Fitting Tanks With Retaining Frames

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

I did my own, oh yes that's right!! Ain't paying the suppliers £250 'installation' fee oh no boyo!!

But on a serious note as some know I am re fitting my van this week, full strip down, some mods and refit.

Now whilst I did the original installation of the my tanks frame I am not in the mood for crawling under the van to unbolt it again, certainly not twice in one week anyhow.

So today I pop into my local garage and asked, how much to unbolt the frame and then bolt it back on in a couple of days once I was done refitting.

So he reckons he will charge me an hour total, £40 job done, I so happy not to be on my back under a van again.

I also asked if I came with another van with a new tank and frame to install what would he do that?

No problem he says, £40.

A lot cheaper that some of the charges bandied about by suppliers for 'Installation'

 

[spruce]

I did my own, oh yes that's right!! Ain't paying the suppliers £250 'installation' fee oh no boyo!!
But on a serious note as some know I am re fitting my van this week, full strip down, some mods and refit.

Now whilst I did the original installation of the my tanks frame I am not in the mood for crawling under the van to unbolt it again, certainly not twice in one week anyhow.

So today I pop into my local garage and asked, how much to unbolt the frame and then bolt it back on in a couple of days once I was done refitting.

So he reckons he will charge me an hour total, £40 job done, I so happy not to be on my back under a van again.

I also asked if I came with another van with a new tank and frame to install what would he do that?

No problem he says, £40.

A lot cheaper that some of the charges bandied about by suppliers for 'Installation'

Yes, but I doubt it will include any 'plumbing' or electrical work.

Does the Brodex wfp tank come with a leisure battery?

They (the garage) will ask you where you want the tank situated and drill holes to suit. A supplier/fitter should be able to calculate exactly where that tank should be fitted so it won't overload either axle when the tank is full. For £40 you will take that risk.

 

[Duncs]

sure fully trained mecanic will know exactly where the safest position is to bolt tank

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

No offence Spruce but you do not trust a fully skilled mechanic to be able to tell you where the tank should go then why the hell should you trust them to do a full service on your vehicle? Any mechanic worth their salt will be able to calculate that with pencil and paper in a couple of minutes. Your point is a bit daft mate.

(Oh and re-read my post, I never said it comes with electrical or plumbing, that is a 10 minute job I will do myself)

When it comes to plumbing and wiring to be honest if you cant plumb and wire a system then perhaps you should stick to trad only.

The only reason for not being able to install a system yourself is because your parents didn't let you play with your lego enough as a child!

 

[peter rogers]

lol suppliers take the **** in fit outs

when offering to protecka kpte ur floor balls

fitting heaters in balls

 

[doug atkinson]

You may find that is a different story when you take your van in. They may have to drain and take the petrol tank out so probably looking at £200 plus depending on time spent.

Bolting it through the chassis is a lot safer than through the floor which will be ripped out in an accident.

Some vans have wires running through the chassis so even more time spent.

It's an easy fit then yes an hours work, if not I have known some to take 5 hours.

 

[spruce]

sure fully trained mecanic will know exactly where the safest position is to bolt tank

Having worked in the motor trade I can assure you that the vast majority won't have a clue where to correctly position the tank. At best, they are parts fitters, replacing a part that has broken with the identical replacement part.

 

[spruce]

No offence Spruce but you do not trust a fully skilled mechanic to be able to tell you where the tank should go then why the hell should you trust them to do a full service on your vehicle? Any mechanic worth their salt will be able to calculate that with pencil and paper in a couple of minutes. Your point is a bit daft mate.
(Oh and re-read my post, I never said it comes with electrical or plumbing, that is a 10 minute job I will do myself)

When it comes to plumbing and wiring to be honest if you cant plumb and wire a system then perhaps you should stick to trad only.

The only reason for not being able to install a system yourself is because your parents didn't let you play with your lego enough as a child!

It would be an interesting exercise for you would ask them this question when you take your van in.

The trouble is with most of us is that we do need a lot of water to get us through the day and so we are inclined to use up the majority of our payload.

Its very easy to overload one of the axles if the tank isn't positioned correctly.

I will use my swb Citroen Relay as an example. If the tank is positioned directed behind the bulkhead across the van the weight of a full 650 liter tank and two operators overloads the front axle when there is a full tank of diesel thrown into the equation. So the tank is positioned long ways so the back axle takes the majority of the weight. This however isn't the best use of space in the back.

Purefreedom know this and this is why they position the tank length ways. However, they can position a 650 liter tank across the bulkhead of a swb Vivaro as the wheel base in relation to the load is different. The load is further away from the front axle so the weight is 'better' distributed.

Would I trust a mechanic to do a service on my car? I would only take it to someone who has a reputation. Even then, I open the bonnet and check that a new oil filter has been fitted. I will also check the oil level on the dipstick and will also be able to see if its fresh at the same time. I will also check to see that the lower panel has been removed and correctly replaced. The removal of this panel is the only way the sump plug can been accessed to drain the oil.

On 2 different occasions and 2 different Citroen main dealerships mechanics were caught not doing a service they signed of as having been done. On one of the occasions the mechanic left the car in the same parking spot as the customer parked it in that morning. It was a very embarrassing situation as the customer caught him out.

The problem is that they are all paid bonuses and will try to take shortcuts to achieve those.

I have always had pretty good service from a local garage that I use for MOT's etc. However, my daughter in law had a brake caliper failure and she took it in there on her way to work. They tried to take her eyes out with the repair costs and what had to be done. I intervened and suddenly the picture changed. Would I trust them? Yes. Would I recommend them? With caution.

 

[peter rogers]

u bring ur van fully loaded in to a mecanic and ask him what he thinks and straight away they tell u that ur putting to much pressure on one or another axle

on my small van i had the tank in the middle and when full with the other stuff i had to carry the van would scrape bumps etc which aint gd

now in my new van its higher up bigger payload and no strain on the engine and axles

 

[spruce]

Hi @Green. When you got your tank refitted at the garage, did you ask them if they knew the formula for correctly fitting the tank so as to not overload either axle?

 

[joe34]

That's what ive got to do in the next few weeks my van is knackered and I need to find a van with a decent payload to take the 800lt tank .the bloke wants 350 to take it out and put it in the new one,but I'm willing to pay as I don't feel confident enough to do it myself.

 

[Diwrnach]

Anyone any feedback on my plan, 350l tank in the back of a pick up with a canopy upright against the solid back then ratchet strapped to the solid loops on the back.

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Hey Spruce, no I did not need to as I already had the answers.

It just went back to where it originally was which was based on the math of someone that truly knows a thing or two about the weight distribution of payloads.