The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Under Bed Gas Tank Mock Up - Opinions?

OK. Anyone care to look at and comment on this mock up? The crossmembers are 3" I-beam, 14 gauge. The top bar is 1 1/2" 11g. I'll be using 1 1/2" 11g flat iron for strapping. The bar atop the tank will obviously be cut so that there's two top bars. Going to bolt the I-beans to the top and bottom of the frame rails, the top bar to the I-beams, and the strapping to either the I-beam or the top bar.

http://i.imgur.com/8Q4YTnZ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nTjNfSq.jpg

Is this a sufficient support for a 20gal tank?

Second question: Is the I-beam better than the spare tire crossmember?

Lastly here's the shock support bar:

http://i.imgur.com/8idKTxx.jpg

1 1/2" 11g. The holes are to bolt it to the frame. I'll drill larger holes for the shock studs and weld them in. Could this be used as a crossmember for the gas tank in place of the I-beam or is it insufficient?

I am not the one to comment on the design or if it can hold the weight. A gallon of gas weights 6.2 lbs x 20lbs = about 124 lbs full. I am guessing that you added a little extra strength into the equation already from the looks of it.

Yes, wanted to overbuild it for weight and collision. But not sure if this well do it.

For the straps, I'd recommend using exactly the same strap thickness and material as they used at the factory for whatever tank you are using. It needs to be thin enough to bend and conform to the tank, if it's to thick it will put localized stresses into the tank. I used some treated frame welting also between the tank and the straps.

I measured the straps on my tank and they appear to be 15 gauge... its a 15 gallon tank.

Hope that helps!

John

That does help. Although I don't know how I'd figure out what guage is supposed to be used unless I had the straps to begin with. But...I see a lot of these under bed tanks that are essentially caged in with tubing and they seem to be doing ok.