Best Way to Safely Strap Down Water Tank- In Van

ShineTimeDetail

ShineTimeDetail

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So I have run out of room in my trailer and I want a bigger water tank. I am going to go from a 100 gallon tank to prob a 250 gallon. As of now, in my trailer, I have the tank just strapped with some eye bolts and a few straps. Since I have a lot of room in my van I plan on utilizing some of that room.

What's the safest way to strap it down so if I get in a bad accident the tank doesn't come flying up and smash me between the dash?

Thanks for any help!!:xyxthumbs:
 
are the straps you have metal? I only have a 100 gal tank in my trailer thats sits on a metal platform screwed to the floor and have metal straps to hold the tank in place. In my last trailer that got totaled a full tank of water stayed in place. once the rain stops i'll take some picks of my the setup. Not sure if this helps being that your going bigger than 100gal an its going in a van.
 
100 gallons = 800 lbs.
250 gallons = 2000 lbs. That's 1-Ton of water.

For the long term, what you could save in fuel mileage with the smaller tank you could add your own purification system in the van and keep the smaller tank. Then simply find places to re-fill the smaller tank while you're out. Even if you had to give someone a small fee for the water it beats the heck out of paying $3.50-$5.00 gallon for gas. Gas prices are only going to keep going up that I can see. If gas does go to $5 a gallon you'll wish you'd have stayed with the smaller thank.

EDIT:
Just make sure you anchor those straps not just to the floor of the van/trailor, but into the chassis/frame of the van. Err on the side of having too many straps for extra protection. You'd understand why if you've ever seen a load like that come loose. It isn't a pretty sight let me tell ya'. Same thing with the lag bolts, err on the side of big. Instead of 4 strap points, one for each end of two straps, go ahead and plan on at a minimum of 6 strap points for a minimum of 3, 1 1/2 inch (and preferably 2 inch) straps. This for a longer tank.

The tank configuration will dictate number of straps, size of straps, number o strap points, and size of lag bolts (Fastenal is a good place to look for most of the needed items).

Some pictures of your set-up, and the tank itself, would give folks a better chance at helping you with this.
 
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Hoytman said:
100 gallons = 800 lbs.
250 gallons = 2000 lbs. That's 1-Ton of water.

For the long term, what you could save in fuel mileage with the smaller tank you could add your own purification system in the van and keep the smaller tank. Then simply find places to re-fill the smaller tank while you're out. Even if you had to give someone a small fee for the water it beats the heck out of paying $3.50-$5.00 gallon for gas. Gas prices are only going to keep going up that I can see. If gas does go to $5 a gallon you'll wish you'd have stayed with the smaller thank.

EDIT:
Just make sure you anchor those straps not just to the floor of the van/trailor, but into the chassis/frame of the van. Err on the side of having too many straps for extra protection. You'd understand why if you've ever seen a load like that come loose. It isn't a pretty sight let me tell ya'. Same thing with the lag bolts, err on the side of big. Instead of 4 strap points, one for each end of two straps, go ahead and plan on at a minimum of 6 strap points for a minimum of 3, 1 1/2 inch (and preferably 2 inch) straps. This for a longer tank.

The tank configuration will dictate number of straps, size of straps, number o strap points, and size of lag bolts (Fastenal is a good place to look for most of the needed items).

Some pictures of your set-up, and the tank itself, would give folks a better chance at helping you with this.
Click to expand...

I don't plan on driving with a full tank all the time but when I need to have a full tank I need to have it. I can wash about 7 cars(Moderately clean) with 100 gallons. This includes my 2 wash buckets that are changed out a few times and my steam cleaner that goes through around a few gallons per 7 cars. If I want to do 10-12 cars I need about twice that much. I plan on getting into fleet vehicles so that's where the 250 tank comes in.
 
Honestly I would go with the straps BobbyG linked as you don't have the metal to kink/bend rust then break all at once. I would think the straps would also have more "give" but i may be speaking from tying more fragile things rather than heavy things.
 
I don't know what van you're in but my company has an E350 with a rollout tray (well,used to) that carried most of our products. It weighed about 3,200 lbs loaded. We broke the tray from overloading and went to making our own cart. We welded 3x3 square metal tubing into a frame, then welded the corners onto 4x4 plates which were welded to pins that were welded to the frame. We strapped the cart with two 3" straps like 18 wheelers use. They are rated at 4,560 lbs. They have to be marked for DOT purposes. Trust me, you won't break those or that set up. It is overkill. It is crazy, but I know it will never meet the back of my head by accident. And for you avid car buffs, yes we overloaded the van by 2,000lbs everyday.
 
This is what has worked well for me for the last 20+ years. The bolts go through the steel van floor. I also have a steel bulkhead dividing the passenger compartment from the cargo area for safety.

TANK.JPG
 
Joe@Superior Shine said:
This is what has worked well for me for the last 20+ years. The bolts go through the steel van floor. I also have a steel bulkhead dividing the passenger compartment from the cargo area for safety.

TANK.JPG
Click to expand...

Is that a 100 gallon tank? I have a divider but only on my side. I still need to find a tank but don't want to spend $300 on one.
 
Hoytman said:
100 gallons = 800 lbs.
250 gallons = 2000 lbs. That's 1-Ton of water.

For the long term, what you could save in fuel mileage with the smaller tank you could add your own purification system in the van and keep the smaller tank. Then simply find places to re-fill the smaller tank while you're out. Even if you had to give someone a small fee for the water it beats the heck out of paying $3.50-$5.00 gallon for gas. Gas prices are only going to keep going up that I can see. If gas does go to $5 a gallon you'll wish you'd have stayed with the smaller thank.
Click to expand...

Considering I am just getting started with a full size van set up, I was leaning toward a 275 gallon pallet mounted tank as they sell new for $150 on Craigslist from a local supplier. Without question I too am a bit concerned for both the gas mileage and the dangers of being "Malachi Crunched" against the dashbord... as neither are very inviting risks.

Ironically, I had planned to buy the 275 gallon tank this Saturday in hope to have my tank layout, pump, and plumbing in by Monday. It's kinda hard to start setting things up without it, so today was rather unproductive.

As fate would have it, I happened to park next to another mobile van at a Walgreen's today, and started asking a bit about his experience, set up, etc. This guy was so cool, that he explained to me he had just 'downsized' to a 100 gallon tank, and switched his rig from running a gas generator to a 2000 watt power inverter that he paid less than $200 bucks for. Meanwhile I had just scored a brand new 'in the box' gas generator yesterday on Craigslist for about 25% it's retail value. :xyxthumbs:

Anyway, by the time we were done he said; "Hey since you're just getting started if you haven't bought a tank yet, I have a 250 gallon tank, and it's like new, you can have it."

- I offered to pay him something for it, and he basically said; "No man, call me before 10am meet me here tomorrow morning and it's yours." -From what he explained it's rectangle, low profile and has two molded grooves for the strapping, which is exactly what I wanted, but couldn't afford. Definitely made my day!!!

The best part being I really didn't like the 'pallet style' tank as the design seemed a bit dangerous, and this just saved me a $150. People in this business seem a lot less 'threatening' than most of the businesses I've been in prior... that's for sure. Definitely found a bunch of help here already!

Looks like I'll be hunting down some metal fabrication shops tomorrow and seeing if I can score some stainless steel straps to anchor it in. The van I bought already has a cage installed to protect the driver from the load, but I highly doubt that will stop a 2000# water tank... so I am planning on anchoring it to the cross member frame with some heavy duty stainless steel nuts, bolts, and locking washers. Ought to be a lot of fun drilling through the sub-frame :(

It seems the closer I get to having all the 'essentials' together to get started, the less I have been sleeping! -I can't wait to get this rig rolling.

PS - For the record, I probably won't fill the tank up more than 150 gallons unless the demand requires it, but I figure since I have the room the 250 gallon will be great... especially if things go well in the morning.
 
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You guys need to realize that the weakest link in most of your setups are the hardware you are using to mount the straps to the deck. The hardware for a setup like Joe's needs to be rated at over 4000 pounds shear force to with stand the lateral force the tank could put on it.
When I was in the Navy doing cargo in the military's largest helo we strapped down stuff to withstand vertical, front-to-back, and side-to-side forces by 2-4 times the items weight. That said I used many a 5k cargo straps and never had one fail in flight. Now trying to use one as a tow strap is a different story.:)
 
ShaunD said:
You guys need to realize that the weakest link in most of your setups are the hardware you are using to mount the straps to the deck. The hardware for a setup like Joe's needs to be rated at over 4000 pounds shear force to with stand the lateral force the tank could put on it.
When I was in the Navy doing cargo in the military's largest helo we strapped down stuff to withstand vertical, front-to-back, and side-to-side forces by 2-4 times the items weight. That said I used many a 5k cargo straps and never had one fail in flight. Now trying to use one as a tow strap is a different story.:)
Click to expand...

I must be tired, just looked closer at the pic above and tried to edit my post but it timed out. Definitely going with the heavy duty cargo straps, and heavy duty eye bolts like shown above...looks good to me. Drilling through the sub frame is still gonna suck, but better safe then sorry.
 
I can get these 275 Gallon tanks for well under $100. Problem is they have been used before and I'm wondering about the drain on it. They have 2 inch drains so I would have to do some work to get it to work.

WATER TANK 275 gal
 
ShineTimeDetail said:
I can get these 275 Gallon tanks for well under $100. Problem is they have been used before and I'm wondering about the drain on it. They have 2 inch drains so I would have to do some work to get it to work.

WATER TANK 275 gal
Click to expand...

That's the same one(s) I was looking at here on Orlando's Craigslist...guy wanted $150. I scored the FREE 250 gal tank today from a rather generous local detailer who downsized to a 100 gal tank.

Kinda stalled me out, as the 250 gal tank is 'elliptical' with the flat leg base and measures roughly 40"w x 50"l x 40" h. Yesterday he said it was square, but no biggie. Can't complain, it was free and aside from needing a bit of cleaning, a little plumbing tweak, and a fill lid it's in good shape. Problem is... It's huge!!!

Still rather run with this one as opposed to the 275 gal ones offered on CL, but first I'm gonna have to grind the 'rusty' heads of the existing metal shelving in my van, and remove them in order to have room. I definitely like the idea of having the tank sideways on the rear axle as opposed to behind the cage blocking my access through the partition door. I dry fit it there first just to see how it would layout and it eats up all my side door access... which is no good.

The pics are a huge blessing!!!

I like the idea of having a shelf over the tank, and mounting the pump away from all my heavy equipment in the center of the van. Now if only the inside of my van looked 1/2 as good as the ones pictured in this thread...I'd be golden.
 
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