RotoPax Fuel Cans

[Frenchy]

So I recently got myself a 3 Gallon Rotopax Fuel can for the Pathfinder. I was able to mount it with the spare tire thanks to someone having what I needed. That said I finally used it today so I can give my intup on it.

First off why a 3 gallon? Well for the Pathfinder that can ve anywhere from 45-60 miles depending on conditions. If anything it can get me to a busy street. For the Ranger it might be possible to do similar. Also the size is small where I dont jeed a second mount to hold it like the 4 gallon can.

Why did I use it recently? Mainly to see if the original spout it came with was useable or not............ Yeah it wasn't......

If anything I recommend anyone that gets a Rotopax to get rid of the stupid Eco Spout and get the $20 selve venting spout. Much easier to use. It also reaches my fuel filler too!! To do this you need to remove the plasit insert in the fuel tank. Not hard to do either.

Do I like the RotoPax? Yes I do. Why you ask? Really just for the simplicity of mounting it where you want even if you have to make custom brackets. If anything it can be that backup fuel when out in The Wilderness or on a long trip and want the backup.

All that said I still hope the big fuel tank ends up happening for the Ranger. I even plan to get a bigger thank for the Pathfinder.

Here is some pictures of it

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[mtsoxfan]

Makes it a big green Ford Pinto...

 

[Frenchy]

Makes it a big green Ford Pinto...

Not really. Even the steel fuel tank is in the rear. Not much if any change at all

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Makes it a big green Ford Pinto...

Not really...The Pimple was a bolt protrusion facing the fuel tank which harpooned the fuel tank as the rear of the Pimple folded up like crape paper... This was in the days before Crash Analysis was used on vehicle designs.

Back story, I never told before... My desk mate as a young engineer was the truck fuel systems engineer...responsible for all Truck fuel systems as I was for Engine Mounts and accelerator controls. We were switching the F100/150 to a "Plastic Fuel Tank" and ran into resistance to non steel tanks. So the fuel system engineer, John M decided to show how robust the plastic fuel tank was vs the old steel one with a pinch weld flange top half to bottom half... He used Stoddard Fluid, which has similar properties to gasoline but is much less flammable. So the film crew filmed the drop from 20 ft of the plastic tank full of stoddard fluid vs the steel tank. The plastic tank bounced a few times and did nothing more... The steel tank ruptured and spewed stoddard all over the place.

John was pleased with the success of the plastic tank....and management was shown the film which was impressive and the plastic tank was now a go for the F series 100/150. Then the lawyers got whiff of this film and before you know it. All copies of the film were destroyed...

Why? Because defense lawyers would have used this to blame Ford not using the technology even before it was even developed. Just because we do something "better" does not imply the old design was defective just that Ford made an improvement..

I know this will open the door to flaming so I retread to my flame proof bunker... flame away!

Best,
Phil

 

[Frenchy]

Not really...The Pimple was a bolt protrusion facing the fuel tank which harpooned the fuel tank as the rear of the Pimple folded up like crape paper... This was in the days before Crash Analysis was used on vehicle designs.

Back story, I never told before... My desk mate as a young engineer was the truck fuel systems engineer...responsible for all Truck fuel systems as I was for Engine Mounts and accelerator controls. We were switching the F100/150 to a "Plastic Fuel Tank" and ran into resistance to non steel tanks. So the fuel system engineer, John M decided to show how robust the plastic fuel tank was vs the old steel one with a pinch weld flange top half to bottom half... He used Stoddard Fluid, which has similar properties to gasoline but is much less flammable. So the film crew filmed the drop from 20 ft of the plastic tank full of stoddard fluid vs the steel tank. The plastic tank bounced a few times and did nothing more... The steel tank ruptured and spewed stoddard all over the place.

John was pleased with the success of the plastic tank....and management was shown the film which was impressive and the plastic tank was now a go for the F series 100/150. Then the lawyers got whiff of this film and before you know it. All copies of the film were destroyed...

Why? Because defense lawyers would have used this to blame Ford not using the technology even before it was even developed. Just because we do something "better" does not imply the old design was defective just that Ford made an improvement..

I know this will open the door to flaming so I retread to my flame proof bunker... flame away!

Best,
Phil

Interesting story to say the least. As we all know the only way a plastic tank is going to get messed up is if(big key word) something like the Driveshaft fails and hits and cuts/destroys the tank. Then again that can happen with any tank out there.

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