Tank bolted on or it strapped in advice please

[chris clean]

Hi guys In an ideal world I would have tank in a frame and bolted to van but almost all the guys round here just have them strapped in and obviously this is loads cheaper. Just wondering what you guys have and your thoughts? Cheers

 

[kevinc250]

hhhhhmmmmmmm, its a no brainer that one chris bolted down through the chassis without a shadow of a doubt,over the years i've seen tanks held in by bits of wood,racheted down through the so called baffle,secured to the bulkhead.with straps-it beggers the thought

just take a step back and consider what you actually earn in a day and think,for lets say £200 or maybe a bit more, you can have a frame made for you and properly secured to the main chassis rails knowing you should be ok in a crash,my life is worth more than the cost of a few straps from argos or halfords

 

[Eddie dragon]

Bolted 100%. Got a m8 done recovery for years. Hes full of story's about people getting hurt, from general stuff in a car with you. Let alone hundreds of kilos of tank an water.

 

[Iron Giant]

In a van I would have it bolted in more so if a upright tank, But I have my own 400ltr flat tank strapped into the loadbed of my double cab pickup but entirely different to a van as double bulkhead etc .

 

[chris clean]

Thanks for the reply guys my minds made up to get It bolted down in a frame. Cheers lads

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

The cleaning warehous wanted £250 just for 'installation'of the frame.

Local garage charged me £60 and had it done in an hour.

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

Bolted in for me the only reason people strap them is because it's cheaper to do and insure or the van is leased and can't be altered.

 

[Guest]

Bolted in or strapped can't make much difference surely if in a crash.

Unless you have a crash tested system.

 

[noddy]

there s two camps here , the people that have been ripped off whit crash tested systrms that need to tell everybody with no proof that there better and people like me that ask the right questions , there was a 10 page thread on ciu about this where a called grippa out on a public fourm about how safe there really were

they stated that straping tanks in was unsafe , so I reminded them as a company they have a duty of care by law to publish there finding with the like of ford , vw , ect ect and with the likes of the road haulage ass. as if they have 100% proof of this and don't tell the right people and make there finding known they can be sued just by saying northing , I also invited them to the annual road haulage ass. agm to bring along there finding guess what ? they went very quite and kepted there bull to themselves after this

the bottom of the line is this millions of tonnes of cargo is moved via strapping on a daily basis and if it was safe they wouldn't do it , a good strapped in tank is as safe as a bolted in one if done right , but a badly strapped in tank is as unsafe as a ill fitted bolted down tank

quarter inc ply as a bulk head will stop most tanks from joining you in the front seat if in a crash as it as a brakeing point of 10 tonne this is why its use on flat roofs on your house so if 2 tonne of snow falls off the big roof it does land in your kitchen

also when drilling the chassie and fitting bolts to it can void the warrenty on new vans for the running gear ect ect we spoke to v.w. uk about this and they would void all running gear if we fitted the tank like this unless we got a full report done by a engernier which had to be backed up with proof

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Here's the short version.

Strapping (correctly) or bolting is only designed to stop the load (tank) from moving.

Grippa for example is 'crash tested' -- all this means is that they put it on a sled, not in a van on a sled and replicated the force of a 30 mph crash. Not replicated a 30 mph crash by putting in a vehicle and hitting a wall but just the force of that crash.

What does that translate to? It simply translates to the fact that their tanks wont split or burst at 30 mph simulated impact.

Now remember this was a sled test there is nothing to show the impact effect that any of this would have on the cab / driver of a vehicle. Also note in the video there is no bulkhead, the tank that moves is secured in NO way whatsoever and even with theirs at 30 mph you can already see integrity of the tank compromised as water starts to come out..... don't believe me? It's their video.

[media]

[/media]
Once again this is all jist to prevent you getting pummled from behind. The added force of 3/4 tonne (750 liters) is still going to go a long way toward crumpling that cab like an old *** packet!

Your van. You decide what works for you.

 

[noddy]

also there a good argument to be had that bolting is more unsafe , its all about slowing the movment down , if the bolts sheer off on impack then theres no slowing off the tank so it may of well not of been bolted in , yet if the strap stretches befoure snapping then its slowed the tank down making it safer like the way crumple zones work in cars

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

The baffles in the tank will slow the momentum of the water down and reduce surge all of the straped in tanks I have ever seen have been unbaffled and as for a plywood bulk head really??

 

[kevinc250]

also there a good argument to be had that bolting is more unsafe , its all about slowing the movment down , if the bolts sheer off on impack then theres no slowing off the tank so it may of well not of been bolted in , yet if the strap stretches befoure snapping then its slowed the tank down making it safer like the way crumple zones work in cars

the bolts could sheer,however if you install three thread locking nuts on the bolts one tight,one 8mm apart from the first one and the last one 8mm after the second they will act as a shock absorber should the worst happen,

 

[kevinc250]

The baffles in the tank will slow the momentum of the water down and reduce surge all of the straped in tanks I have ever seen have been unbaffled and as for a plywood bulk head really??

i thought that about the 1/4" bulkhead too,as for the quote re the flat roof,that is utter tosh,for a flat roof you either use 1/2" or 3/4" ply or osb board,bearing in mind on a flat roof there is a joist at every 16" and a nogging staggered at every 3 foot (thats the way i was taught anyway)

so there is no way a roof will collapse under load,someone has been so ripped off if they have a flat roof with 1/4 ply

 

[Cristian]

If the tank is secured against a solid bulkhead by straps or by bolts it will not go through into the front as long as the tank itself has no momentum to move forward. Any testing I have seen the tank has been over the rear axel and had plenty of space to travel forward and pick up velocity and thus multiplying the weight with momentum.

 

[Cristian]

And I'm not talking about a plywood bulkhead but a proper steel one with bracing

 

[noddy]

i thought that about the 1/4" bulkhead too,as for the quote re the flat roof,that is utter tosh,for a flat roof you either use 1/2" or 3/4" ply or osb board,bearing in mind on a flat roof there is a joist at every 16" and a nogging staggered at every 3 foot (thats the way i was taught anyway)so there is no way a roof will collapse under load,someone has been so ripped off if they have a flat roof with 1/4 ply

when I was running dhl as a service partner I had a roll of paper on the **** end of my jumbo van that I couldn't be bother to strap in

it said on the sheet it weight in at 750 kgs well as I was giving it some to get there on time I ran into the side of a car to a dead stop the paper hit the bluk head with a massive crash and stopped dead in its tracks , yes it spit the wood but it never moved one bit ,

I remember putting my sprinter on its side when towing a trailer with a car strapped down on it , it went from 70 to a stop in seconds the car never moved from where I strapped it down , was quite funny it stopped in its place yet destroyed the van , the trailer andyet it hung there on its side with the straps not give way

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

when I was running dhl as a service partner I had a roll of paper on the **** end of my jumbo van that I couldn't be bother to strap in
it said on the sheet it weight in at 750 kgs well as I was giving it some to get there on time I ran into the side of a car to a dead stop the paper hit the bluk head with a massive crash and stopped dead in its tracks , yes it spit the wood but it never moved one bit ,

I remember putting my sprinter on its side when towing a trailer with a car strapped down on it , it went from 70 to a stop in seconds the car never moved from where I strapped it down , was quite funny it stopped in its place yet destroyed the van , the trailer andyet it hung there on its side with the straps not give way

Remind me never to accept a lift from you. /emoticons/sad.png

 

[Iron Giant]

when I was running dhl as a service partner I had a roll of paper on the **** end of my jumbo van that I couldn't be bother to strap in
it said on the sheet it weight in at 750 kgs well as I was giving it some to get there on time I ran into the side of a car to a dead stop the paper hit the bluk head with a massive crash and stopped dead in its tracks , yes it spit the wood but it never moved one bit ,

I remember putting my sprinter on its side when towing a trailer with a car strapped down on it , it went from 70 to a stop in seconds the car never moved from where I strapped it down , was quite funny it stopped in its place yet destroyed the van , the trailer andyet it hung there on its side with the straps not give way

I am pleased I have a dash cam with lunatic's like you on the road :rofl:

 

[noddy]

I am pleased I have a dash cam with lunatic's like you on the road :rofl:

lol best one was when I rolled a transit 190 full of news papers i I was late giving it big licks round the country road , miss judged a corner and stightly hit the kerb with the front wheel flipped the van on its side it half a second , I had too up the door like a submarine hatch to get out of it with the van on its side

 

[Dave B]

Dunno how you do it..been driving vans, trucks and cars since 1992 and never had a blameworthy accident..nutter lol