The Great Gas Can Debate

[DWiggles]

As adventures from home and off pavement get further and longer, I am starting to reach the point where the ability to carry extra fuel is becoming more appealing. I am interested on how you guys are carrying extra fuel, how much you CAN take, and generally how much you use.

As I am kind of building my jk for that "new old school look" I.E. I prefer round lights opposed to square led bars/pods, as such I really like the LOOK of red metal Blitz Cans for fuel vs the LOOK of any other solution found on google so far, however I have read so much about them leaking, not venting properly, etc, when compared to rotopax and even some of the "newer" NATO Can Designs... so I thought a good pros/cons and real world advice thread regarding "The Great Gas Can Debate" Prior to making a purchasing decision.

Pros/cons of mounting&bracket design?

Pros/cons of actual can use? (siphoning/pooring)

Finish Longevity?

Recommended Brands/Distributers?

 

[Sharkey]

Interested to see where this goes. I tend to prefer the old look too (damn I wish the round ARB led's were not an arm and a leg).

 

[jeff_in_rc]

My 04 Rubicon has a rear bumper with 2 jerry can mounts that sit between the tire swing and spare holding them in place very nicely, now I know you might not have this setup just throwing out what I have.

One of my club members has the Rotopax and he got the spare tire mount for his stock spare tire, looks good and he has never complained about leakage. Now he does pour the gas in but I don't, I used the hardtop connector for power and have a 12vdc electric fuel pump to pump the fuel out of the can and into the jeep. I tried the siphon method but since the gas can sits so low it would only get 1/2 of the fuel out and since I don't want to have to loosen the spare to get the can out I opted for the pump method.

I have had this jeep for a little over 3 years now and have used the fuel many times on longer trips and I don't know about you but I don't trust the fuel gauge in my jeep to be accurate. LOL

BTW if I don't plan on long trips for a while I will use the fuel to keep it from going stale.

Hope this helps.

 

[jeeeep]

My 04 Rubicon has a rear bumper with 2 jerry can mounts that sit between the tire swing and spare holding them in place very nicely, now I know you might not have this setup just throwing out what I have.

One of my club members has the Rotopax and he got the spare tire mount for his stock spare tire, looks good and he has never complained about leakage. Now he does pour the gas in but I don't, I used the hardtop connector for power and have a 12vdc electric fuel pump to pump the fuel out of the can and into the jeep. I tried the siphon method but since the gas can sits so low it would only get 1/2 of the fuel out and since I don't want to have to loosen the spare to get the can out I opted for the pump method.

I have had this jeep for a little over 3 years now and have used the fuel many times on longer trips and I don't know about you but I don't trust the fuel gauge in my jeep to be accurate. LOL

BTW if I don't plan on long trips for a while I will use the fuel to keep it from going stale.

Hope this helps.

where did you mount the electric pump? can you take a pic?

I have the AEV and am thinking of selling it and going rotopax, it's nice to have the fuel capacity but getting it out with the siphon is a hassle

 

[jeff_in_rc]

where did you mount the electric pump? can you take a pic?

I have the AEV and am thinking of selling it and going rotopax, it's nice to have the fuel capacity but getting it out with the siphon is a hassle

I keep it in a Home Depot bag in one of my 2 plastic bins with all of my off-road supplies, here is my post from when I first set this up. If the Rotopax sits high enough the siphon should work just fine just make sure the hose is small enough to fit into the pack.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?15939-My-fuel-transfer-solution

Jeff

 

[DWiggles]

My 04 Rubicon has a rear bumper with 2 jerry can mounts that sit between the tire swing and spare holding them in place very nicely, now I know you might not have this setup just throwing out what I have.

I dont have any YET :grayno:

But Hopefully as the thread develops, we will ALL be able to make the right decision for ourselves and our rigs :thumb:

EDIT:

I do like the idea of siphoning and will probably end up there. I plan on running the LOD rear bumper/carrier, and judging from what I have seen from pics, I do not think can height vs. filler height will be much of an issue if at all...

Lucky for those of us who like LOD, they have options for Both Rotopax (over-under or side by side) and Blitz style cans (driver and/or passenger) and I'm sure any other solution under the sun with a simple phone call... :crazyeyes:

Interested to see where this goes. I tend to prefer the old look too (damn I wish the round ARB led's were not an arm and a leg).

Right!?! Even the LED JW fogs are nice, I just dont know if they are $360 for fogs nice, or if they will match the color output of trucklites... or if I should leave all light stock and just mount some 7" driving lights to the front bumper for that "old school" look... but thats a whole other problem... lol

 

[trailraider]

Interested to see where this goes. .

me too.
I have a old school looking plastic gas can, but I don't know where to install/mount it. although I have yet to do a trip where I was worried about running out of fuel yet.
I have the hard rock rear bumper and plan on getting a tire carrier for it. but I have yet to see a AEV or the Maxximus 3 carrier for it in person. so I don't know it this will work for me.
I like the look of my bumpers and don't really want to change them out.

 

[Wethy]

This gas can is perfect for you will give you that old school look and feel with its Rigid metal design. Used in the early 40s! 1000$
Will fit perfectly behind the seat inside the vehicle!
Jk I'm also interested in seeing where this thread goes

 

[GraniteCrystal]

Also interested in this. I like the rotopax look but wow they're expensive. I'm not sure why.

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

Also interested in this. I like the rotopax look but wow they're expensive. I'm not sure why.

I guess I would have to compare their price to the price of extraction by a tow company or even walking. $119.95 for the 4 gallon version seems pretty cheap to me.

 

[GraniteCrystal]

I guess I would have to compare their price to the price of extraction by a tow company or even walking. $119.95 for the 4 gallon version seems pretty cheap to me.

You're comparing the wrong things.

2 Gal Rotopax: $80
2 Gal Home Depot gas can: $15

The rotopax looks cool, attaches nicely, and I may end up buying a couple, but the markup seems crazy to me.

 

[cozdude]

Do you have an aftermarket bumper/tire carrier yet? If not I run the OR Fab carrier with roto pax and have been very happy with it. It allows me to carry 6 gallons of fuel in 2 three gallon cans.

This is the only good shot I have on my phone currently
.

 

[WJCO]

Do you have an aftermarket bumper/tire carrier yet? If not I run the OR Fab carrier with roto pax and have been very happy with it. It allows me to carry 6 gallons of fuel in 2 three gallon cans.

This is the only good shot I have on my phone currently

I like the look of that. Simple and accessible. I may have another project to work on!

 

[GraniteCrystal]

Do you have an aftermarket bumper/tire carrier yet? If not I run the OR Fab carrier with roto pax and have been very happy with it. It allows me to carry 6 gallons of fuel in 2 three gallon cans.

This is the only good shot I have on my phone currently
View attachment 185777.

What are your thoughts on running the cans between the tailgate and tire as that does vs on the side of the tire? I'm thinking running them in the middle hurts your departure angle by moving the tire farther out but maybe there's a disadvantage of mounting them on the side of the tire as well

 

[cozdude]

What are your thoughts on running the cans between the tailgate and tire as that does vs on the side of the tire? I'm thinking running them in the middle hurts your departure angle by moving the tire farther out but maybe there's a disadvantage of mounting them on the side of the tire as well

I haven't noticed to much of an issue with departure angle since I got it about 3 years ago now. They sit very close to the body which helps keep the tire as tight as possible. The only thing I don't like about this set up is that it leaves the tire more exposed for hitting a rock and such. To help eliminate some of that I plan to have a hitch slider made like the one Overlander runs in the pic below
.

 

[Sudz]

that JK looks familiar

old school cans

 

[AirborneJK]

I have a 5 gallon Jerry can I got from work, can beat free army issue stuff haha. I'm currently working on a mounting solution though

 

[ob_tj]

I am having the same problem with my TJ. I have two 5 gallon jerry cans and can't decide on what mounting method I want to go with. As of right now I keep them inside behind the back seat. Which isn't the best spot for them at all.

 

[AllAmericanInfidel]

Do you have an aftermarket bumper/tire carrier yet? If not I run the OR Fab carrier with roto pax and have been very happy with it. It allows me to carry 6 gallons of fuel in 2 three gallon cans.

This is the only good shot I have on my phone currently
View attachment 185777.

How was the install on that? I was literally just looking at them, debating between the rotopax version and the Jerry can version.

 

[AllAmericanInfidel]

What are your thoughts on running the cans between the tailgate and tire as that does vs on the side of the tire? I'm thinking running them in the middle hurts your departure angle by moving the tire farther out but maybe there's a disadvantage of mounting them on the side of the tire as well

Per the OR Fab website, they combat the departure angle issue by raising the tire by 5 1/2 inches. I was thinking the same thing as you, but after hearing no complaints from users and seeing pics and vids from when GCM2 ran one, I think I'm going to go for it.