Front Runner 45Litre auxiliary fuel and water tanks

DiscoMick · 17th March 2015, 10:19 AM

Our Disco Tdi had the 89 litre tank and I left Mt Dare with 3 x 20 litre jerries (so a total of 149 litres), which I emptied into the tank day by day as it dropped enough to take them. Two people, fridge, food, recovery gear, awning, stretchers and swags. Much of the trip was done in low range idling along between sand dunes, so it was only over the dunes that it got revved hard. Slow travel keeps fuel consumption well down.
Personally, I would rather start with more fuel than necessary and get it into the tank quickly rather than risk running out. You never know when an unexpected detour might be necessary. Imagine if you got two-thirds of the way there and then had to turn back for some reason - would you have enough fuel to return to the start?
Saw some grossly overloaded vehicles out there and was glad I wasn't paying for their fuel bills. Travelling light is the key to conserving fuel, I reckon.

**simmo** · 20th March 2015, 05:35 PM

Thanks Mick, If I take one jerry can, that will give me 140 liters I think that will be OK. Like you I like to travel light as possible. More experienced off roaders than me have commented overloading is one of the main causes of problems on a trip.

Last time we went desert camping we all slept under a big tarp.

I have a home made winch bar with winch, say plus 60 KG., compressor and air tank etc + 20 kg, roof rack probably weighs, 40 kgs. ( say +120 KG loaded, extra fuel, camping gear etc)
, 42 liter aux tank (say 70 kgs full), wheel carrier +20 kgs , Plywood deck & storage system in the back + 20 kgs.

Thats about +300 kgs, a full main tank of fuel +80 kgs, plus water + 80 kgs.=460 kgs. Plus 4 pax 230 kgs= 700 kg. It would be easy to fill up another 200 kgs , tool box , spares, food clothes etc. But I'm confident we could make it at about 900 kg. that would be over 100 kg s under the max payload for my car. It would be interesting to do a "weigh in" at departure time

**ozrob** · 21st March 2015, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by loneranger

What are the pro's and cons of fitting rear auxiliary fuel and water tanks?

Do they have any impact on clearance on the wheels? Also do they make much difference on the suspension?

We had a long ranger tank fitted to our Dmax and really noticed the extra weight and are conscious of not using up all the weight capacity with accessories.

Daniel from Mulgo no longer imports the 45 lt RH wing fuel tank, I missed out on the order last week, Daniel is unable to get them imported from South Africa, and is considering in getting them made locally.
With that I have found a 65 lt under body fuel tank from Long Range Automotive
LDEF110-RH 65lt Auxiliary tank $1210 supplied or $1677.50 supplied and fitted
they also make one for the LH side 55 lt for the same price.

This tank comes with a complete fitting kit which including an LED switch gauge and 12V fuel pump that transfers at a rate of 2lt / minute.
I will be using a Y filler as opposed to having a low filler point.

Weight wise, you need to consider the carrying capacity of the defender, 1000kg in the rear, I had 600 kg of wall tiles in the back and the suspension only dropped a inch or so.

DiscoMick · 23rd March 2015, 10:09 AM

I would be skeptical about the effect of fitting a water or fuel tank behind the rear axle on a ute, considering how many bent utes we see around because they are carrying too much weight at the back and the chassis flexes over corrugations and eventually bends. Tanks should be between the axles, not behind the rear axle.
Mind you, Defenders in particular and Land Rovers in general seem to be a lot stronger in the chassis than other vehicles.

Thread: Front Runner 45Litre auxiliary fuel and water tanks

Thread Tools

Fuel consumption & weight

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions