PRODUCT GUIDE

RotoPax Mount Without a Rack
and Without Drilling

A machined aluminium plate with 200 kg of magnetic force. No holes. No rack. No compromise.

The Problem Every RotoPax Owner Faces

RotoPax containers are one of the smartest ideas in overlanding. Flat, stackable, lockable fuel and water canisters that mount to almost anything. The containers themselves are brilliantly designed. The mounting part? That is where it gets expensive and complicated.

If you want to carry a RotoPax on your vehicle today, you have three options. The first is to drill holes in your bodywork, bolt on a RotoPax pack mount, and live with the fact that you have permanently modified your vehicle. The second is to buy a roof rack or ladder and then mount the RotoPax to that. The third is to use vacuum suction cups that need clean surfaces and regular re-pumping to maintain their grip.

Every one of these has a real cost. Drilling creates leak points and devalues the vehicle. Racks and ladders cost anywhere from 300 to well over 1,000 euros for the rack alone, before you add the RotoPax mounting plate on top. Vacuum cups need constant monitoring and a surface clean enough for the seal to hold, and many people simply do not trust them with a canister full of fuel bouncing on a dirt road.

None of these options solve the fundamental question: what if you just want to carry a RotoPax for one trip, put it on the vehicle when you need it, and take it off when you do not?

The Magnetic Solution

We designed a machined aluminium plate that attaches to any steel body panel using four rubberized neodymium magnets. Each magnet delivers 50 kg of pull force. That is 200 kg of total magnetic holding force for a system that carries a maximum load of 7 kg. The safety margin is substantial, and it is by design.

The magnets sit on specially designed joints that allow them to conform to uneven or curved surfaces. This means the plate works on flat panels, curved fenders, bonnets, side panels, and even some tailgates. The rubberized coating on each magnet protects your vehicle's paint. We also include four thick transparent stickers for an additional layer of protection between the magnets and your bodywork.

Installation takes about ten seconds. Place the plate where you want it, the magnets grab the steel, and you are done. When you arrive at camp and want the RotoPax off, lift it. When you sell the vehicle or switch to a different one, take the plate with you. No holes to fill, no brackets to unbolt, no residue to scrape off.

How the Setup Works

To be clear about what you need: the magnetic plate replaces the surface you would normally drill or bolt into, but you still need the official RotoPax pack mount to hold the canister. The setup chain has three parts.

Step 1: Magnetic plate on the vehicle. Place the aluminium plate with its four magnets onto any steel body panel. The magnets grab the steel and hold the plate in position. This takes about ten seconds.

Step 2: RotoPax pack mount on the plate. Bolt a standard RotoPax pack mount (the one with the threaded stud and base plate) onto the magnetic plate using the M8 or M10 slots. This is the same pack mount you would normally bolt to a rack or drill into your bodywork. The difference is that instead of drilling into your vehicle, you are bolting into our plate, which is held by magnets. You can buy the RotoPax Standard Pack Mount, the DLX, or the LOX (locking) version, whichever suits your setup. They all fit.

Step 3: Canister on the pack mount. Place your RotoPax canister onto the pack mount and twist until tight, exactly the way RotoPax designed it. The canister locks to the mount, the mount is bolted to the plate, and the plate is held to the vehicle by 200 kg of magnetic force.

This means you can buy your RotoPax canister and pack mount locally or from any regional distributor at the best price, without paying international shipping from Switzerland. We provide the part that eliminates the drilling and the rack. RotoPax provides the part that holds the canister. Each product does what it does best.

More Than a RotoPax Mount

This is the part where we need to be honest about what we actually built, because calling it a RotoPax mount undersells it.

The aluminium plate has a precision-cut pattern of slots and holes that we spent a long time designing. It is not decorative. Every cut has a purpose.

M8 and M10 bolt slots. The plate accepts both M8 and M10 bolts, giving you flexibility to attach a standard RotoPax pack mount, a locking mount, or any other hardware that uses these common thread sizes. This means you are not locked into one mounting system. If RotoPax releases a new mount design tomorrow, or if you want to bolt on a completely different accessory, the plate accepts it.

Ratchet strap cut-outs. The slots in the plate are wide enough to thread ratchet straps through. This turns the plate into a universal magnetic tie-down point. Strap down a shovel, an axe, a bundle of firewood, a pair of traction boards, a water jug, or anything else you need to carry externally. Two plates side by side give you enough surface area to strap down longer accessories like shovels and sand ladders.

Deliberate versatility. We promote this as a RotoPax holder because that is what most people search for. But the reality is that we designed a universal magnetic mounting plate that happens to be perfectly sized for a RotoPax. The cuts are positioned to be useful for as many applications as we could think of, not just one product from one brand.

Machined aluminium plate with four rubberized magnets. View product page

What It Costs Versus What a Rack Costs

Let us do the maths on the three most common ways to mount a RotoPax. In every scenario you need two things: the RotoPax canister itself (which varies by size) and a RotoPax pack mount (around 45 USD for the standard, 55 USD for the deluxe, or 65 USD for the locking version). Those costs are the same no matter how you attach it to your vehicle. The difference is what comes next.

Option 1: Drill and bolt. You bolt the pack mount directly to your vehicle's body panel. Material cost is essentially zero beyond the pack mount itself. But you are drilling holes that are permanent. If you later sell the vehicle or change your setup, you are left with holes that need to be filled, sealed, and repainted. Add the potential hit to resale value, and the "free" mounting surface gets expensive in retrospect.

Option 2: Rack or ladder. A basic roof rack runs from 300 to over 1,500 euros depending on the brand and vehicle. Then you need a rack-specific RotoPax mounting plate (another 30 to 80 euros) on top of the pack mount. Add installation time, permanent wind noise, and increased fuel consumption from having a rack on the vehicle full time, even when you are not carrying anything.

Option 3: Magnetic plate. CHF 158 for one plate with four rubberized magnets and protective stickers. Bolt your pack mount to the plate, place the plate on the vehicle, done. No drilling, no rack, no permanent modification. Moves between vehicles in seconds.

If you already have a rack and just need a mounting plate, the traditional approach makes sense. But if your only reason for buying a rack is to carry a RotoPax, the magnetic plate saves you hundreds or thousands of euros, and you keep the vehicle exactly as it came from the factory.

What Is in the Box

Each unit ships with one machined aluminium plate finished with a double powder coat baked at 180 degrees Celsius (the most scratch-resistant finish available for aluminium), four rubberized neodymium magnets on adjustable joints, and four thick transparent stickers for paint protection. The complete kit weighs around 1.4 kg. Each magnet is 90 mm in diameter. Total product height is 95 mm.

What you need to buy separately: a RotoPax canister (fuel, water, or storage, in whatever size you need) and a RotoPax pack mount (Standard, DLX, or LOX). The pack mount bolts onto the magnetic plate, and the canister twists onto the pack mount. We do not sell RotoPax products because shipping from Switzerland would make them unnecessarily expensive. You will get a better price buying them locally, from Amazon, or from any RotoPax distributor in your region.

Build Quality

The aluminium is sourced in Switzerland. It is machined in Switzerland. Each plate is then powder coated by hand, twice, at 180 degrees Celsius. Double powder coating creates a plastic envelope around the aluminium that is significantly more resistant to scratches, chips, and UV degradation than single-coat or anodised finishes. It is the same process used on high-end industrial equipment and architectural metalwork.

The magnets are the same rubberized neodymium units we use across our entire product range, proven on thousands of vehicles across five continents. The rubber coating serves a dual purpose: it protects your paint from direct metal contact, and it increases friction to prevent lateral sliding under load.

Will It Work on Your Vehicle?

The plate works on any vehicle with a steel body. That covers the vast majority of vans, campervans, 4x4s, pickups, and SUVs on the road today, including the Mercedes Sprinter, VW Transporter and Crafter, Fiat Ducato, Ford Transit, Iveco Daily, Toyota Land Cruiser, Jeep Wrangler, Toyota Hilux, Mitsubishi L200, and many more.

It will not work on aluminium-bodied vehicles. That rules out the Land Rover Defender (all generations), the new Ford Bronco, some Tesla models, and certain premium SUVs with aluminium panels. If you are unsure, hold any kitchen magnet against the panel where you want to mount the plate. If it sticks firmly, the magnetic plate will work. If it slides or falls off, the panel is not steel and the product is not compatible.

For a full list of tested vehicles, we have a compatibility tool on our website that lets you check by make and model.

Use Cases We Have Seen

Since launching this product, we have seen customers use it in ways we did not anticipate, which is exactly what we hoped for when we designed the slot pattern.

RotoPax fuel and water. The obvious one. Carry a 2 or 4 gallon RotoPax canister on the side panel, rear quarter panel, or any external steel surface. Popular for overland trips where fuel stations are sparse, or for carrying an emergency water supply. The 7 kg load limit comfortably covers a full 4-gallon RotoPax canister.

Shovels and recovery tools. Two plates mounted side by side on a flat panel create a pair of magnetic anchor points. Thread ratchet straps through the slots and strap down a shovel, a hi-lift jack handle, or any long tool you want accessible from outside the vehicle without opening the rear doors.

Firewood. This one came from a customer who camps in the desert. The plate slots are wide enough to strap a small bundle of kindling to the outside of the vehicle while driving to camp. Keeps the dirt and bark out of the interior.

First aid and dry storage RotoPax. Not every RotoPax is a fuel can. The same mounting system works for the RotoPax first aid kit, tool kit, and dry storage containers. Magnetic plate on the outside, kit accessible without opening the vehicle. Useful for work trucks and emergency vehicles where external access matters.

Specifications at a Glance

We designed this product because we needed it ourselves. On long overland trips through places where fuel stations do not exist for hundreds of kilometres, carrying extra fuel is not optional. But we were not willing to drill holes in our vehicles, and we were not willing to install a full rack just to carry a single canister. What we wanted was something that goes on when we need it and comes off when we do not, without leaving a trace. That is what we built. The fact that it turned out to be useful for strapping down half the gear in a recovery kit was a happy accident of good slot design.