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Underbelly project: tanks hang below frame members . . .

profdant139
Explorer II
Explorer II
Other folks must have encountered this problem, but I have not found any discussions of it. My tanks (fresh/black/gray) all hang down about six inches below the bottom of the steel beams that make up the frame of my trailer's chassis.

I had intended to use coroplast to enclose the underbelly and the insulation that I will be adding. But although coroplast is semi-flexible, it is not infinitely flexible -- I doubt it would clamp to the exterior beam flanges and still bend down around the tanks without breaking.

I see two possibilities: use a heavy plastic fabric instead of coroplast. That would be pretty simple -- it would just bend around the bottoms of the tanks. But I would not be able to glue the insulating foam panels to the top side of the fabric because the fabric would not be flat.

Or a more expensive and tricky solution: bolt some sort of downward extension to the beams -- maybe aluminum I beams -- so that the bottom of the "add-on" beams would be below the level of the tanks, so that the coroplast would not have to bend. I would also add thin aluminum cross-bars under the coroplast to support it. (And I would probably glue the waterproof styrofoam insulating panels to the top side of the coroplast.)

Fortunately, I have a lot of extra ground clearance, so I have plenty of room to add additional "sidewalls" underneath the trailer.

Your thoughts and advice, as always, will be greatly appreciated!
2012 Fun Finder X-139 "Boondock Style" (axle-flipped and extra insulation)
2013 Toyota Tacoma Off-Road (semi-beefy tires and components)
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"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single list."
16 REPLIES 16

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Explorer III
By tanks hang below....coroplast does bend
Is it time for your medication or mine?


2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
2007 HitchHiker II 32.5 UKTG 2000W Xantex Inverter
US NAVY------USS Decatur DDG31

ktmrfs
Explorer
Explorer
Unless you really want the tanks insulated, why not just cut the coreplast to have an opening for the tanks, and insulate in the empty spaces?
2011 Keystone Outback 295RE
2004 14' bikehauler with full living quarters
2015.5 Denali 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison
2004.5 Silverado 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison passed on to our Son!