4x4 Action Group

My trailer std have 2 Jerry cans fitted just before the front fenders

I'm looking at building a kitchen cupboard lhs and clothes cupboard rhs
Above the fender

Lhs is fitted to the swing out door so that one might stay
But the RHS one I thought of removing for fitment of a larger clothes cupboard


The actual question is

How often do you use your extra Jerry cans

I was thinking
Seeing they are fitted before the Axle I could build a 50L Ally tank for fuel fitted under the chassis
This will only filled when needed

Then I can still fit a belly water tank above the Axle for weight distribution


My Tow vehicle is a V10Tdi Touareg 90L tank
Average range 800km

Both Namibia and Bots trips we did I had the 2 x jerrys filled but never needed them.

If you venture into far northern Nam or Kariba area in Zim you will need extra diesel.

Check out one the pictures I sent you. I mounted the rhs jerry can behind mudguard. I had to do some surgery to the anti theft bracket but it worked out fine

So in 2020 a week before lockdown I did a Botswana trip. We decided to go to Kubu and then OVER the pans ranging north-west over the pans from Kubu. Having lost injectors in the past(on my hardbody) to bad fuel, I am full of nonsense about where I choose to fill up etc...

Thus I decided to build myself a Jerry can bracket that fits on the towing hitch of my vehicle(or any vehicle in the future) that fits 4 Jerry cans. Lights number plate, all as legal as possible.
In this specific trip when we exited the pans, no fuel was available when we exited, and I ended up using 3 of the 4 Jerry cans before filling up again. (The two diesel cans were also used by my fathers Prado who was travelling with us).

So looking at figures, my vehicle gives me 6km/l safely, with its onboard 80-90l tank giving me 500km which is sufficient most of the time. Hitting soft sand I have gotten it down to 1.8km/l average! Thus 144km. Very temperamental when playing.

In most cases I also try to stay out of the dreaded empty zone because the fuel pump does not cool efficiently.

My usual setup when over landing remotely is 2 Jerry cans on the roof when there are large town nearby(200km) and when travelling to very remote areas where you are also staying extended times, I would take my 4 cans again...

Ja, if you choose Devil's Juice you need to carry a lot of extra fuel.
Peet, your V6 Fortuner used double the fuel my D-4D used in Bots and I was towing!!!

Possibly, Manny. But this is the thing with real fuel: One may use more, but it puts a smile on your dial without the black smoke and anaemic power at higher revs...

The nice thing about diesel is that it isn't highly flammable...........

jakeslouw wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 19, 2022 2:59 pm

The nice thing about diesel is that it isn't highly flammable...........

...under normal circumstances... When it ignites, it goes well...

That said, I concur with that point. But I've regularly carried 40+ litres of petrol on the roof and refuelled in the middle of nowhere without undue circumstances...

I just think in my Trailer layout plans I don't see the permanent Jerry holders

If I do a Long trip like our recent Botswana Nxai Pan and like CKGR where the camp site was 150km away from gate.I will just strap some Jerries on the Roof rack

Thanks for your input

... dont think litres or gallons ,
just have about 1000km
to be good for near any trip.

... another thing,
for the big, long and real bush bashing trips
it'll probly be best to leave trailer at home .

Agree with Chas, my aim is to always have 1,000kms range.

Manny - I agree with the 'extra fuel befok' thing. I've also done Molototsi and Letaba without needing any additional fuel whatsoever. I've never carried additional fuel on river trip. If there are photographs of my truck with jerry cans on the roof for RT last year and this year, please note that they are my black jerry cans which are for additional water. The 42L water tank on the other side does not cut it for drinking/washing/cooking/similar for several days.

However, with the exception of the early (ie: series 1) GU petrol Patrols which only had a 95L main tank and no sub-tank, all petrol GU patrols carry 135L standard.

I've carried fuel before. When I did the Namakwa eco-trail back in 2017 or 2018, when I hit Nam back in 2018 as well as during my solo Nam trip in 2019. The two additional jerry cans on the roof (the green ones on these occasions) are for piece of mind as the give me a range of about 950km at average consumption. When I've carried the jerry cans, I've refuelled from them before too - normally towards the end of the trip. This has not been because I really needed fuel at the time, but for the following reasons:

1: The safety factor of carrying that big bomb on your roof.
2: The weight high up on the roof rack which raises the COG considerably.
3: The fact that I don't want fuel to get old. Petrol presumably ages better than diesel, but still. I don't store vast amounts of it for considerable periods of time.

I think it’s quite simple.

When planning a trip, work out the sector that will consume the most fuel taking into account road/track conditions and distance between reliable/clean(for the diesel guys) fuel supplies. I generally look at worst case scenario in terms of consumption and availability of fuel. Once you have that number you can determine how much fuel to carry, if any.

If you have to carry extra fuel, fill as late as possible and empty as soon as possible.

Could carry 200l diesel in both my Defenders, 120l on board and 4 jerry cans.

Used it all twice on Botswana trips when we had issues finding diesel because fuel stations were out of stock, or had no electricity.

The bus can do 500 to 800kms depending on the conditions - 80l tank. I'll carry 2 jerry cans, just in case.

I empty the jerry cans as soon as there is space in the vehicle tanks.

Used to fill up the tanks and jerry cans as soon as we could after crossing the border.

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