Carrying spare petrol.

Richard in my limited use of Jerrys they would be the best way to carry fuel apart from the aux tank method. I use steel ones & try to pack them so they are flat on the roof rack so as to have a lesser impact on the centre of gravity (COG) of the vehicle. Before using them this way be sure that the seals on the lids are OK for this & also purchase a set of extra seals in case one may give up the ghost. Also when packing them use some rubber to jam in between them to prevent them rubbing together. The main thing to remember is to empty each can into your fuel tank as you get the space & lessen the load up top.

I've always considered fuel in containers of any sort on the roof-rack as inappropriate. Only light stuff up there. Make up a couple of carriers for the back? For corrugations and rough driving you will need to pack them so they don't rub. Lifting them down is pretty difficult. I always imagine a leak running down the sides of the car, and if it's petrol..... very flammable. I like to put stuff like that in a trailer and have it well away from the vehicle. Cheers Royce

I have a long range tank in my truck and I have also always carried steel jerrycans inside the vehicle and have never had a problem. I have a false floor in my truck and carry two to four jerries under the floor as the need arises. On a special trip throught the Simpson we made up a special holder for 6 jerries inside the Suzuki and on the Canning I carried 8 jerries inside the LC.
Avoid putting full jerries on the roofrack as you would raise your C of G and can also pull a muscle getting them to or from the roof. I had a nasty experience with jerries on the roofrack....it is all a learning curve!! I have now turfed my roofrack. Have to come up with some ingeneous methods of carrying extra tyres etc. Avoid putting jerries on the bullbar like some of the old Landrovers had.
Carrying jerries inside the vehicle is safe unless ofcourse you are a smoker and there is a vapour leak. Should a jerry show signs of leaking then a new lid seal will do the trick. Jerries were designed to be so strong that they could be dropped from low flying aircraft without disintegrating on the ground. Think it out. Cheers, Willie

I always carry petrol in the back of the Range Rover. I am not totally comfortable about doing it, but have little alternative. I use plastic containers and make sure that I empty them as soon as possible. I think that this is a better option than roof racks for the reasons stated above.

Cheers,
Matt.

Richard I agree with the comments about raising the centre of gravity and safety with fuel on the roof. I carry plastic and metal jerries in the trailer now. I don't think fuel should ever be carried in the cabin of the vehicle. Having said that about fuel on the roof I used to load up my ARB steel rack with several plastic containers (the black Rheem ones and the red Canadian ones) and never had a problem. The only incident was a fractured support on the roof rack. The containers are very strong. Provided they are pretty full, thermal expansion of fuel vapour will not cause a problem. As others have said, as soon as you have a 25 litre space in your main tank, transfer a jerry. The big advantage of carrying jerries is that you can easily move the weight around as needed. If you have 200 l in LR tanks it is there to stay. If you need to lighten the vehicle for any reason it can't be done (easily). You can also share jerries between vehicles. Also, a leak in a main tank can mean lots of fuel lost. A leak in a jerry means 25 L gone (provided the whole vehicle doesn't go up :-)

Thank you to all the members who posted information.
Richard

Afternoon Richard,
We have been to the Outback on a number of occasions and carried fuel in black plastic containers when necessary. We put the containers in a plastic box so if there is a leek, the fuel is contained.
Last year, we had problems with expansion and had to regularly vent the fuel containers to ease the pressure build up. Other than that, they are fine.