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Jerry Can Mount


85_Ranger4x4

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Since my fuel gauge ain't exactly calibrated by Texas Instruments I got to thinking it would be nice to able to carry extra fuel when on long trips.

I don't really want a gas can bouncing around in the back of my enclosed truck so I am planning on putting it on my spare tire carrier like this:



What is the best kind of mount for doing it that way?

All I am really coming up with is Smittybilt (and similar):


and the military style with a strap that is not lockable:


Anything else out there that wouldn't make it a PITA to get the full fuel can in and out of?
 


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You sure the spare tire mount can handle another 40 pounds on the end like that? :dunno:
 

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5 gallons of gas sitting on my rear bumper or tire carrier??? Maybe if going off road I could see it there, but on a highway or regular roadway...
Some idiot hits you in the rear and your gonna have 5 gallons of gas, and vapor all over the place...
Just my 2 cents worth, but for as often as you might need it, I'd secure it in the bed somewhere. out of harms way.
Plenty of in bed jerry can mounts available.
Grumpaw
 

85_Ranger4x4

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You sure the spare tire mount can handle another 40 pounds on the end like that? :dunno:
When closed it will be supported on the far end with the latch and in the middle with kind of a skidplate type thing. It would not be a full time thing, heck even the carrier isn't a full time thing.

I have the same hinge/latch kit as this Bronco II:

 
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That's the 4xinnovations hinge that I just ordered that went on bobby bronco. I went with a Destaco latch.
 

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I would go with the second one you posted because of the easier loading and unloading. People have said getting the can out of a full cage carrier can be a real bear. Depending on what the strap that comes with the carrier looks like, you may want to upgrade that to something better like a ratchet strap.
 

Josh B

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Yeah the second one looks like a better one to me also. Neither one have real high marks in their reviews, the second only has 2, a 2 and a 3, and it's considerably higher, but if it's heavy duty as its' price would imply you could probly come up with you own locking strap.
I bought one of those cans at a sale recently for $10, it's a green one, do they require being red now?
 

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I think the can being the right color for the contents is highly encouraged but not enforced in any way that I know of. Red for gas, yellow for diesel, blue for kerosene, and something else for water. With a lot of new cans, a choice isn't given. I've seen a lot of the new jerry cans being sold in red or some sort of green for the more taticool crowd. I have seen a move toward going to plastic cans for weight savings as well. Supposedly, they are more puncture resistant than metal as well.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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That's the 4xinnovations hinge that I just ordered that went on bobby bronco. I went with a Destaco latch.
It is pretty beefy, i have pics of mine in my build thread if you want a preview.

Yeah the second one looks like a better one to me also. Neither one have real high marks in their reviews, the second only has 2, a 2 and a 3, and it's considerably higher, but if it's heavy duty as its' price would imply you could probly come up with you own locking strap.
I bought one of those cans at a sale recently for $10, it's a green one, do they require being red now?
Second was just an example, I would try to track a real one rather than a Chinese knockoff.

Mine will be red, for both safety and also that is just kinda how they are supposed to be... lol

I think the can being the right color for the contents is highly encouraged but not enforced in any way that I know of. Red for gas, yellow for diesel, blue for kerosene, and something else for water. With a lot of new cans, a choice isn't given. I've seen a lot of the new jerry cans being sold in red or some sort of green for the more taticool crowd. I have seen a move toward going to plastic cans for weight savings as well. Supposedly, they are more puncture resistant than metal as well.
I thought about rotopax, with a bracket they cost about the same (abit smaller) but they look weird.
 

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Rotopax and other plastic containers are cool but they swell up in the heat/sun. I have two flat 3.2 gallon Kolpin tanks on my roof rack and they both swelled up so big during my March expedition trip to AZ that I couldn't get them off during the day. I was kinda worried that they'd crack and spill fuel all over. It wasn't even that hot - maybe 80* at the warmest point in our trip. Needless to say, I will be either redesigning my mount so they can swell up and be removed or just not using them. One of the guys I was wheeling with said that nobody uses rotopax or other plastic gas containers down there because they do split open.

 

85_Ranger4x4

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Rotopax and other plastic containers are cool but they swell up in the heat/sun. I have two flat 3.2 gallon Kolpin tanks on my roof rack and they both swelled up so big during my March expedition trip to AZ that I couldn't get them off during the day. I was kinda worried that they'd crack and spill fuel all over. It wasn't even that hot - maybe 80* at the warmest point in our trip. Needless to say, I will be either redesigning my mount so they can swell up and be removed or just not using them. One of the guys I was wheeling with said that nobody uses rotopax or other plastic gas containers down there because they do split open.

Just crack the cap open to relieve the pressure :icon_thumby: :icon_rofl:

I hadn't thought about that, I do know my POS plastic gas can I use for my mower and tractors can swell quite a bit though.
 

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Second was just an example, I would try to track a real one rather than a Chinese knockoff.
Ahhh yeah, I remember those ones, maybe you could make a knock off one yourself. I think with the right sheet metal and a torch you could probly come up with something better than those. That's likely what I'll try to do, maybe onto a draw hitch somehow, I already have a spare one.
Here's some shots of the can I picked up a few weeks ago, it says US at bottom on the front
 

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85_Ranger4x4

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Ahhh yeah, I remember those ones, maybe you could make a knock off one yourself. I think with the right sheet metal and a torch you could probly come up with something better than those. That's likely what I'll try to do, maybe onto a draw hitch somehow, I already have a spare one.
Here's some shots of the can I picked up a few weeks ago, it says US at bottom on the front
Assuming your can was made in ‘52? Pretty good shape for its age if so!

This is the best deal i have found so far;

 

Josh B

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Yes sir, it certainly is. It was in the garage of an estate sale I'd stopped at, still had gas in it, and the nozzle top didn't want to unscrew(they'd already spilled some gas while looking it over, and I smelled that). After buying it I'd taken it out to the driveway to get the extension nozzle off, but it was stuck. I'd gone back into the garage looking for a hammer and something(wooden) to bust it loose. They asked me to move it a little farther away(not knowing I had grown up in the oilfields) I returned to the items I had already bought and grabbed a rubber mallet, and used the wood end of an old hammer to break it loose.
 

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