Flexible Gas Container/Tank/Bladder for Stowing in Tight Spaces?

[HoneyBadger]

My google searching didn't turn up what I was looking for, but maybe I suck at google.

I'm looking for a gasoline container that I can stow away in my vehicle to fill up unused space. Any size up to 5gal would be ideal.

I'm picturing something like this: http://www.rumrunnerflasks.com/ but for gasoline.


Edit: i just found this by using different search terms, and it is pretty much what I'm looking for, but I want something smaller without spending hundreds of dollars... Does anyone make such a thing?
http://atlinc.com/pillow.html (http://www.atlinc.com/rangeextender.html)

[rbeau30]

I searched for "Flexible Fuel Bladder System"

http://justgastanks.com/product_info.php?products_id=1825&cPath=335&m1trac k=googlebase&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=cse& utm_campaign=export_feed&gclid=CMGziYjn3bwCFYdgfgo diXEACQ&osCsid=cd95af45c67e7f927844afe29391b925


http://atlinc.com/pillow.html

[HoneyBadger]

I searched for "Flexible Fuel Bladder System"

http://justgastanks.com/product_info.php?products_id=1825&cPath=335&m1trac k=googlebase&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=cse& utm_campaign=export_feed&gclid=CMGziYjn3bwCFYdgfgo diXEACQ&osCsid=cd95af45c67e7f927844afe29391b925
$325??

Definitely not in my budget, and 14.5 gal is too big to handle.

Maybe I didn't describe my needs well, but I need something that I can pull out and use to refill my vehicle's main fuel tank when needed (generally only in an emergency or to rotate the fuel out to prevent it from "going bad")

[rbeau30]

http://www.akbushwheel.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.pbv.tpl&product_id=40&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=116

How about this? I was reading that a lot of Alaska Bush Pilots use these for fuel.

[Irving]

What "extra space" did you have in mind exactly?

[HoneyBadger]

What "extra space" did you have in mind exactly?
There is a bunch of wasted/available space all over my Xterra: under the back seats, under the back floormat, on the sides of the back floormat, in the roof storage box, in the roof rack... There are lots of places to tuck away some extra fuel and other goods, but they are all irregular shapes.

[rbeau30]

There is a bunch of wasted/available space all over my Xterra: under the back seats, under the back floormat, on the sides of the back floormat, in the roof storage box, in the roof rack... There are lots of places to tuck away some extra fuel and other goods, but they are all irregular shapes.


Last time I sat on top of a gas tank in a vehicle I was in the TC seat in a HMMWV.

[Irving]

There is a bunch of wasted/available space all over my Xterra: under the back seats, under the back floormat, on the sides of the back floormat, in the roof storage box, in the roof rack... There are lots of places to tuck away some extra fuel and other goods, but they are all irregular shapes.

That's what I thought. Are you comfortable with having an unsecured, soft sided fuel tank inside the passenger compartment?

[Wulf202]

how about fuel bottles?

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=580296

[ChunkyMonkey]

There is a bunch of wasted/available space all over my Xterra: under the back seats, under the back floormat, on the sides of the back floormat, in the roof storage box, in the roof rack... There are lots of places to tuck away some extra fuel and other goods, but they are all irregular shapes.

You really dont want to store gas inside your car. The smell, the risk of leak/fire a collision accident, and so on.

[HoneyBadger]

That's what I thought. Are you comfortable with having an unsecured, soft sided fuel tank inside the passenger compartment?
It will certainly be secured and protected. I'm all about risk mitigation. I think the ideal storage space is on the roof in this built in ventilated storage compartment:
41215

[rbeau30]

You really dont want to store gas inside your car. The smell, the risk of leak/fire a collision accident, and so on.

And it contains ingredients known to the State of California to cause Cancer.


It will certainly be secured and protected. I'm all about risk mitigation. I think the ideal storage space is on the roof in this built in ventilated storage compartment:
41215

You will definitely have to get something that is strong to internal pressures. Gasoline has a large swing as far as expansion/contraction in heat/cold environments.

Fill up on cold days! You get more!

Okay I'm going to geek out here. From Wikipedia:

EDIT: Okay well pasting the table did not work... But an example is that gasoline has a Volumetric Thermal Expansion Coeficient of 950 in the same conditions that water does at 207 and ethanol has 750. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion#Thermal_expansion_coefficients_f or_various_materials


Just leave a gas bottle out in the sun for a few hours next to a water jug and see how it reacts.

[HoneyBadger]

how about fuel bottles?

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=580296
Not a bad idea. I have several gallons of water under the back seat currently in 24oz bottles, and there is definitely space that could be used more efficiently. Downside is that, unlike a sport bike, a couple of 32oz bottles wouldn't get me very far... That's only about 18 miles in my Xterra and I would really like to extend the range by about 100 miles. I don't think it would be worth the hassle to have 10 32oz bottles stashed around the truck that I have to rotate every 6 months.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, you guys have presented some really neat ideas that I might end up pursuing.

[Irving]

I like the roof rack idea. In that thread Wulf posted, one guy was just using a gas tank off of a lawn mower. See if there is a riding mower or some vehicle that might have a purpose built fuel tank that will fit into that roof rack.

ETA: Of course you could avoid reinventing the wheel altogether by buying a jerrycan.

[HoneyBadger]

And it contains ingredients known to the State of California to cause Cancer.



You will definitely have to get something that is strong to internal pressures. Gasoline has a large swing as far as expansion/contraction in heat/cold environments.

Fill up on cold days! You get more!








Very true. The bottom of that storage rack is flexible, so I figured it would be able to handle any heat expansion. Seeing as the top of that compartment is black, I'm sure it will got HOT in there in the summer... Surround it with a Mylar blanket? Lol

[HoneyBadger]

I like the roof rack idea. In that thread Wulf posted, one guy was just using a gas tank off of a lawn mower. See if there is a riding mower or some vehicle that might have a purpose built fuel tank that will fit into that roof rack.

ETA: Of course you could avoid reinventing the wheel altogether by buying a jerrycan.
Of course, but a good Jerry can is pricey and then the only place I could put it is in between the roof rack crossbars, which I think is less than ideal.

i did not consider salvaging a tank from something else... I wonder what sort of tank would fit in that storage space? It's 14"x28" but only 3-4" deep because of the contour. [Dunno]

[BuffCyclist]

http://www.4by4connection.com/nissanxterra.html

Or

http://www.lowes.com/pd_90258-1362-85033_0__

Or

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=65285

That's all I got for ya lol, sorry I couldn't help more. There are 5gal Jerry Can (the metal ones) holders that you can bolt anywhere, I've seen peple mount them on their roof in a yakima loadwarrior. I just got a 5gal plastic gas can and bungied it to my giant tupperware box in my cargo area that held a lot of tools/misc stuff.

I have seen the cardboard foldable gas cans but don't think they're a permanent solution, just a "crap i ran out of gas but oh look i have this cardboard gas can that the gas stations sell".

eta: And yes, that first link wont fit your X because its meant for the 1st gens. But its an idea if you end up getting a rear tire carrier, you could have someone fab it up for you to hide the cans there.

eta: That last one looks pretty good, don't know much about it though.

[HoneyBadger]

http://www.4by4connection.com/nissanxterra.html

Or

http://www.lowes.com/pd_90258-1362-85033_0__

Or

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=65285

That's all I got for ya lol, sorry I couldn't help more. There are 5gal Jerry Can (the metal ones) holders that you can bolt anywhere, I've seen peple mount them on their roof in a yakima loadwarrior. I just got a 5gal plastic gas can and bungied it to my giant tupperware box in my cargo area that held a lot of tools/misc stuff.

I have seen the cardboard foldable gas cans but don't think they're a permanent solution, just a "crap i ran out of gas but oh look i have this cardboard gas can that the gas stations sell".

eta: And yes, that first link wont fit your X because its meant for the 1st gens. But its an idea if you end up getting a rear tire carrier, you could have someone fab it up for you to hide the cans there.

eta: That last one looks pretty good, don't know much about it though.
Yeah, I'm definitely not spending $1200+ just to carry an extra 5 gallons of gas.... [facepalm]

Who invited you in here anyway? [Coffee]

[BuffCyclist]

Yeah, I'm definitely not spending $1200+ just to carry an extra 5 gallons of gas.... [facepalm]

Who invited you in here anyway? [Coffee]

[Sofa]

Hey, I was trying to stay out of it [LOL]. When I was big into the xterras, I was buying everything for them. I have the roof net, the interior bike rack and tons of other stuff I haven't used in years. Seat covers were well worth it because many times I had stuff spilled that would stain the seat cover and i could throw it in the wash, unlike the actual seat.

When I got too broke to buy all the fun toys, I ended up just using bungie cords for everything, because they work.

[HoneyBadger]

[Sofa]

Hey, I was trying to stay out of it [LOL]. When I was big into the xterras, I was buying everything for them. I have the roof net, the interior bike rack and tons of other stuff I haven't used in years. Seat covers were well worth it because many times I had stuff spilled that would stain the seat cover and i could throw it in the wash, unlike the actual seat.

When I got too broke to buy all the fun toys, I ended up just using bungie cords for everything, because they work.
Do you still have Xterra stuff that you want to get rid of? If so, send me a PM

[Wulf202]

http://justgastanks.com/product_info.php?products_id=999
Dimensions: 17 3/4 L x 13 1/4 W x 3 H

http://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-British-Ltd-Jerry-Can/dp/B00ADLHMJI/ref=pd_sim_misc_22?ie=UTF8&refRID=1DN4VQVDME4RWZ8JH3RZ
11" tall 13" wide 6 1/2" across

[hatidua]

Flexible fuel bladders are very common in boating but I'm not sure I've ever seen any as small as may be required by the OP...

[HoneyBadger]

Flexible fuel bladders are very common in boating but I'm not sure I've ever seen any as small as may be required by the OP...
As I linked to in my edit of the first post, that is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for, but I can't find anyone that makes one smaller, or sells them for less than several hundred dollars.

[Irving]

Is this in your price range? Looks pretty sturdy...

j_OyHUqIIOU

[HoneyBadger]

[ROFL3]