Aluminum Fuel Racks for Expedition Jet Skis

Built for Long-Distance Adventure

MOUNTED FUEL RACKS

This project came through a partnership with Dangerous Water Adventure. They needed custom fuel racks built for seven new fleet jet skis that run from Seattle to Juneau which require an additional 15 gallons of fuel mounted on the rear.

What sounds simple on paper was anything but. Mounting a square, rigid fuel rack onto the curved and rounded rear deck of a jet ski required a lot of careful measuring, layout work, and specialized cuts to make everything fit correctly

The Fabrication Challenge

These racks were made of aluminum and TIG welded using the Miller Dynasty welder. Aluminum is lightweight and strong when the geometry is right , but it also brought its own challenges.

Because the tubing had to be welded fully around to create sealed, airtight assemblies, the final closing welds can be tricky. When welding a closed section of aluminum tubing, trapped air has to escape somewhere. In the last stages of welding, that pressure can push hot air out directly through the final weld puddle, spitting molten aluminum into the torch and tungsten making a mess. Techniques like drilling relief holes or waiting for the entire unit to cool before attacking the last half inch of weld is sometimes necessary and time consuming, other times it closes up without a problem. There's no way to know until you get there.

With the right settings, proper sequence, and a lot of patience, we were able to complete more than 2,000 inches of weld across the seven units.

What We Did

CLOSE UP OF FOOTINGS

For each rack, we:

• Used 1-inch square aluminum tubing for a strong, lightweight structure

• Added an 1/8 -inch bottom plate

• Welded each joint fully around for strength and sealed construction

• Built each mounting foot at a different size and angle to match the compound,

  curved surface of the jet ski

  
  

The Result

READY FOR POWDER COAT

The finished racks are strong, lightweight, and built specifically for the shape and demands of these expedition jet skis.

This was a project that required both precision and problem-solving—from fitting square structures to curved surfaces, to managing the challenges of fully welding closed aluminum assemblies. In the end, seven custom units were completed and ready for powder coating.

Sometimes the project is interesting. Sometimes the customer is interesting. This one was both.