December is fast approaching and I have to make a decision on something. I will be doing around 4800-5000km through Namibia and Botswana, mostly tar roads, but will be doing 300km of the Namaqua Eco trail, and also a bit of sandy stuff on the west coast of Nam. I need somewhere to put my extra petrol, and I'm hoping to get away without taking the roof rack. It would only be used for holding the jerry cans, everything else inside the car.
I can get a fluorinated plastic tank ±55litres which would fit perfectly behind the front seats, as there is no way in heck I will carry the metal jerry's inside the car. The tank would not be full all the time, only when I'm about to hit the remote areas. The longest remote stretch would be around 500km. Do I take a chance and carry the petrol in the car for those times, or just bite the bullet and take the roof rack?
The tank does have a breather valve and can be hooked up to an outside vent to minimize fumes in the cabin. Also, my thinking is that I would fill up the main tank with the plastic fuel tank as soon as I can to get the fuel out of the car, and only use the fuel in the sub tank when I really need it. I know the concerns with having petrol in the car, the vapours, the potential explosion if it ignites, etc etc. Is is too risky?
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If you do go the Roofrack route, I would recommend Jerry cans rather than the plastic tank.
Petrol expands when hot, and puts the plastic under pressure. Jerry cans are more suitable for outside storage (my view).
If you remove the rear seats, just make a quick base and you have a smooth level surface to use.......... use the holes of the removed seats to tighten the wooden base.