Planning a leisure gas tank under front bash guard.

[syncropatrick]

Wind and rain retreated enough I can get to fiddle with van.

Bashguard prior to removal

Once removed looking up into cavity from front to back
Note height obstructed by coolant pipes on left, gear linkage box in middle and steering rod to PAS rack on left (LHD)

Better view from within cavity looking backwards and same height
Note bar at bottom which bashguard is mounted to.

The width of that bar is 490

Height between very back of bash guard and steering rod to rack is ~210

Height between very back of bash guard and coolant pipes is ~280

From side showing as the steering rod comes down to back coolant pipes come down to front


The wisdom is the tank I referred to earlier will fit. Tank size is 630x230 not including the box with the valves plus the mounting plate and 2 metal banding straps. The valve box can be positioned so its not in the way but not sure yet how or where to attach the mount plate to a permanent, static part of the van.
The minimum cavity dimensions for a rectangle are 490x210.
Obviously the moving steering rod can't be touched, nor would it be a good idea to press on the gear linkage box IMO, but the rubber coolant pipes can be rested against and gently nudged out the way ~20 or so.
I'm off to make a cardboard model of a 630x230 tank to see if and how it might fit. Possibly bringing it forwards would give enough width and height, as long as the coolant pipes are pliant enough.

[syncropatrick]

Here is the model of 530x230 tank, courtesy of the Bricktards. (I can say that as they're all hungover today and won't be reading this. )

I couldn't take photos at the same time as trial fitting with 2 hands, so you'll have to trust me on this bit.

I presume the tank needs to be mounted horizontally so the vapour take-off works safely and reliably, so that rules out front to back and diagonal mounting is would have to slope then as the cavity just isn't tall enough.

Tank mounted left to right as close to rear as possible touches both steering rod and gear linkage box, but with a few mms wiggling might fit. On second fitting I've realised the bash guard has top mounted bracing which reduces the vertical clearance still further. No way at all.
Tank mounted left to right as close to front as possible drops to low to clear bash guard. No way at all.
Tank mounted left to right anywhere in between is either obstructed by gear linkage box or drops to low to clear bash guard. No way at all.

In any of these locations mounting the tank frame to the bash guard seems to be the only practical way forwards. I'd be a bit concerned about the fixing heads getting scraped off when rubbing on ground, so will have to ponder about that. Also, this would make taking the bash guard on/off difficult as you'd need to drop it a little, detach the tank and then take it away entirely, leaving the tank hanging there. It'd need some secondary cradle to hold it in place when the bashguard is off. The stiff but flexible LPG pipes would need to be long enough to handle this movement as well.

Perhaps a smaller tank would be better. Height seems to be the issue here, not the length as 630 seems OK. The 630x230 tank holds 23l.

[Simon Baxter]

*ahem.

[syncropatrick]

Go back to bed!

[Simon Baxter]

Ha. If only

[syncropatrick]

Another tank size available from Gas It is 717x200 20l but this extra length means it will rub on the steering rod. Any longer and it won't fit in the bash guard which has internal width of 815 front and 835 rear.

I'll ask on technical, camper section is anyone knows of tanks smaller <~650x<~220. Capacity will be below 20l which would make this an expensive install for not much capacity.

TTFN.