Fabricating Steel Tanks to Rest On Ribs (w/ food safe inner coating / lining)

[magnakansas]

Look at a company called ATL They make "bladders" kinda like rubber coated bags that are used for liquids, fuel, water, oil, and the like. They are often in metal cans 0.060" is pretty thick in many cases. I think 11 ga is around 0.115" twice as thick. I would go down to 0.040 with mild steel.

Yea I think you can hang the box by the ribs... If you plan really well, I think you could Riv Nut the ribs, run bolts up from the inside of the box, put the bolt on floor on box. Spread the load and use many smaller bolts.... Engineer the box, dont build it. Find the expected load per square foot, look at the load the fasteners can take in tension, look at what it takes to pull through the steel, figure out the minimum numbers of fasteners and then double it for a safety factor. Keep in mind a 10g bump load is not that hard to do... like driving off a 8 inch curb, or over some think like 4 by 4 in road, big pot holes.... so those bolts have to hold the weight times 10.

I really put 0.120' material to be way over kill. The only exception to that might be if you put the tank right in front of or behind the wheels.

william

[Inner Love]

Thanks. The plan is to build the tanks so they can be slid in and rest on the ribs with fastening only used to prevent sliding and movement, the tanks being press-fit. If I have to use thru-rods or straps for additional support, it's not worth it.

If the existing stamped s-channels can't be used to support tanks long-term, even when spreading the load across multiple s-channels - I'm going to have to look for junkyard I-beam ribs / cross members like what's found on semi-trailers, and weld them to the frame. If I am having to use rods or straps I might as well go with Iceni John's method.

Just looked at ATL potable water bladders and the prices make it a no-go (ATL Potable Drinking Water Bladder Tanks - NSF/ANSI-61 Compliant), was expecting in the 100-200 dollar range per bladder. Maybe someone knows where to find bladders meant to go inside reinforced compartments ("bag-in-box")? My concern with a bladder is chafing and pinhole punctures, even after I smooth, deburr, despald and then tractor paint the interior surface and corners. How close / far are we to exhausting our leads?

Remember, this idea has to compete with Iceni John's method, and -if- I am going to need to add ribs either way for support, it shouldn't be a factor in the competition. I am seriously considering extending my insulated envelope to include all the space to the bottom of the skirting, including the driveshaft between the frame. Aside from keeping dust out, I don't have to insulate tanks and lines individually. Eventually I would add a belly frame using hardened, thick-gauge 2" steel square tube for total protection from gravel and shale (I plan on driving the Dalton several times).

Being a bus that spent it's life in and around Salem, OR - the undercarriage is full of fine sediments, and the driveshaft linkages have splattered mud that's might as well be shotcrete. I tried to get this off with Now that it's all dried out, it's going to be quite a dust show when I drive it to Santa Cruz later this year.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

look at side outlet sammy self tapping screws with retaining nut.
will allow you to hand from the center of the rib and not depend on the strength of a single flange but the strength of the c channel as a whole?

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

for me when building my wifes shortie with a BS corrugated floor when i do the subfloor insulation i will be using unistrut (also called many other names )full width in several places in the tank area and dropping 3/8" or 1/2" galvanized rod through the floor to allow me to build unistrut systems to support my holding tanks just because my collins body in my mind is bare minimum they could get away with so i want to spread out the load and get every advantage i can.
several other things in my head as well but some i have a solution for but the one i discovered today i am going to have to debate myself and ask questions on here before i decide on a solution.
but by trade i overbuild everything and i wont settle for anything less.
i can build and fabricate all day long but my new dilemma is fibreglass where i didnt expect it and i have never had to worry about fibreglass or its strength so my idea of outdoor mini split location even if i pulled it off to my specs i would always question it?
so back to the drawing? more thinking/research board for me.
i dont think the extra tank up in the ribs is going to net you much extra water even if you vented the air out of each rib pocket you are still talking maybe an extra gallon and half at most in each rib if vented.
if not vented they are just air pockets and if not isolated with high abraision rubber or something to that effect regardless of material used it will rub through somewhere.
cool idea but alot of work and material when there are easier and cheaper options out there.
just my opinion