Fresh water tank bowed, broke propane lines

Snowman9000 wrote:
Man, you'd think by now they'd know how to support a FW tank. The one on our 2004 Crossroads fiver was ridiculously poor. Many people had them fall out.

After relaying this story around the campground (everyone had noticed I pulled out unexpectedly so they came asking when they saw the trailer back) more than one said the same thing...their tanks were poorly installed.

relaxin wrote:
mine the bottom sags a good inch or more in the middle ,but fortunately I don't have any other lines around it, I don't like the capacity of the tank so I am eith going to install a larger one or a second tank, wither way I will be customizing the brackets to better support the underbelly of it.
my old TT had that issue with the black and grey tanks bowing about 1.5 inches lowere in the middle which then the solid would never completely drain out, so I build better brackets underneight.

Those sound like issues that should have been covered under warranty. A tank that won't properly drain sounds like an issue the manufacturer should have to pay for, not you. Then again, if you want it done right, and right away, sometimes the only real option is to do it yourself.

relaxin wrote:
what is wrong with the engineers that design these things, I must be under some mistaken impression that they are smart

You must be, because I've seen too much in this trailer alone to ever make that mistake. Though, my old '96 Mallard was awesome (though I did buy it twelve years in to its life, so all the kinks it may have had would have been long since worked out).

Chris Bryant wrote:
That is something that should require a recall- I would report it at https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/.
I really am speechless that a defect that bad- I mean you were not even driving when it happened, so no dynamic forces- would be present in a new model. I'm sorry, but every trailer of that model should be inspected and repaired.

Is there a Canadian version where I can report this as well? (I'm in Canada). I whole-heartedly agree though. I didn't even haul the trailer with a full tank because I didn't want the extra ~500lbs of water weight right on my hitch (the tank is right up front). So it's never been tossed around full of water, it's only ever been sitting with water in it.

EDIT: Here's what I found on the Government of Canada website: Clicky. Not sure if there's an online form available or not.

EDIT 2: Here's an online form: Clicky.

Alan_Hepburn wrote:
That's a problem with all entry-level units: they do everything they can to cut costs. Move up a notch or two and you get tanks that are installed in the basement instead of slung under the frame - they get heat in the winter if you run your furnace, and they are more secure with a floor under them. But they are harder to work on because they are hidden out of sight!

Cost cutting or not, there is NO reason this should happen. When people say "entry level trailers" I expect the quality of the fit and finish to be lower, not major problems with the quality of the actual construction and installation.

There's no excuse other than pure human laziness and apathy.

And, since this isn't the first FW tank installed this way to fall out of a trailer, the manufacturers know this method is prone to failure...you'd think they'd want to correct that problem in the design moving forward and save the money on warranty repairs.

Oh, and I live in Saskatchewan...won't be using the travel trailer in the winter...something tells me that little furnace won't keep up with the -40 degrees. ;-)