[Lee Pryor]

for those that have fitted their own tanks in the back of a van, if you have bolted the tank through the floor, what bolts did you use, where did you get them and was it easy.

Im fed up of paying through the nose for simple delivery systems and will be making my own from now on!

[Darranvps]

I know what you mean.
I am sick of the junk supplied by most of the "manufacturers"
Not sure where to get the bolts from though, but high tensile steel bolts is probably what you need.

[wayne 77]

never fitted my own,but in the past used threaded bar which you cut to size and use washer and nuts.when i was fitting racking. screwfix catalogue 102 page 48 under studding stainless steel threaded rod

[david watts]

dont put bolts through the tank it will leak and bolts may rust and fail

[wayne 77]

  very good

[rg1]

My tank is in a frame which is bolted through the floor using galvanised nuts & bolts

[Clive McDonald]

Ever since i started, and i was just a numpty with a trailer, i never understood why a system had to make water.My water was always made at base and transfered, even when i had a roman 300gpd.

I have a 4040 now and i assume thats the best you can get (I may be wrong about that), and could fill as many vans as i like.

The other thing i never understood was having a di polisher on board.Why? I never really had the guts to do away with it, it seemed like an article of faith that you had to have one.I posted on here and dave st ives had dumped his , so i got rid of mine too.

As regards fitting a tank, i'm very pleased with the one i have.It does have a high center of gravity but it does make more room and a better layout.Wydale are rubbish and you have to factor in having a frame made and the time it will take you.

What sort of van are you thinking of?

[e newlands]

try vj technology in kent around ashford  area its like a fixing pervs wet dream massive range of everything

[andyM]

Use minimum 12mm o/d bolts, washers and nuts that are galvanised high tensile carbon steel or spend a bit more and go for A2-80 stainless.
If you can't get hold of the bolts in the length you need buy 12mm high tensile studding and cut to the length you require with a hacksaw.
The hole you need to drill to fit a 12mm bolt is 13mm (to give 1mm o/d clearance).

[Elginn]

for those that have fitted their own tanks in the back of a van, if you have bolted the tank through the floor, what bolts did you use, where did you get them and was it easy.

Im fed up of paying through the nose for simple delivery systems and will be making my own from now on!

You must use high tensile steel bolts, I remember on here some time back, a member did a write up with pictures on how to fit a tank cage.

[JSMC]

i bought my bolts from a fasteners who supply top of the range stuff. I drilled through floor and into chassis i then had steel pipe which i cut to length and pushed into holes and then placed bolts inside this and then i got stainless steel plate and cut it into square sections and drilled hole through it and pushed onto bolt. These act as a spreader plate and then finally nylock locking nuts.

http://www.thomassmithfasteners.com/

high tensile bolts sure mines were m12. Dont buy cheap crap for this job

[Lee Pryor]

all good replys. we have a static system, just tanks in the vans, im thinking a 1000ltr Ibc (in a cage already) bolt the cage all round throught the chasis. then its just a pump,controller and a leisure battery, and some hose. can get all that for under £400 we have a unit and the guy in the one next door is a mechanic with all the tools lifts and so on, with his help it could be fitted in no time.

[STEVE-UK]

The Ibc cages are ok if on you own but if you have people working for you then you would best have a frame made up for it as those frames wont stand up to a collision, you would also need to baffle an IBC

[Richard Neal]

i thought ibc tanks arent baffled, thats a lot of water sloshing around in the back of a van

[DaveG]

I used 12mm bolts , bolted down thro the floor with 125mm metal plates underneath

[Lee Pryor]

Both very true, im looking into the baffle at the moment, I would point out that only 3 companies make cages that do stand up to a collision, as well as bolting to the floor I may also add some heavy duty ratchet straps

[DaveG]

I got some heavy duty 50mm ratchett straps from Ebay Lee....they also come with a certificate of conformity

[Nathanael Jones]

Bolting to the van floor mightn't be enough,.. in a high speed collision the relatively thin metal floor could just tear & the bolts & spreaders pop right out. Bolting THROUGH the chassis is also a bad idea as it weakens the chassis & in the insurer's eyes could be compromising to the integrity of the vehicle.

A good suggestion posted here previously was to place "clamps" on the chassis members that run front to back situated just rear of a chassis cross member. The clamp would consist of 4 stainless steel 16mm high tensile bolts (2 each side of the chassis member) bolted through a thick spreader plate. The spreader plate is positioned below & across the chassis so no 1 individual fixing dents or deforms the chassis when tightened. inside the van, again you use spreader plates across the top of a 75mm box section steel (and also a plate below it to raise it 15mm off the van floor) which runs widthways across the van.

2 of these bars are secured in place, one in front of the tank, one behind (16 high tensile bolts in total). Four 20tonne ratchet straps are then used to secure the tank between the 2 bars. I was told you should multiply your full tank weight by 50 to see what forces are exerted in a crash,.. eg a 500litre tank would exert 25 tonnes of force. Your ratchet straps combines should be a minimum of double this strength.

Its a simple method, for larger vans at least where there's no issues with fuel tanks etc,.. and in theory it makes the tank a temporary fixture which some ppl say is an issue with their insurance.

[andyM]

That is  a very good and detailed explanation you have given Nathanael.
I would say that obviously the bigger cross sectional area of the bolt the higher shear strength it will have. However the holes would have to be drilled with a portable hand drill and clearance holes for an m16 bolt would be around 17.5mm, and believe me that wouldn't be easy to drill by hand. The more bolts used the better as overall shear force will be reduced on each individual bolt and the load more evenly distributed.
The chassis clamp does sound a good idea but is not always practical to do on some vehicles.
The chassis is the strongest fixing point on a vehicle.
If this method is not possible the floor pan can be strengthened by using thick spreader plates above and below the floorpan as long as possible to run both in length and width of the floorpan.
 

 

[Nathanael Jones]

Drilling by hand??!!!

I'd hire a magnetic drill for the day & be done with it!