Holding Tank Placement in Vintage AS

[Vernation]

"Vern' -

It sounds like you've gotten some incorrect info. "


I'll say! I have discovered my black tank--I wasn't expecting it to be all the way in the tail section--I was expecting it to be nearer the axle...

And the dimensions of my fresh water tank seem too large to only hold 15 gallons (I think that's what I read...)



I'm thinking that we will be pulling the floor out (yikes). So now is my chance to "improve" things.

I'm hoping to put solar in and so will need space for batteries, so I was contemplating the best position for them.
Also, I would like to maximize the fresh and grey capacities. Placing new tanks centered and as near to the axle as possible seems like the way to avoid funky weight distribution problems.
I just want to avoid making poor decisions due to not knowing what I don't know.

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by Vernation

"Vern' -

It sounds like you've gotten some incorrect info. "


I'll say! I have discovered my black tank--I wasn't expecting it to be all the way in the tail section--I was expecting it to be nearer the axle...

And the dimensions of my fresh water tank seem too large to only hold 15 gallons (I think that's what I read...)



I'm thinking that we will be pulling the floor out (yikes). So now is my chance to "improve" things.

I'm hoping to put solar in and so will need space for batteries, so I was contemplating the best position for them.
Also, I would like to maximize the fresh and grey capacities. Placing new tanks centered and as near to the axle as possible seems like the way to avoid funky weight distribution problems.
I just want to avoid making poor decisions due to not knowing what I don't know.

Not sure about others, but we rarely travel with anything much in the black tank. It usually gets dumped on the way out of the campground. Doesn't matter all that much where it is if you are not driving down the road with it.

[Hittenstiehl]

Well, if your Safari had not been previously modified your black tank should have been under the toilet/bath area. Some are partially over the floor and some are totally under the floor. Trying to remember the 65 Safari layout, bathroom in the back?

[Vernation]

The bath is in the rear with the tank directly under the toilet (under the floor) against the back wall.


Richard5933: You have a point that I never really thought about: the practice of always running with the grey/black tank empty-- so the weight it contributes to the balance isn't significant.


The fresh water tank is the one that is more likely to have something in it (although I've read that most people don't travel with it full either).
So as long as I place the new fresh water tank forward of the axle (or even split it to either side of the axle if I want to take into account battery weight near the tongue), the balance of everything shouldn't be too crazy.


Thanks for all the insights!

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by Vernation

The bath is in the rear with the tank directly under the toilet (under the floor) against the back wall.


Richard5933: You have a point that I never really thought about: the practice of always running with the grey/black tank empty-- so the weight it contributes to the balance isn't significant.


The fresh water tank is the one that is more likely to have something in it (although I've read that most people don't travel with it full either).
So as long as I place the new fresh water tank forward of the axle (or even split it to either side of the axle if I want to take into account battery weight near the tongue), the balance of everything shouldn't be too crazy.


Thanks for all the insights!

Depending on placement of the freshwater tank, it can actually benefit stability running with it full or partially full. The concentrated weight down low, in the correct location re: fore/aft can provide a well to keep the COG centered where it belongs. Done correctly it will not affect tongue weight that much and will still permit the 10-15% on the tongue.

On ours, we travel with as much water as we can without putting us over on any numbers, especially when we are going somewhere which doesn't have water at the site - like the rally we're attending in a week.

[57Vintage]

With your decision making on tanks, also keep in mind routing your drain lines. I wanted to keep my lines hidden to maintain the original look. That added issues in running lines beside tanks.



I have 4 tanks in the belly pan. Starting at the rear: black, grey, grey, FW. Black and grey are the black rectangles, blue is FW. There is a space between each tank to allow access to plumbing connections, etc. The drain is at the back, instead of the side. I also have a second FW tank at the front on top of the floor under the banquette (original position). It drains to the under floor FW tank that is close to the water pump.



Just a suggestion if you are adding more electrical you might want to consider running some of it in the belly pan to minimize the alterations to cabinetry. I ran some pvc conduit in the belly pan to run wiring around the trailer. PVC junction boxes are mounted flush to the subfloor to bring wires up into cabinets/mechanical systems.



That last photo also shows the black and 2 grey water tanks in place.

fyi: Frame is only 4" tall on my 58.

[Vernation]

@57Vintage: Those tanks look like a perfect fit--did you have them custom built?

[57Vintage]

They are off the shelf tanks from Vintage Trailer Supply for the GW and FW in the belly. They are currently out of stock. Note they also have one the same size, but 5" tall (in stock). These are both food grade polyethylene so they can be used for fresh water.

https://www.vintagetrailersupply.com...-tank-vts-851/

The black water tank was from VTS also. It is a stock Airstream tank, but one end is 6.5" deep. I made a change to our bathroom floor to accommodate the height and ordered it with no sensors or top holes, just the drain opening on the side. Word of caution the bottom shape is complex and a bear to support

https://www.vintagetrailersupply.com...9-73-vts-1070/

I added the vent line and drain line (bath sink and toilet combined, macerating toilet) afterwards.

This BW tank is symetrical and would be easier to support. It the same size, 19 gallons.

https://www.vintagetrailersupply.com...64-68-vts-937/

Suggest you look at our thread for more the detail. (link below)

Happy to help, let me know if you have more questions, so I can help you avoid some mistakes I made.

[Vernation]

So I pulled my black tank yesterday. Here is Airstream's set up:


(As I said before, my frame is only 5" deep). In the area where the black tank was installed, they had added two inches of metal below the frame. The tank was surrounded by a galvanized box which had a two inch thick piece of styrofoam at the bottom and also had a small duct from the furnace going to it. The tank sat just below the floor with the styrofoam insulating it from below.



It looks like they were trying to make it more cold weather friendly. I would definitely like to do three season camping, possibly pushing the edges of that. Water and a toilet are pretty important to me.


Yet, I wasn't planning to put it back this way (all appliances are going to be replaced). The camper is small enough that I thought ductwork for a furnace is somewhat overkill. I could be completely wrong about this.



Have any of you done special things to insulate your tanks? Surely some of you camp in colder weather?

[Tom_T]

I think that most vintage Airstreams pre-1980 were only 4" frames (maybe some with 5") - whereas Avion, Silver Streak & other contemporary Vintage Kin "Silver Twinkies" were 5" deep frames - & some/many like Avion also ran an extra 3rd frame rail down the middle - so tanks on them were split L & R of it.

I think that the 5" tank at VTS noted above by 57Vintage was one made for the Kin & some AS with 5" frames or doing the "belly bulge" to fit more capacity.

Check with Steve H at VTS about when he thinks that he can get the 4" AS tanks that are listed out of stock right now.

All trailer & car parts new & old/vintage/classic are messed up due to COVID, supply chain problems, production problems & interruptions/closures, etc. China parts have the added problem of US Embargo side-effects.

In Feb 2020 our `88 Westfalia van fried its ECU & we had to wait 14 months to get one in Mar 2021 to get the car running again.

Good Luck with your build Vern' - but remember to "winterize" between your extended-3-season camping because the insulation & FAU duct won't help much when parked if the temp drops below freezing.

Cheers!
Tom
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