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urbex's avatar
urbex
Explorer
Mar 15, 2017

Sources for vintage style waste tanks?

I need to replace the black tank in my '74 Amerigo truck camper, and given the location, I don't have much variance in the width dimension. I measured it as 23" wide at the flange, and 40-something inches long.

The width takes up every bit of space between the far back wall, and the shower drain on the other side, but I could go another 30 inches or so longer if need be. It also screws right through the flange, and the new style tanks I'm seeing specifically say not to drill/screw through the flange or it will leak. I think I'd have to go considerably narrower to accomodate any kind of mounting hardware, and I haven't seen any narrow, yet super long tanks (so I don't lose capacity).

Are there sources for similar style tanks for these old campers, or am I going to have to get really creative?
  • Here's a source for numerous tanks of different sizes and shapes.

    http://www.tank-depot.com/browse.aspx?id=9

    Doug
  • JoeH's avatar
    JoeH
    Explorer III
    If you are looking for a plastic tank, maybe these guys can help/Dura-Weld
    If you are looking for aluminum or metal, look for a marine tank fabricator. There are several in Florida and will make tanks in whatever configuration you want.
  • urbex wrote:
    BFL13 wrote:
    ASSume it the same there--around here there are lots of old truck campers for sale in the various "used" sites and papers. People just trying to get rid of them instead of paying to have them taken away. Parting them out first often happens.

    I got a second tank same as the original for our 1981 camper that way and rigged it up as a grey tank. ( Possible with the 11 ft camper hanging out the back of the truck.) I did get "creative" with the plumbing :)

    You can repair those old tanks depending on what leaks. Roof Dicor fixed ours in a couple places.


    There's a large crack right at the drain opening radius into the tank body, along with some missing chunks. It appears to be the result of plastic embrittlement (which doesn't surprise me, as I assume this is the original, 30+ year old tank). There are also several layers of fiberglass and epoxy over the cracked area, from the previous owner's attempts at fixing it. He said he was lucky if the repairs held for an entire weekend.

    If I put some time into it, I could form a sheet metal patch that would be form fit to the area, and use some epoxy to seal it up, but I figured for the couple hundred bucks it would take to put a new tank in, it wasn't worth the hassle of attempting to repair it yet again. I'm also thinking that given the heat and dryness of the desert (I live in the Phoenix area), most old tanks are likely going to be in the same condition as what I have now. Not necessarily cracked, but definitely well down the road of being brittle. This is only the 2nd Amerigo I've seen like mine in the past few years of looking for one, and neither of them have been anywhere even remotely close to free. Not to mention, I ended up scrapping one of my prior campers due to rot being much more extensive than I realized when I bought it, and getting rid of all the stuff I didn't want was a pretty big undertaking. Hardly worth getting a free tank, lol.


    There tends to be no real standard sizes for RV tanks to speak of, there are places that will custom order tanks to your specifications..

    You can check RV PARTS NATION which is a place that typically buys close out and leftover inventory from RV manufacturers.. They also have pretty good access to a lot of RV parts suppliers.

    In that link, they list the more common sizes which they can special order for you.. If you don't see the size, give them a call, they may be able to order the size you need.
  • BFL13 wrote:
    ASSume it the same there--around here there are lots of old truck campers for sale in the various "used" sites and papers. People just trying to get rid of them instead of paying to have them taken away. Parting them out first often happens.

    I got a second tank same as the original for our 1981 camper that way and rigged it up as a grey tank. ( Possible with the 11 ft camper hanging out the back of the truck.) I did get "creative" with the plumbing :)

    You can repair those old tanks depending on what leaks. Roof Dicor fixed ours in a couple places.


    There's a large crack right at the drain opening radius into the tank body, along with some missing chunks. It appears to be the result of plastic embrittlement (which doesn't surprise me, as I assume this is the original, 30+ year old tank). There are also several layers of fiberglass and epoxy over the cracked area, from the previous owner's attempts at fixing it. He said he was lucky if the repairs held for an entire weekend.

    If I put some time into it, I could form a sheet metal patch that would be form fit to the area, and use some epoxy to seal it up, but I figured for the couple hundred bucks it would take to put a new tank in, it wasn't worth the hassle of attempting to repair it yet again. I'm also thinking that given the heat and dryness of the desert (I live in the Phoenix area), most old tanks are likely going to be in the same condition as what I have now. Not necessarily cracked, but definitely well down the road of being brittle. This is only the 2nd Amerigo I've seen like mine in the past few years of looking for one, and neither of them have been anywhere even remotely close to free. Not to mention, I ended up scrapping one of my prior campers due to rot being much more extensive than I realized when I bought it, and getting rid of all the stuff I didn't want was a pretty big undertaking. Hardly worth getting a free tank, lol.
  • You should not need to go wider to support the flange- just use angle iron the same dimension as the flange. Should fit in the same footprint as screwed through the flange.
  • ASSume it the same there--around here there are lots of old truck campers for sale in the various "used" sites and papers. People just trying to get rid of them instead of paying to have them taken away. Parting them out first often happens.

    I got a second tank same as the original for our 1981 camper that way and rigged it up as a grey tank. ( Possible with the 11 ft camper hanging out the back of the truck.) I did get "creative" with the plumbing :)

    You can repair those old tanks depending on what leaks. Roof Dicor fixed ours in a couple places.
  • Many commercial companies will make any size tank you want, although it won't be cheap.

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