3950 black tank support sagging - Dutchmen Owners
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Old 02-09-2019, 04:16 PM   #1
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3950 black tank support sagging

I was under my rig this morning taking some photos before I change out the black tank valve. It wasn't visible to me when I was down there (coroplast in the way) but when I looked at the photos, it appears that the right side support is bent and the mount is pulling away from the bracket. This is odd because we never travel with more than a few gallons in the tanks to stay under GVWR.

Yay.

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Old 02-09-2019, 04:21 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by joebedford View Post
I was under my rig this morning taking some photos before I change out the black tank valve. It wasn't visible to me when I was down there (coroplast in the way) but when I looked at the photos, it appears that the right side support is bent and the mount is pulling away from the bracket. This is odd because we never travel with more than a few gallons in the tanks to stay under GVWR.

Yay.

Unfortunately not odd I have a 2017 3605 and know first hand how inadequate the materials are that they use in our rigs
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Old 02-11-2019, 06:30 PM   #3
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It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. The materials used are absolute junk.

I have a Rubicon and had the fresh water tanks fall out while driving. Fortunately, they didn't quite hit the ground. Had it 'repaired' under warranty with a quote from the dealer "they are solid now, you won't have any more problems!"...until two weeks later when they fell out again and I discovered that the warranty 'repair' used the same supports and just added another bolt.

The problem is that Lippert make a frame that is used in lots of different applications so one side of each tank support - each water tank plus the black and grey tanks - has a solid, welded support and the other side is hurridly constructed from some thin galvanised angle, cut to length and then with a piece bent outwards at each end and screwed into place with a self-drilling bolt. The weight of the tank plus contents causes the bent part to rotate, tipping the angle downwards and allowing the tank to drop off the support.

I figured that there was only one way to fix it properly and that was to do it myself. I removed all the bottom cover (nailed into place so pull those out with grips, drill out each hole to maybe 1/8" and replace with small, self-drilling bolts when you replace it), supported the tank one at a time, removed the old 'support', measured up the gap and had new angle-iron supports fabricated that I then bolted into place using effective nuts and bolts.

Now I *know* that they are not dropping out. While I was under there I also tidied up the appalling wiring and ducted my warm furnace air to the locations it needed to be to keep the void from freezing. It's also a good opportunity to fit tank heating pads if you wanted to go that route.
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Old 02-17-2019, 05:41 PM   #4
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sagging fresh/black/grey supports

Unfortunately, this is quite common, not only with Dutchmen products but with other brands also. I found poor supports on my Triton 2951 when I dropped the underbelly insulation to install tank heaters. I had an experienced welder/metal worker add supports before I put the insulation back on.

If you decide to re-enforce the supports, take the extra time to put tank heaters on while you have the belly apart (if you don't already have them).
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