Different way to mount Roto Pax...

posted this on the 2nd gen page but thought this might have more interest here. Been wanting to find a way to carry additional fuel where my spare was. Looked at Trail'D but they are not approved for fuel and my goodness they must be gold plated. Bought some Roto Pax as blems and made a neat mount. Check it out:












Mounting is easy, solid and the factory wheel end on the chain is intact. Awesome!

 

This is a pretty creative idea! Helps keep center of gravity low, mostly protected. I'm not sure if this would be all that big of an issue with the given location, but for peace of mind I would build a skid plate of sorts to help protect them. A slight pia to get to and check on, but possibly not any more then otherwise would be depending on your set up. Is your spare in the bed of the truck now?

 

I built a swing away that uses the receiver hitch.

 

Your fuel tank has a skid plate for a reason...

Where’s your spare tire now?

 

I built a swing away that uses the receiver hitch.

 

*Ford pinto likes this*

 

The pictures don't show how much room there is around the tanks. To get to them and crush them would probably be an un-survivable wreck anyway. A concern I am willing to live with as the tanks will only be there when I am out there wheel'in. Also, the factory fuel tank is right behind the front wheels and will get hit with everything coming off the front wheels. These are way up and protected well by the rear axel and such. Can it happen? Sure, but again when I am using these I am not going to be driving 60 mph on dirt roads... Can they get crushed or hung up on? Yup, but in my experience over the years I have never hit the spare tire (on my other off road rigs-and this includes being in places the truck shouldn't have been such as the Rubicon and Fordyce trail etc.) I'm not 20 any more, and have invested way too mush into this rig, so lower level wheeling is the rule. Accidents do happen, but I know they are there and will drive accordingly.

 

Ya, not my cup of tea but nice job.

 

Here ya go Pinto boy-right out of Wikipedia:

Retrospective safety analysis[edit]
A Rutgers Law Review article by former UCLA law professor Gary T. Schwartz (see Section 7.3 NHTSA Investigation above), examined the fatality rates of the Pinto and several other small cars of the time period. He noted that fires, and rear-end fires, in particular, are a very small portion of overall auto fatalities. At the time only 1% of automobile crashes would result in fire and only 4% of fatal accidents involved fire, and only 15% of fatal fire crashes are the result of rear-end collisions.[138] When considering the overall safety of the Pinto, subcompact cars as a class have a generally higher fatality risk. Pintos represented 1.9% of all cars on the road in the 1975–76 period. During that time, the car represented 1.9% of all "fatal accidents accompanied by some fire." This implies the Pinto was average for all cars and slightly above average for its class.[139] When all types of fatalities are considered, the Pinto was approximately even with the AMC Gremlin, Chevrolet Vega, and Datsun 510. It was significantly better than the Datsun 1200/210, Toyota Corolla, and VW Beetle.[138] The safety record of the car in terms of fire was average or slightly below average for compacts, and all cars respectively. This was considered respectable for a subcompact car. Only when considering the narrow subset of rear-impact, fire fatalities for the car were somewhat worse than the average for subcompact cars. While acknowledging this is an important legal point, Schwartz rejected the portrayal of the car as a firetrap.[140]

 

Yup. Nevermind wheeling when your rear comes off a rock or a ledge....

 

I guess putting them in the bed wasn't option

 

The only other thing, other than safety from anything hitting the rotopax underneath or getting hit from behind, is the massive heat coming off of your exhaust. Heat + Melting plastic with flammable liquid inside = not good

 

I've never hit my spare tire on a rock either. But it is *often* the case that rocks, logs and whatnot flip up and hit the underside of my truck while wheeling, even on tame fire roads. As I said before, the stock tank has a skid plate for a reason. And that reason is not because these trucks are designed for the 'Con.

You're obviously skilled at fabricating. Why not take that extra step of protecting them with a skid plate, or make a mount for them on the swing away?

You take extra fuel so you don't get stranded. Would suck to get stranded because of one little rock or a log.

 

I hear you... I have seem amazing damage to bikes that made no sense in context of place and time. This location is a compromise and won't be used often. I have had tanks in the bed in the past, but sleeping arrangements and my sanity dictate a different arrangement. I already used additional space on the swing away for a propane tank (another way to go boom!) I will look at what a 3/16 guard might look like...