Who's interested in an auxiliary fuel tank?

[engineeer]

Pulled from LRA's site:

OUR COMMITMENT TO QUALITY
Long Range Automotive uses the latest 3D modeling software to design the most suitable shape for a specific vehicle. Precision CAD 3D models and drawings are produced for all tanks to ensure they fit properly into the selected location.

We use a ‘HyPertherm HyPerformance’ CNC plasma profile cutting system with ‘True Hole’ technology. This ensures accuracy, providing every customer with a high quality, precision made fuel tank.
All welds on our long range fuel tanks are full penetration corner to corner MIG welded, using a high quality inert shielding gas and level layer wound MIG wire to ensure good welding penetration and exclusion of porosity in the weld. Tanks are fully internally baffled and an expansion chamber is incorporated in the design of the tank. All tanks are pressure tested and checked by two separate quality control procedures.
We only use top quality materials: 2mm (14 gauge) T125CQ Aluminised sheet steel, brass threaded hose barb fittings, stainless steel hose clamps and high tensile bolts with nyloc nuts.
At Long Range Automotive we ensure our products are of a very high standard, that they are reliable and that our customers’ satisfaction is of top priority.

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Been thinking about this:

Seems as if most of you discussing this are in N. California -
Where are you ever going to be that is more than 200 miles from a gas station?
Even if you only get 11 miles to a gallon your 24 gallon tank will get you more than 250 miles.
Even when I have been in LOW range all day I have never gotten less than 14 mpg.
At that rate I can carry 2 gerry cans and go close to 490 miles!

I do a lot of long treks in E. Oregon, N. Nevada, W. Idaho where distances between fuel stops are vast and even then I rarely carry my extra tanks.

After this company spends all the time and money developing and certifiying these tanks, how many customers are they going to have? 3 or 4 maybe?

 

[engineeer]

Seems as if most of you discussing this are in N. California -
Where are you ever going to be that is more than 200 miles from a gas station?
Even if you only get 11 miles to a gallon your 24 gallon tank will get you more than 250 miles.
Even when I have been in LOW range all day I have never gotten less than 14 mpg.
At that rate I can carry 2 gerry cans and go close to 490 miles!

I do a lot of long treks in E. Oregon, N. Nevada, W. Idaho where distances between fuel stops are vast and even then I rarely carry my extra tanks.

After this company spends all the time and money developing and certifiying these tanks, how many customers are they going to have? 3 or 4 maybe?

I can't speak for everyone, but the ability to go longer between fill-ups and refill and double your range at the flip of a switch is quite nice. Not having to fill up, store, and secure individual jerry cans is a benefit as well.

Looking at the extreme, imagine if Toyota sold us a 4Runner with a 10 gallon tank that provided 150-200 miles. You could say, "That's enough for at least a one way trip to most places. Just get jerry cans!" Some people might not actually care about a 10 gallon tank and some will. You fall into the camp of "I'm fine with the current fuel carrying capacity" currently while a good amount of us do not.

I get closer to 8mpg in 4LO with about 500lb of gear. Whenever I drive to go off-roading (always a 1.5+ hour drive) I invariably have to stop and get gas before or after and you can bet your ass those gas stations know that and they charge $0.50-$0.75/gallon more than other places. I really like the idea of being able to fill up once near me, drive to the trails, off-road for a long time, and drive back with enough fuel to get me to work the next day.

 

[Louise]

Seems as if most of you discussing this are in N. California -
Where are you ever going to be that is more than 200 miles from a gas station?
Even if you only get 11 miles to a gallon your 24 gallon tank will get you more than 250 miles.
Even when I have been in LOW range all day I have never gotten less than 14 mpg.
At that rate I can carry 2 gerry cans and go close to 490 miles!

I do a lot of long treks in E. Oregon, N. Nevada, W. Idaho where distances between fuel stops are vast and even then I rarely carry my extra tanks.

After this company spends all the time and money developing and certifiying these tanks, how many customers are they going to have? 3 or 4 maybe?

That kind of logic can be applied to 90% of the mods people make, but this forum still exists. :wink2:

 

[enapa]

Seems as if most of you discussing this are in N. California -
Where are you ever going to be that is more than 200 miles from a gas station?
Even if you only get 11 miles to a gallon your 24 gallon tank will get you more than 250 miles.
Even when I have been in LOW range all day I have never gotten less than 14 mpg.
At that rate I can carry 2 gerry cans and go close to 490 miles!

I do a lot of long treks in E. Oregon, N. Nevada, W. Idaho where distances between fuel stops are vast and even then I rarely carry my extra tanks.

After this company spends all the time and money developing and certifiying these tanks, how many customers are they going to have? 3 or 4 maybe?

At least for me I would be interested because I wouldn't have to stop at gas stations as often. I would guess they might sell 50-100 a year. I certainly don't think it would be 3 or 4.

 

[2flyfishin]

Seems as if most of you discussing this are in N. California -
Where are you ever going to be that is more than 200 miles from a gas station?
Even if you only get 11 miles to a gallon your 24 gallon tank will get you more than 250 miles.
Even when I have been in LOW range all day I have never gotten less than 14 mpg.
At that rate I can carry 2 gerry cans and go close to 490 miles!

I do a lot of long treks in E. Oregon, N. Nevada, W. Idaho where distances between fuel stops are vast and even then I rarely carry my extra tanks.

After this company spends all the time and money developing and certifiying these tanks, how many customers are they going to have? 3 or 4 maybe?

I get what you and some others are saying. Yes the tanks cost a lot, especially when you compare them to jerrycans. Distance between fuel stops can be relative to what you are doing though. I have stayed away from some fishing trips do to range. A lot of the places I do go to, I spend a considerable amount of time away from civilization. One place I have wanted to go to has multiple lakes about 20 miles apart and 170 miles round trip from the nearest gas just to get in with a sizeable amount of driving needing 4x. If rain is in the forecast they say don't even try it. Five to Six days in there, going from lake to lake, any other exploring and fuel can become a concern. Jerrycans mean giving up space when packing a week worth of food ,water, camping gear, float tubes , etc. Add in loading and unloading full jerrycans on a roof rack sucks. I don't carry fuel inside the vehicle besides going down the block to pick up a gallon for the lawnmower. Sometimes paying for convenience and peace of mind sounds good. I also wouldn't mind filling it up, throwing some sta-bil in it just in case shtf. I wouldn't be in the market for one of the larger tanks, but 10-15 gallons tucked up and out of the way would sure be nice.

 

[nglayton]

Seems as if most of you discussing this are in N. California -
Where are you ever going to be that is more than 200 miles from a gas station?
Even if you only get 11 miles to a gallon your 24 gallon tank will get you more than 250 miles.
Even when I have been in LOW range all day I have never gotten less than 14 mpg.
At that rate I can carry 2 gerry cans and go close to 490 miles!

I do a lot of long treks in E. Oregon, N. Nevada, W. Idaho where distances between fuel stops are vast and even then I rarely carry my extra tanks.

After this company spends all the time and money developing and certifiying these tanks, how many customers are they going to have? 3 or 4 maybe?

Think how far you could go with an extra 45 gallon tank + those 2 Jerry cans!!!!

But to answer your question, for me it's all about being prepared.
The famous Boy Scout Motto!!

I would say about 2-3 times a year, I'm off the grid (hunting) for up to 8-10 days at a time. While I can easily do that without running low on fuel or even needing to use the 2 jerry cans I usually carry. It sure would be nice to not take the jerry cans. It would be nice to run around and explore more without having to worry about where my first stop (for fuel) will be.

The cost of fuel that I've had to pay at some of those gas stations I've had to use will easily pay for the tank in about a year.

 

[Aznwolf118]

Is there an expected time frame for this to drop? Especially the carb legal version.

I do remember the fj cruiser aux tank set up had a short drop window and lots of issues. If memory serves me it was mostly vacuum issues would cause a check engine lite decause of the smog equipment and charcoal canister re locate. But it was a man-a-fee set up

 

[engineeer]

Is there an expected time frame for this to drop? Especially the carb legal version.

I do remember the fj cruiser aux tank set up had a short drop window and lots of issues. If memory serves me it was mostly vacuum issues would cause a check engine lite decause of the smog equipment and charcoal canister re locate. But it was a man-a-fee set up

According to Ward over at Cruiser Brothers:

We have a test template on the way and expect to be able to finalize tank design for 5G4R and GX in January.

Once they finalize it, LRA will have to manufacture it and do whatever testing they do in Australia. Then they'll need to send it to CB to install and test-fit into an actual vehicle. If something doesn't fit or install right, CB will need to inform LRA so they can address it, make a new prototype, and send it to them.

[MENTION=203605]Cruiser Brothers[/MENTION] will have to chime in with how the LC200 development went in terms of turnaround time from test-fitting through shipment of the first customer unit.

 

[FoxRunner1]

Interesting. Sub'd. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[massoverland]

Wanting one from day one.
Please move forward, if the one responsible is listening.

 

[Folsom4Rnr]

Subscribed... final installed cost would be a significant factor to my decision, but I really like the idea of an additional several gallons of gas without having to use gerry cans.

 

[borfoo3]

This forum is proving to be an expensive place to surf..

sub'd

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

I like the idea of an auxiliary tank in the spare location considering my spare is hanging off the rear bumper. I personally would only like about 10-15 gallons. That way it could be tucked up nice and high under the 4x4 labs bumper.

My other thought would be to replace the stock tank with a 40 gallon in the spare location to balance the weight from side to side. This would then open up the idea of longer links on the rear bumper meaning more travel. Hmmm. Thoughts?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mrblah]

I also don't mind having a smaller tank, like 10 gallons or so would be ideal for my uses. I'd like to see 400 miles between fill ups, and not have to deal with the mess associated with jerry cans.

However, beggers can't be chosers so I'll wait n see what are the options.

 

[borfoo3]

Just curious though, how hard would it be to adapt a Prado tank or the GCC FJ cruiser tank (both huge compared to the T4R)

The FJ here comes with 72L + 87L = 159 Liters right from the factory! (That's US 42 Gallons)

The few people I know who tried installing them on non-GCC spec trucks faced issues and could not get it to work right

 

[Logans]

Cruiser Brothers,
How do I get on the list for when the tanks become available?

 

[JerseyMike]

My other thought would be to replace the stock tank with a 40 gallon in the spare location to balance the weight from side to side. This would then open up the idea of longer links on the rear bumper meaning more travel. Hmmm. Thoughts?

Not too keen on a separate auxiliary tank, but a 40 gal replacement for the stock tank would DEFINITELY interest me.

 

[Jetboy]

Seems as if most of you discussing this are in N. California -
Where are you ever going to be that is more than 200 miles from a gas station?
Even if you only get 11 miles to a gallon your 24 gallon tank will get you more than 250 miles.
Even when I have been in LOW range all day I have never gotten less than 14 mpg.
At that rate I can carry 2 gerry cans and go close to 490 miles!

I do a lot of long treks in E. Oregon, N. Nevada, W. Idaho where distances between fuel stops are vast and even then I rarely carry my extra tanks.

After this company spends all the time and money developing and certifiying these tanks, how many customers are they going to have? 3 or 4 maybe?

I generally agree that there's really not a lot of places in the USA where it's necessary to have extra fuel. My experience side by side with other vehicles is that 4runner uses about half the fuel of an FJ80 landcruiser on the same trails. It's actually kinda remarkable how fuel efficient they are in trail duty. Compared to my FJ40 - having 20 gallons in the 4runner is like having probably 50 gallons in that.

Where I personally do need extra fuel - or want extra fuel really - is towing my camper. Getting 13ish mpg means I have to stop all the damn time to get gas. It's just a convenience issue mostly. And I would not pay much for it. I just carry fuel in the camper. The only place I've nearly run out is in central Nevada. I filled up in Wendover and didn't fill up again in Ely - and as I'm sure you probably already know - the longest stretch of highway in the USA without a fuel station is from Ely Nevada to Tonopah. I was towing my camper and almost didn't make it to Tonopah. But I can plan around that next time by filling up again in Ely and/or also having gas cans in the trailer and spend the $ I save on another trip or two.

 

[sactown]

Interesting. Don't technically "need" it but it sure would be nice.