Aux. fuel tanks for trip thru Canada

[BADinNC]

Hi All,

A couple questions about traveling to Alaska, thru lower Canada. We pull a 34' fiver with a D3500 Dually, Cummings 5.9. Last trip out west I just carried a 5 gal. can in the bed-in case- and was really glad I did. HAD to use it once and just made it a fuel stop on fumes after that. I would like to ad something a bit better than a couple cans but don't want to invest in a Aux. tank. Any suggestions would be appreciated and BTW are there any special rules about traveling with Canada with extra fuel?


Also am looking for tips on camping in the Fairbanks area. Probably only make this trip once and want to make the most of it. At this point we're thinking of a week in the Fairbanks and day tripping from there, then maybe Anchorage for a few days on the way home. Travel tips will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Bill in NC

[BandJCarm]

Not sure what is even possible if you don't want to use cans, and don't want an auxiliary tank.

I have Trax3 and it is a life saving wonderful addition. I never get in line with the semi's any more.

[camaro80]

Canadian here, live in Saskatchewan. There are no "special rules" for carrying extra fuel up here. Lots of us do it. I'm a farmer, and we often have to carry fuel to farm equipment, and lots of people do it for the reason you're looking at as well. The rules are the same as anywhere else I assume. The container must be of the type made to carry fuel and be labeled for the fuel it's carrying. That being said, my tanks are older and don't have much for labeling anymore. Never been stopped and checked though.

[Windjammin]

We travelled to Alaska last summer. I carried two 5 gallon fuel cans with me filling them up before we crossed the border. Did not need to use them, not even close. There were plenty of fuel stations available even on the Alaska and Cassiar highways. I generally fueled up at the half tank level just to be safe.

[BADinNC]

Thanks for the info, any and all tips and tricks are welcome. Bill in NC

[Blackrock]

As long as you don't get to thinking that the fuel will be cheaper on up the road you'll be okay. From Edmonton on up the trail you gotta pay what you gotta pay for fuel. Plenty of little stations on the ALCAN but the prices really go up.

There is a lot of stuff to do and see in Fairbanks. I recommend Riverview RV Park. It's a ways out of town on Badger road but nice and quite, grassy and clean.

[Walholler]

I read the part about not wanting a auxiliary fuel tank, however you may want to reconsider that. I installed a 60 gallon tank in my truck bed with a manual shutoff valve and fuel is gravity fed to the main truck tank. Tank is made by RDS for diesel fuel. my cost including installation came to just under $600.00. I never worry about having fuel or running out of it since I installed the tank. I have a 2015 Chevrolet truck with the 8 ft. bed, the auxiliary fuel tank sits about 4 inches below the top of bed rails. I now have 96 gals. of fuel on board when I fill up, that is at least 1000 miles of traveling before another fill up.

[fred3]

I have a F350 short bed. I got the same 60 gal aux tank. Fits under the rails. So all full I have about 90 gals. I considered taking 5 gal containers but feel that the aux tank is safer.
We are planning to go to Alaska in May, so we will find out how that goes.

[medalguy]

A couple of years ago we drove from Glacier up to Fairbanks and on up the haul road. We never passed a gas station without topping off. And the prices can get up there.

[donkro]

Just did the Alaskan Hwy last year to Fairbanks and I agree with everyone, fill up at 1/2 way on tank and you'll be fine. I think the longest jaunt we did without a station was 180 miles. No need for the mess of extra tanks, plenty of fuel stops, just not cheap. We stayed at the Riversedge RV park right in town on the Chena River. Nice park, easy to Uber everywhere, great restaurant right next door.

[Blackrock]

Now where an auxilliary diesel tank would be handy is in those long stretches of road after leaving Dawson Creek. There is a long stretch between Fort Nelson and Watson Lake, then Watson Lake to Whitehorse. In 2016 I think Watson Lake had the highest fuel prices.

[donkro]

And of course go to Denali just south of Fairbanks on your way to Anchorage! Unless you have a desire to see a big city, I'd skip Anchorage, we did (crime concerns if you stay in town) and go to the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage, lots of cool stuff there.

[Handydc]

Added a 48 gallon RDS auxiliary diesel fuel tank in 2014. Was one of the best decisions I've made. Nice to be able to travel 935 miles (37 gallon main tank) and not worry about refueling. We like to travel no more than 6-8 hours before pulling in for the afternoon. We usually don't drain the aux tank by the time we stop. Great travel add in.

[Wolf26]

Just ordered a 35 gal aux tank from Amazon, should be here end of the week. That will double my fuel capacity and DTE.

[Jdhudkins]

I drove to Alaska and a friend who had gone before me said whenever your tank is half full fill up! We had know problems. There is a rv park outside Fairbanks at a hot springs spa! It was worth the drive to camp there and enjoy the mineral bath!

[metalaman]

I added an L-Shaped tank in my 8ft bed and put a cross bed tool box in also. The tank was 52 gal. Gives me over 800 mile range with the stock tank. I did not tie into the truck gauge system. There is a valve on the end of the tank that I shut off and on. The aux. tank just ties into the fill tube of the stock tank. You need to run off the stock tank and just use the aux. as like a fill up. Other wise the truck computer dos'nt think you are using fuel and it triggers the check engine light. I got the tank from Northern tool. It all works very well for me. Nice to go all day and not need to fill up or use Gas Buddy to find the best price on fuel.

[Blackrock]

Okay I'm going to tell a story here. Back in 1960 on the ranch in SE Montana we needed to haul a lot of our wheat harvest in to one of the grain elevators in Billings. Dad had a 1958 Chevy C60 truck with a 327v8. It was a fuel hog when hauling close to 300 bushels of grain. We had bulk fuel on the place already bought and paid for but little cash money for buying fuel on the road.

So my dad hung a 30 gallon drum under each corner of the truck bed right behind the cab plumbed into a three way manual selector valve located on the floorboard. He got pretty good at knowing when to switch from one tank to the next before totally running out of gas. I don't remember what the main tank behind the seat held but with this setup he never had to buy gas out on the road.


I remember my uncle telling him the cops were going to shut him down because of that setup but it never happened.

[prairiecamper]

Just a FYI on fuel prices in Canada, not to be taken as an absolute. Yes generally speaking they are more expensive. Here is an example of today’s gas buddy prices.
California L.A. diesel prices average $3.70 per gallon. Now compare that to today’s price in Winnipeg at $1.22 per litre. Here’s some math.
3.8 litres equals 1 US gallon.
3.8 x $1.23 = $4.67 CDN
One U S dollar = $1.30 CDN
$4.67 / $1.30 = $3.59 USD
SO 1 gallon in LA $3.70 1 gallon in Winnipeg $3.59

[Stormy Dayton]

The limit in CALIFORNIA, is 119 gallons in a single tank, UNLESS you have a tanker endorsement on your license. Also consider the added weight on the rig, it costs money to "tanker" fuel... Most trucks run better on a full tank as opposed to one that is empty, however. !LOL

[davidgle]

Drove to Ak in 2015 with a 5 gal can for my 2011 Ram dually diesel pulling my Palomino Sabre. Filled up every time we got between 1/4 and 1/2 and had no problems even driving the Top of the World Hwy from Tok to Dawson City. We only used the extra can when we drove between Paxson to the Parks Hwy as we got bored and turned around back to Tangle Lakes.