Central Toast's Gas Can and Shovel Carrier

[Central Toast]

Thought I would add another variation on the jerry can theme. This version was a pain in the butt to put together but in the end it is working great on my Hawk. It would be much easier to construct with a drill press or a welder, but I did it with lots of bolts and a hand drill because that's what I have. Just ignore all the extra holes I drilled in the diamond plate!

These were my criteria for a design:

1. No new holes in the aluminum skin or frame.
2. No weight on the aluminum camper frame (I have enough problems with the frame welds breaking).
3. Keep the gas can weight as low as possible.
4. Keep the can and shovel as out of the way as possible--no door interference.
5. Out of the way when I'm not carrying a gas can (which is most of the time).

Here are photos of it without the can and shovel, and then with them covered with dust from Goler/Mengel, Racetrack Valley, Lippencott, and Saline. This unit performed without a hitch through all of that in March.


The idea started with Camel Racer's concept of putting the weight of his Hi-Lift mounts on the plywood sidewall. I used aluminum boat trailer "bunk brackets" from Sturdy Built Trailer Parts: http://www.sturdybuiltonline.com/Boat-Trailer-Bunk-Brackets_c_101.html . They say 1/4" thick but they measure at 5/16" and are very stout. The 8" brackets are only $14 each. I had to cut one shorter so it wouldn't run into the truck bed. Good thing skil saw blades are cheap.



More to come, running out of file space in the post.

 

[Central Toast]

Cont'd...

I re-purposed the rear wall step bolt holes to bolt the diamond plate to the rear wall. These bolts don't carry any of the weight but they take out any front-back flex in the plate, not that there is much. I put a piece of 1" aluminum square tube in between so the bracket-to-plate bolts would clear the corner of the camper and I would have room to get to bolts/nuts behind the plate.


Losing the rear wall step is actually no loss because I can step on the top of the plate or gerry can.

The diamond plate is a 1/4" aluminum remnant from my local steel shop, which also carries the plastic caps for aluminum tubing. A friend with a plasma cutter did the radius corners.

Then I attached the gerry can bracket which had two holes that happened to line up perfectly with the rear wall step holes. The bracket and can are Crown Automotive products from the Jeep Hut dot com. They were about $70 total (note that they are cheaper bought separately, as opposed to their package deal...go figure.)

Lastly I stuck on a piece of aluminum ell and two Quick Fists to hold the shovel. The Quick Fists are aligned not vertically to accomodate the curve in the shovel. The shovel never spun or hit the window or anything on my Death Valley trip.

Turns out the underside of the can and bracket make another stout tool:


More to follow...

 

[Central Toast]

Cont'd II...

One more detail. I put 1/4" plywood spacers between the camper's plywood wall and the aluminum brackets so that the brackets would clear the piece of metal trim at the corner of the camper. All bolts into the camper are sealed with 3M 4200 and all nuts are aircraft and thread-lockered. Here's a shot from the side:


Over all I'm happy with how out-of-the way the whole unit is and how strong it is. I think that with these aluminum bunk brackets there are a lot of possibilities for attaching different equipment. You could skip the diamond plate piece and just stick a piece of aluminum ell on two brackets for a dual Hi-Lift and shovel carrier (one tool on each side of the ell). I might try to stick my Hi-Lift onto my contraption at some point. Also, I think I can hang a Trasharoo over this (http://www.trasharoo.com/TRASHAROO%20/About.html). Already the aluminum ell is great for hanging a regular trash bag and other stuff.

Happy adventuring!

 

[craig333]

Nice work.

 

[4llamas]

Looks good. Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

[SunMan]

pretty slick!

 

[Central Toast]

Thanks for the props!