How full do you fill your gas tank before hitting the trails?
- Thread starter RHanna
- Start date
When you wheel where it matters, weight savings can be a huge benefit.
This is one of the biggest lessons I've learned over the last few years and a real thing!
Just like race cars on qualifying laps. Just enough gas for wheeling.
AaronPaul
TJ Enthusiast
Full, no matter what. 2 reasons. You never know where you may end up, how far or if you want to continue out there for longer than expected. 2nd, if you see a trail mate run out of gas you can always siphon some out to help them along
tstaut
Member
On a day where I made a lot of bad decisions, I also made a couple of good ones. Got stuck in deep snow drifts with few trees to winch through with my wife and daughter in the Jeep, in 20-degree temps (dropping much lower overnight). I didn't think I'd be going anywhere that I could get stuck, and I was wrong. Mountains in springtime, rookie mistake. Anyway, took about 3 hours to self-recover and if I was unable to do so, we would have at least been able to stay warm until help arrived. Now I fill up every time I head into the mountains, and also learned some other valuable precautions to take. But that full tank of gas could have saved our lives.
Trust me, I've wheeled "where it matters"
A full tank of gas in a TJ weighs 114#, so lets say you are only filling your tank half way, you are saving a whopping 57#. Lets say a built TJ weighs 4000# conservatively? That's a 1.14% weight savings. I'd much rather have the assurance of having plenty of fuel if things go wrong and you end up running the engine for longer than expected. You do you
A "Dadism" that I grew up hearing was - The last quarter tank burns as well as the first quarter.
My house is a 45min to an hour and 30min drive to our wheeling hot spots in the Phoenix area. I have been topping off my tank at the station close to my house.
As my build has progressed to run harder stuff, I may find the need to change my view on this.
My house is a 45min to an hour and 30min drive to our wheeling hot spots in the Phoenix area. I have been topping off my tank at the station close to my house.
As my build has progressed to run harder stuff, I may find the need to change my view on this.
theoutlaw
New Member
I always keep mine filled. I'd rather be a little heavier than risk getting stuck and not having fuel.
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Weight savings is closer to 90 lbs. If I'm at 1/4 tank like I said. It's not just the gas. It's cumulative savings. The same reason people argue aluminum over steel, and soft top or no top over a hard top. Big heavy tire carriers over simplistic bumper design. All that weight adds up.
Everyone has their own opinion on this, I simply shared mine. I know where my fuel up stations are and plan accordingly. The technical trails aren't that long and can be mostly planned for. If it's a plan of sightseeing and long drives then I fuel up accordingly.
You do you boo
Weight savings is closer to 90 lbs. If I'm at 1/4 tank like I said. It's not just the gas. It's cumulative savings. The same reason people argue aluminum over steel, and soft top or no top over a hard top. Big heavy tire carriers over simplistic bumper design. All that weight adds up.
Everyone has their own opinion on this, I simply shared mine. I know where my fuel up stations are and plan accordingly. The technical trails aren't that long and can be mostly planned for. If it's a plan of sightseeing and long drives then I fuel up accordingly.
You do you boo
There are places to fuel at both the North Phoenix, Table Mesa Rd area and in the town of Florence east of Phoenix out where Chris lives.
As I get more seat time on harder trails, I am trying to be open minded to changing up what I do. As one of those goofy dudes in your videos has told me, I don't know yet what I don't know.