Fresh water tank supports

[scottz]

I was worried about the quality of the fresh water tank supports, so I pulled the rear Coroplast down to take look. I'm pleased to report that my tank has good support; I have no problem traveling with it full.

The tank is rectangular and has angle irons that run between the rear frame rails under the lone edges of the tank. Between these angle irons are three 2" metal straps. After the Coroplast is in place, two more steel channels run between the frame rails under the tank.

The first photo is of my tank as installed. The second photo is from the factory tour showing the cradle before the tank is installed.

My next project will be to check the wast tanks. I know that the galley gray water tank is mounting with supports under the lips in top of the tank; not the best. I don' know about the black tank or bath gray tank. I'm not as concerned about those because I seldom travel far with them full. Still, I gotta find out!

I also took photos of the tank heater and the level up sensor if any needs those.

PS: Gotta love the wiring and hydraulic lines. There is enough extra wire and hoses up there for two trailers.

[Texan]

I was wondering about the fresh water tank myself. Glad to hear it has good support. If there is an tank that you would be traveling with full on account of dry camping then the fresh water tank would be it. I bolted a couple of 2x2 angle iron across my frame to support the gray and black tanks.I installed 2x4's between the angle iron and tank outside of the coroplast to take away some of the flex.To many horror stories about these tanks.

[Lenny K]

Thanks for sharing those pictures Scott.

[DQDick]

Yes, that's good information!

[AZ Traveler]

Scott,

Nice job! As another Navy guy I expect to see a full MRC deck for our 3160s from you soon.

[scottz]

Working on it.

[beeje]

You may want to check your tank supports farther. Mine looked very similar. The angles front and rear were attached to the beams on both sides with only one self tapping screw. So the tank was being held in place with 4 screws. !!!! I drilled and through bolted at each location with 2 bolts. I also added a sheet of flat stainless on top of the flat straps so the tank would not sag between them.

I have reinforced the tanks on every trailer I have had because IMHO they have all been supported poorly.

[scottz]

Originally Posted by beeje

You may want to check your tank supports farther. Mine looked very similar. The angles front and rear were attached to the beams on both sides with only one self tapping screw. So the tank was being held in place with 4 screws. !!!! I drilled and through bolted at each location with 2 bolts. I also added a sheet of flat stainless on top of the flat straps so the tank would not sag between them.

I have reinforced the tanks on every trailer I have had because IMHO they have all been supported poorly.

On my unit the supports that run the length of the tank are welded to the frame.

[Bill.vannuys]

I've had the Belly off several times for various projects. The first time was the hard one due to all the wires and hydraulic lines that run everywhere and are much longer than needed; they just fall down on you! I organized and zip tied everything (its pretty now! ) and subsequent belly removal has been fairly easy. Like you, I checked the Fresh Water tank straps as that is often full when travelling; they look just like yours, except for the SeeLevel gauges I added.

Also, due to my frequent winter camping travels, I replaced all the belly mounting, tire carrier and cross-member screws with stainless to eliminate the corrosion problem. Big improvement for us.

[richfaa]

I do not know about now but the fresh water tanks were made of different material than the other tanks. I can only recall One post here of a fresh water tank failing.

[Ronda3733]

Was it hard to get to the probes on the black
Ron

[Clyde n Deb]

We have a 2005 2955RL. After this many years and never experiencing a problem, the fresh water tank decide to start "traveling" last year while on the highways. I checked it out some and decided to take a bit of a wait and see and watch it closely approach. First real trip this year, it moved again and pinched off the drain udder entirely. Had to remove the belly pan and shift the tank to get it to drain. Ended up modifying the side to side and forward and aft clearances as the tank was able to move in both directions. I secured it with additional braces and some wood blocks on one end, secured to the frame. What I don't understand is why it took it 13 years to start acting up, unsecured as it was. There are no visible missing and/or broken mounts.