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Mercedes Sprinter: Carrying Extra Diesel Fuel
Photographer and cyclist and Mac expert and software engineer Lloyd Chambers is available for consulting on general Sprinter considerations at his usual consulting rates via phone, or in person in the Palo Alto, CA area. Save yourself hours and mistakes by discussing issues up-front. More about Lloyd....
The Sprinter van takes diesel fuel. For offroad use and extended trips and diesel heaters or diesel generators or extended idling, it may be wise to carry 2/4/5 extra gallons of fuel.
The best solution is a larger fuel tank; see Installing a Higher Capacity Fuel Tank (ACGB Tanks).
Diesel fuel cans come in all sorts of form factors and that might be a consideration. For example, my Yeti bed platform leaves a gap between the coolers and the van wall, a perfect place to wedge a fuel can of the right dimensions, thus also serving to finish out the bed platform (along with other gear and perhaps some padding on top).
Amazon.com sells a variety of diesel fuel cans @AMAZON of various shapes and sizes like the 5 gallon military style polyethyline diesel can with nozzle @AMAZON.
Agile Offroad
Agile Offroad is a Southern California company, easy to reach by phone, much more accessible.
Their approach is to install a supplementary fuel tank, which means adding a supplementary fuel tank and a pump along with a switch under the driver’s seat. This of course also means a 2nd fuel filler hole in the side of the van and the manual effort of transferring fuel. This approach has those disadvantages, but does have the advantage of leaving the stock tank in place.
Rotopax
Rotopax makes robust roto-molded bolt-on fuel tanks oriented towards outdoor use. Unfortunately there is only one size for diesel available, the Rotopax 2 gallon diesel can. Some Rotopax diesel @AMAZON accessories are sold on Amazon. I can’t get excited about this option: carrying even 10 extra gallons is a messy, smally bulky affair if one actually wants more range and utility.
Yellow Diesel container only, mounting kit sold separately, Spout included, Made in the USA. Roto-molded water can that is durable with thicker walls and stronger construction make it leak-proof along with a sure seal gasket to guarantee your spout wont leak or vibrate loose. Rotopax are the only rotationally molded EPA and CARB compliant containers available for sale in the United States. This is thanks to a patented three layer Roto-Molding process, along with specialty formulated plastic barrier material to meet the governments new extremely low permeability requirements.
Replacement fuel tank
This approach makes the most sense of all—just fill 'er up with 47 gallons instead of 26.4 gallons (or 52.8 gallons on the 170-inch wheelbase Sprinter), and the original fuel gauge and fuel pump are used.
ACGB is a European company that makes high capacity tanks of all kinds, including fueld tanks for the Sprinter. The Sprinter 144" wheelbase can go up to 180 liters = 47.5 gallons, a huge increase from the stock 26.4 gallon tank.
See Mercedes Sprinter: Installing a Higher Capacity Fuel Tank (ACGB Tanks).
