....

Can't remember the last time (if ever) I personally saw an accident with a vehicle that was flipped on its lid or a rear end collision that was tall enough to have smashed the roof rack of an SUV. If you ask me the fuel is a whole lot safer up top than mounted midship right under my passengers butt cheeks. Side impact collisions happen everyday but then again I don't recall many cars bursting into fireballs.

Not a great pic, but you get the idea.

Gotta go now, I think Jupiter and Venus are just about ready to align and I haven't set up my tinfoil yet.........

Love the reply. Thanks. I like the idea of a flat tank with a lid on the top that I can just use a shaker siphon or battery transfer pump to transfer to my tank. That way I dont have to mount, then unmount, then remount, when I want to use them. Plus I feel a lid on top is less likely to leak. I hate super tall things on the rack so I'd never run jerrys standing up -I have seen those mounts. I think Rhino and Front runner make dual jerry mounts that have them on their side, which is alright I guess.

 

[pyrate]

Here's mine. It worked great, even in rough conditions. I have the 6 gallon container.

Did you use a shaker siphon? I know those work best when you have a taller can and curious how it worked with a shorter height can.

 

[Johncmng]

Did you use a shaker siphon? I know those work best when you have a taller can and curious how it worked with a shorter height can.

Yes, they work great!

 

[Mack1611]

Am I the only one who vents their gas cans?

Amazon.com: 10 Pack Universal Large Yellow Fuel Gas Can Vent Caps Chilton Briggs Rotopax Gott: Garden & Outdoor

In the event of a rollover I'd be more concerned about the amount of bourbon flooding the cabin than the gas on top.

 

[pyrate]

Am I the only one who vents their gas cans?

Amazon.com: 10 Pack Universal Large Yellow Fuel Gas Can Vent Caps Chilton Briggs Rotopax Gott: Garden & Outdoor

In the event of a rollover I'd be more concerned about the amount of bourbon flooding the cabin than the gas on top.

My marine can vents through the cap. Works pretty well if I only fill to the recommended level.

 

[RoamerOverland]

Here is how I have mine mounted. These are 2 of the 3.5 gallon fuelpax. When they are mounted on the top, they expand like a pregnant woman. Venting is a pain as I have to try and spin the rotopax mount to get them undone as they have to be vertical so that the screw cap can be loosened to vent them.

I am still trying to figure out how to hand this. I will be watching to see what you all come up with.

 

[TonyBess]

I recently used two Scepter low profile 3 gallon marine fuel tank that I modified for a trip to Big Bend Ranch. EPA regulations do not allow marine fuel tanks to vent pressure (fuel vapor emissions) so you must modify the cap by cutting a small rubber nipple inside the cap (see picture) this will allow the vent screw on the cap to release pressure, if not the tank will swell until you open the fill cap which is a pain. I wanted a simple system and not have to lift a fuel tank off the roof rack and then try to pour fuel out of a spout into the vehicles fill neck. With this setup all I have to do is connect a fuel transfer hose to the tank, open a valve, then squeeze the primer bulb a few times and let the fuel transfer. If anyone is interested let me know and I will list the parts bought on Amazon to do this. Also you cannot use the marine fuel quick connectors in this system the fuel will not drain from the tank.

 

[pyrate]

I’d like to see it and any pics you may have. Thanks