How to carry extra fuel safely

Can gas bottled legally be carried inside a caravan or is ther a problem if they leak? If you can carry them there I would move them inside and carry the petrol jerries on the drawbar, or front of the caravan. Between the vehicles would seem the safest option.

I am pretty sure that long ranger do a long range tank for the Challenger. It holds about 135-145L. If my memory is correct the std tank on the Challenger is about 75L so that would increase your range some what. Yes they are expensive but are well worth it in terms of safe carriage of fuel.

Cheers Kev

There are only so many choises;
1) LR fuel tank
2) Sub tank
3) Jerry cans
4) Fuel bladder

If this is a regular issue a much larger tank or subtank would be my option. We only started using jerry cans when we moved to diesel. I know people do it but I was not that comfortable carting 80l of ULP inside a car.

Steve

My pick would probably be:
1.
Mount jerries on the van - safest place IMO - (have seen them in carriers on the back of vans, as well as the drawbar) - the van market must have the carriers as accessories.
2.
LR tank - they do cost a lot, but if you intend to travel a lot that expense can be absorbed in the grand scheme of things - re capacity - check all makers for variants - as you say, why pay heaps for just another 40 L.
3.
Change cars ? EG - the Prado's have had 180L as standard for some years now.

4.
One out of left field ? I had the idea at some stage of utilising a fuel tank from a car - mounted under the camper - just move the fuel from there to the car, with a pump. People who fit LR tanks would have plenty of near new tanks ready to throw away - would only need to be mounted securely. Not sure of the regs in each state, re carrying fuel under towed vehicles.

I carry 60L on my camper trailer - gives me 145L all up and a pretty good range for most trips. I move it to the car when required, with an electric pump kit I made up from parts from a wrecker.

Fuel inside the vehicle seems last ditch to me - I did consider it once for a one-off Simpson D trip - two 'dispensable' old blokes only :-0) .... not the sort of risk for a family in my view.

Turist

Plenty of suggestions there.

I spent most of my travelling life in the outback carrying 120lts of extra petrol in the back of my vehicle. I always made sure that the jerries were leak proof before going on a trek. I made false floors in all of my vehicles except the Suzuki where I carried 6 jerries behind the front seats in a frame. I have seldom had a petrol smell.

Long range tanks are problematical. i.e. extra weight and fuel transfer problems.

These days I carry 330lts fuel of which 95lts are in the main tank and I carry another 12 jerries of diesel(lying down), under a false floor in my trailer(when needed).

I would stay away from putting extra weight on the caravan. I towed a van for 250,000km across most of this country and learned the hard way with too much weight in the van.

Cheers

I used to have an old trailer made by Treg in Sth Oz, which had fuel tanks mounted over the wheel guards (where the newer ones have jerry can holders).

These two tanks held 135L of fuel total. It was slow to transfer without a pump, as the previous owner used to have a quick hitch hydraulic coupling that he used to plumb into the normal vehicle fuel system.

Most options have been covered. If using jerry cans then the need for a way of transferring the fuel into the regular tank has to be included as they get heavier with age and can be messy. A pump works but is yet another device - it is easy to make a fitting to go on the jerry can to allow air pressure from a spare tyre or compressor (which you will already have) to push the fuel over via a tube. Slow but easy and not a hassle if you do it when having a lunch stop or at the end of a day.
alastair

I use a couple of bolt on Jerry Can holders on the draw bar. $35 each at Carac and take minutes to bolt on.