Raptor Fresh Water Tank Support

[JAL]

Has anyone had problems with the fresh water tank bending all of the supports? I started on a wet bolt kit and discovered the belly sagging. I pulled the cover and all of the straps holding the fresh water tank are bent from the weight. I did a forum search to see if I could find some info but did not find anything. I will try to add pictures later. 2007 3612DS Raptor.

[BulletOwner1]

I don't have a Raptor but on my Bullet the water tank does the same thing, sags when full. Just steel straps in the middle of the tank for support. One end of the tank rests on the frame rail and the sides do also but the sagging does give me pause. Others on the site have the same issue. No failures reported. I'd feel better if those straps were 'L' channel but then it would interfere with the underbelly.

[JRTJH]

The straps act more like a "rope" than a steel bar. They bend or conform to the shape of the tank. If they were rigid and didn't bend, the tank would bulge around them and the stress on the plastic where it rubs on the "immobile" L-channel would probably wear the tank or crack it at that spot. It's likely better that the straps bulge rather than stress the thin plastic of the tank.

[BulletOwner1]

That does make sense John. Just looks like a weak link to me. But then again, RV construction seems to have a lot of 'weak links'. But we still love our Bullet "bouncey: !

[JRTJH]

I agree, there are so many "weak links" in RV construction, it's more a matter of the "weakest link", "weaker link" and the multitude of "weak links" :eek:

But then in reality, having something "weaker" than the "other component" should allow the weakest to fail while the "stronger" is protected.... In the case of the water tank and the support bar, the tank costs $200+ the bar costs $3..... I think it would be preferable for the bar to bend and fail (hoping the other bars keep the tank from falling out until repair) rather than wear or crack the more expensive tank.... Sort of like having a fuse ($0.25) protecting an electric exhaust fan ($150)....

[PARAPTOR]

After reading all these under belly posts, not prepared to look underneath mine. At least not yet :eek: Plus still to darn cold out there for an old man to be lying on the ground. :(

[JAL]

Here are a couple of pictures. I did a google search and there are a few posts out there where the fresh water tank has fallen out on the road. I get what you saying about the weakest link but I think I am going to add bracing so I don't drop this thing on the freeway at 65 mph. The one picture shows a square tubing brace that I made as one option, it is holding the tank up and off of the bent straps. I also had the storage drawer option on the Raptor and one side of the drawer framing was also bent and bowed down because of the tank.
http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_119024_0_6e8e0d184d59f9418a6bfda9c66f133a.jpg (http://s728.photobucket.com/user/jefflouks/media/6d7896bb-4dca-4c1f-aaed-b0a56666e700_zps4807c126.jpg.html)
http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_119024_1_9a1325467c8448d67a66a04feafd9d42.jpg (http://s728.photobucket.com/user/jefflouks/media/IMG_0354_zpsc5f18d1e.jpg.html)

[PARAPTOR]

Okay here goes "bouncey:, just by looking at these pictures have to ask, since you said others were also like this, could these bars have been bent like this originally? Looks like rather than restraining the tank empty as your extra bar would do it is designed to allow for some budging (full) then rest on the bars. From pictures both side bends seem to be pretty uniform. Also by picture front of tank appears to be deeper than rear therefore bar bent more in the front. Is the Tank leaking toward the front seems more rust there? Seems like putting that suggested channel up there against the empty tank is going change the way the tank bulges when filled and as John stated more force on the tank in that area. If like my Raptor, that tank is 110 gallons of water (924 lbs.) :eek:

Okay my 2 cents or maybe a penny :confused:

[JAL]

Okay here goes "bouncey:, just by looking at these pictures have to ask, since you said others were also like this, could these bars have been bent like this originally? Looks like rather than restraining the tank empty as your extra bar would do it is designed to allow for some budging (full) then rest on the bars. From pictures both side bends seem to be pretty uniform. Also by picture front of tank appears to be deeper than rear therefore bar bent more in the front. Is the Tank leaking toward the front seems more rust there? Seems like putting that suggested channel up there against the empty tank is going change the way the tank bulges when filled and as John stated more force on the tank in that area. If like my Raptor, that tank is 110 gallons of water (924 lbs.) :eek:

Okay my 2 cents or maybe a penny :confused:

Good thoughts but if they were bent like that from the factory they would not have bent the support frame for the slide in storage drawers. The storage drawer frame was only bent on the side that is by the water tank and after it bent the drawers themselves started to twist out os shape.. I am not saying that maybe they did have some bow to them from the start but I am not sure they were meant to bowed as much as they are now. Tank does not leak a drop now. The tank is the same all the way around and is stamped that it holds 98 gallons.

[JRTJH]

I think I'd be very concerned with the extra square tubing you installed. It sits right on the tank and will rub with every vibration while towing down the road. I do believe that what you installed is an invitation to having to replace the tank. Most fresh water tanks are in the range of $200-400. You may well have an issue with the weight of the tank bending the support brackets for the sliding cargo drawers and you might want to beef up that area, but slipping that square tubing between the tank support and the tank is inviting disaster.

[JAL]

I think I'd be very concerned with the extra square tubing you installed. It sits right on the tank and will rub with every vibration while towing down the road. I do believe that what you installed is an invitation to having to replace the tank. Most fresh water tanks are in the range of $200-400. You may well have an issue with the weight of the tank bending the support brackets for the sliding cargo drawers and you might want to beef up that area, but slipping that square tubing between the tank support and the tank is inviting disaster.

I was planning on removing all of the bent support straps and only using the square tubing x6 compared to the 5 straps from the factory. The tank has been moving around and rubbing on the bent support straps, would it really be much different if I removed the bent support straps and put in some that would not bend? Tank would rub either way I would think. The tank should not bulge or ballon when I fill it if the air vent is open, I would think the water would be forced out the air vent before it would create enough pressure to balloon the tank same as when you draw water out, it needs air to not collapse.

Please keep the feed back coming. I don't have much experience as this RV was new to us last fall with our last RV experience being in the early 90's so I am soaking up all of your comments and ideas. The last thing I want to do is make it worse so maybe I should leave the bowing supports and close it back up and see what happens, it is a 2007 and it has not fallen out yet.

[JRTJH]

The fresh water tank is made of a rugged, but flexible food grade plastic. It is, at best 1/4" thick in the thickest parts. If you can imagine adding almost 850 lbs of water to that kind of tank construction, you'd see bulging at the seams whether there is pressure pushing on the water or if it's just the weight of the water pushing on the tank walls and bottom. The vent will help prevent pressure buildup, but it is not going to stop the tank from bulging under the weight of that much water.

It looks like those straps were designed with a slight curve to allow the tank to "be square" when empty and yet allow it to bulge when full, conforming to the curves of the support beams while allowing the bulge to spread the weight of the water over a more "natural area".

You said you have an issue with the cargo drawers not opening easily because of a bent component. I'd focus on that and leave the water tank alone. Your observation, "It's been like this for 7 years and hasn't dropped out yet." is "spot on"..... I'd think that if there is an issue with the drawers opening easily, it's probably a result of too much weight being carried in them and has nothing to do with the water tank.

If you've ever filled a large balloon with water and tried to carry it, you remember how difficult it is to support it and carry it without it rolling out of your hands and falling. Your water tank is somewhat like that balloon when it's full. You really don't want to start adding extra "fingers" to try to balance it if it's in the right position and not causing any problems....

I'd leave it alone and move on to the drawers and try to find out why they won't open and close easily. The water tanks looks like it's doing very well as it is without any help from "wayward improvements".......

[PARAPTOR]

X2 ON TANK

Was drawers/shelves dealer or factory installed?

[BulletOwner1]

Okay, I'm going to jump back in here.

1. My tank does bulge. It's only a 43 gal tank and is only about 6" deep but that is enough to make it bulge. I think that is a normal tendency.

2. JAL, your RV is going on 7 years old. If it's been used a lot I would expect a little metal fatigue so the sagging metal supports might have been straight when new.

3. I notice the rust stains on the tank. In that area does the tank show signs that the rails have rubbed into the tank? If not I would think that replacing those supports with straight ones would not do significant harm.

4. I don't thing the rails were pre-bent. Doesn't seem like the factory would go to that effort. Doesn't conform to my opinion of the "careful and thoughtful" practices of the RV industry.

Good luck. Probably whatever you do will exceed the "industry standard".

[JAL]

54305430X2 ON TANK

Was drawers/shelves dealer or factory installed?

Look factory but I don't know for sure, they were an option I know. The drawer support that bent is a pretty stout piece of steel.

[SrbjmwRaptor]

My first toy hauler was wild thing tt toy hauler was filling with water and about 3/4 full and the cheap cross members broke tank fell on ground . Thank god I was not driving down the road. I replaced with channel iron it was like 45 bucks and replaced cheap self tapping screws with bolts . Sure hope my raptor 297 se is better but haven't looked due to the sealed underbelly

[JRTJH]

54305430

Look factory but I don't know for sure, they were an option I know. The drawer support that bent is a pretty stout piece of steel.

Those are Lippert under-chassis storage compartments. You can find them here: http://www.lippertcomponents.com/underchassis-storage-system

[dtas]

I've read in another forum about someone reinforcing their water tank with a piece of sub floor and angle iron, to give full support of the tank. It's the second post on the thread. :cool:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f217/fresh-water-tank-sagging-loose-22565.html

[Frenshmen11]

I have a fresh water tank falling out , I put a ratchet strap across the frame and waiting till I get home. I see the cross member broken and poking out the bottom. Not really happy about it but now I can add heat to the water tank for cold weather. Repair pictures to follow.