50 Gal Water Tank Mounting

[avarusbrightfyr]

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone had come up with a highly secure way to mount a large, heavy water tank under a travel trailer. I have a Winnebago Minnie Plus and it came with a 50 gallon water tank mounted under the floor inside the frame, but in their infinite wisdom Winnebago seemed to think that two lengths of thin L channel attached to the frame with flimsy self-tapping screws and a sheet of particle board underneath was enough to support 400+ pounds of water. I've tried jury rigging it back in a couple of different ways, including round bar and now cable straps, but nothing has really worked to my satisfaction. It's already fallen out twice now and it's been parked since I bought it (I live in it in a full time park). I have no idea how they expected that to hold up with any amount of water in it jostling down the road, and I do eventually want to get myself into a position to start travelling full time, so I need to figure this out.

Anyway, I'm thinking some kind of square bar grid or something that rests directly on the frame to support the entire bottom of the tank. Has anyone done anything like this and found that it works? I don't have the skillset to do it myself, and I don't want to end up paying someone to fabricate something for me only to find out it's going to break anyway. And while it seems simple enough to have someone weld a grid of some kind together, part of the trick would be making it removable so I can get the tank out if I need to.

Alternatives are always welcome, of course!

Thanks!

[Huntindog]

I have done this several times on different TTs over the years. Each situation was different, as was each fix. I will say for certain not to use any sort of wood. that will just be problems later.
When possible, use bolts/loctite instead of screws. Welding skills can come in handy for fabricating supports. Making them removable is not hard.

This is definantly a doable project for someone with the right skills.

[mr_andyj]

A friend mounted a 65 gal water tank under the frame with two lengths of plumber's tape. It held for many many many cross country trips.

On mine with same 65 gal tank I took three flat steel bars. 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, 1.5 inches wide and made a bracket to cradle below the tank and hold it. I bent the bars up to curve up the side of the tank about 2 inches (just with a hammer), then bent the bar back out horizontal and drilled a hole. I drilled a hole in the vehicle frame/ the floor frame really. I used a threaded rod and nuts to bolt the metal straps to the frame (the threaded rod spanned the 10 inch gap), sandwiching the tank between the frame and the customized cradle straps. It held like a champ! Overkill probably but held great.

It was easy to remove the tank that one time I had to do some work...

[Sjm9911]

Im not sure i understand the able to get it out part. Just install it and support it, no need to take it out if you secure it properly. If you need to replace it in 20 years, cut it put and re suport it? Anything that is removable will be harder to support and secure.

[GDS-3950BH]

avarusbrightfyre wrote:

opnspaces wrote:
What failed allowing it to fall out? Did the straps bend or the self tapping screws fail? If the screws failed did the pull out of the frame or just pull apart?

If the straps bent or sagged you can get some thicker angle or tube steel to stretch across the frame under the tank.

If the self tapping bolts broke or came out you can look into bigger self tapping bolts or even through bolt with a bolt and a nut.

If the bottom of the tank is flush with the bottom of the frame then consider adding a third or even fourth cross piece under the tank.

The first thing to fail were the self-tapping screws, which allowed the supporting l-beams to twist and the tank fell out full of water. The only thing that stopped it from crashing to the ground was the underbody cover. I was in the trailer when it happened and I thought someone had crashed into me.

I've come to the conclusion that I can't really use the original hardware at all because over time trying to jury rig a solution, the original support beams have warped and just don't seem reliable anymore. I currently have it rigged up with cargo straps, which seems to sort of work, but I don't think it's a long term solution, especially since I think movement will eventually cut through them.

That's why I'm looking for a preferably easy design for something I can just rest on the frame of the trailer and maybe keep in place with a bolt or something that supports the entire tank from the bottom.

Go to some of the brand specific forums such as Jayco owners or Forest River and you'll see this is a recurring issue usually caused by the use of Lippert Frames and the standard tank mounting system Lippert provides these manufacturers, including Winnebago, Grand Design, etc.

What you call support beams are probably nothing more than some underdesigned soft steel plate bent into an angle. You can find hundreds of examples, maybe thousands, if you search around.

Forest Rivers response to owners whose tanks fall out is to tell them they are not supposed to travel with water in the tanks.

Read through this one.

[likesadvice]

Same with my 2012 2451. I noticed considerable sagging, so I opened the underbelly. Surprise! Cheap ass Winnebago used particle board to hold up 350 lbs of water.

[avarusbrightfyr]

avarusbrightfyre wrote:

TurnThePage wrote:

avarusbrightfyre wrote:

TurnThePage wrote:
My 2004 Fleetwood Pioneer has a 50 gallon fresh tank that is supported by two square bars (C channel might be a better description) fastened to the frame via nut and bolt. I drag that trailer through serious back country with lots of major bouncing going on with zero issues.

It's mounted directly to the trailer frame? Meaning the bars go from one side of the trailer to the other? Is there any significant bending from the weight?

Yep. Mounted directly to the frame. No bending at all. The bars are pretty stout though. Maybe I can find my way under there to take a pic tonight.

I'd appreciate it. I was thinking I'd have to do some cross bracing, but if I can just do straight pieces across the trailer without significant bending, that's pretty easy to put in and take out.

What size tubing did you use? I'm assuming you used steel?

[avarusbrightfyr]

TurnThePage wrote:

avarusbrightfyre wrote:

TurnThePage wrote:
My 2004 Fleetwood Pioneer has a 50 gallon fresh tank that is supported by two square bars (C channel might be a better description) fastened to the frame via nut and bolt. I drag that trailer through serious back country with lots of major bouncing going on with zero issues.

It's mounted directly to the trailer frame? Meaning the bars go from one side of the trailer to the other? Is there any significant bending from the weight?

Yep. Mounted directly to the frame. No bending at all. The bars are pretty stout though. Maybe I can find my way under there to take a pic tonight.

I'd appreciate it. I was thinking I'd have to do some cross bracing, but if I can just do straight pieces across the trailer without significant bending, that's pretty easy to put in and take out.

[TurnThePage]

avarusbrightfyre wrote:

TurnThePage wrote:
My 2004 Fleetwood Pioneer has a 50 gallon fresh tank that is supported by two square bars (C channel might be a better description) fastened to the frame via nut and bolt. I drag that trailer through serious back country with lots of major bouncing going on with zero issues.

It's mounted directly to the trailer frame? Meaning the bars go from one side of the trailer to the other? Is there any significant bending from the weight?

Yep. Mounted directly to the frame. No bending at all. The bars are pretty stout though. Maybe I can find my way under there to take a pic tonight.

[avarusbrightfyr]

schlep1967 wrote:
OP if you can provide pictures of the tank and existing supports it would be easier for us to describe what you need.

I wish I had thought of that, but I already closed up the bottom cover again. It's super hard to get it screwed back in with the way they chose to screw it in.

[avarusbrightfyr]

TurnThePage wrote:
My 2004 Fleetwood Pioneer has a 50 gallon fresh tank that is supported by two square bars (C channel might be a better description) fastened to the frame via nut and bolt. I drag that trailer through serious back country with lots of major bouncing going on with zero issues.

It's mounted directly to the trailer frame? Meaning the bars go from one side of the trailer to the other? Is there any significant bending from the weight?

[avarusbrightfyr]

opnspaces wrote:
What failed allowing it to fall out? Did the straps bend or the self tapping screws fail? If the screws failed did the pull out of the frame or just pull apart?

If the straps bent or sagged you can get some thicker angle or tube steel to stretch across the frame under the tank.

If the self tapping bolts broke or came out you can look into bigger self tapping bolts or even through bolt with a bolt and a nut.

If the bottom of the tank is flush with the bottom of the frame then consider adding a third or even fourth cross piece under the tank.

The first thing to fail were the self-tapping screws, which allowed the supporting l-beams to twist and the tank fell out full of water. The only thing that stopped it from crashing to the ground was the underbody cover. I was in the trailer when it happened and I thought someone had crashed into me.

I've come to the conclusion that I can't really use the original hardware at all because over time trying to jury rig a solution, the original support beams have warped and just don't seem reliable anymore. I currently have it rigged up with cargo straps, which seems to sort of work, but I don't think it's a long term solution, especially since I think movement will eventually cut through them.

That's why I'm looking for a preferably easy design for something I can just rest on the frame of the trailer and maybe keep in place with a bolt or something that supports the entire tank from the bottom.

[mobeewan]

My 36 gallon fw tank is supported on 3 sides by welded in place angle and on the fourth side by the driver side frame I Beam. My 40 gallon each black and grey tanks are supported on 2 sides by 2 inch angle. They are bolted to flat bar tabs that are welded to the webs of the main frame I-beams.

[eHoefler]

I used 1 1/2"x 1 1/2"x 3/16" angle iron when I reinstalled my 105-gallon tank several years ago and have had no issues since.

[schlep1967]

OP if you can provide pictures of the tank and existing supports it would be easier for us to describe what you need.