Water Tank Location

[brad-atx]

Advice needed from the collective wisdom here. I am going to install this 25 gal spot prayer for a water tank to feed a propane shower and a faucet. The tank is 35Lx18Wx15H. I can mount it on one side just over the axle, mount it sideways directly over the axle or sideways just behind the batteries. I will be installing a plywood floor to support it evenly if I go sideways. What are the trade offs of these mounting locations. I am concerned about getting the tongue weight too high if I mount if front with 250 # of water and the batteries. My RTT will likely mount near the front as well. Nothing is hard mounted yet, so I can move anything.

 

[high-and-dry]

I ran thru the same questions and found sideways right behind the axle for my trailer in progress.

use this link to a calculator to figure out whats best for you.

 

[Buddha.]

IMO a variable load like a tank makes less of an impact mounted close to the axle. If it’s too far towards the front or rear your tongue weight is going to change a lot depending on how much water you’ve got.

I base this on my 30’ travel trailer with 50gallons of water. The tank is just in front of the axles and I prefer the tank full for more tongue weight and stability.

 

[dreadlocks]

Over the axle on a little trailer like this, you cant count on it as static ballast.. On my first small camp trailer I made mistake of putting it up front, then when it was empty I didnt have enough tongue weight so I hadda reload everything up to make the weight correct again.. after that I put it over the axle and figured out my packing strategy without that influence over trailer balance.. you wanna be able to pack your gear back up in the same place every time and not have to sit there and play with it to get the tongue weight >10%

 

[high-and-dry]

IMO a variable load like a tank makes less of an impact mounted close to the axle. If it’s too far towards the front or rear your tongue weight is going to change a lot depending on how much water you’ve got.

I base this on my 30’ travel trailer with 50gallons of water. The tank is just in front of the axles and I prefer the tank full for more tongue weight and stability.

Thats why I went right behind the axle, with full tank to empty tank it changes my weight from 9 % to 13 %. Obviously on long on road drives the tank would be empty.

edit my numbers are theoretical that this point as I am still building the trailer

 

[brad-atx]

I ran thru the same questions and found sideways right behind the axle for my trailer in progress.

use this link to a calculator to figure out what's best for you.

This is a great link. Based on this, the trailer is fairly balanced empty, but the refrigerator is going to heavily take weight from the tongue. If I go closer to the front with both the tank and the refrigerator, it should be more stable under various liquid levels. This seems contrary to most builds I see where the refrigerator is in the back. I am going to rethink the location of the fridge. I might need to buy all the heavy items and adjust them to see how everything is affected. I'd like to only set them in place once.

 

[high-and-dry]

This is a great link. Based on this, the trailer is fairly balanced empty, but the refrigerator is going to heavily take weight from the tongue. If I go closer to the front with both the tank and the refrigerator, it should be more stable under various liquid levels. This seems contrary to most builds I see where the refrigerator is in the back. I am going to rethink the location of the fridge. I might need to buy all the heavy items and adjust them to see how everything is affected. I'd like to only set them in place once.

Well considering most people put the batteries way upon the tongue, they may be offsetting the fridge weight. A 100 ah deep cycle is about 45 pounds. A rough number for quick math a 50 lb weight will offset a 100 lb weight half as far from the pivot point. so a 100 lb weight 2 foot from the axle is balanced by a 50 lb weight 4 foot from the axle.