Tank in Vauxhall Combo - Bolt to Floor or right through to Chassis?

[Cookie]

After having worked with a PF trolley and 25L barrels I am looking at purchasing a 350L upright baffled tank for my 2004 Vauxhall Combo. I am going the DIY route & getting a friend to help in making up a frame out of angle iron.

Am I OK to bolt the tank to the floor (with spreader plates underneath)? Or do you reckon I need to go straight through the floor (and the void between the floor & the chassis) & and bolt from underneath the van chassis?

NB: It's an ex-BT van & I'm lucky enough to have a pretty solid bulkhead

Any advice appreciated. Thanks, James

 

[Reach For The Glass]

Ratchet strap to bulkhead. Jobs a good'n

 

[spruce]

If you can then bolting the tank frame to or through the chassis is best. But you need to check with your MOT provider as he may feel that drilling holes in the chassis will compromise the strength of the van and fail it.

For example; our MOT provider will allow me to weld a bracket onto my towbar, but if I drill a hole in it to bolt a bracket on he will fail the van at MOT.

The least I would do would be to use large spreader plates which I have done on my van.

 

[steele]

Ratchet strap to the pallet loops. That's what they're for.... when it starts moving tighten them again

 

[Cookie]

Thanks all for your advice.

 

[sambo]

350L in a crash at 40mph - thats an immense amount of force coming through to the front seat! A normal passenger at say 80kg hits the driver with the weight of an elephant (according to the bloody speed awareness course I had to do...) so you would have four elephants coming at you!

Bolt a frame made of angle iron and properly welded together to your chassis - if you have a friendly garage that MOTs do that bit they should pass it come MOT time no?

No way would I trust the payload hooks in any van for that sort of weight.

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

No MOT test center has any reason to look in the cargo bay of your van for any reason as there is nothing in their required for the MOT.

I asked the same question of my MOT center (just some random place i used not matey or anything) and was told there was no problem whatsoever.

If it was an issue i am sure someone wiuld have sued x-line or ionics or one of the suppliers for wrecking their van by now.

 

[Damo]

The vauxhall combo has a false floor as its a corsa floor plan under it. So if you drill through good luck on trying to put a nut on the other side.

What i did was get a local welder to drill holes in the floor then weld in plates with nuts on the other side.

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8 mins 20 in.

Mine was ex BT

 

[spruce]

You're right Damo.

Car derived vans do have an issue with false flooring. This will be evident in the front as the false floor covers over the rear passenger foot-wells in the people carrier/car versions.

With the Berlingo/Partner, Ford Transit Connect and the Suzuki Carry Van, access into the gap is possible from behind the front seats. I can't say this applies to all vans. We were able to use 40mm x 6mm x 250mm flat bar as spreader plates in the front. It would have been impossible to fit bolts through the chassis over these points because if this void. In your case your solution was the answer.

The other consideration is that the fuel tank will usually sit under the van directly below where the rear passenger seats would be. Access to this section is only possible with the tank removed.

The section of floor behind that shouldn't usually have a double skin as this is the area where the spare wheel is mostly housed. IMO its the rear bolts and fixings that are the most critical. In a sudden stop the rear of the tank will want to lift up off the floor.