Getting ready for our first trip of the year and while inspecting the underside I found that 2 of the freshwater holding tank straps were broken at the welds. I took them off and took them to a welder and he said it just looks like a crappy welding job to begin with. He highly recommended I buy some steel of similar size (2" wide, 3/16 thick) and replace all the straps. He has the stuff to help me get the proper bends and thought that would hold up much better over the long term. We did go ahead and weld the current straps back together and added some additional aluminum angle for more support. This is just to get me through this trip though...
The other thing I would like to do differently is attach the straps to the vertical side of the aluminum cross member instead of screwing them in to the bottom of it like it is currently.
Has anyone had to deal with this? Any input is greatly appreciated!
thanks
tim
Same thing happened to a friend of mine. He had a local welder make new straps with steel channel, coated the steel with rustproofing and reinstalled. He did not change it from attaching to the bottom to attaching to the side though.
Man, those look good! I like how he used C-channel (I think) instead of just flat bar stock.
Good move. The tanks weigh a lot (+250 lbs) when full and solid support is a great mod. I better check the welds on my Al straps!
Yeah you better- I was under my 16TBS today removing all the underbelly plastic- I'm horrified at some of the stuff I found-
here is an example of a somewhat good tank support and a bad one. Notice the weld on the bad one.
Also logic would dictate the screws need to go at the end near the upright bar, not as far away as you can get them... :-[
And get this- there is nothing restraining the tank horizontally- it can slide fore and aft about 4 inches- morons.