Jeep Wrangler LJ: GenRight Safari Gas Tank

May. 15, 2015 By Jim Brightly, KF7SCT

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The 2004-2006 LJ—especially the Rubicon model—is an awesome, all-around capable Jeep, made all the more so with the GenRight Safari gas tank.

Can you imagine driving your Jeep Wrangler from Los Angeles to San Francisco without stopping? That’s more than 400 miles without a fill-up! That’s exactly what you can do if you add 12.5 of gasoline to your 2004-2006 Wrangler LJ’s capacity with a GenRight Crawler Safari 31.5-gallon tank!

This photo, courtesy of GenRight, shows how the tank is carefully designed to fill every cubic inch of its home between the Jeep’s frame rails.

This is the original Jeep tank. It’s supposed to be 19 gallons—according to Jeep’s factory LJ specifications—but we believe this was a replacement tank because it was marked as a “TJ” tank, which holds 15 gallons. (Due to New Hampshire’s wild winters and super salting of its road surfaces, the original tank, its mounts and/or its skid plate rusting out could have caused a tank replacement.)

Using my 2005 Rubicon Unlimited’s average mileage, which was purchased recently in New Hampshire and driven directly to Arizona with as few stops as necessary for nearly 3,000 miles, 31.5 gallons can provide a theoretical total of 500 miles. With two drivers and the trip lasting less than 80 hours total, the route varied from two-lane New England mountain roads to four- and six-lane freeways and toll roads. The Jeep’s average mileage varied between a low of 13.5 mpg to 17.5 mpg—depending upon speed and the driver’s aggressiveness—with an overall average of 15.5 mpg. Multiply that by the 31.5 gallons of gas and the Jeep now has a 499.25-mile range. (Some drivers could easily exceed a 600-mile range!) Wow!

Possibly also due to New Hampshire salt, the plastic outer mounting ring had become very brittle and had broken before its removal, causing an intermittent fuel smell that I couldn’t track down.

The weight of all that gasoline (approximately 252 pounds) rides between the frame rails behind the rear axle, giving the Jeep a lower center of gravity than carrying some gas cans on the tire carrier or unsafely on a roof rack. And it does this with an extra ¼-inch ground clearance and a 3/16-inch-thick steel skid plate protecting the 1/8-inch-thick aircraft-quality aluminum alloy tank. In addition to the tank’s lower COG, you need not worry about splashing gas on your skin and/or clothes during a fuel transfer—it’s all in one tank!

Regardless of whether you’re using the original fuel pump or a new one, carefully insert the float without damaging it while assembling the new tank.

Mike Barnes is carefully “clocking” the fuel pump to match the tank’s opening perfectly.

Mike’s securing the pump with its metal outer ring and making sure that it’s leak-free.

Now for the bad news: unfortunately, the Crawler Safari gas tank will only fit the 2004-2006 Jeep Unlimited LJ models, not a TJ (although GenRight does offer some extended-range gas tanks for TJ models). The good news is that either the Dana 35 or Dana 44 differentials with virtually all available lift kits are also compatible with the GenRight Safari tank (but not larger aftermarket differentials).

Kevin Lake is reinstalling all the vent tubes and fuel lines before the final tank install.

As you can see, GenRight’s super-strong skid plate is a full 3/16-inch thick. You can slide it over boulders or rest it on a rock without a care.

This tank has the same relation to the rear axle as the stock tank and occupies the exact same space as the stock tank, so if your suspension lift and axle combination works with your stock tank, it will work with the GenRight Safari tank, too. However, a cross member (see the photos) must be cut out, and no axle move back is possible with this model. All this information and the complete installation instructions are included with the fuel tank, so we won’t take up space here with the same information. (Author’s note: For a tank with similar features—but does not require cutting off the LJ’s cross member—that carries five more gallons of fuel than stock, see GenRight’s Crawler Enduro tank model).

The LJ’s next-to-last cross member must be removed to accommodate the GenRight Safari tank. As you can see, some road salt migrated to above the tank and affected the Jeep’s frame.

Mike used a cutting wheel on the grinder to cut out the cross member.

When we removed the OEM tank, we removed all the lines, vents, and hoses at the same time. We made sure they were all reconnected completely before installing the new tank.

You can imagine what kind of movement and weight transfer that 25 or 27 gallons of gas might accomplish in a tank this big when you’re negotiating a rocky trail. Well, put your mind at rest, because GenRight’s Safari tank has multiple internal baffles that reduces fuel movement and keeps the fuel near the pump’s pick-up. All Crawler fuel tanks are designed to accept all the stock Jeep fuel pump/sending units and other related equipment so you will not get any “check engine” lights or other engine computer issues. The tank even includes factory Mopar vents to adapt to your vehicle’s factory emissions system.

GenRight’s gorgeous gas tank is a beautiful and very welcome addition to the 2005 Rubicon Unlimited.