Anyone with a service body and aux water tank installed?

[Wikel]

Anyone out there with an 84" CA that has a big & tall front compartment and installed a water tank in that space?

Looking for a tank vendor that's reasonable in price for a 100 gallon tank setup but I'm seeing a lot in the $500-$600 range which seems a bit steep. Best I've found is here.

I'm exploring adding a 100 gal water and 50 gal diesel tank into that space.

Thanks

[Wikel]

yblaw wrote:
The Class A Customs 100 gallon water tank I mentioned in my earlier post is $165.99, and I think it is shipped free. Tank includes threaded fill/drain holes.

Yblaw,

Thanks but the sizing is part of the challenge. I'd like to find something 52" ish in length and somewhere around 23-24" in width. This one is 82" in length. I know I didn't state that before but it's kinda like Tetris with this stuff :S

[Wikel]

Steverino54 wrote:
Yes Cory W. - ours is almost done...

Our Douglass body on 84" F550 with EC1165 will be "completed" in a couple weeks. After looking at a number of online tank suppliers, I selected a 95 gal Ronco Tank supplied by these nice folks RV66W. Tank is 67"L x 16"W x 22"H. I selected the supplier based on their custom SpinWeld fittings options, their CA location near Douglass to minimize shipping cost, their helpful attitude, and their pricing.

Designed the center compartment to hold this particular tank flat against the bedside wall, leaving enough width to hold a 8'aluminum extension ladder in-between the tank and the cab-side wall - Douglass and I modified their normal vertical wall bracing and upper shelf support bracket to accommodate my plan. I elected to make the upper shelve solid vs adjustable. I also specified a heavier lower floor (10 ga vs 12 ga) with 1/4" rubber mat to support the tank and transfer pump.

I plan to use this potable water (qualified) pump to transfer from the aux tank to the main TC tank pump. A bit pricier than the typical hardware store transfer pumps, but worth it IMO to get a high volume (non-diaphragm) pump made of potable-compliant materials and sealed for potential moist environ.

Will be picking up the rig on 2/22 and installing the pump, valves, hoses, etc. soon after. Perhaps I'll be able to figure out how to post some photos by then...Until then, feel free to ask more questions here or privately.

That'd be fantastic! Kevin mentioned there was someone at Douglas doing generally the same thing while he was on-site getting some paint work done. Maybe that was you?

Is the 67" length going to overhang past the center flooring? I've got Kevin's design pdf and thought the center length was 52" before it dropped down to the area around the door area. Total length was 96" - 44" (22" on each side for the lowered bottom of the side cabinets), leaving 52" of center actually sitting on the truck frame. Maybe you're planning to have it overhang but I'm initial thought was to have it square on the truck framing structure. I like your 10ga floor idea as well. Guess it depends on how the body is transferring the weight down to the frame. I don't have that level of detail but the 10ga makes sense to stiffen it up for that weight.

My thought was to have the bottom water tank and then a smaller upper diesel aux tank 30-50 gallon right above it.

Great find on the tank vendor. The prices are much lower than the same product at other sites and as you mentioned they are close to Douglas. Shipping is a killer on those bigger items.

I'll send you a PM on my contact info if you have challenges sharing on here.

Thanks

[Wikel]

zb39 wrote:
What truck body is in the first pic?? I want one. Now I see the Douglas print. To far for me...............

Typical setup is 20-21k for the body, customizations, paint, etc. I'm currently going back and forth with Douglas on the design and quote but I'd also like to see who else is out there that could do this type of work. They work with steel and don't have an aluminum option. The body weight is approx. 2k pounds being steel. The 84" cab to axle gives the extra room for the larger extended front storage cabinet vs. the 60" cab to axle setup on a truck.

[towpro]

I have bought a water tank for my box trailer off ebay, was not very expensive. search on RV water tank

[yblaw]

The Class A Customs 100 gallon water tank I mentioned in my earlier post is $165.99, and I think it is shipped free. Tank includes threaded fill/drain holes.

[Steverino54]

Yes Cory W. - ours is almost done...

Our Douglass body on 84" F550 with EC1165 will be "completed" in a couple weeks. After looking at a number of online tank suppliers, I selected a 95 gal Ronco Tank supplied by these nice folks RV66W. Tank is 67"L x 16"W x 22"H. I selected the supplier based on their custom SpinWeld fittings options, their CA location near Douglass to minimize shipping cost, their helpful attitude, and their pricing.

Designed the center compartment to hold this particular tank flat against the bedside wall, leaving enough width to hold a 8'aluminum extension ladder in-between the tank and the cab-side wall - Douglass and I modified their normal vertical wall bracing and upper shelf support bracket to accommodate my plan. I elected to make the upper shelve solid vs adjustable. I also specified a heavier lower floor (10 ga vs 12 ga) with 1/4" rubber mat to support the tank and transfer pump.

I plan to use this potable water (qualified) pump to transfer from the aux tank to the main TC tank pump. A bit pricier than the typical hardware store transfer pumps, but worth it IMO to get a high volume (non-diaphragm) pump made of potable-compliant materials and sealed for potential moist environ.

Will be picking up the rig on 2/22 and installing the pump, valves, hoses, etc. soon after. Perhaps I'll be able to figure out how to post some photos by then...Until then, feel free to ask more questions here or privately.

[Bedlam]

I have two 42 gallon fresh tanks in my trailer. Bryan has water storage between his F550 and Lance. He has additional LPG in the area you are looking to add water.

[Kayteg1]

The disadvantage of UB with camper is the height.
I had my basement/attic camper on one and AC was touching 13-6.
Did not like it as I was grabbing oak limbs on the street I was living at.

[zb39]

What truck body is in the first pic?? I want one. Now I see the Douglas print. To far for me...............

[yblaw]

Wikel, I have the same 11' truck body as you, I believe. I purchased two 33 gallon water tanks to mount under the deck of my Jeep trailer from http://www.classacustoms.com. I paid about $72 each for those tanks. They're nice quality, and classacustoms has a 100 gallon model on their website. I have some information on diesel tanks; if you need it--send me a PM.

[Kayteg1]

I bought 60 gal Plastimo tank as addition to my bus conversion at the time and it served me very well in Mexico.
Additional benefit is that you can drain it dry, so no worry about flushing when you fill it with questionable water.
I still keep the tank for potential use in TC and being over 10 YO it seem to hold very well. The rubber bladder is inside heavy canvas, so hard to cut.
Good part is that they are flexible and come in different shape, so you can fit them anywhere.
We have parallel discussion that utility bodies should drive via DOT scales basically in every state, so you better have this combo perfectly legal for inspections.

[Wikel]

Kayteg1,
Doesn't look like I'll be over that threshold but it's close. Good thing is even if I'm close, the mpg will quickly deplete it 🙂 Assuming I'm completely full that'd be 118. Good point to keep in mind though.

[Wikel]

Kayteg1,

That's interesting, I haven't heard of that before. Will look it up.

Overall,
Concern with a bladder one because of securing during transport (like strapping down a pile of jello I'd think) but also it getting cut.

Thought was to have an area for water and above for the smaller diesel tank.

Not my rig but once I start putting together an off grid rig I'll put the details.

[Kayteg1]

Check Plastimo bladders.
They are design for boat fresh water tanks and cost less that what you linked.
Big advantage, once you drain the water - you gain storage.
Be careful with diesel tank.
There is law, that when you exceed I think 120 gallons on the vehicle, you might have to get different licencing.