Fuel

I have a 14gal tank on the roof rack with a locking ball valve and Camlok quick connect for the hose/nozzle. I just attach the hose an gravity transfer the fuel. I keep the tank either completely full or empty so there’s never any sloshing around. The tank came from Northern Tool and the ball valve and Camlok from Amazon. All together it was less than $200. The tank is DOT approved. I no longer hurt my back or spill fuel on my feet. Vertical height of tank is about the same as a Jerry can.
 
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Gen5Runner said:
I have a 14gal tank on the roof rack with a locking ball valve and Camlok quick connect for the hose/nozzle. I just attach the hose an gravity transfer the fuel. I keep the tank either completely full or empty so there’s never any sloshing around. The tank came from Northern Tool and the ball valve and Camlok from Amazon. All together it was less than $200. The tank is DOT approved. I no longer hurt my back or spill fuel on my feet. Vertical height of tank is about the same as a Jerry can.
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Nice. Thank you.
 
Surprisingly one of the best fuel cans I've ever had has been one of those safety spout cans that you have to push the button to open. It's 5 gallons, and it's cheap and it fits well in my storage area. I sometimes take it and when I do I just put it in the cargo area since I don't carry stuff on the roof except a tarp. I've never had it leak or smell like fuel in the Jeep.
 
Banjor said:
Quick correction, larger tires will make the speedometer read slower for the same speed, since you will have fewer rotations for the same difference.

If you recalibrate for larger tires then don’t recalibrate for smaller ones, your perceived mileage will get worse, not better.

If the speedometer wasn’t recalibrated, then there is no way to trust the odometer for gas mileage calculations. I’m not sure the ODO is all that accurate for real mileage in any case, my speedometer always registered about 1-2 MPH faster than I was actually going on stock tires. Of course, the speedometer is calibrated a little fast on purpose, so that as your tires wear you don’t end up going faster in reality then your dash reads (the manufacturers wouldn’t want to be liable for making people unknowingly speed).

I changed from 225/55-18 to 235/60-17. That increased the diameter from 27.7” to 28.3”, an increase of 2.2%. Now I figure my speedometer is closer to correct than it was when new.
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Well that weird everything ive put larger tires on has alway read around 4mph faster without calibration.

This is a crappy visual of how ive always understood it.15821287480971638268643.jpg

Maybe when you changed your tire size you actually went to the correct stock size for your vehicle that would explain why your mph started reading correct speed. I also use a gps speedo and it mirrors +/-.05 mph what my stock speedo says.

I do have a touch of dyslexia and i suck at math so everything ive said may be in reverse
 
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I don't carry them for looks like many. I carry mine so I don't run out when things don't go as planned. Mine are decidedly old school and by the way were way cheap. I cleaned them up and painted them. One has diesel for my heater. I carry a spare fuel pump for my jeep. I keep a 15' cord and hose on it. I just drop it in the can and plug it in. I put the hose in my tank and in about a minute or so the can is empty.

PS
If you aren't going to use the gas for a while, put a can of Stabil in the gas.
 
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old_man said:
I don't carry them for looks like many. I carry mine so I don't run out when things don't go as planned. Mine are decidedly old school and by the way were way cheap. I cleaned them up and painted them. One has diesel for my heater. I carry a spare fuel pump for my jeep. I keep a 15' cord and hose on it. I just drop it in the can and plug it in. I put the hose in my tank and in about a minute or so the can is empty.

PS
If you aren't going to use the gas for a while, put a can of Stabil in the gas.
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Thank you.
 
Gen5Runner said:
I have a 14gal tank on the roof rack with a locking ball valve and Camlok quick connect for the hose/nozzle. I just attach the hose an gravity transfer the fuel. I keep the tank either completely full or empty so there’s never any sloshing around. The tank came from Northern Tool and the ball valve and Camlok from Amazon. All together it was less than $200. The tank is DOT approved. I no longer hurt my back or spill fuel on my feet. Vertical height of tank is about the same as a Jerry can.
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How do you refill the tank?
 
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eagle_A40 said:
I don't own these, but think they may be pretty handy.

BEEYEO 5 Gallon

View attachment 140796
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Fascinating, those appear to be the same shape as 4.5 gallon Rotopax canisters, but without the Rotopax-specific mounting point. In any case, I suspect they would have all the same strengths/weaknesses but require a different mounting solution. The price is similar.

Actually, these ones might be better than Rotopax in the sense that the multiple ovoid holes would add structural integrity since they would act as pillars holding against expansion bowing out the flat sides. They wouldn’t have the nifty mounting solution, but hey look nice if you can figure out a good way to mount them. They are about the same cost as the Rotopax Fuelpax 4.5 gallon, however, which everyone says are expensive compared to Jerry cans.
 
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tangrignon said:
If you're not doing tough and very steep routes (which honestly the XT is not cut out for, even with X-Mode), the departure angle probably won't be an issue. But watch for expansion (ballooning). One way to handle it is to do what I did and run them empty 99% of the time, except when you are back-country. Then fill them, and drive until you need to top up and use them as soon as possible. Then, if you don't need fuel in them, just leave them empty.
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The Wilco hitch-mount I got is the high mount model that sits 5 inches or so above the hitch, so the swing-out arm is in line with the bottom of the bumper. Really only the center hitch mount sticks out in the back, so my departure angles to either side of the hitch mount are relatively unaffected, and my 1” lift springs help a tiny amount. The hitch itself hurts my departure angles MUCH worse than the tire carrier does except in that one center spot.

The hinge of the hitch swing arm does sit behind one of the exhaust tips, but with a good 6” or so of space so I hope that won’t be a problem. I might get a downward angled exhaust tip if I can find one. Those aren’t legal in California (even though there is no way it would deposit exhaust on the tarmac being so high), but it would be hidden so I think I could get away with it.

I do always plan to leave the fuel canisters empty except when needed. In California 3 gallons of premium gas is worth almost $15, so they would make an attractive target even with the (somewhat lame) locking Rotopax mount. Hopefully an empty canister wouldn’t be as attractive a theft target, but so far they have been sitting empty in my garage in any case. I like the idea of using the gas in the canisters as soon as possible, topping off early on the trail. I’ll keep that in mind and everything should be fine. I’ll also try to leave the spout cap unscrewed a while after emptying them, since gas fumes expand worse than plain air and are highly explosive.
 
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Boostpowered said:
Well that weird everything ive put larger tires on has alway read around 4mph faster without calibration.

This is a crappy visual of how ive always understood it.

Maybe when you changed your tire size you actually went to the correct stock size for your vehicle that would explain why your mph started reading correct speed. I also use a gps speedo and it mirrors +/-.05 mph what my stock speedo says.

I do have a touch of dyslexia and i suck at math so everything ive said may be in reverse
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No, I swapped out the stock wheels and tires for the larger off-road ones, so that wasn’t the issue.

I think certain manufacturers are less conservative about speedo calibration than Subaru, and it does vary a bit from car to car (the calibration isn’t 100% correct and varies a bit at the factory).

In any case, when you increase the diameter of the tires, you also increase the circumference by the same percentage (or double the percentage of the increase in radius).

Think of it this way, the car moves forward the same amount as the circumference of the tire once each rotation of the wheel, since all parts of the tire contact the road linearly during a rotation. A larger circumference means you are traveling further with each wheel rotation, hence traveling faster at a given transmission gear and engine RPM.

It works the same way for bicycles. If you change out 26” wheels and tires for 29” wheels and tires, you are going faster and working harder at the same gear combination. This is why 29” bikes use a smaller front cog or larger rear cogs than 26” bikes do, all other things being equal. However, larger tires have lower rolling resistance over bumps, so it does even out a little bit when the going gets rough. This is one reason why larger tires might have slightly better mileage than smaller tires, and on smooth roads they would be going faster, so mileage might also improve. However when you go from touring to all-terrain tires the knobby tread hurts gas mileage worse than the positives gained from a larger circumference, unless the touring tires were of a poor design and had bad rolling resistance.
 
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Banjor said:
The Wilco hitch-mount I got is the high mount model that sits 5 inches or so above the hitch, so the swing-out arm is in line with the bottom of the bumper. Really only the center hitch mount sticks out in the back, so my departure angles to either side of the hitch mount are relatively unaffected, and my 1” lift springs help a tiny amount. The hitch itself hurts my departure angles MUCH worse than the tire carrier does except in that one center spot.

The hinge of the hitch swing arm does sit behind one of the exhaust tips, but with a good 6” or so of space so I hope that won’t be a problem. I might get a downward angled exhaust tip if I can find one. Those aren’t legal in California (even though there is no way it would deposit exhaust on the tarmac being so high), but it would be hidden so I think I could get away with it.

I do always plan to leave the fuel canisters empty except when needed. In California 3 gallons of premium gas is worth almost $15, so they would make an attractive target even with the (somewhat lame) locking Rotopax mount. Hopefully an empty canister wouldn’t be as attractive a theft target, but so far they have been sitting empty in my garage in any case. I like the idea of using the gas in the canisters as soon as possible, topping off early on the trail. I’ll keep that in mind and everything should be fine. I’ll also try to leave the spout cap unscrewed a while after emptying them, since gas fumes expand worse than plain air and are highly explosive.
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Yeah that is what I found - it wasn't the Hitchgate per se, it was really the hitch that it was mounted in, that I was dragging in steep v-shaped ditches.

You reminded me of the other reason I left them empty. I was living in San Francisco and figured that a full gas tank was an invitation to be a jerk so I left them on...but empty. If somebody ever wanted to tap on them or open them...nothing interesting for them and not worth wrestling off the vehicle.

I hope you enjoy the Wilco. It was an excellent addition to two of my vehicles and served me well over the years.
 
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MMc said:
Those are expensive! Look at the VP fuel containers also they are square and store well, they will be my replacements. I have a Blitz can the has to be 20 years old now.
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A bonus of living in Canada, since the Scepter MFC's are all made here, we do get them for a fair price.
 
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JPOVS said:
I have the Scepter MFC that I store on the front decking of my teardrop trailer. When I was in Colorado over the July 4th holiday I could smell fuel near the front of the trailer, and sometimes while in the trailer. Curious why I could smell fuel with the lid on tight? The can was swelled up, so I tried relieving it, but a small mist of fuel would come out when I ever so slightly tried to let the air out so I stopped. Is the smell of fuel normal for these cans? This was my first time using them and the outside of the can was clean/new.
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Do you have the gas cap wrench? I keep mine cranked on pretty well, and have never smelled gas from either of my MFC's, regardless of swelling from heat or being bounced around off-roading.
 
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