Hey J,
Are there any issues with having fuel in a plastic container sitting on a carpeted bed? Specifically friction leading to a static charge?
I have the same bed liner and was worried about driving to the TX Raptor Run with loaded fuel jugs.
Thanks
Good question. I checked into this pretty extensively when considering how to carry fuel. I came away with the following:
-static electricity is a fact of life of any non rubberized bed liner. This includes BedRugs, plastic drop in liners, and even LineX'd beds (contrary to popular belief).
-in order for gas to ignite, it must be atomized. In liquid state, it won't take a spark.
-fuel is atomized as you pump it.
So what's all that mean? You WILL generate static electricity when you rub those plastic jugs along the bottom of your BedRug. However, when that jug is capped and the outside is dry, there's nothing for the sparks to ignite. The electricity is not going to jump thru the plastic, travel thru the liquid gas from the bottom and ignite the atomized gas in the air gap up top. Its just not strong enough.
BUT! If you open that can, and you fill it inside the bed, and those fumes pour out and down toward the static charged BedRug, there's a chance those fumes will ignite, and will travel back up toward the pump's nozzle... its a slim chance (I think there are 25 people on record ever of getting hurt via this?) but it can happen.
So here's what I do: I travel with the cans like you see. When it comes time to use them, I remove them from the bed and put them on the ground BEFORE opening. I then touch a fender or bedrail or something else metal and ground myself at the same time grab the can. Now there's no charge on the can, and no charge on me. I then pull the cap and fill the tank.
When it comes time to refill, again I pull the can out of the bed and put it on the ground. I touch the pump sheetmetal as I also touch the can, pause for a second then pull the cap and fill 'er up. I never, ever fill any gas can in the bed of any truck!
I suppose if you wanted to be incredibly cautious, you could put a rubber mat down between your cans and BedRug to stop any the rubbing, but I still wouldn't ever open one without going thru the process described above.
Hope that helps. You have to make up your own mind, but IMHO as long as I stay careful as described, I won't ever have any problems. YMMV.