Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 18:25:00 EDT
Reply-To: Ssittservl@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: S Sittservl <Ssittservl@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Gas Can Carrier
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Here's an alternative for carrying extra gas that I posted last July.
> Subj: Auxilliary gas can
> Date: 7/22/99
> To: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
>
> For a while I've wanted some convenient way to carry some extra gas
> for emergencies on my Westfalia. At only 15 miles to the gallon and
> a 16 gallon tank, the cruising range is only a few hours of highway
> driving, so it would be pretty easy to make a mistake and not fill up
> in time if I wasn't paying attention. When my gas gauge stopped working
> recently, I gave the problem a little more attention while waiting for
> the replacement sender to arrive.
>
> There was some discussion on the list a while back about round gas cans
> that would fit inside the spare tire. Griot's Garage (www.griotsgarage.com)
> used to sell them, but doesn't anymore. (They were pretty expensive
anyway.)
> Volvos apparently use them (or used to), but I never did get around to
> hunting through salvage yards and looking into the trunks of wrecked Volvos.
>
> However, I did find something else that worked out just fine: the "One
> Gallon Plus" red plastic gas can made by Blitz, and available at Wal-mart
> for about $3. Although it's not round, it fits just fine inside the spare
> tire. My spare tire was in its holder with the open/inner/convex side down;
> I turned it over to put that side up. I set the can so that its long
> axis would go side-to-side (rather than front-to-back), with the spout on
> the passenger side. I stuffed thin plastic sheet foam packing material
> under and around it, to keep it from sliding around, and placed one
> more sheet loosely on top just because it seemed like a good idea.
> I secured it with a Coleman tie-down strap through the holes in the
> wheel.
>
> With the spare tire rack bolted back into its usual position, there
> don't appear to be any clearance problems - the can doesn't touch
> anything except the wheel it sits in. It looks like the radiator fan
> exhausts through the area just above the spare tire, so I was a little
> concerned the can might impede cooling, since it sticks up a few inches
> above the tire, but in 85 degree weather I haven't noticed any problems
> so far.
>
> Disclaimer: the installation looks safe to me, but I don't have any
> particular knowledge of safe gasoline handling practices. I figure
> a commercial gas can ought to be a safe container, particularly since
> it's outside the van and wrapped in a big air cushion (the tire).
> There are electrical wires a few inches away from the can, and an
> electric fan a few inches beyond that; that seemed OK to me, but
> again I'm no expert. I'd appreciate any comments from anyone who
> knows more about handling gasoline.
>
> I'll add a picture to my web site (members.aol.com/ssittservl/Westfalia)
> as soon as the film's developed. (But it's just going to look like a
> gas can in a tire, so don't get too excited.)
>
> -Steven Sittser
One gallon of spare fuel isn't much, but my intent was "limp to a gas
station after I've done something stupid" rather than "conquer the
uninhabited reaches of the desert".
Additional disclaimer: Karl Bloss responded to the original post saying
that he'd tried something similar, and his can shifted, touched a cooling
pipe, overheated, and vented gasoline (harmlessly, but obviously
dangerously). However, his was not tied down, and I am convinced that,
given the secure mounting and the orientation and size of the can, mine's
not in danger of touching anything except the tire. But his warning
certainly should be taken into consideration.
Update: Still no cooling problems or explosions. I haven't needed the
spare gas yet (and hope never too). I probably should put in fresh
gas and fuel stabilizer, though, for long-term storage.
Non-update: no, the dull picture's still not up on the web site.
Additional interesting thing (to me) that I noticed: I currently get
about 12 MPG in my van, but this old post says I was getting
15 MPG 9 months ago. I kind of thought it used to be higher, but
wasn't positive until I re-read this. Something must be wrong.
-Steven Sittser
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