On-Board fresh water system

[articulate]

Through a conversation with DesertDude and getting the run down on his fresh water system, I've decided this is the next addition to my Frontier.

• Poly tank
• electric pump
• hoses
• faucet

Say good bye to loose jugs.

My questions:
I've found a nice space under the bed of the truck that will easily house a 10-12 gallon tank. What adverse effects could I encounter by mounting it under the truck? Obviously, a skid plate is in order. I want to avoid installing it in the bed, but I'll do that if necessary.

Your ideas on mounting hardware for the tank?

Other thoughts or advice?

Cheers,
M

 

[offroad_nomad]

These are Aussie sites, but they may give you some ideas:

Opposite Lock

Long Range Plastic Water Tanks

 

[david despain]

<What adverse effects could I encounter by mounting it under the truck?>

couple of potential things i could think of but none of them would be deal breakers. maybe kinda difficult to access for maintenance of pump or cleaning. might be hard to gravity feed or drain. in case of pump failure. need to fab or source straps or brackets to hold it up. vulnerable to road debris. must solve the filling problem, gotta have a filler neck and/or hose to be convient. might be harder to check the quantity level

 

[Scott Brady]

Ian,

Nice find. As low as possible is ideal, and saves storage space for sure.

Mark,

If you have not seen the details of my installation, start here: http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6&page=24

 

[articulate]

Good stuff fellas. Thanks! I read through the Exped. West threads on your set up...thanks for the link.

As I re-measured this afternoon, I realized I have to move alot of OEM hardware out of the way to get the tank in place. Additionally, the space that I thought would be perfect is just not quite as large as I want.

So, I'm considering a cross-bed tool box in which to place a tank; I probably could utilize it regardless.

We'll see what comes about.

Anyway, I'm still open to comments. Thanks,
Mark

 

[flyingwil]

I am still debating a custom tool box, to hold both water and fuel. I found KSH out in Lake Havasu that can fab up pretty much anything you can draw out.

It's an option...

 

[articulate]

These are Aussie sites, but they may give you some ideas

On that note, that option for the tank that sits in a double jerry can holder is cool:

That's a worthy consideration...

 

[articulate]

I am still debating a custom tool box, to hold both water and fuel. I found KSH out in Lake Havasu that can fab up pretty much anything you can draw out.

It's an option...

Woah! Good find, mate. I'll check it out.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[elcoyote]

You can also check out http://watertanks.com (too obvious huh?). They make poly tanks in hundreds of sizes with fittings wherever you want.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Mark,

I guess this is the one time we can safely say......

What a positive thing for you to get "tanked up"......!

Just be fluid with your imagination.....and you should have no problem!
.
.
.

 

[HongerVenture]

Mark,

I guess this is the one time we can safely say......

What a positive thing for you to get "tanked up"......!

Just be fluid with your imagination.....and you should have no problem!

Bwahhahaha!! That is hilarious. I'm sorry, but I love all things "punny." My wife would tell you I have a "special" sense of humor... what do you expect, I'm an engineer!

I'm replying to this so I'm subscribed as well, as I'm looking into solutions for freshwater storage. I'm liking the Austrailian units, but discouraged by the availability issues.

I'm considering using large diameter PVC to make some custom "tanks" to fit in void spaces under the bed. I'm also considering something from http://www.watertanks.com to fit in under the bed.

Great discussion so far.

Joel

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Thanks Joel,

At least now I know somebody "understands me" here (insert huggie~buggie smily here)......whew!.....hehe

Ya.....I kept it short, guess I didn't want to "ruin it" like my son tells me.

I have considered the making my own out of PVC thing also. But I've been so busy just trying to get my engine running right that I have not had much time for more thought on water. I looked at running them along my frame rails on each side of the truck for balance. But then saw that I would have to get Wil over here with his saws~all (actually I have one and sometimes I scare myself!) and cut off some frame support brackets! .....yikes!....maybe not a good idea. Anyway....it's either cut the supports off or use smaller diameter PVC pipe.....then I gave up because if it's too small, might as well just stick with bottles the way I am now.

Anyway......this is a very FLUID discussion so I'm sure we will all come up with something!.....Just put on yer 10 Gallon Hat and think Real Hard! :elkgrin:

 

[Brian McVickers]

When I was at the welding shop the other day I saw plastic welding rods for welding Polyethylene. Has anyone ever done this before or know how? I will have to go back and ask some questions!

When I lived in Florida there was a industrial junkyard, the type of place that the mythbusters get their supplies, it was really cool and they had a huge pile of Poly and other plastic sheets, cubes and random shapes! There must be a way to get the raw materials and then custom fab your own tank to fit perfectly to your application.

Anyone know of an industrial junkyard in the PHX area? With all the Aerospace companies around I bet it would be a blast to explore!!

I'll figure this out and then make custom tanks for you all !:ar15:

 

[Desertdude]

Mark - Glad you are working on the number two need for expedition travel- ( first one being fuel for the vehicle... gotta keep moving right? )

here is where I bought my junk Since this was a test I did not want to spend the farm on it - in case it leaked/fell apart/or tasted bad - Baja wash-board road tested months later all is good

One other idea is to make a complete system in a removable platform/crate - lock it down in the truck bed easy on easy off - with the right size it could be loaded onto any vehicle...

I went with the 21 gal poly tank - 2.8 gpm shurflo - (overkill for sure on the gpm but it was cheap)

I am setting up something similar in the 80 series landcruiser where the second row seats were

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

One thing makes me nervous about that very nice underbody poly tank, and that is the offchance of it getting holed and losing all your main water supply on the trail without realizing it. On the other hand the center of gravity issue obviously favors chassis mounting. I really like Pasquale and Kristina's setup (in the front of the bed, under the toolbox), which is reasonably low, very well protected, useful size, and totally accessible with their pressure pump and spigot.

I'm thinking of having my nephew weld me a stainless steel tank that would fit on the passenger's side rear wheel well of the FJ40, behind the CO2 tank. My measurements indicate I could get upwards of 15 gallons there easily. Probably just a gravity feed spout.