best tire carrier?

Trying to figure out the best setup
Does anyone know?

1. why don’t more people mount to bed rack? Higher departure angle. Not sure if my aluminum bed rack can handle that.
It would also secure Softopper
Why are these not made standard?


2. Are modular panels a waste?
Seems like it. If right gate can only hold a spare tire then what’s the point of modular panel

3. what is the best way?
-hi lift, keep it low
-spare
-propane better outside than inside
-I hear Jerry cans > rotopax, but don’t see the point of gas. Never ran into that before.
or storing water outside where sun heats it and potentially leech plastic into water

I understand gas stations by trails price gouge for that reason, and don’t know how much is really saved carrying gas (fab work + parts) versus LR fuel tank

trying to figure out what the actual correct answer is, and not what appears often seen on Instagram about Left Side Beanie Baby Mount

not sure if bumper swingout would ruin departure angle,
Or if welding swing gate onto bed rack would have downsides of:
-weight higher
-harder to access
-potentially mess up the bedsides
-reduces load capacity of the rack



can’t wrap my head around rotopax maybe I’m doing it wrong or missing something. Maybe that rules that out to get closer to the right answer.
Drove 6hr to wheel CO Rocky mtns.
drove 2600mi before.
At no point held a gas can to do that.
Little can at home was for pouring into lawn mower.

 

There probably isnt one best way. One way that's works for one person, wont work for another. Gotta figure out which one works for you. Try some out

 

Everything has a trade off, if you need to maximize your departure angle a rear carrier is going to atleast be a factor.

mounting a tire to the bed rack is going to be inconvenient as that tire needs to be lifted higher, additionally that’s a lot of weight to fix highly on a bedside. I think you’ve summed it up well and you seem to be thinking proactively.

other options you may be unaware of are mounting your spare in the bed, or doing a low profile rack.. low profile if you despise the idea of having the spare on the roof rack or otherwise creating lots of drag.

agreed on rotopax, definitely for show 99% of the time.

to address your post as a whole, let your problems lead you to your solutions and not Vice versa. Hehe

 

Well, the only long range fuel takes I've seen cost $2k or more, so theres that.

I do agree most trips in the conti-US probably don't need extra fuel, however I have seen routes that when linked together you won't see any stations for hundreds of miles. If you find yourself past that half way point and have to re-route or back track, well... The odds of that happening are pretty low, but carrying an extra couple gallons doesn't take much effort.

 

yeah. I get these trucks have a tiny tank. Single swing might be $500 so I guess yes cheaper than LR tank.

sounds like a good idea when you put it that way. If it’s a built rig and towing a trailer MPG does down to where the tiny tank really shows itself.

if Jerry can is superior (heard it holds more) hopefully pours good easy to use without spilling a mess like some other cheap gas cans do with their weird neck spout lock tabs that also don’t store well

guess I’ll figure out what size and how many is best

used to carry two big water jugs but that was in the backseat or shell to prevent water getting hot

 

Aluminum anything, no way, unless it's 1/4" wall round or square tube and solid tig-welded, no bolted joints. Anything less & the huge weight & leverage of the tire bouncing around off-road is going to fatigue-crack & eventually snap/break aluminum parts.

Personally I bought a 4xInnovations steel rear swingout + bumper combo. It is, as the saying goes, "skookum as frig" and I have no doubt that a tire mounted on it will stay exactly where it is no matter what. Yes, at the cost of some departure angle.

If you really want/need departure angle, probably a Tacoma is not the best bet, unless maybe it's a shorty single-cab. Better to have an FJ cruiser/land rover or other short-wheelbase / short-overhang vehicle for ultimate departure angle superiority.

 

Re: fuel, I would never go more than 1/3rd of a full tank away from a gas station (i.e. off road,) which is about .. 60-95 miles or so, terrain depending. In order to keep a good reserve of fuel. (The same rule as for cave diving, those divers go as far into the cave as 1/3rd of their air supply, no farther.)

Bought (2) x 5 gallon steel Wavian™ NATO-style cans for peace of mind, that extends my deep-country range to more like 130-200 miles off grid.

Long range super-massive fuel tanks are neat but expensive, and 100% illegal in Comm err Cal-ifornia where I happen to live.

 

now that is good.
When I drive through desolate parts of AZ yeah it gets to that point
Where I’m looking ahead how far the next gas station is on GPS so I can make an extra stop to avoid running out

I feel like they can be 60-100mi apart or more

so adding 200mi carrying range sounds way better than one little can with just a couple gallons

Hoping I made the right decision so far
Have a warfab bumper with their right side swingout waiting to get welded on
Modular
Plan is tire carrier, maybe hi lift if it fits
the Later version with Rigd latch

unfortunately it seemed they stopped selling them
Such as to get a left side to match it and carry more stuff
No room in the bed
Rather have it outside accessible safer and weight low CoG

for example hi lift on roof sounds sketch
-harder to get to
-weight up high

honestly for departure might just have to take good lines
Had times where the HC (without swing) is inches from the ground climbing up rocks
But a better line could’ve fixed that
And in its defense the swingouts don’t appear to protrude THAT much
Thing isn’t a trailer princess chromoly tube frame that lives in rock gardens

 

I use a 3 point strap in the bed. It's the most secure option and also the cheapest. IMO running a gas can on the rear of a street driven truck is a bad idea.

 

Haven't heard of / looked into WarFab.

I can say the Wavian™ fuel cans appear to live up to their billing.

The most impressive thing about them, so far:

1) When you get them they come lightly pressurized. When opening the seal there is a "chuff" of compressed air or gas (i.e. maybe nitrogen?) that escapes. I know it isn't altitude because I live it only 1.5K elevation and the air rushes OUT of the can, meaning it's higher pressure than ambient, not lower. So, presumably, pressurzied from the factory as the final step in their QA/QC process, and then it held that pressure for ?? weeks to months in a warehouse before being shipped to me.

2) As claimed in some Amazon reviews, when filled, closed & sealed, after any little drips of stray gasoline evaporate away, there is zero detectable gasoline odor from these cans.

 

Yeah towing and anything off road will drink more fuel. Not to mention most built rigs already suffer from lost mpgs.

If you get a jerry can get a donkey dick for pouring.

 

3-point strap in bed for spare tire is pretty legit, the only problem for the long-distance offroader is the tremendous loss of cargo space.

Re: gas can on rear, no doubt it's a liability, can be mitigated a little bit with a sideways/flat (wide) mount instead of sticking out, although this then requires putting the second can somewhere inside the cargo area (strapped down) if you want to carry (2) x 5 gallon NATO cans.

 

I mean I figure one can 5 gal
12mpg = 60mi
Kinda negligible

so I guess as many cans as possible and put water somewhere else

if it’s two cans facing back
Not one flush sideways

that’s still higher up than metal protruding to hold swingout spindle, so they shouldn’t be an issue

this seems good



this does not



flammable seems safer outside than inside

 

Concur 100%.

I never went in for the trendy Rotopax concept, at least not for fuel. Plastic gas cans /containers are OK for temporary/short term use, like if you're going out in the woods with a chain saw, but storing large amts. of fuel in them for transport over long distances, no bueno.

 

Done. Bought the .. err.. NATO-approved donkey dick .. when I bought the Wavian cans.

Learned a new bit of slang today, thanks

 

Honestly this helps narrow it down a lot

I trust Dissent and they seem to only have a 3 Jerry can holder. Probably for a reason.
Tire on the other side
Which tells me around 3 is the sweet spot
At minimum 2 because 1 seems negligible

Possibly 2 Jerry holder
Something else like hi lift
Or just 3 and put hi lift and whatnot somewhere else



nguyenworks has a double

so 5gal x 1, 12mpg, 60mi. Negligible.
X2 = 120
X3 = 180
probably can’t go wrong with either of the latter



and water somewhere else because according to the internet, water outside gets hot as hell to drink

looks like that’s what this guy did. Picked 2 instead of 3 to leave room for propane



and this one


edit: now that I look
That 3 holder Lexus is blocking the tail lights
Less safe visibility and get a ticket

narrow Tacoma can probably fit 2 max which should be fine and much better than 1