Supporting Jerry Can mounts on Jack brackets

I have seen quite a few people mount jerry can holders to their jack brackets. Some add additional support from underneath. I would like to avoid doing this as I will be needing additional fuel on maybe one or two week long trips a year and will have them off the rest of the time. I'd rather not have a piece of metal bolted to the underside of the camper overhang when the jerry cans aren't needed.

If you have mounted jerry cans to your jack brackets without additional support I'd love to hear how it's worked out and see any pictures you could share. If its a terrible idea, does anyone have any suggestions for support that could be easily removed when not in use?

A 5 gal. jerry can full will weigh approximately 40 lbs plus the weight of the holder.. This is enough to tear the jack bracket off the camper after hitting a few ruts or pot holes. You may want to consider through bolts (4) in the rear frame members of your camper to which you can attach a can holder which can be removed when not needed. You may want to look at "rotopax" and their mounting system for ideas.

I have bolted a 1/4" aluminium mounting plate to the underside of the camper to support the weight of the fuel can and holder. The outside edge of the holder is bolted to the jack bracket to help stabilize the load. The support plate is 30" x 9" and is mounted such that 8" sticks out to the rear of the camper the can holder is 7" wide and sits on the outside 7" of the plate (leaving a 1" gap between the back wall of the camper and the fuel can holder. 2 1" x 1" aluminum angles are bolted together and then bolted to both the corner jack bracket and the can holder to stabilize the load. I have been rear ended and the bottom of the holder is about 4'9" off the road, so no burst fuel tank!! (only the truck need repair, not the camper)

If I were to build it again, I would try to find the frame members and mount (through bolted as high as possible) a large plate to the back wall (with a 1" gap), then mount the can holder to the plate. The can holder could then be removed when not needed.

good luck with whatever to try to do.

mynxd
thanks for the advice. Do you have any pictures to show how you have put your setup together?

There is a thread where this was discussed at length. I'm not good at finding threads on this forum or I'd link it. Put me in the "against" camp too. If the truck has a receiver hitch I would suggest building to mount in that.

Aren’t the jack brackets one of the strongest points on the camper? They carry the entire weight when the camper is off the truck. I’ve bolted a number of things to them and never had issues, on or off road.

Was this the thread?
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/14461-fuel-cans/page-9

Look at post #87 by Craig333 for a method of additional support.

Paul

Thank you for the link. Lots of great information there. I think I've come up with a solution. In the picture below from Rocky Mountain FWC, they have an aluminum plate bolted to the bottom side of the camper overhang. I can do something similar, but with a keyhole type affair drilled into the plate, that way I can simply loosen the bolts and drop it out.

Here are some pics...….

sameguy said:

Thank you for the link. Lots of great information there. I think I've come up with a solution. In the picture below from Rocky Mountain FWC, they have an aluminum plate bolted to the bottom side of the camper overhang. I can do something similar, but with a keyhole type affair drilled into the plate, that way I can simply loosen the bolts and drop it out.

Click to expand...

I would suggest using angle aluminum on the bottom.

AT Overland Equipment makes a fuel can bracket that mounts to the jack brackets. You can see a picture of one on a FWC here:
http://store.adventuretrailers.com/four-wheel-camper-fuel-can-corner-bracket/

I'm thinking of getting one because it strikes me as a safer, easier, sturdier way to access the roof (fuel can removed). Has anybody tried this?
WHOOPS! Just read the AT Overland site again, and the bracket I mentioned is part of a system, expensive system I can't figure out.

There's been a discussion here:
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13430-at-fuel-can-holder-installation/

I got my idea from another thread where someone did this. They used steel. I used aluminum plate. I painted the top & bottom white to kind of match the camper.



I used Rotopax mounts & containers. I can carry water jugs (2 gallons = 16 pounds) or fuel, 3.5 gallons (19 pounds)

One jack weighs 20 pounds and I figure the bracket can at least support 1/4 the weight of the camper.

Hi CM
I like the way you think, Clever secure and look's nice.
Russ

I'm sure that it can, but a jack has almost no moment (leverage) on the bracket. The average lever length in the pics above is the distance from the mounting stud to the jack bracket. The simple way to delete that leverage is to add a bracket that ties into the camper at the corner between the bed-rail over-hang and the inner vertical panel. Even better if you add an 'L' bracket that ties the whole bottom of the mounting plate to that corner of the camper.

The jack has a lot of leverage on that bracket. Catch the bottom of a jack on something solid and it will rip the corner off the camper.

It does, but I wasn't very clear that I was talking about in the direction of from the bracket to the fuel jug mounting stud and thinking more about simple vibration from going down the road than a one-time snag..

ntsqd said:

It does, but I wasn't very clear that I was talking about in the direction of from the bracket to the fuel jug mounting stud and thinking more about simple vibration from going down the road than a one-time snag..

Click to expand...

Agree totally.

Mark,

I fabricated almost the same set up, again using .33 aluminum. To address the potential issue of a lever arm on the portion of the fabricated mount furthest toward the center of the camper / furthest away from the jack bracket, I placed a solid screw through the fabricated mount (countersunk so it doesn't rub on the Rotopax) and into the frame of the FWC. I placed a rubber spacer between the fabricated mount and the camper. The screw went through the plate, through the rubber spacer, and into the FWC frame to hold the mount off / away from the camper and give it support on that side.

And I dig your pain job : )

Karl

Thanks Karl,

That's a great idea!! Sounds like a trip to the hardware store is in the near future.

Maybe this weekend. It's supposed to snow tonight in the Denver area. 18" in the mountains that are already 10' deep. Gonna skip camping next weekend during Memorial weekend. Amateur hour/weekend.

With all the snow we have, most the high country is going to be closed until July. All the open lower areas are going to be packed with 40', triple slide out, generator run all night-weekend warriors.

Not my cup of tea.

Here's the AT can holder setup: http://store.adventuretrailers.com/categories/FUEL-%26-WATER/Can-Holders/

They sell an $89 bracket for use with FWC's. Ouch. You need to also buy their $134 heavy duty holder.

Seems to me there's soooo many people mounting jerry cans to jack brackets, if that was a rweak point we'd know for certain.

BTW, in some states carrying gasoline jerry cans on the outside of a vehicle is illegal. A solution... Buy Blue jerry cans for water, put a wrap of red electricians tape around the handle to remind you, and fill'em with gas!