Do you have an auxiliary fuel tank? if so what is your set-up?

Are you interested in an auxiliary fuel tank? If so what have you found out in your research?

I was originally going to make my own but am now leaning to a manufactured one.

What I have found so far:
GenRight has a couple of options:
For suspension upgrade a replacement tank installs under the rear cargo area. and the OEM tank is removed. (20 or 25 gal options)
A second tank option (20gal) that is used in addition to the OEM tank.

ARB Out of Australia
A Long Ranger TA64P (almost 16gal) that installs under the driver side.

What are your thoughts?

KG6SLC aka Eugene

 

With all the inattentive/texting drivers plowing into the cars in front of them, I'd prefer not to have a gas tank mounted at the back of the Jeep.

 

Someone would have to make it through my 1/4" steel rear bumper first before hitting the gas tank. Most of the fuel cells move the tank up from its stock location and in the back. Whereas stock, it's on the passenger side but hangs down low. If you have a lifted jeep and a car shoves its nose under your rear bumper, it's pushing your rear axle into you gas tank.

 

Just get some RotoPax cans and mount them on the side then. RotoPax cans are super tough I saw a video of someone throwing one off the roof of a 3 story building and it did not break. I bet if it had landed on the cap it would have broken though. The cap is not made of the same plastic.

 

AEV has a 'fuel caddy' that gives you an extra 10 gallons on your spare tire.

 

They wouldnt have to make it through your 1/4" steel bumper. They just have to make it through the bolts holding it on or more likely just collapse the stock frame a little bit.

Fuel cells are usually mounted inside the cab but what Genright makes is mounted under the floor board behind the axle. By the way, I believe there is a law that requires all OEMs to mount tanks between the axles now (someone please fact check this). The stock location gas tank doesnt really hang low. Its just below the frame rail at best. If a car were to shove its nose under you rear bumper, it would have to be one hell of an unfortunate circumstance to somehow lodge your axle into your gas tank. Remember the axle cycles with your suspension so the crash would have essentially snap the control arms, and then lift the axle up and forward.

 

Not only is there a 1/4" steel rear bumper, there is also a rear crossmember there. And the frame. I trust my bumper and frame to hold up much better to a collision than the axle or frame end control arm brackets on a stock rear axle. It's not uncommon to see someone rip control arm brackets off simply by sliding sideways and nailing a wheel against a curb. Those things are practically made out of tin foil. So it's not that your control arms would collapse, it's that the brackets would rip right off. I'm not saying this is a likely scenario.

Anyway, I wasn't speaking particularly about the GenRight fuel cell, but fuel cells in general. Fuel cells that are certified for race rigs usually have multiple failsafes in place as it has to withstand flipping end over end, crashes, etc. In my opinion, it would be just as safe to run as the OEM tank, which, oh-by-the-way, is just plastic with a steel skid. Most fuel cells have multiple layers (bladders, foam, aluminum outer skin, etc).

I'm guessing though if you go to a fuel cell, you are no longer worrying about passing state inspections, in which case you are probably building a mostly dedicated trail rig which might see some occasional road use, if any at all.

 

Technically, fuel tanks are now required to be between axles. That said, lots of vehicles on the road with rear mounted tanks, including the TJ. I think the JK is more notorious for burning to the ground than a TJ.

There is quite a bit of rear protection for a fuel. Even if a small car plowed underneath, it likely wouldn't do much to a 1/4" skid. The aluminum cell can handle impact as well. Lastly, the flash point of fuel is pretty high and it would likely take a fire to ignite it.

I'm not sure if I feel any safer knowing that with a passenger side impact there is about 5 ft in length of fuel tank hanging below the frame rail with a paper thin skid plate. Granted, the stock fuel tank material can yield significantly more than aluminum.

Now, I would not want an aluminum fuel cell where a stock JK tank is or in a similar location on the opposite side.

 

Looked into this last year....

Long Range Automotive makes a 60L (15.8G) tank that mounts in the stock EVAP location. Quote I got in 8/2016 was $1,250 AUD + $430 AUD shipping, then I have to collect it from customs at the port, where duties and taxes may be due. Can't find instructions, but from what I can tell, it requires mounting a separate fuel filler on the outside, mounting a gauge on the inside, and transferring fuel by manually switching on a transfer pump.

LongRanger makes a 68L (17.9G) tank that goes in the stock EVAP location, too. Supposedly imported by ARB, but haven't been able to get a quote on it. Can't tell if the transfer pump is automatic or manually switched, however it does have an automatic cutoff. I prefer this one because it doesn't add a second filler tube and seems like a higher quality product all around.

Install time for both is slightly reduced because I already relocated the EVAP above the rear axle using the Nemesis kit.

Why this instead of the AEV fuel caddy? After adding a supercharger, my JK gets ~14mpg on the freeway at best. The cost of gas doesn't bother me, but the reduced range of 250 miles means I'm stopping every 3 hours or topping off before mountain runs. I could previously go from SJ to Tahoe on a tank, now I have to fill up before heading up.

 

No worries here