For those who carry extra gas

Ron Burgandy

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Im just curious as i’m getting my 99 5 spd ready for a week long wheeling trip to wyoming this spring. If you carry gas with you, have you ever NEEDED to use it, or is it more of a piece of mind knowing you have it type of thing. I’m more of a minimalist, only pack what you need kind of guy.


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I'm no hardcore wheeler. I debated carrying fuel on a 13 hour drive from northern California to southern Utah. I didnt end up bringing spare fuel. I drove in canyons for a week or so to get from camp to rock climbs. Not wheeling "through trails" or anything that truly logs miles or takes reving through obstacles. I did retreat back to town to refuel and refresh basic supplies. This was more piece of mind rather then necessity as I was at 1/3 tank when I refused if I recall correct.
 
Im just curious as i’m getting my 99 5 spd ready for a week long wheeling trip to wyoming this spring. If you carry gas with you, have you ever NEEDED to use it, or is it more of a piece of mind knowing you have it type of thing. I’m more of a minimalist, only pack what you need kind of guy.


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Don't know how hard you wheel, but when I do in my 99 5 speed I get maybe 10mpg at the best. At the worst, 5-8mpg. Multiply that by 18.5 (tank capacity) and you're at 185 miles till you're dry at best. After using 14 gallons (3/4 tank), or at 140 miles, you're starting to really put your fuel pump to work. I'd say if you're going to be at any point driving over 100 miles on a light off-road trip between gas stops, bring gas. If you wheel harder, just decrease the radius. I'm not even putting into account if you have some sort of fuel leak, which I promise you will happen at the most inopportune time.
 
Im just curious as i’m getting my 99 5 spd ready for a week long wheeling trip to wyoming this spring. If you carry gas with you, have you ever NEEDED to use it, or is it more of a piece of mind knowing you have it type of thing. I’m more of a minimalist, only pack what you need kind of guy.


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Is it really something you wanna be caught without? For a week long trip I would definitely bring it just for the convenience - assuming you'll be outright unable to get to a gas station, not just inconvenienced
Two 5gal cans is about half a tank and weighs less than 10gal of water would, pretty good insurance to bet on in my opinion
 
It's a simple matter of contingency planning.
If you know you're going to 100 or certainly 150 miles + on dirt, it's nice to have the extra gas. What could happen?
You change your mind, and elect to explore farther in than originally planned.
You get 80 miles in, and find the remaining 20 mile route out blocked or impassable, and have to backtrack the way you came.
You are forced to help in some emergency situation that involves a lot more driving than originally planned.
You get back to pavement, only to find there's a local power failure at the one small village that you were counting on to be a refill stop. The power will eventually be restored, but how long are you willing to wait?
 
I carry a 4 gallon rotopax. I've used my gas once. I've given unprepared strangers my gas 5 times. What group would you rather be in?
 
If I’m going out on a week long+ hunting trip I always bring at least 10 gallons with me. There isn’t always a town close by to fuel up in a pinch. If I’m just out wheeling for the day with a buddy or even an overnighter I might bring 5 extra gallons for piece of mind. It always gets used regardless.
 
For me the jerry can just looks cool on my swingout. :biggrin1: I keep a bit of fuel in there just for the extra mall crawler points tho. :rofl:

+1 for honesty! Looks like you have a snorkel, too - for the puddle in the low spot in the back parking lot by Kohl's.
 
The first time we did Maze District (Canyonlands) we spent 4 days and went to more campsites. Panorama Point, Maze Overlook, China Stairs, Doll House. Many of those are basically long out and backs. Days spent driving many, many hours a day in low range. We filled up at the last gas station in Green River, had 10 gallons of gas on the roof, put all 10 gallons in, and hit Hite UT with under 1/4 of a tank. Where they know you probably don't have much of a choice and charge accordingly (hah).

The last couple of times we've gone to the Maze District again, we've streamlined it a bit, only needed 5 gallons.

Rather than sticking gas cans on the roof, I was considering using EMKeith's mounts and putting a Ford tank in the back where the spare used to be, but leaving the Toyota tank in place. And just using the pump in it to move gas from it to the Toyota tank. Flip the switch, turn off when the Ford tank goes empty or the Toyota tank gets near full. Fill is using a dual fuel neck behind the stock gas door. It would be nice to not have gas in plastic cans on the roof getting baked in the sun (they bulge like balloons). It's jsut a lot easier to strap the can/cans up there occasionally when you'll need them, vs. spending time and effort to put that Ford tank in. But it would be handier, and keep the weight off the roof and way down low.
 
Im just curious as i’m getting my 99 5 spd ready for a week long wheeling trip to wyoming this spring. If you carry gas with you, have you ever NEEDED to use it, or is it more of a piece of mind knowing you have it type of thing. I’m more of a minimalist, only pack what you need kind of guy.


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Hey there mate, I did a 2000+ mile road trip to Wyoming a few months back. Here's the biggest thing I can tell you about driving in wyoming, pretty much just fill up every time you get to a half tank. Unless you're really in a hurry I wouldn't go faster than 60, I was actually able to average 22-24 mpg while we were there... EXCEPT, in the mountains, if you haven't driven through the mountains with a 3.4 let me just go ahead and tell you that it is really no fun, as soon as you get up to a couple thousand feet all the power just disappears lol... And be extremely careful coming downhill if you don't have the tundra break upgrade if you do not gear down heavily you will warp your rotors... That's what happened to me, mine were totally ruined.

But anyway back to gas, it's really common to have ridiculously long stretches without having a gas station so I pretty much would always fill up at a half tank or sometimes even at 3/4 just to make sure I was always keeping it topped off. We actually had an incident where the small area we were passing through at what point at about 11:30 at night had no open gas stations... we were just barely able to make it to the next town where they had one that was open.

That's actually what caused me to continuously top off the tank, as I was worried about running out... That's the only other downside with these trucks, the tank is too small. When I had my second gym Tacoma it was effortlessly easy to hit 450-500 miles on a tank.

So anyway, if you just keep it filled up you should be okay.
 
For me the jerry can just looks cool on my swingout. :biggrin1: I keep a bit of fuel in there just for the extra mall crawler points tho. :rofl:

There is that I like the look, made me nervous though. Seemed like I was waiving a red flag at a bull, people aiming for it, Ha.
 
I'm a WY native (born and raised in Lander)... I was taught to NEVER let the fuel get below a quarter tank. But, that was on other vehicles that actually had normal 400 mile-per-tank fuel range (so, fill when you have 100 mile range remaining). Yes, there are a LOT of places where you can easily go 100 miles without finding fuel... and that's without leaving the pavement. We always carried fuel, but never used it ourselves.. it was always for others who weren't prepared.

The bottom line is that if you Plan your route, and know your fuel range/stops, give yourself proper reserve to cover for emergencies, there is zero reason to carry extra.

I'm more into motorcycles for off-pavement enjoyment and we never took extra fuel. Again, it's simply planning ahead and accounting for the bike with the shortest range. But, some of us are fuel tankers with HUGE capacity (for a motorcycle), and it's easy enough to siphon between bikes.

If you don't know your Exact route (because you want to explore), take some fuel. What's it hurt?


BTW, where you headed? Going to wait till mud season is over (that's "spring" to most people)? Obviously staying in low elevations as snow will make everything at elevation impassable till July if the show is anywhere near the normal range. Hope you have a fun trip....
 
We carry one of the bigger rotopax cans on the roof. Got it 50% off as a blemished item, the defect is that it's kinda orange. Doesn't really matter though.

Have had a few close calls on road trips before. Gas stations closed, get to the next town on fumes. A year or two ago we were in middle of nowhere NV, and I realized we had about 3/8 of a tank, and a probably 30 miles to pavement. From there, 40 miles to gas. We made it, but it was close. Got the gas can after that.

Its also nice cause I often go out with friends in 2nd and 3rd gen tacos, and those seem to have double the range.

If the goal is to explore, and you don't have a set route, it's nice not having to worry. I also always fill up, and top-off, up to 1.5 gallons at last gas before a long desert route.
 
well i’m not an “over lander”, don’t expect to spend multiple days out in the sticks, might camp overnight a couple times but not gonna be prepared for a weeks worth of supplies so I expect to be traveling through a town daily. I’ll be trail riding but also staying at resorts/hotels.

gonna go through the black hills/big horns/togwotee pass/star valley area. still finalizing the route.

I think i’ll try to mount a rotopax to my roof rack, i don’t think it’s a necessity if you plan accordingly but the piece of mind is nice


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