Propane Location on M416

[Airborne Lee]

I'm looking to add a jerry can for gas on the rear of my trailer, possibly behind the wheel fender. This leaves only the top of the tounge for propane??? Is this a safe location? If there was a non-passive failure of gas or propane the gas would be safer on the tounge than propane but is it at more risk there or on the back?????

Penny for your thoughts, (limited to one penny per household and subject to availability.)

[CoastalDefender]

The plans for my M101CDN (M416) are two fuel can holders (AT) in front of my fenders and two 5lb LPG holders/tanks (also from AT) just rear of my fenders, angled to the front for clearance.

As far as risk, unless you create some type of rear cage or extended bumper for the back, I would not put anything more explosive than a spare tire back there. Water cans maybe.

The tongue is most likely the best and safest place for any fuel/gas product. But unless you mod your tongue like a few on here have, you're going to overload it quickly.

[Robert Bills]

Is [the top of the tongue] a safe location [for propane]?

I think it is safe. Travel trailers have had propane tanks on the tongue for decades. If it wasn't safe, travel trailer manufacturers wouldn't mount propane tanks there. That's where I mounted my horizontal propane tank on my Bantam T3-C:

If there was a non-passive failure of gas or propane the gas would be safer on the tounge than propane but is it at more risk there or on the back?????

Anytime gas or propane is located at the rear, there is a chance of catastrophe in a rear end collision. That being said, jerry cans have been mounted on the rear of jeeps since the 1940s, and I have never met anyone who has actually seen or has even second-hand information that a rear ended jeep has exploded or caught fire as a result of jerry cans being mounted on the rear.

Personally, I would mount the propane on the tongue and gas cans someplace else. Regular 5 gallon jerry cans are too tall to mount cleanly on the side of an M416 in the vertical position. I have seen vertically mounted 2.5 gal. nato style cans just forward of the fenders with carriers that provide some protection from obstacles. You could mount 5 gal jerry cans horizontally, but that would not be my preference as that increases the possibility of leakage when the cans are full. I would not mount jerry cans on the rear because, unlike a jeep, there is no rear bumper on your trailer and the cans would be the first thing to take a blow in a rear-ender.

My two cents.

[CoastalDefender]

Cans on sides.

[wcdu]

I bought the aftermarket propane tank mount for the Jumping Jack trailer and it seems perfect. You might look at their retailers and find one. The list was $165.00 but I got it from Gander Mtn for $50.00. I use the JJ (water?) can hangers for fuel cans and can hang them anywhere along the sides.

For an earlier trailer project, I also found blitz can mounts at Sportsman Warehouse and mounted them forward of the fender wells.

I can not remember for the life of me where the were mounted back in the day when my drivers towed them behind my M-151's.

Excellent pictures and I am always amazed with this list.

Steve (aka: WCDU)

[bmonday]

That's my 416 there, with the cans on the sides. The spot where the powertank is in that shot is where I'm going to be locating my propane tank. The spot is perfect for the powertank, but I never got comfortable leaving it there, due to concerns about it being stolen. It goes in the tub.

BMonday

[highlandercj-7]

Robert, I love that lil horz propane tank. What is the cap on it? Where can we find em? I never saw one like it before.
As for mounting it's safest between the rig and trailer. The manufactures wouldn't be doing it that way for so long if it wasn't. It's definately shielded the best there and if it were where the power tank is in that pic it would be shielded big time.

[Robert Bills]

I love that lil horz propane tank. What is the cap on it? Where can we find em?

It is a DOT rated horizontal tank manufactured by Manchester. They were used on some vintage travel trailers and sometimes on boats (until boaters wised up and realized that propane will collect in the bilge and is a potential bomb). The tanks were in the Manchester catalog until just a fews years ago. I do not know if there are any current sources for new tanks.

I kept my eye open in marine salvage yards and in old time trailer supply places. I finally found one, about 3 years later, used but not abused, in a dusty corner of a trailer repair shop in Costa Mesa CA. $25, I think. I had the tank purged, de-scaled, and pressure tested. Then I stripped it, primered and painted it with Hammerite. Total investment about $65-70.

Because the tank is DOT rated, it is not required to be retro-fitted with the new external thread fitting on current BBQ tanks, and does not require the anti-overfill (i.e. no more than 80% full) valve. It uses the older-style internal threads. I have never had any problem having it filled.

My recollection is that the rated capacity is about 13 lbs., and that it will take slightly more than 12 lbs. before the overflow valve starts to spit.

[highlandercj-7]

sweet