Water Tank Mounting - Duetto

When pulling away in my Duetto this morning, there was a graunching sound from underneath, that turned out to be the front of the underslung water tank dragging - the front metal strap had rusted through.

We'd driven from the Bristol area down to Cornwall the previous afternoon, and fortunately the tank seems to have waited to fall off overnight. We did not sleep in the van last night, so didn't know about the problem until we tried to drive off.

Managed to use the jack to lift the (full) tank back up, and then I temporarily tied it up with some strong line.

I think I can probably replace the strap when I get home with a suitable piece of metal bar, and of course check the other strap, and those on the waste water tank, again very carefully.

But from now on I will be regularly checking the security of the fixings of what must be quite a heavy tank when its full. 

Anyone had a similar problem? Any observations?

There have been previous threads on this, and I'm fairly sure the recommended solution is stainless strap or bar and stainless fixings, plus plenty of waxoyl or equivalent where it fixes to the chassis.

Yes, heavy - IIRC 80 litres full, so probably a 90 kilo load when you account for the weight of the tank itself...

That's always been a worry of mine and why i never travel with more than a quarter tank of water. Mines a '97 symphony and although its been waxoyled and the straps seem fine I wouldn't trust them with a full tank especially with the potholed roads we have to drive on, a sudden jolt, I would imagine, will significantly increase the load.

Dave

This is the thread I started on this subject last year:

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-mojo- wrote:There have been previous threads on this, and I'm fairly sure the recommended solution is stainless strap or bar and stainless fixings, plus plenty of waxoyl or equivalent where it fixes to the chassis.

Mojo is spot on here Achilles. 

I didn't have the same problem as you thankfully but needed a new drain tap which meant dropping the whole damn tank. My days of crawling under vehicles are well behind me now since suffering arthritic problems so gave the job to my local Garage who sorted it for £25......bargain! They just shot the van up on a 4 poster lift and the jobs easy. The bolts were rusted on so snapped off but the straps were in good nick. The mechanic guy sprayed a load of waxoyl over the straps, fitted the tank back up, then used stainless threaded bar and nuts. He even sprayed over those too!

It's doubtful i will ever need have the tank off again, but it will prove a simple job for the next owner.