Long Range America secondary fuel tank installation!

[JTPatriot]

Dang it! Every time I say, okay this is the last major upgrade I need to do. Something or someone shows that I am wrong!

Thanks for showing that the tank can be installed. I am planning on making it to Alaska here in the near future and that has been one of my concerns, is availability of fuel.

What is the distance between the frame and the tank? To get an idea of the size of exhaust that can fit through that area.

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[HooliganActual]

What exactly is the purpose of an added tank? Yes,, obviously longer distances between stops, but how often do you need to stop for the bathroom? I can drive for four hours on a tank, I can not drive that long before I need to pee.

If you are wheeling in the wilderness for a few days then I can see the utility, but are you really doing that enough that a few rotopacks cannot achieve?

Serious question.

I think that @smlobx has already answered the question to your satisfaction but I would also submit that I don't think the value of the secondary fuel tank is subject only to those long trips south of the border or up into Alaska.

I'm in Arizona and my wife and I overland all over the southwest. There is enough expanse out here that I can easily go through a tank of gas on trails and never see pavement, much less a gas station. Rotopax, gerry cans, etc. are a good option but, as stated, raise you center of gravity; however I have an entirely different issue. Based on the way my Gladiator is fitted out, I actually don't have any place to store a Rotopax without mounting it to the outside of the vehicle or having to lay it down on top of things in my bed which it could potentially leak on.

If you look in the back, it is "well-appointed" and I have tried every which way to mount a rotopax or two but there just is no room. Personally, I would welcome a secondary tank solution.

 

[Riccochet]

some of that install makes me uncomfortable. Like the worm clamps on the fuel lines and electrical tape on the wiring.

I would have ditched that tubing and gone braided with AN fittings. And picked up some generic sealed pinned connectors for the wiring connections.

Otherwise, cool project. Looking forward to some updates.

 

[smlobx]

How does it work? Does it transfer gas to the factory tank or does it tap into the factory fuel lines and act as a secondary tank?

Well I haven’t actually used it yet so take this with a grain of salt.... When you fill up the tank you use the filler neck that comes with your Jeep. When the tank fills up the fuel goes into the second tank via a Tee in the line. If you look at the second picture in post #3 you can see two red hoses that connect both tanks.. When your primary tank gets low as indicated on your fuel gauge you can flip a switch that we mounted on the dash (in my case we mounted it in the place where the cigarette lighter is and we are installing a dual plug set up in the center console.) The switch has a series of lights that illuminate to tell you approximately how much gas you have to transfer. I will say that based on what I’ve read and the small size of the transfer pump the flow rate going into the main tank is very slow....like it could take half an hour to an hour. We have yet to see how long it actually takes but I will report back.

 

[smlobx]

@smlobxhow long did the install take and what was the cost?

It took a couple of days but I’m sure the mechanic was doing other things while waiting for a response from LRA or me. I’m on very good terms with the owner and when I went in to pay for the install I told him that I brought a couple of extra credit cards and he laughed but told me he hadn’t talked with the mechanic to find out how many hours he had in it. When I get that info, next week, I’ll post it.

 

[smlobx]

Any chance you have a picture showing the full underside with the tank installed?

This is the best I have but the exhaust is not installed. When I get it back next week I may put it up on my lift and take a series of detailed picture..

 

[smlobx]

I think that @smlobx has already answered the question to your satisfaction but I would also submit that I don't think the value of the secondary fuel tank is subject only to those long trips south of the border or up into Alaska.

I'm in Arizona and my wife and I overland all over the southwest. There is enough expanse out here that I can easily go through a tank of gas on trails and never see pavement, much less a gas station. Rotopax, gerry cans, etc. are a good option but, as stated, raise you center of gravity; however I have an entirely different issue. Based on the way my Gladiator is fitted out, I actually don't have any place to store a Rotopax without mounting it to the outside of the vehicle or having to lay it down on top of things in my bed which it could potentially leak on.

If you look in the back, it is "well-appointed" and I have tried every which way to mount a rotopax or two but there just is no room. Personally, I would welcome a secondary tank solution.

It looks like you have an Alu-Cab canopy like I do and agree with all your comments. I’m still working on fitting mine out and am waiting on a Redarc BCDC controller. Once that’s wired up I should be good to go..

 

[smlobx]

some of that install makes me uncomfortable. Like the worm clamps on the fuel lines and electrical tape on the wiring.

I would have ditched that tubing and gone braided with AN fittings. And picked up some generic sealed pinned connectors for the wiring connections.

Otherwise, cool project. Looking forward to some updates.

I understand your comments and we actually upgraded a few connectors over what was supplied in the kit. The worm clamps are actually OEM in your fuel line if you bother to look underneath so when we had to add more my mechanic felt it would be fine.

 

[smlobx]

Dang it! Every time I say, okay this is the last major upgrade I need to do. Something or someone shows that I am wrong!

Thanks for showing that the tank can be installed. I am planning on making it to Alaska here in the near future and that has been one of my concerns, is availability of fuel.

What is the distance between the frame and the tank? To get an idea of the size of exhaust that can fit through that area.

The exhaust will fit on the outboard side of the tank, not between the tank and the frame. There is actually only about 1/2” between the two. My mechanic had to bend the flange shown in the first picture (near green screwdriver) and on post #4 so that the tank would sit flush with the existing tank and not protrude lower than stock.

 

[Mtpisgah]

I think that @smlobx has already answered the question to your satisfaction but I would also submit that I don't think the value of the secondary fuel tank is subject only to those long trips south of the border or up into Alaska.

I'm in Arizona and my wife and I overland all over the southwest. There is enough expanse out here that I can easily go through a tank of gas on trails and never see pavement, much less a gas station. Rotopax, gerry cans, etc. are a good option but, as stated, raise you center of gravity; however I have an entirely different issue. Based on the way my Gladiator is fitted out, I actually don't have any place to store a Rotopax without mounting it to the outside of the vehicle or having to lay it down on top of things in my bed which it could potentially leak on.

If you look in the back, it is "well-appointed" and I have tried every which way to mount a rotopax or two but there just is no room. Personally, I would welcome a secondary tank solution.

Yes, my question was answered adequately. I guess around my part of the country, we do not have enough roads/trails to drive where you are not going to run into a gas station soon enough with a little planning.

i am glad you posted a picture of your truck, how do you like the AluCab? We have an RSI on order but am considering an AluCab due to RSI delays and a lot of them being received damaged. And there is an AluCab dealer less than an hour away who sells lots of them. Mine and a buddies RSIs are the first two the local dealer will have sold.
How do you like it?

 

[Woodreaux]

Thanks for the updates on the installation.

Looking forward to your exhaust report.

 

[HooliganActual]

Yes, my question was answered adequately. I guess around my part of the country, we do not have enough roads/trails to drive where you are not going to run into a gas station soon enough with a little planning.

i am glad you posted a picture of your truck, how do you like the AluCab? We have an RSI on order but am considering an AluCab due to RSI delays and a lot of them being received damaged. And there is an AluCab dealer less than an hour away who sells lots of them. Mine and a buddies RSIs are the first two the local dealer will have sold.
How do you like it?

So far I really like the AluCab canopy. It was supposedly the first one installed in the PHX metro area several months back. We took a week long trip up on the trails around Grand Junction, CO and it performed admirably.

I have only had one “issue” with it and I’ll put it out there as a cautionary tale. On a trail in CO, I was backing up and caught a broken tree branch (so there was no “give”) and it contacted where the rear door’s window and the door join. The branch pushed that seam enough that it popped the window out. Unfortunately, since the door is aluminum it actually stretched the aluminum and deformed it enough that the window will not go back into place. At this point, I am trying to find out if I can purchase a replacement door, preferably without the window. If not, I will have a panel fabricated that can cover the window hole. I’m not terribly worried about losing the view out the back as I’m on a 2.5” lift with 37’s and retained the factory rake, so I am too high to see vehicles smaller than semi trucks out of my rear view mirror anyways.

So...if I had it to do all over I would have tried to order a canopy with no rear window to begin with. In a JKU, I would have heard that I was up against that tree branch, but you don’t necessarily hear things contacting the canopy. And if you do decide to cancel your RSI and get the AluCab, definitely get the cupboard option fo both sides. It makes handy, quick access to things. My driver side cupboard has my compressor, hoses, tire patch kit and my passenger side has all my recovery gear. Works out very well.

@smlobx: here’s a post where you can see most of my current build:
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-do-to-your-gladiator-today.23705/post-620521

 

[Micky]

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[Mtpisgah]

So far I really like the AluCab canopy. It was supposedly the first one installed in the PHX metro area several months back. We took a week long trip up on the trails around Grand Junction, CO and it performed admirably.

I have only had one “issue” with it and I’ll put it out there as a cautionary tale. On a trail in CO, I was backing up and caught a broken tree branch (so there was no “give”) and it contacted where the rear door’s window and the door join. The branch pushed that seam enough that it popped the window out. Unfortunately, since the door is aluminum it actually stretched the aluminum and deformed it enough that the window will not go back into place. At this point, I am trying to find out if I can purchase a replacement door, preferably without the window. If not, I will have a panel fabricated that can cover the window hole. I’m not terribly worried about losing the view out the back as I’m on a 2.5” lift with 37’s and retained the factory rake, so I am too high to see vehicles smaller than semi trucks out of my rear view mirror anyways.

So...if I had it to do all over I would have tried to order a canopy with no rear window to begin with. In a JKU, I would have heard that I was up against that tree branch, but you don’t necessarily hear things contacting the canopy. And if you do decide to cancel your RSI and get the AluCab, definitely get the cupboard option fo both sides. It makes handy, quick access to things. My driver side cupboard has my compressor, hoses, tire patch kit and my passenger side has all my recovery gear. Works out very well.

@smlobx: here’s a post where you can see most of my current build:
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-do-to-your-gladiator-today.23705/post-620521

Thanks for the feedback. I guess that damage is kind of a fluke though and would happen with any topper. The RSI and RLD are steel, but that would still have been bad for them.
I like the windows on the sides of the RSI but the lack of support is worrisome.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess that damage is kind of a fluke though and would happen with any topper. The RSI and RLD are steel, but that would still have been bad for them.
I like the windows on the sides of the RSI but the lack of support is worrisome.

If you read the RSI thread, the support from them has been good. I believe there has been three reported damaged, and that was due to the delivery company. They are packed and shipped well, and make the trip over from Africa with no problem. It is the shipping companies inside the US that has been a problem for a few of them. The RSI is a new product with no built-up inventory or supply of service parts, yet, and repair and replacement will take a little time. I was one of the early orders, knew it would be this way, and mine is one of many that showed up with no issues.

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