Pre-Broken? plumbing + tire question

[turf]

there are so many stupid little decisions when building the bus i get overloaded. i would appreciate some opinions on my current dilema

i am getting ready to connnect the plumbing under the bus. im going to use inch and a half (drain)and three inch (toilet) abs for the drain and half inch pex for the vent.
my dilemma is that most of the plumbing is going to be next to a tire set, my passenger side rear duals. that being the case, should i just plumb as usual, or should i install some rubber sleeve fittings in anticipation of a tire failure (throwing the tread) and plumbing damage.

i think the trade off is a a hard fixed pipe will be fine until any damage....while a pipe pre-cut and repaired with a flexible sleeve might fail at the hose clamps and give you trouble.

the connection most vulnerable is the 3"pipe from the toilet straight to the tank. the pipe drops out of the bus right in front of the wheel well. there is about a foot or so between the tire and pipe.

as it sits on the truck i need to rotate the tires. that side is the oldest closest to retirement on the current tires.

so plan for damage and repairs or no?


any opinions

[somewhereinusa]

There isn't much will protect things in the case of a tire failure, I would however use a mudflap to protect from things coming off of the tire. If you put a hanging flap in front of a tire be sure to use some sort of restraint so that it does not swing back into the tire.

[bansil]

I would hard plumb, worst case is you fix tires and hit up a home improvement center...1 hour later and $20 bucks lighter its fixed

[nat_ster]

As somewhereinusa said, there isn't much that will stop a blow out. They completely destroy anything inside the wheel well. That's why the wheel wells are made from steel, with rubber on the inside. In the event that there is a concentrated impact to the underside of the wheel well, the rubber stops anything from flying off the topside. In armored vehicles they use the same Ida to prevent metal fragments from releasing from the inside of the steel shell.

The fact that you are using ABS vs PVC is a big help. ABS is 5 times as strong, and won't shatter like glass in the cold. ABS is also easy the repair with the glue and the right fittings.

Strap it securely to the bus, and it should survive anything but a blow out. Then as a precaution, buy a second set of fittings to stash inside the bus just in case.

Use fernco fittings (rubber sleeve with a hose clamp on both sides) on both ends of your exposed plumbing. This way if the plumbing gets ripped forcefully out of the space, you don't end up with broken fittings at tank connections, or anywhere else you can't repair easily.

Nat

[Redbear]

Originally Posted by somewhereinusa

There isn't much will protect things in the case of a tire failure, I would however use a mudflap to protect from things coming off of the tire. If you put a hanging flap in front of a tire be sure to use some sort of restraint so that it does not swing back into the tire.

I had thought about locating a black tank behind the drive tires. If I were putting a tank or plumbing next to a tire, I would probably bolt in a metal "explosion shield" plate hanging down between the bus floor and the bottom of the side skirt. But after reading nat_ster's comment, I would probably also bolt a piece of rubber mudflap to the shield for added protection. The rigid metal would prevent the flap from swinging, unless you had it hanging below the skirt.

[roach711]

Good maintenance is probably a better plan than armor plating the plumbing. Many serious RV owners replace their tires every 5 years to avoid just this sort of thing. RV tires generally rot from sun exposure and disuse before they wear out. If your tires are starting to crack at all it's time to replace them.

I'd be way more concerned about the thrown tread ripping up my bus body.

[JakeC]

^Yup!! This picture is pretty self incriminating, as you can clearly see the dry rot on the side wall. I made a judgment call that the tires had one more trip, and I was wrong. Lesson learned. Anywho, look at the sheet metal that my mud flap was attached to. It literally folded it in half and crumpled it. It also tore a bracket loose. That sheet metal was probably about 14 gauge. My point is, unless you are going to build a steel cage with tubing and thick plate, I wouldn't bother. Build it to come apart in case of impact. I think Nat's suggestions would work well and minimize damage to the tank.