Oil and anti-freeze storage

LilPoppa

Adventurer
Funny how such a simple subject brings out the trolls.

Right? I think it's a good post, man. Regardless of whether a person uses coolant or water in a pinch, those look like pretty handy containers at a good price. Thanks for sharing.
 

Stumpalump

Expedition Leader
For oil and gear lube that is needed as a spare buy Lucas brand from a parts store. The plastic bottles they come in are a lot thicker and don't spring leaks. You can feel the difference as soon as you grab the various brands. Like two or three times thicker. I wonder if squeezing a few bottles of coolant brands will find one in a thick strong jug?
 

Kevin108

Explorer
Been doing this for over 40 years. I blow a hose. I replace the hose, refill the cooling system and continue on my trip. If I only use water, I'll have to limp back back to a town.

You carry the hoses too? What about a spare radiator? A spare cap? A heater core bypass hose? Where do you draw the line? :coffeedrink:
 

Lucky j

Explorer
You carry the hoses too? What about a spare radiator? A spare cap? A heater core bypass hose? Where do you draw the line? :coffeedrink:

A line, what line! Support creww follow with a complete truck. I supply the truck to a friend who forgot to read the fine print at the bottom of the page on our traveling agreament. It is stated that in case of catasprophic failure on any of the vehicule, he is responsible to find a way to bring that truck back to my home, while a si ply carry on with my personal trip plan, leaving him back there. ;)
 

outofrshell

Adventurer
I won't get into the antifreeze/water debate but I can suggest 2 alternatives for carrying oil one is taken from loggers and fire crews they use aluminum fuel bottles usually 1quart. But a cheaper container that I have used for years is the quart tin cans that some fuel additive and other products are sold in. Mine had Aviex diesel fuel treatment in them, these cans are reasonably heavy duty and don't leak. Dave
 

mep1811

Gentleman Adventurer
Of course I carry spare hoses , cap and a belt. Why would I want to take a chance of getting stuck? I also carry a tire plug kit
 

Kerensky97

Xterra101
Actually a mixture of ethylene glycol and water raises your boiling point as well, not just the radiator cap pressure. And combined they can raise your coolant boiling point much higher than water's normal boiling point. The higher the boiling point the better because liquid is better at heat transfer than gas, so a proper mixture of coolant is still superior to straight water in the hot desert.

However in a pinch "just water" does work at getting you off the trail to a gas station so I just carry lots of water too. Just keep an eye on the temp gauge and run your heater if you're worried .

http://www.seeburgservicecenter.com/how-does-antifreeze-work/
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
There is no trolling going on. The OP is receiving numerous replies that disagree with carrying extra coolant when carrying additional plain water makes much more sense.

That arrogant ******* IS the OP.


Here's a nice sturdy reasonably compact container for folks like the OP that want to carry fluids and leave them loose and unspected for so long the containers break down -

SCEPTER_2.5_Blue__86473.1390318103.451.416.jpg



That's the 10L / half-height MWC from scepter.


I went for a more robust method of transporting vital fluids, posted the details quite some time ago -

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/135929-Jerry-Can-MWC-MFC-stowage-box-build

jerrybox11_zpsf131ccda.jpg


/troll that, OP, you arrogant mfer. Amazing that you can **** on people emphasizing that potable water is far more important a resource to carry in the desert. And do so with 'El Paso' as your location. And he calls US 'trolls' for doing so. Unreal.
 

slimpartywagon

New member
That's not quite true. And frankly backwards, in the desert. Your truck can run on potable water. You cannot run on antifreeze.
this is actually false, I spent several years in deserts far worse than any of the desserts her in the Americas. Seeing temps of upwards of 130 degrees during the day and cooling off to a sweltering 100 by day break.
I can't count how many cooling system failures I repaired due to "water". (Water being any form of water other than a 50/50 mix of glycolyseran.). 1) Water doesn't contain the cooling properties of gloclyseran, hence its nickname coolant. 2) Water mixed with oxygen promotes rust. Combine water, oxygen and heat and, rust deposits start developing in water gallies. The rust deposited move through the gallies plugging up the smaller ones, move on to things like thermostats causing them to stay shut, and even leads to water pump failures.

Coolant on the other hand has anti rust inhibitors to help stop rust from forming. It also helps neutralize rust that is already present in the cooling system.

If you are going to top off your rig with water to get home, make sure to test your coolant to make sure it's the right mix. If it's not, then drain some out out and re-top off the cooling system with pure coolant. It's better to be mixed to rich than too lean.
 

Robert Bills

Explorer
rayra said:
. . . in the desert. Your truck can run on potable water. You cannot run on antifreeze.

this is actually false . . . I can't count how many cooling system failures I repaired due to "water". . . .

I think you are missing the point being made by the proponents of carrying water rather than coolant for emergency use.

No one has advocated running water rather than a 50/50 coolant/water mix for the long term. What has been proposed for situations in which space is scarce and ample water must be carried (i.e., in the desert or other arid climates) is to use water for emergency refills of the cooling system rather than carry extra coolant because water can be used for multiple purposes (drinking, washing, topping off engine cooling system, etc.) whereas coolant has only one purpose.

Obviously one would make permanent repairs after returning to "civilization" and either drain and refill the cooling system with the proper mix of coolant and distilled water or at least adjust the concentration of coolant with a coolant tester or test strips.
 

slimpartywagon

New member
I didn't miss read and there is always room to squeeze a gallon of premixed coolant some place, I keep mine inside my front bumper along with all other under hood fluids
 

catzuk

New member
I know this thread is detouring from the original "storage" idea, so to bring it back slightly inline.....

In our desert racing trucks and all my wheeling rigs, we keep a bottle or 2 of water wetter ( https://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74&pcid=10 ) in the vehicle instead of gallons of actual coolant. It is easier to pack a couple 12oz bottles and works great in an emergency situation where you need coolant and water is typically easier to find (hose, bottles, streams, etc.). The water wetter or similar products are also available in most any parts stores.

David
 

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