After installing Rago Fabrication’s Modular Storage Panels (MSPs), camping, and running a few offroad trails, I decided to invest in a fire extinguisher in the event of a flammable liquid or electrical fire. To some extent, the same fire extinguisher could hopefully also be used to quench very small brush fires (I always keep a few gallons of water in the 4Runner, too). I ended up purchasing the H3R HG250B Clean Agent Fire Extinguisher and attaching it to the quick release.
The next question was clearly “Where do I put it?” I wanted the fire extinguisher to be in an easily accessible, visible, place until needed. After a few days of research, I found a handful of mounting methods via public forums. A few identified options and my opinions of them are listed below:
Lain flat on ground somewhere. No. Didn’t want it rolling around or having to move it whenever passengers enter the car.
Lain flat in rear cargo cubby. Sometimes I have a hard time getting stuff out of the cubby since it can be blocked by other larger items in the rear cargo space such as coolers or camping gear. Didn’t want to deal with it.
Quick release bracket drilled into plastic rear cargo panels, somewhere, it didn’t really matter where. Lots of folks online just drilled plastic quick release brackets (typically supplied by fire extinguisher manufacturers). This method works, but I was not a fan of drilling into plastic trim pieces and it looked tacky.
Quick release bracket underneath driver or passenger seat, mounted to seat foot caps. Although this allows the fire extinguisher to be accessed within seconds, most brackets limit the forward seat adjustment range. Furthermore, I was not keen on having a large metal object behind my ankles in the event of a crash.
Quick release bracket mounted to the MSPs. Thankfully, Rago Fabrication has a nifty Fire Extinguisher Quick Release accessory available for their MSPs. The quick release setup is CNC cut from 3/16” steel, powder coated black, doesn’t rattle, and can mount vertically or horizontally to the MSPs. Furthermore, it keeps the fire extinguisher off the ground and in an easily accessible location.
With a bit of luck, Rago Fabrication held a Warehouse Sale about a week after I started thinking of purchasing their quick release. I was able to purchase a “blemished” fire extinguisher quick release at a decent discount, though I had to pay a small shipping fee. Upon receipt, I could not identify any blemish in the powder coating at all. Maybe I just have lower standards.
The Fire Extinguisher Quick Release comes in two parts: one mounts to the MSP (the Mount) and is held in place by four bolts while the other can be strapped to a fire extinguisher (the Holder). The Mount can only be bolted to the MSP when the MSP has been removed from the vehicle. Fastening a fire extinguisher to Holder requires two adjustable worm-gear steel straps. One end of the Holder is slotted while the other end has has two holes. The end that is slotted slides onto a bolt on the Mount, which has a thick rubber o-ring around it. The bolt creates a pivot point for the Holder while also minimizing movement (which results in noise/clanging). The upper portion of Holder rotates upwards and slides into a slot on the Mount, which has two holes that match up with the Holder holes. The quick release pin fills one hole while a separate lock (not provided) can be installed in the second hole (to prevent tampering if the fire extinguisher is located outside). The quick release pin itself is easy to remove using an index finger and thumb leverage.
Overall, I am very pleased with the quality of Rago Fabrication’s Fire Extinguisher Quick Release. Hopefully I never have to use the fire extinguisher, but having one on hand provides a lot of peace of mind.
Conclusions and Recommendations:
The Rago Fabrication Fire Extinguisher Quick Release is a convenient way to mount a 2.5 lb fire extinguisher to their MSPs.
Some fire extinguishers cannot be stored horizontally. Do some research on the extinguisher you want to use to determine if whether it can be stored vertically and horizontally, or only vertically.
The o-ring around the pivot bolt is large, but durable. It is larger than the slot in the Holder. That being said, it does take some effort to jam the Holder onto the pivot point on the Mount. I’ve mounted and unmounted the Holder from the Mount about a half a dozen times (playing with it, and mounting the fire extinguisher to the holder, and then taking photos) and the o-ring has not yet torn. It does show some wear, though.
I just made up the terms “Holder” and “Mount” to distinguish between the two pieces of this product.