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07-24-2020, 07:00 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 10,933
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Has your fresh water tank grown a belly?
I've noticed that my Fresh Water tank has grown a belly. Some parts of the tank bottom have sagged below the support braces. Not in danger of falling out as the supports are still holding the tank up well, just a sag between brackets which only run from front to rear. Bulging on the curb side and street side.
For several months I've been considering some form of bracing/support that would cure this and have seen several other approaches. I didn't want to weld anything to the frame and wasn't real excited about drilling holes in the lower flange of the frame as it's already lightened considerably and holes could lead to weakened points.
It then dawned on my what would work. Something that would be clamped to the frame flange, be fairly quick to install and even remove if necessary for future service. Taking a tip from an old Electrician friend I turned to "Kindorf" which is sold at Home Depot under the Super Strut name.
To attach it to the frame a pair of channel to beam strut clamps:
Edges of tank are supported by factory cross members and they are 27" apart. I installed two pieces of Superstrut from frame to frame, 9" apart and centered. This means that the bottom of the tank is supported essentially by a "grid" of supports 9" X 18".
Sag is now negligible across the bottom of the tank. I should be able to draw almost all of the water from the tank now.
Here are a coupld pics after about an hour's work (most of which was cutting the strut to length. I extended the strut beyond the frame rails as I now have places to hang things. Things I'll think of later
BTW, the channel only hangs down 1-5/8" from frame level.
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"A wise man can change his mind. A fool never will."
"You only grow old when you run out of new things to do"
2018 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25BDS
2004 Nissan Titan
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07-24-2020, 07:23 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Northern KY
Posts: 4,253
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great write up and pics... thanks
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"nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle."
Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell pg. 2, June 11, 1807
2014 Shamrock 183
2014 RAM 1500 Bighorn Crew Cab, HEMI, 3.21 gears, 8 Spd, 4X4 TST TPMS
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07-24-2020, 07:41 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,102
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Nice job ! I know the material as Unistrut, it’s the erector set for men!
Again Nice job !
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XLR Thunderbolt 300X12HP
2014 Ram 3500 DRW
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07-24-2020, 07:53 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 10,933
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Homebrew
Nice job ! I know the material as Unistrut, it’s the erector set for men!
Again Nice job !
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What's funny is that I saw this stuff used for decades. Had an electrician friend who used it for just about everything.
Never thought of using it as I did until earlier this week.
I used the 12 ga stuff and it is STOUT.
__________________
"A wise man can change his mind. A fool never will."
"You only grow old when you run out of new things to do"
2018 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25BDS
2004 Nissan Titan
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07-24-2020, 08:01 PM
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#5
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FLY4FUN
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: PIEDMONT NC
Posts: 240
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I've been "working" on this...thinking of using angles + drilling a few holes, but didn't like for the same reasons you mention. Your shared solution is just the ticket that'll work very well and without major renovation. Thanks!!
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07-24-2020, 08:21 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: North Alabama
Posts: 1,115
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Most excellent write up!
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2016 F350 CC Dually Powerstroke 4x4
2014 Cedar Creek 34RLSA w/Level Up
2007 HD Ultra Classic 103
USS Pyro AE-24 WestPac MM2 '71-'75
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07-24-2020, 08:37 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 1,238
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Nicely done, great solution! Thanks for sharing.
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07-24-2020, 11:25 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 10,933
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Adding, for thost that are weight conscious, I looked up weights of materials and all told it came out to 27 pounds.
__________________
"A wise man can change his mind. A fool never will."
"You only grow old when you run out of new things to do"
2018 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25BDS
2004 Nissan Titan
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07-25-2020, 12:16 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 154
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Superstrut, Unistrut, or whatever name it’s marketed under is VERY versatile stuff. I’ve used it for all kinds of garage functions from a Jeep hard top hoist to ladder racks. I used It to mount my marine battery box on the trailer tongue and also for attaching my JT Stongarm kit.
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2019 Freedom Express 248RBS
2012 F150 Supercrew 4x4
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07-25-2020, 07:18 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Rockford, Michigan
Posts: 446
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Great write up and great idea. Unistrut is also available in a shorter version. Somewhere around 7/8” if height is an issue.
__________________
TT: Flagstaff 25FBLS
Previous TT: Jayco, Rockwood and Flagstaff
TV: 2017 F-150 SCREW, 3.5L Ecoboost, 10 speed, 3.55, 7000# GVWR, tow package.
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07-25-2020, 12:12 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 133
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Love this and will be doing it. My FW tank grows quite a belly when filled with 60 gallons of water. Excellent job and thank you very much for sharing!
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2019 RW 2902WS
2019 Ford F-150 CC 4x4 w Max TT
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07-25-2020, 12:52 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: La Mirada, CA
Posts: 528
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All my tanks sit on plywood flooring.
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Gary and Donna
2005 Cardinal 33TS-LX
Trail Air pin box
Center Point suspension
2018 Ram Laramie 3500 6'4" box 2WD
Demco AutoSlide 18k
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07-25-2020, 01:13 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 170
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Thank you. I was just getting ready to purchase some angle iron to have welded on. I'm going to try your solution first.
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07-25-2020, 01:19 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 10,933
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Funengineer
Great write up and great idea. Unistrut is also available in a shorter version. Somewhere around 7/8” if height is an issue.
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I looked at the smaller stuff but I was concerned that it would sag more over a 6' span (distance between outer edges of frame flange).
The larger stuff doesn't even come down to the lower edge of the side panels so clearance isn't an issue.
__________________
"A wise man can change his mind. A fool never will."
"You only grow old when you run out of new things to do"
2018 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25BDS
2004 Nissan Titan
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07-25-2020, 01:40 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Southern MN
Posts: 298
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Thank's for sharing. That stuff is ridged too in it's U channel shape.
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07-25-2020, 01:54 PM
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#16
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 38
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That looks great. Thanks for sharing!
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07-25-2020, 02:52 PM
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#17
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2009 F450 2015 Cardinal
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Fulltimer
Posts: 56
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Great Idea!
I had just come in from crawling around and checking out our water tank belly. It looks like a great idea (minimally invasive...). I made our belly way worse by compounding a mistake with a confounding modification. To prevent the siphon back out a half a tank of water issue, I added a cap. Then I pulled in to a campground hooked up, turned on water thinking I was on City Water, but I was filling. Twenty minutes later we were hearing very... strange noises. I checked for damage, but it is mainly a HUGE BELLY.  Sometimes I disappoint myself.
Thanks again. I think you provided the solution to my dilemma
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07-25-2020, 03:49 PM
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#18
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 11
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Excellent use of materials! If I may offer a suggestion, add an additional nut and tighten to the top of the existing nuts to insure that it will not loosen up from all the bouncing and vibration that happens on the road. In the pictures it appears that your clamps have the room to add them.
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07-25-2020, 05:03 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 10,933
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spaz
Excellent use of materials! If I may offer a suggestion, add an additional nut and tighten to the top of the existing nuts to insure that it will not loosen up from all the bouncing and vibration that happens on the road. In the pictures it appears that your clamps have the room to add them.
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Thanks for the good suggestion. I probably will add nuts but for now I just plan on making sure the nuts are nice and snug when I get set up for the night. Take up any slack that may have worked it's way into the system. Right now they are as tight as I can get them with a standard 9/16" combination wrench, pulling on it as hard as I can without a piece of pipe over the end of the wrench.
__________________
"A wise man can change his mind. A fool never will."
"You only grow old when you run out of new things to do"
2018 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25BDS
2004 Nissan Titan
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07-25-2020, 05:11 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 325
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Great idea. I noticed that I also have a water tank bulge. I’ll use your solution to solve my problem.
__________________
2020 F250, 7.3 gas, Cedar Creek 29RE
Nights camped:
2013 - 180, 2014 - 57, 2015 - 91, 2016 - 171, 2017 - 107, 2018 - 21, 2019 - 65
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