Cost to replace black water tank?

[Rroberts]

Hi all,
We just confirmed that our recently acquired 1970 sovereign has a leak in the black tank. It's a shitty job (pun intended) and not one we really want to take on at the moment. I want to hire someone to do it, anyone know how much people usually charge for hourly labor (excluding parts) or how much a dealership would charge? I know it won't be cheap, just want to make sure I don't pay someone way too much.
Thoughts?

[Can of beans]

I just replaced the black tank in my 1972 Sovereign Center bath. Yours probably isn't a center bath, but if you have all the parts at the start of the project it didn't take that long. I think I would have been able to do it in about 4 hours if I had to do it again, and knew what parts I needed before I started.

If you do have a center bath I highly suggest you build a box to support the toilet like I did. I copied the idea from someone else on the forum. otherwise the tank supports the toilet and it will be cracked on top as well as the bottom. it's also a good time to switch to a Valterra valve so you can buy a common slinky and not have to use the fragile adapter.
Inca Tanks has the tanks you should need, and I thought it was reasonable for a tank they don't make very often.
I also changed out the toilet for a Dometic 310 at the time, I like it so far, but it sits a bit higher.

[Rroberts]

Thanks for sharing your experience and the amount of time it took you. I should have mentioned in the original post that it is a rear bath. We had one person quote us for 10 hours labor.
Not sure what the setup is on the middle bath, but on ours, the plate underneath the tank is totally rusted out and needs replacing. I assume that we'd need to fabricate a piece that size and weld it on to replace. We are new to working on these and I foresee double that time frame if we were to diy and triple the amount of expletives and tool throwing!



This trailer is so metal \m/

[sgschwend]

As an estimator for a maintenance contractor here is my guess:
Given the post above, lets estimate the cost:
Custom tank - $350 with optional parts, Vintage trailer supply
8 hours labor @ $100
Total $1150

new toilet cost, plus modifications for a box support are extra

[Rroberts]

Thanks so much! That's not far off from what we were quoted. This makes me feel so much better as the last thing we want is to get taken advantage of for our lack of experience.



This trailer is so metal \m/

[mandolindave]

Anytime there is a leak, there is possibility for other damage. ( rotten wood, rusty frame, nasty insulation etc )

[Rroberts]

I wouldn't be surprised if there were all of the above.....can of worms for sure.


This trailer is so metal \m/