[benny donnelly]

I want to bolt the tank to the van as ive upsized the tank to a 600 litre, now do i just drill and bolt through the van floor, use some sort of plate to spread the weight or even drill through the chassis? how have the rest of you done it?
Cheers

[Shane sharples]

I took mine to the garage and he fitted it for me

[SeanK]

Drill the holes making sure your not going to drill into anything under the floor
You will need plates for under the floor as big as you have room for plus the bolts cant be too brittle as they would
snap in a collision, there's a certain grade of bolt but I honestly cant remember what it is.

[dazmond]

I took mine to the garage and he fitted it for me

same.local garage fitted mine for £100.cheap as chips.they had to drop the fuel tank and exhaust as well to fit 6 spreader plates and bolts!

saves messing about yourself.

[Spruce]

Drill the holes making sure your not going to drill into anything under the floor
You will need plates for under the floor as big as you have room for plus the bolts cant be too brittle as they would
snap in a collision, there's a certain grade of bolt but I honestly cant remember what it is.

High tensile as apposed to mild steel is what he wants. 

He will also need to buy a long series drill bit if he is drilling through the 'chassis'. However before I would do that I would check with my usually MOT inspector.  Ours would fail the van drilling through the chassis as he believes it will weaken the integrity of the chassis. Other inspectors probably wouldn't. Its down to how they view things. (BTW the MOT tester I use is very fair in his appraisal of a vehicles condition at the time of test, so I have no complaints. Over the years I've got to know  what he accepts and what he doesn't.)

[SeanK]

Drill the holes making sure your not going to drill into anything under the floor
You will need plates for under the floor as big as you have room for plus the bolts cant be too brittle as they would
snap in a collision, there's a certain grade of bolt but I honestly cant remember what it is.

High tensile as apposed to mild steel is what he wants. 

He will also need to buy a long series drill bit if he is drilling through the 'chassis'. However before I would do that I would check with my usually MOT inspector.  Ours would fail the van drilling through the chassis as he believes it will weaken the integrity of the chassis. Other inspectors probably wouldn't. Its down to how they view things. (BTW the MOT tester I use is very fair in his appraisal of a vehicles condition at the time of test, so I have no complaints. Over the years I've got to know  what he accepts and what he doesn't.)

Excellent advice as per usual, I used to work with that stuff all the time and couldn't remember what those bolts where
never get old.

[benny donnelly]

Ah ill do this job meself lads just wanted to make sure i was doing it right first time, ill get me some plates and some high tensile bolts and tackle it the weekend

the van itself is a mk1 connect transit T220 L and just wondering is there away to measure exactly were the water tank load should sit for max safety

cheers

[Micky Barber]

Drill the holes making sure your not going to drill into anything under the floor
You will need plates for under the floor as big as you have room for plus the bolts cant be too brittle as they would
snap in a collision, there's a certain grade of bolt but I honestly cant remember what it is.

High Tensile

[dazmond]

Ah ill do this job meself lads just wanted to make sure i was doing it right first time, ill get me some plates and some high tensile bolts and tackle it the weekend

the van itself is a mk1 connect transit T220 L and just wondering is there away to measure exactly were the water tank load should sit for max safety

cheers

in the middle of the van floor so no axle is overloaded.thats why the mechanics who fitted mine fitted it lengthways (500L upright)i have the connect T230.

[Spruce]

I fitted a 500 liter tank to a Connect Van about 4 years ago. The tank ran long ways. It left a gap down each side which was ok for folding ladders and still had sufficient room at the back for a hose reel.

The front 2 bolts securing the frame was over the rear passenger footwells in the people carrier. There is a small gap which provides access from behind the front seats. We used some 25mm x 5mm lengths of flat bar as spreader plates as the gap is quite small.

The back of the tank frame was just above the rear axle and just behind the fuel tank. We used much bigger spacers on the 3 rear bolts.

If you are using bolts down the length of the van to secure the sides, then you have the diesel tank to contend with. I decided that these bolts weren't going to be that critical when used in conjunction with the van. So I drilled holes through the floor and fitted stainless steel nutserts.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KNURLED-STEEL-THREADED-STEEL-RIVNUTS-NUTSERTS-BLINDNUT-RIVET-NUTS-INSERT-/191625310115?var=&hash=item2c9dc22fa3:m:mbJY077iLT0lrQy_JFKdK0A

( Nutserts require a special fitting tool. Our local motor factors used to loan them out to those he knew.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFdk4M4Jc4c

There are more basic tools as well. The bolts need to be short as there isn't much of a gap between the floor and the top of the diesel tank. (Careful when drilling as well due to the tank.)

If the tank is fitted across the van then the main bolts might well end up either side of the chassis, so spend lots of time underneath and plan out your fitting properly.

There is a formula to ensure you don't overload an axle. To help your your vans payload is 825 kgs.

The best way we found was to follow the ridges on the van floor and find the same ridges from underneath. If you need to drill, make sure and then doubly make sure. Then drill a tiny pilot hole, say 2mm. If it isn't exactly right you  you haven't done too much damage.

[Spruce]

Original post

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=139067.0

[benny donnelly]

Cheers for that info lads very helpful gives me somnething to work on as i didnt even think about putting the tank longways tbh

That is one tidy van wish mine was even half as organised as that lol

I have no bulkhead at all at the min and i want to maybe put a plywood one in just to separate noise and for security too, have any of you any tips on installing one? cheers

[Spruce]

My SIL's van has a steel mesh bulkhead. The only way he fitted his slx22 in was at an angle.

My advise is to look out for a second hand factory fitted bulkhead. Remember that a LWB is a high roof van so the bulkhead is taller.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ford-transit-connect-bulkhead/262183477370?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D33843%26meid%3D29a49b3e7dc54ceda414aa28391a4803%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D301817821557

This bulkhead is much more secure than a ply one.  (This ebay seller doesn't specify what van this comes from, so this would need clarification first.)

Ensure bracket and bolts come with the unit. You may have to fit nutserts into the frame to secure the bulkhead. SIL's was put in with self tapping screws - what a joke!