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Per a request a while back from @MrMischief here is a rundown of how I have done my fender mounted gas can holder.
Let me just start real quick by saying sorry! Truly this is an incomplete install walk through. If I done this walk through when I originally installed it or if I had any of my original photos from the install, this would be a lot easier to portray. But because I can't even show you how I did the first few steps of lining up the holes marking them and drilling them, you're going to have to use a little imagination here, and I'm sorry for that, but it is what it is.
To start, you need to buy a fuel can holder. I had mine ordered from a local off-roading shop, but you can buy them on Amazon as well.
Smittybilt Jerry Gas Can Holder (Black) - 2798
Next you need a fuel canister which fits into that holder. At the time I found that Harbor Freight had the best prices.
MIDWEST CAN 5 Gallon Jerry Gas Can
Now it's time to drill some holes in your Wrangler. I started by lining up the gas can holder with the front fender about where I wanted it to be. And marked through the holes (on the Jerry can mount) with a marker. There is a dip in the front fender which makes pretty much everything involved here complicated. I figured out much later that it would have been better to just worry about the three holes that are on an even level first, and once all of them are rigged up and done, then worry about the hole which is lower than the rest.
My first attempt to do this did not involve nutserts, I made the mistake of trying to get a nut behind the fender and it involved taking out a bunch of screws and which would have made the fixture a permanent one because of how complicated it would be to undo the bolts.
I don't know at what point exactly I figured out nutserts would work best, but that's what I ended up doing.
There is however on the right top hole that I drilled, a layer of two metals together.
In this one section for whatever reason it seems like the more interior metal will be in the way, but once you have the nutsert tightened down, there's actually enough space where they don't rub at all.
I tried to get a photo of the nutserts to show you that there is in fact space down there where they won't rub on anything.
So yeah basically line up your holes and then mark them with the marker, and then drill your holes, and then put your nutserts in there. I believe I used a M8 thread. You definitely want to use something that's a little thicker, because this section of the fender does flex a fair amount. So you want something that isn't going to get stripped or break easily.
Once you get all of your holes drilled and your nutserts in, you'll want to get stainless steel screws for attaching the holder. The three shorter screws are for the section of the fender that are all on an even plane. The one that's a little bit longer is for the bottom left side screw (If driver side).
You could probably just get a spacer from your local tool shop and put it in between the gas can and the fender where the long screw is at. At first I ran without anything there and the flex I was getting out of the fender and the gas can was ridiculous. It was basically bouncing all the way down the road. I thought it was going to tear my fender off. I was thinking about doing a spacer at the time, but this extra nutsert was the perfect size and looking back on it the fact that it screws onto the long bolt instead of floating on it like a spacer would, means I have zero rattle from this gas can mount.
One of the things I found very important to be aware of is that you have to be able to get a socket in between the metal to tighten down these bolts. I found a m10 bolt head was the perfect fit not too big, not too small. I use a deep socket to make sure I have plenty of space to maneuver when I'm taking these off or tightening them down.
Something else to be aware of is that because the front fender is not perfectly flat, one of my nutserts is at a slight angle. Because of this I have to slowly tighten down all the bolts together. Basically if I just do the top two bolts, and then try to screw in the bottom two bolts, the bottom right bolt won't thread at all. I figured out a while ago that it's because that nutsert is at a slight angle. Rather annoying but an easy fix. Just tighten them down a little bit at a time around in a circle. Eventually you'll get them all tightened down and everything will be perfect
You don't have to do a plastic base like I did if you still have your front fender flares. I don't have my fender flares in the front, so I have a lot of rocks and mud and debris which flies up and I didn't want any of that damaging my fuel canister.
And that's that, it holds 5 gallons of diesel fuel and I haven't had any issues with it for the last year and a half that I've had it on there. I did however leave it off at this moment because I need to do a nice coating on my jerry can't holder because after a year and a half of being in the weather, it's starting to have some rust on it. Nothing at coating of truck bed liner won't fix!
Let me just start real quick by saying sorry! Truly this is an incomplete install walk through. If I done this walk through when I originally installed it or if I had any of my original photos from the install, this would be a lot easier to portray. But because I can't even show you how I did the first few steps of lining up the holes marking them and drilling them, you're going to have to use a little imagination here, and I'm sorry for that, but it is what it is.
To start, you need to buy a fuel can holder. I had mine ordered from a local off-roading shop, but you can buy them on Amazon as well.
Smittybilt Jerry Gas Can Holder (Black) - 2798
Next you need a fuel canister which fits into that holder. At the time I found that Harbor Freight had the best prices.
MIDWEST CAN 5 Gallon Jerry Gas Can
Now it's time to drill some holes in your Wrangler. I started by lining up the gas can holder with the front fender about where I wanted it to be. And marked through the holes (on the Jerry can mount) with a marker. There is a dip in the front fender which makes pretty much everything involved here complicated. I figured out much later that it would have been better to just worry about the three holes that are on an even level first, and once all of them are rigged up and done, then worry about the hole which is lower than the rest.
My first attempt to do this did not involve nutserts, I made the mistake of trying to get a nut behind the fender and it involved taking out a bunch of screws and which would have made the fixture a permanent one because of how complicated it would be to undo the bolts.
I don't know at what point exactly I figured out nutserts would work best, but that's what I ended up doing.
There is however on the right top hole that I drilled, a layer of two metals together.
In this one section for whatever reason it seems like the more interior metal will be in the way, but once you have the nutsert tightened down, there's actually enough space where they don't rub at all.
I tried to get a photo of the nutserts to show you that there is in fact space down there where they won't rub on anything.
So yeah basically line up your holes and then mark them with the marker, and then drill your holes, and then put your nutserts in there. I believe I used a M8 thread. You definitely want to use something that's a little thicker, because this section of the fender does flex a fair amount. So you want something that isn't going to get stripped or break easily.
Once you get all of your holes drilled and your nutserts in, you'll want to get stainless steel screws for attaching the holder. The three shorter screws are for the section of the fender that are all on an even plane. The one that's a little bit longer is for the bottom left side screw (If driver side).
You could probably just get a spacer from your local tool shop and put it in between the gas can and the fender where the long screw is at. At first I ran without anything there and the flex I was getting out of the fender and the gas can was ridiculous. It was basically bouncing all the way down the road. I thought it was going to tear my fender off. I was thinking about doing a spacer at the time, but this extra nutsert was the perfect size and looking back on it the fact that it screws onto the long bolt instead of floating on it like a spacer would, means I have zero rattle from this gas can mount.
One of the things I found very important to be aware of is that you have to be able to get a socket in between the metal to tighten down these bolts. I found a m10 bolt head was the perfect fit not too big, not too small. I use a deep socket to make sure I have plenty of space to maneuver when I'm taking these off or tightening them down.
Something else to be aware of is that because the front fender is not perfectly flat, one of my nutserts is at a slight angle. Because of this I have to slowly tighten down all the bolts together. Basically if I just do the top two bolts, and then try to screw in the bottom two bolts, the bottom right bolt won't thread at all. I figured out a while ago that it's because that nutsert is at a slight angle. Rather annoying but an easy fix. Just tighten them down a little bit at a time around in a circle. Eventually you'll get them all tightened down and everything will be perfect
You don't have to do a plastic base like I did if you still have your front fender flares. I don't have my fender flares in the front, so I have a lot of rocks and mud and debris which flies up and I didn't want any of that damaging my fuel canister.
And that's that, it holds 5 gallons of diesel fuel and I haven't had any issues with it for the last year and a half that I've had it on there. I did however leave it off at this moment because I need to do a nice coating on my jerry can't holder because after a year and a half of being in the weather, it's starting to have some rust on it. Nothing at coating of truck bed liner won't fix!
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