Side-mount Jerry can holders

[jscherb]

I've been at the SEMA show all this week, and yesterday I stopped by the Wavian booth - Wavian's main product is high quality NATO cans, and walking by I noticed a smaller version of the can - it's 5 liters vs. the 20 liter capacity of the standard can. Seems to me that it isn't always necessary to carry a big 5 gallon/20 liter can so maybe some Jeep-specific carriers for these smaller cans could be useful. Because of their smaller size they'd be able to mount in places where the standard size cans won't fit. The Wavian folks were nice enough the give me a 5l can to prototype some mount ideas with, so I'll be working up a few prototype ideas soon. Here are a couple of quick comparison photos I took of a standard NATO can vs. the 5 liter can they gave me:

If anyone's got suggestions about where these small cans should mount let me know, I'm planning to experiment with mounting them in different places on the Jeep.

 

[squint]

Here is my wife's custom rack. I always joke with her because the jerry cans are for show.

 

[jscherb]

Here is my wife's custom rack. I always joke with her because the jerry cans are for show.

Cool. The 5 liter cans really are a convenient size for storing in/on the Jeep, even if they're only used for show .

 

[jscherb]

BTW the 5 liter can has roughly the same footprint as a standard 30 cal ammo can, so when I make up some prototype 5 liter can mounts I also plan to make sure you can put a 30 cal ammo can in them instead of a 5 liter can.

 

[IndyRubicon]

Call me crazy, but I wouldn't mind seeing one above the left rear fender flare. Want to set it on there and snap a pic just so I can see what it would look like?

 

[jscherb]

Call me crazy, but I wouldn't mind seeing one above the left rear fender flare. Want to set it on there and snap a pic just so I can see what it would look like?

I won't have the 5 liter can back in my hands for a few days - fearing what airport security might think of me transporting a fuel can, I shipped it home from the convention center. But on the plane home I drew a few ideas, compared to a standard-sided can in the JK Side Mount...

 

[IndyRubicon]

On the bumper behind the left rear fender flare looks like the best spot to me, but I'm probably in the minority.

 

[jscherb]

Also on the plane back from SEMA I worked up a quick pattern for a tray for the 5 liter can; it also fits a 30 cal ammo can.

It's designed to bolt in place of any of the trays in the photos below. It also has a holes with Rotopax bolt pattern in it, using those holes it could bolt to anyplace a Rotopax mounting stud is designed to go.

 

[jscherb]

FedEx delivered some new Jeep toys today. Well, not exactly new, but I've had a preproduction set on my Jeep for about a year now and I decided it was time to upgrade to the production version - the production version has a few minor improvements over my preproduction ones. I'll probably move the preproduction set that's on the Jeep now over to my Retro Wrangler pickup, and my hand-built prototype set I ran for a year or so before MORryde picked up this design can finally go to the metal recycler .

 

[ihatemybike]

and my hand-built prototype set I ran for a year or so before MORryde picked up this design can finally go to the metal recycler .

No, No, No, No, No!

From what I've seen across the sites you have threads going on, your creativity and hard work is appreciated and admired. Your hand built prototypes should be signed and auctioned off, possibly with proceeds being donated to off-road trail preservation groups.

 

[jscherb]

No, No, No, No, No!

From what I've seen across the sites you have threads going on, your creativity and hard work is appreciated and admired. Your hand built prototypes should be signed and auctioned off, possibly with proceeds being donated to off-road trail preservation groups.

Thank you very much but oh c'mon, it's just some bits of steel welded together by a guy whose hobby is building accessories for his Jeeps in his home garage. Even though most of my prototypes could be used on someone else's Jeep and serve a long and productive life there, beyond that I can't imagine they'd have any real value.

I just don't have room for all this stuff - lots of my work gets recycled or trashed after I'm done with it...

For example, after I made the mold and the first set of parts for my TJ-Commando kit:

I cut up the mold master for the hood because I just don't have room to keep all this stuff around...

I still have the molds, so I can make more parts if I ever have a reason to, but the hand-built master part I made the hood mold from, which is probably the real artwork, had to go to make room for other projects.

 

[jscherb]

The 5 liter NATO can that Wavian gave me at SEMA to prototype with arrived today. I like this size can - it's perfect for an emergency fuel supply - not large enough for serious expedition travel, but a good size for "just in case" fuel when your plan doesn't require extra fuel but maybe you want to bring some along anyway "just in case". Many of these photos show my LJ, but in most cases the same mounting locations would work for the JK.


They could mount on the tailgate hinges... in these photos it's sitting on my tailgate mounted HiLift carrier just to show how it might be positioned. It could work the same on the JK.

Or it could mount on the existing side mounts that are the subject of this thread. The side mounts aren't installed on the Jeeps in these photos at the moment, so I just held the can in place.

A few other locations this size can might fit... on the LJ - on the rear quarter panel (might not be enough room on a TJ or a JK in this location); mounted with the spare (JK/TJ/etc.); or something could be rigged up to carry two, one on each side of the spare.

Next I'll prototype a few can holders and test out some of these locations.

 

[jscherb]

Today I made up a can holder for the 5 liter NATO can. I designed it so that it's a direct bolt-on for everywhere I've already designed to carry jerry cans, so it will bolt up to the JK side mount, the TJ side mount and the spare mount. It'll also bolt to the tailgate hinges on the JK or the TJ, and it's got a Rotopax bolt pattern on the back so it can bolt up pretty much anywhere a Rotopax mount could go - lots of swing-away tire carriers offer places to mount a Rotopax, so this could be used there instead. It also has a locking latch to secure the can, and prevent the cap from being opened.

It's a quick proof-of-concept prototype, here is it before painting.

Tomorrow I'll paint it and try it in all the places it's designed to mount. Photos to come.

 

[jscherb]

I finished the 5-liter can holder:

Tested it today in a bunch of places. JK side mount:

TJ side mount:

Spare mount (TJ/JK/YJ/etc.):

Since I made the bolt pattern of the 5 liter holder the same as the Rotopax bolt pattern, the holder bolts right up to any Rotopax location, in this case the hinge-mount Rotopax bracket:

In all of the photos above the new can holder bolts to the existing mounts.

 

[jscherb]

I also made an ammo can tray for the JK side mount, this one holds a 30 cal. can:

I haven't made up a strap to secure the 30 cal can into the tray yet.

The 30 cal can is pretty small, so maybe it doesn't need an outside mount... I often carry mine on the floor behind the driver's seat. But for years I've used this one to carry a tow chain, some d-rings and some grade 8 bolts. I generally carry it all winter in case I have to yank someone out of a snowbank, and in the summer I use it for yanking out shrubs and stumps. My Jeep is my favorite garden tool .

The tray that comes with the JK side mount can hold larger ammo cans; the first photo below shows a "Tall 50", a.k.a. AN/RVS-14 monocular night vision device case, it's the same length x width as a 50mm can but 6" taller:

And here's a 50 cal can: