Fuel Tanks and Jerry Cans relating to Fuel Range

[Gravelette]

OP is planning to venture into the wilds of Canada in a few years once his fuel tank arrives from Australia. Might need to figure in Maple Syrup equivalents.

 

[Datsun Man2]

A few years ago I installed an auxiliary tank in our 80 series LC that doubled our range to 450-500 miles. I still kept a 20l ( 5 gallon) Jerry can on the expo trailer, just in case. Our current truck has a 48 gallon tank giving us over 550 miles of range. I’ve no plans to carry an additional can.

A good reference to go after. Basically if towing a trailer, carry the extra fuel. If not, leave it be. I can manage that.

 

[yabodie]

If you are planning a trans Taiga trip, take extra fuel. You have 1 fuel stop and that’s it. My ram 1500 with a 33 gallon tank pulling a Patriot Campers X3 needed 15 extra gallons to do both the north and south ends of the Trans Taiga. Take the extra fuel. If you need it you have it. If you don’t need it, you have it to fill up back at home. But you have it, when you may need it.

 

[Datsun Man2]

If you are planning a trans Taiga trip, take extra fuel. You have 1 fuel stop and that’s it. My ram 1500 with a 33 gallon tank pulling a Patriot Campers X3 needed 15 extra gallons to do both the north and south ends of the Trans Taiga. Take the extra fuel. If you need it you have it. If you don’t need it, you have it to fill up back at home. But you have it, when you may need it.

Good to know. I was trying to find a long trail like such in Canada and this certainly suits it. Thankfully I won't be towing on the trail and the new tank that will soon be ordered is 155 Liters aka 40.95 gallons. Paired with a 4.0 V6 it will provide quite a bit of range within reason.

 

[moonlight]

Good to know. I was trying to find a long trail like such in Canada and this certainly suits it.

We've done a fair bit of gravel in Canada. And always took lots of fuel, just in case.

Once when I thought back at the roads in Canada that we really, really needed any of that extra fuel the N Canol was the one road that came to mind.

It's ~450km round trip. I don't recall it being terribly bad (it's a road not a trail) but after seeing this tread I found a YT vid by slowroamers in which they said it took them 12hrs travel time each way (in, out) in their modded e-series.

You know your own consumption off highway. If you want a number that 450km road would be one for range at the fuel burn it would take.

AFAIK most everything else overland in Canada as a single route should be doable. (I haven't driven the TT. That would be one to research before hand)

That said, if you leave Ross River, YK (the trailhead for the N. Canol) and head south to run the Nahanni Range road to Cantung then back out and down to Watson Lk, I think that's ~750km. Not sure there is any fuel in between on the Robert Campbell.

You could do that road starting from Watson then would have to backtrack to Watson for fuel (unless you cached). Even so it's a long run.

So tho the fuel consumption won't be as bad, more fuel usually = more route options. And a lot less worry.

 

[deserteagle56]

As someone who lives/drives/rides in a remote part of the mainland USA I always carry extra fuel. Learned long ago that those places I expected to fuel might be down for one reason or another.

 

[Red90]

Depends where you live and what you do. I find 700 miles range works out well. I probably would not go less than 500 as it really limits options.

Diesel helps a lot as the increase in fuel consumption off road is not nearly as bad as gas.

 

[Datsun Man2]

Depends where you live and what you do. I find 700 miles range works out well. I probably would not go less than 500 as it really limits options.

Diesel helps a lot as the increase in fuel consumption off road is not nearly as bad as gas.

I can certainly agree that Diesel can do better than Gasoline/Petrol, but I'm not dropping that much to convert to Diesel. I feel sticking with what the vehicle has and adapting it for the long trips is the way to go.

 

[Datsun Man2]

We've done a fair bit of gravel in Canada. And always took lots of fuel, just in case.

Once when I thought back at the roads in Canada that we really, really needed any of that extra fuel the N Canol was the one road that came to mind.

It's ~450km round trip. I don't recall it being terribly bad (it's a road not a trail) but after seeing this tread I found a YT vid by slowroamers in which they said it took them 12hrs travel time each way (in, out) in their modded e-series.

You know your own consumption off highway. If you want a number that 450km road would be one for range at the fuel burn it would take.

AFAIK most everything else overland in Canada as a single route should be doable. (I haven't driven the TT. That would be one to research before hand)

That said, if you leave Ross River, YK (the trailhead for the N. Canol) and head south to run the Nahanni Range road to Cantung then back out and down to Watson Lk, I think that's ~750km. Not sure there is any fuel in between on the Robert Campbell.

You could do that road starting from Watson then would have to backtrack to Watson for fuel (unless you cached). Even so it's a long run.

So tho the fuel consumption won't be as bad, more fuel usually = more route options. And a lot less worry.

I don't quite remember where, but I was just looking at one that would take you to the Artic Circle by the Arctic Ocean without the need for special permits or anything in the Northern Territories. I want to say it was similar on distance. Though it may be more like basic Dirt Roads over an actual 4WD trail, it can still be nice to do. Not all routes have to be difficult especially when you just want to see the world.

EDIT: It was the Dempster Highway. Certainly a cool place to check out to say the least. Depending on the time of year I suspect I will be fine due to being able to stick to 2WD.

 

[Datsun Man2]

As someone who lives/drives/rides in a remote part of the mainland USA I always carry extra fuel. Learned long ago that those places I expected to fuel might be down for one reason or another.

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Thankfully I have not had to worry about that quite yet, but the big advantage of having the bigger fuel that that basically doubles the range is most likely not having to worry about fuel as much. Doesn't mean ******** won't hit the fan, but it's less likely to happen.

I have also gotten used to planning my stops ahead of time. If I can figure out what fuel stops are along the way(especially Fuel Brands that I prefer) then I can plan a trip where fuel won't be a worry as much

 

[Northern Tundra]

Here's a genuine question that I know has been brought up here and there. This is relating to fuel range. To specify the amount of range you would want to see depending on where you might be going.

For my 2012 Nissan Frontier it came with a 80 l fuel tank from the factory. At the moment I do have two 20 l wavian fuel tanks to go with it bringing my total capacity up to 120 l. Thankfully I found a distributor out of Australia that is willing to send me a 155 l replacement fuel tank but I can install in my truck. I'm already looking at doing that in the near future since going off grid usually means you need to have some extra fuel just in case.

One of the things I keep contemplating is whether or not I should keep my two 20 l Jerry cans. The reason I question it is due to the overall weight on the vehicle. The cans buy themselves do you have a fair amount of weight and get much heavier when you fill them. Then again having that extra capacity when you're off grid is pretty nice.

So let's get to the real question. Besides the US where you have a gas station within 200 miles of each other, what is the preferred fuel range to have for a nice long off-road expedition?

Keep in mind for this question I am looking at spending a lot of time off grid without having to go see civilization if I don't have to. Yes my factory tank with two Jerry cans will get me around 375 miles as is off grid, but I'm looking for more and I already know that fuel tank by itself will do that. It's just a question of if I should keep the two cans or not. This also relates to the fact that I'm looking to go up to Canada in the next couple of years and I could see the possibility of range being needed up there, but I'm not familiar with that country so I'm not too sure either.

So if you got some good experience with a lot of long distance travel without having to fill up a tank, please chime in as I would like your input.

Can you share a link to this fuel tank/distributor? I've been looking for an upgrade for my Frontier as well

 

[moonlight]

If I can figure out what fuel stops are along the way(especially Fuel Brands that I prefer) then I can plan a trip where fuel won't be a worry as much

You'll get over that pretty quick in remote Canada, lol. Whatever is in that big, above ground tank, that's what you'll get. And be happy for it

Dempster is fairly easy for fuel as there's a fuel stop half way (~ km375 ?). Once we skipped it and went to the next one north at Ft McPerson. I only got 10 cents out of the pump before it stopped. Gal inside says, yeah it's broken (!)

Big dif with the Dempster is it's well travelled. So if you run out of fuel (or get 2 flats) you can hitch a ride pretty easy. Other roads are much quieter and you might be the one offering gas to someone else (perhaps a local to whos village/reserve you are headed). Not a bad thing to have a J-can in that case...

Thing is with these remote roads, esp to small communities, most folks are going to have he same concerns with range as you. Except they might be in an old mini van with even less range. One way or another it's been sorted.

Resource extraction and infrastructure sites are different but again there will be fuel limits on how far the haul is.

 

[Datsun Man2]

Can you share a link to this fuel tank/distributor? I've been looking for an upgrade for my Frontier as well

If you can be a little patient I will be glad to share the information. Once I have the tank here and installed I will be doing an entire write-up on it. Just be aware that it will require a new fuel pump assembly and possibly a fuel filler neck and will be costing in the range of $2500-$3000 USD.

 

[Datsun Man2]

You'll get over that pretty quick in remote Canada, lol. Whatever is in that big, above ground tank, that's what you'll get. And be happy for it

Dempster is fairly easy for fuel as there's a fuel stop half way (~ km375 ?). Once we skipped it and went to the next one north at Ft McPerson. I only got 10 cents out of the pump before it stopped. Gal inside says, yeah it's broken (!)

Big dif with the Dempster is it's well travelled. So if you run out of fuel (or get 2 flats) you can hitch a ride pretty easy. Other roads are much quieter and you might be the one offering gas to someone else (perhaps a local to whos village/reserve you are headed). Not a bad thing to have a J-can in that case...

Thing is with these remote roads, esp to small communities, most folks are going to have he same concerns with range as you. Except they might be in an old mini van with even less range. One way or another it's been sorted.

Resource extraction and infrastructure sites are different but again there will be fuel limits on how far the haul is.

I can agree that once you get to a certain part you're just going to have to deal with what you can get. It's totally fair. Matt said I'm sure plenty of locals are able to give solid information when you're traveling and being kind.

 

[GR8ADV]

Crossing the Simpson Desert in Australia.
This is half way.
700km and over 1,000 parallel dunes to cross = high fuel consumption.
Lots of spare fuel required in case you almost get there and have to turn back because the track gets flooded. Rare, but it happens.

That is our OKA parked on the edge of the track in this short video clip. I broke a rear axle (35 spline Dana 70) and the Canter was bringing me a replacement. It took 8 days to get it.

Hard for unsupported bikes.
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Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

That big tank up front would be a hot mess in deep sand. And given the fact that the bike was never designed for that weight distribution would not add to the happiness. Good on the rider.