Fitted a water tank to the camper trailer

[Rainman Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rainman]

Over the weekend I fitted a water tank to our camper trailer. At $6000 new in 2005 it didnt come with a lot of extras, so I have been adding bits and pieces to it as we go along. On the weekend I installed a 59 litre water tank in preparation for our trip up to Rudall River later in the year.

A local engineering mob in Malaga did all the fabrication and I did the fitting. It was fairly easy, but it seems that they measured and made but didnt check to see if it all fitted properly as I had to make a few minor adjustments to get things to fit. I did the install because I had to sort out the plumbing. It cost $330, but for a non welder like me, I was happy to pay for it.

Anyway heres a few pictures, so far I'm happy with it as I havent lost a lot of clearance and I'm hoping to give it a test run in the goldfields over Easter. I forgot to take a picture before I installed the tank (DOH) showing how it sits inside the stone guard and the bracket that holds it in place but hopefully the third picture gives you some idea. The tank is sitting on 10mm rubber strips to prevent rubbing.


Trailer before tank


Tap and filler


Bracket holding tank in place


Bracket and quard from the rear


Stone guard from the front. Thats the axle in the way


The finished product

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

Re: Fitted a water tank to the camper trailer

top job.. ill be doing the same to my trailer after i turn into a tent-trailer..

[robinkipson Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close robinkipson]

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

nice work rainman, cheers samo

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

Nice work.

Did you do any of the paintwork around the filler etc. I am about to re paint my camper and was wondering the best method to apply the paint, some people I have asked have told me to use a brush or roller with hamertone paint but wasn't sure how it would turn out.

[Rainman Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rainman]

Nice work.

Did you do any of the paintwork around the filler etc. I am about to re paint my camper and was wondering the best method to apply the paint, some people I have asked have told me to use a brush or roller with hamertone paint but wasn't sure how it would turn out.

After an earlier trip to Rudall River I had to completely respray the camper as it had been stone and sand blasted, so bought a $90 compressor from Bunnings and a $25 spray gun from a local auto shop. When I fitted the tank I simply got the compressor and spray gun out again. The paint is gunmetal grey in hammertone. I actually found using the spray gun fun and easy to use (apologies to any spray painters out there).

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Nice work.

Did you do any of the paintwork around the filler etc. I am about to re paint my camper and was wondering the best method to apply the paint, some people I have asked have told me to use a brush or roller with hamertone paint but wasn't sure how it would turn out.

Hammertone doesn't brush very well at all, I sometimes use a roller for touch ups, just one of those throw away 4" foam rollers. Spraying is always the best bet if you can.

Cheers Andrew

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

Thanks for the replies guys, that was pretty much what I thought but I just wanted to ask someone who had done it themselves.

Another quick question. How well does the paint go over stone chips etc, I don't expect a perfect finish as it will only get scratched again but would you recomend sanding it right back first?

[Rainman Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rainman]

Like I said earlier, my trailer was a cheapy so it is a bit rough (but tough as nails) and after a trip round Australia and a trip up to Rudall River it needed a respray.

The original paint job looked like it was straight onto bare metal so I attached a wire disk to my angle grinder and went over the entire thing going back to metal where ever I could. I then sprayed an etch primer onto most of it and applied a coating of stone shield (Soudal) to areas likely to get sand blasted again and finally two coats of hammertone.

I went back up to Rudall River in 2009 and hardly noticed any stone damage when I got back. The Soudal stone shield made a world of difference and it will be a long time before I have to do any more touch up work.

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

Thanks for the tip, I might have to give that stone sheild a go.

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

I just had a look at your camper trailer build AJ120, awesome job, I wish I had the time, skills and room to do something like that.