Securing tanks in a van

[Gary Richardson]

Good evening all

I have finally traded in the car and bought myself a Transit Custom 280 so I can transport the Tiger and Churchill without worrying about 120Kgs of metal being in the boot in the event of an accident. I hope to be able to attend the many events around the South West and go to Bovington.
My question to those of you with vans is how do you secure the tanks within the van.
I am sure I have seen comments/photos on the forum but have not been able to locate them. I have the eight load securing D rings with two at the back corners and two in front of the wheel arches looking to be the most useful. My initial thought is to use angle iron between those point and have turnbuckles and hooks from the angle iron to the towing points on the tanks.
I would be grateful for any advice/suggestions. As the van is only three years old I would like to avoid drilling holes in the floor and I am hoping there are further prefixed anchor points beneath the plastic load liner.

Regards
Gary

[Bryan Brown]

Firstly I would put in a nice thick wooden floor which is what I have in my van thus avoiding having to drill holes in the vans floor also it provides you with the opportunity to secure wooden battens to secure the vehicles sides less harmful to the tanks finish than metal and put wooden wedges under the tracks this will stop the tanks from straying or hold them in position with cargo straps securing them to the battens.

[Adrian Harris]

For the tanks in the back I use the rings on either side of the wheel arch, with a thick foam pad between the wheels and the wheel arch. I also run a strap from the ring over the wheel arch to the front of the tank, as a precaution against it moving if I have to brake suddenly.

For the ones in the front, I sandwich two tanks against the bulkhead. I use the rings at the base of the bulkhead, and use foam between the inner tank and the bulkhead and between the tanks.

Adrian.

[Gerhard Michel]

I mounted two eyebolts in my car boot. They are linked with a steel rope which is fixed at the tank and prevent it from rolling forward. Rolling back is prevented by a wooden beam.

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=7827

[Gary Richardson]

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=7827

Thanks Christoffer, they were the photos I remembered seeing. Looks very secure.

Regards
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

Thanks for the replies about securing tanks in a van. Plenty to think about and I like the idea of a thick wood floor as the plastic liner is looking worn and I was thinking about changing it. The liner is also slippery and things slide easily.
I am on guide dog puppy sitting duties for a week so I can do some research on securing the tanks and also think about setting up a system so I can charge the tanks in the van.

Regards
Gary

[Adrian Harris]

> I like the idea of a thick wood floor

I put a 12mm ply floor into the Transit and found it rattled and bounced. It wasn't fixed down though and was straight down on the van floor. I've taken it out again and gone in a different direction. I still have it if you need it and it would fit. It's item 305016720179 on ebay.co.uk.

> as the plastic liner is looking worn and I was thinking about changing it.

Check GumTree and Facebook market place, as these come up very cheap from people who are doing camper conversions.

> The liner is also slippery and things slide easily.

I find this an advantage, as you can drive the tank to the approximate position and then slide it into plate.

If you have a grippy floor then you have to drive into the correct position.

If it's tied down correctly, then it shouldn't be able to move anyway.

Adrian.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

Thanks for the last post Adrian. I was tempted to get a ply liner and have watched videos on how to fix it in place. My liner is worn and I was talking to my neighbour about it and how slippery it was. He said the farming community use stable mats in their vans to stop items sliding about. A quick bit of research and I found Ark Solutions on the web. I have ordered 2 of their 6' x 4' rubber stable mats for £80 including shipping, which with a bit of trimming will sit in the liner. They will only be a couple of inches short for the length of the van which I don't mind. I did look at rubber mats designed for vans but they were expensive and quite thin which would probably result in them getting chewed up. The stable mats I have ordered are 12mm with raised bobbles one side and channels on the other, they are fairly heavy and will add sound proofing and are designed to withstand horses and hooves so should work with our tanks. You can also get 17mm mats.
I take your point about sliding the tanks into position which would be helpful. I think the advantage of not having items sliding about when the tanks are not in the van appeals to me. I made the mistake of not securing my grocery shop in the back last week as I was in a rush, oops . I am thinking about making 4 x 2 wooden frames with metal reinforcement at the corners and an open end that the tanks are driven in to. I can have another bit of 4 x 2 locked into position then the frames can be attached to the anchor points. I will also anchor the tanks to the vans anchor points. As I only have two tanks ( for the moment ) they will both fit between the wheel arches. That leaves room at the front for important things like the BBQ, beers, chairs etc.

Regards
Gary

[michael hilton]

Good morning everyone, here is my tuppence worth...and I am not trying to be clever or state the blinding obvious. Watch your vehicle speed, how ever well you secure your model...if you have a collision at fifty miles per hour, the tank will be on your lap. Thirty four years working for the Ambulance Service.
I used the rubber stable mat on my converted trailer with 3 x 3 fence posts blocks and rachet straps. A few years ago attending Shrewsbury Show I arrived to find the Comet firmly wedged against the front tow bar...never recall having to break heavily.
It's an obvious point I know, just take care. It looks like you have it well covered Gary.

[Adrian Harris]

I've been looking at ribbed rubber matting as the chequer plate pattern has worn off the rubber I glued on to my loading ramps, so even the King Tiger cannot climb them without manual assistance.

Will be interesting to see how the matting handles tracks moving around on it.

Adrian.

[Gerhard Michel]

Hi Michael,

I think you are quite right with your concerns. My King Tiger may be the fastet tank ever, because it has already reached over 250 kilometers per hour

No doubt that there is absolutely no way to tighten a model for such speeds and resulting accidents. Every doubt that also a person without any tank model may survive such a horror crash.

The steel rope of my fastening has a break resistance of twice the tank weight, which is rather poor, but for more resistance there were larger reconstructions in the car necessary. Fortunately the tank would damage the co-drivers seat which is empty.

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning everyone, here is my tuppence worth...and I am not trying to be clever or state the blinding obvious. Watch your vehicle speed, how ever well you secure your model...if you have a collision at fifty miles per hour, the tank will be on your lap. Thirty four years working for the Ambulance Service.
I used the rubber stable mat on my converted trailer with 3 x 3 fence posts blocks and rachet straps. A few years ago attending Shrewsbury Show I arrived to find the Comet firmly wedged against the front tow bar...never recall having to break heavily.
It's an obvious point I know, just take care. It looks like you have it well covered Gary.

Hi Michael

That's the main reasons I got the van, my cousin was a paramedic and use to tell me about people carrying heavy/ unusual loads in cars and the result after an accident. At least in the van there is a metal bulkhead to absorb some of the impact should the worst happen. In the end it is all about securing the tanks in the best way and as you said, driving carefully.

Regards
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

I thought I would post a couple of photos of the stable mats I have installed in the van. They are double sided with rubber buttons one side and ribs on the other. Each mat is 6' x 4' and two were used leaving about 75mm at the rear where the door latches go so ok for my Transit Custom SWB. The mats cost £80 for the two including p&p and I got mine from Ark Rubber and Resin Solutions in Devon. They each weigh approximately 26Kg and are 12mm thick. I did have to spend quite a bit of time removing the release agent which is extremely slippery. I washed them down with detergent both sides, once they were in the van I used Upol degreaser and quite a few cloths to totally remove all the release agent.
I haven't tried the Tiger on them yet as I have to get the restraining points sorted and reinstall the wheel arch guards. I did run some spare track links across them and the raised parts grips the slots very well . I think the matting would work very well on ramps even though it is heavy. It could be fastened using rivets through the slots.
I will update this once I have taken the Tiger for a ride to see how well it works.

Regards
Gary