Water tank on roof

[mickd08 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close mickd08]

Hey guys,
I have a need to hold some water for showering, wash-up etc.
I'm considering mounting one of these (link) which I'll just ratchet strap it to the roof rack.

There looks to be a baffle halfway in the tank that should minimize the sloshing effect when driving.
Being black and up on the roof will provide a bit of solar heating and pressure.

Just wanting a sanity check. Any thoughts on this ?

[cfryback Find all posts View Profile Close cfryback]

It is 59KG that you will have on the roof.

That aside, there is no mention of baffling so when say, half full there will be a fair bit of sloshing....

[mickd08 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close mickd08]

It is 59KG that you will have on the roof.

That aside, there is no mention of baffling so when say, half full there will be a fair bit of sloshing....

Thanks for the reply. Yep, I've considered the extra 59KG's that will be added. The roofrack on the 120 can hold 100KG's and my only other roof cargo will be a spare tyre - so I'm pretty happy that should be OK.

I think that the large depression in the middle of the tank is there to act as a baffle. Not sure what other purpose it would serve ?

[photoprado Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close photoprado]

Which roofrack, and what is the weight of it?
Spare tyre without wheel?

[mickd08 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close mickd08]

I have installed the tank! I ended up getting a Hume 62 litre tank which had a better configuration of threaded openings.
I took it away camping on the weekend - It all worked really well. Using the the "click-on" style fittings it was simple to fill up from a tap hose and then drain out to a shower rose or into a bucket. Had nice warm water in the afternoons.
I tried driving with the water tank full, half full and almost empty - I barely noticed any sloshing. Kids did not notice anything and they would have ask a hundred questions if they had heard something.
In addition to the tank I had a spare tyre and 20KG of firewood on the roof rack. All felt really stable. This was a winner.

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

You are way overloaded.
Your roof can only handle 100kg.
Add the weights of everything up. At a guess I'd say 160-170kg.

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

You are way overloaded.
Your roof can only handle 100kg.
Add the weights of everything up. At a guess I'd say 160-170kg.

Great to hear that it worked well.
Wheel - 30kg
Water and tank - 68kg
Firewood - 20kg
Total - 118kg

I wouldn't sweat it unless you were doing some hardcore 4WDing or heavy corrugations. It might be an issue with sudden turning or evasive action having that extra weight so high up.

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

Great to hear that it worked well.
Wheel - 30kg
Water and tank - 68kg
Firewood - 20kg
Total - 118kg

I wouldn't sweat it unless you were doing some hardcore 4WDing or heavy corrugations. It might be an issue with sudden turning or evasive action having that extra weight so high up.

Where do you get these 30kg wheels from? Mine are 45. Also you forgot to add the weight of the roof rack, which looks like steel so it'll be around 30kg.

[mickd08 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close mickd08]

Yes, maybe a bit on the heavy side considering I need to add the roof rack weight . . .

I will modify the tank (maybe drill a spill over breather) so it only fills to about 40 liters
My cargo will then be;
Alloy rack - 25KG
Tyre + Rim - 27KG
Tank + Water - 45KG
Total = 97KG

[cbm8880 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close cbm8880]

It might be an issue with sudden turning or evasive action having that extra weight so high up.

This!

Having been involved in a rollover in my own vehicle as a passenger, I'd be inclined to think that you're overloading from a handling perspective. Just my opinion though...

It drove just fine and I was happy with how it was loaded up top (similar stuff-some camping gear and a wheel on the roof) and handled.....UNTIL the shiny side was down.

Is there any reason you can't load the heavy stuff down low and port water up top whe you need it?

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

This!

Having been involved in a rollover in my own vehicle as a passenger, I'd be inclined to think that you're overloading from a handling perspective. Just my opinion though...

It drove just fine and I was happy with how it was loaded up top (similar stuff-some camping gear and a wheel on the roof) and handled.....UNTIL the shiny side was down.

Is there any reason you can't load the heavy stuff down low and port water up top whe you need it?

It will definitely have an impact on the handling. I wonder the same about all those roof top tents that I see.

[K & M McF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close K & M McF]

I would look at putting something between the tank and the roof rack as I would suspect that on a very rough road you may end up with a gradual wearing of the tank where it meets the rack.

[onda Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close onda]

I met a guy who was driving a Mitsubishi 4x4 van from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego here in Lima, Peru, and he built his own system with 15cm diameter x 200cm length pvc painted black, a nozzle, relief valve and pressurizer and said it worked great. distributes the weight well as well, along with heating up the water. I didn't think to ask him about sloshing around, but he was honest with a lot of things that he had done that didn't work up to spec.

Then this DIY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG2HK9JsAjw that I will be copying... provided that we all iron out whether the water sloshing causes issues.

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

Perhaps just me, but I personally don't like the idea of fluids on the roof rack or weights that can move about (up high) while travelling on rough terrain or at speed.