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Old 05-28-2013, 07:17 PM   #1
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2109S Fresh Water Tank Brackets (Bent?)

I've got a 2013 Mini Lite 2109S that has been transported 50 miles so far with a full fresh water tank. Then today I went to fill the tank up for a trip this coming Thursday and I looked underneath to see this.

Front Bracket


Rear Bracket


Has anyone else every experienced this? It just seems like the side to side supports aren't thick enough and there aren't enough front to back supports.
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Old 05-28-2013, 07:24 PM   #2
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Now I see why they enclose the under-belly, hides a lot.
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Old 05-28-2013, 07:31 PM   #3
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It's not enclosed, it's fully exposed to show the bent up mess. I don't have time to do much with it or get it to a dealer so I just drained the tank to half full then put a bottle jack under it to try and straighten it out some. The campground we're going to has full hookups so we should be fine. I just like to travel with fresh water just in case.

It's already going back to the dealer after this trip for a front window water leak. I guess we'll add this to the list. I'd love to know what their fix will be.
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Old 05-28-2013, 08:43 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GearHd6
It's not enclosed, it's fully exposed to show the bent up mess. I don't have time to do much with it or get it to a dealer so I just drained the tank to half full then put a bottle jack under it to try and straighten it out some. The campground we're going to has full hookups so we should be fine. I just like to travel with fresh water just in case.

It's already going back to the dealer after this trip for a front window water leak. I guess we'll add this to the list. I'd love to know what their fix will be.
I think FR will tell you never travel with full tanks.
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Old 05-28-2013, 08:50 PM   #5
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Really? You can't travel with 30 gallons of water? That seems like a poor design if that's the case. I'll see what they say. I think it's due to poor vent line routing.
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Old 05-28-2013, 09:06 PM   #6
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Whether you can or not..."just in case" means you carry maybe 5 gallons. That's a lot of weight you're dragging around for nothing.
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Old 05-28-2013, 09:20 PM   #7
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Wow that's quite the let down. You'd think they'd have warnings somewhere not to travel with the tank full. We like to camp a lot at state parks with no hookups so this made things a little easier.
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Old 05-28-2013, 09:25 PM   #8
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I think FR will tell you never travel with full tanks.
I wonder if the truck makers could use that excuse to you no don't put fuel in the tank it might fall out.
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Old 05-30-2013, 05:52 AM   #9
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Wow that's quite the let down. You'd think they'd have warnings somewhere not to travel with the tank full. We like to camp a lot at state parks with no hookups so this made things a little easier.
I have a 2012 2109S and we camp at state parks a lot that do not have hookups. They all have a dump station plus a potable water connection so that you can fill your water tank prior to setting up your camper.

A gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs, so 30 gallons is ~250 lbs. Lot of weight to be carrying and bouncing around on the support brackets.
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Old 05-30-2013, 07:13 AM   #10
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There is a sticker on the side of the camper that states what the fresh water tank weighs when full so I knew the weight. I just never expected the supports to be under-engineered to the point that you can't haul the full weight over the road. That's just poor designing. My parents Alpenlite 5th wheel has something like 100+ gallons of fresh water and they travel over the road with it.

It doesn't seem like it would have been difficult to use some 1/4" thick 2"x2" angle iron. I still think it might be vent tube related but I'll see what the dealer thinks. If they claim I can't haul with a full tank I think I'll be making up my own brackets.
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Old 05-30-2013, 07:59 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GearHd6
There is a sticker on the side of the camper that states what the fresh water tank weighs when full so I knew the weight. I just never expected the supports to be under-engineered to the point that you can't haul the full weight over the road. That's just poor designing. My parents Alpenlite 5th wheel has something like 100+ gallons of fresh water and they travel over the road with it.

It doesn't seem like it would have been difficult to use some 1/4" thick 2"x2" angle iron. I still think it might be vent tube related but I'll see what the dealer thinks. If they claim I can't haul with a full tank I think I'll be making up my own brackets.
Seems like you can haul food, water, or steel in your trailer, just not all at the same time. Pay close attention to your CCC rating. If you don't, you'll be changing axels next!
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Old 05-30-2013, 10:00 AM   #12
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Not being able to haul a full load of water regardless of weight would be unacceptable. We spend time dry camping and if we don't haul it in we don't have it.

Our 8289WS had a bent support and Forrest River replaced it.
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Old 05-30-2013, 11:02 AM   #13
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The same thing happened to my fresh water bracket. One of the campgrounds I go to you have to fill your fresh water tank and then cross a set of railroad tracks, I'm pretty sure that is when it first happened. I had it "repaired" under warranty and all the dealer did was bend the bar straight and then use blocks of wood on either side of the tank that lasted until the next time I filled the tank and didn't even have to cross tracks. Here is how I repaired mine. IM me and I will give you a description of exactly what I did.

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Old 05-31-2013, 10:52 AM   #14
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ahh yes, electricians like unistrut. Good thinking!
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Old 06-03-2013, 02:12 PM   #15
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I dropped it off at the dealer today for this and a couple other issues. We'll see how they handle it.
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Old 06-06-2013, 08:36 PM   #16
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Thanks, keep us posted. I plan to look at my brackets even though I have not traveled with any water in the tanks.
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Old 06-14-2013, 12:09 PM   #17
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Add me to the growing list with bent brackets! Decided to check mine out yesterday, even though I have never travelled with a full tank, and never suspected that mine would be bent. Lo and behold, two badly bent supports! The only time our tanks are completely full are when we are dry camping and it's just moving around in the campground. Surely this couldn't have caused this, but I suppose it must have. Another example of using sub-standard material on TT's.
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Old 06-14-2013, 12:50 PM   #18
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I'm sorry to hear yours are bent also. At this point I'm convinced it's the routing of the water tank vent line. It needs to stay up tight to the bottom of the camper but the way the factory routes it it has low points. The vent line then gets water trapped in it so then when you're filling the tank the air can't escape so it blows the tank up like a balloon. Then it bends the brackets like its done to yours and mine.
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Old 06-14-2013, 01:31 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by electrician549 View Post
IM me and I will give you a description of exactly what I did.
If a couple others are interested too, you might post your fix. Looks like others are going to need to make this modification.

I just got back from filling my fresh water tank up & air seems to escape OK. I'll be watching that too.

Thanks.
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Old 06-15-2013, 10:06 AM   #20
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I'm having a hard time thinking that it's the vent line that's causing the problems. If there was sufficient pressure to "blow the tank up like a balloon", I would think that that amount of pressure would blow out any water traps in the vent line first(?) But then again, I suppose anything is possible.
I'd also like to hear the details on how "Electrician" did the mod. My first thoughts on straightening the brackets out is to place hydraulic jacks underneath them and slowly apply pressure. My concern, however, is that with that amount of pressure, that the welds at either end of the brackets may break, causing even more of a mess.
Wondering whether Forest River is aware of this problem?
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