Hanger for black and gray water tank drains |
Post Reply | Page 12> |
Author | |
JR
Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2018 Location: Manistee, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 343 |
Topic: Hanger for black and gray water tank drains Posted: 31 May 2019 at 3:15pm |
Just got back (the first part of May) from a 2+ month trip. Went from Michigan to Florida to New Mexico and returned to Michigan (missing some of the cold weather). One very important thing that I picked up on the forum that saved me untold misery on this trip was that many people have had problems with the black water drain line becoming disconnected from its mounting bracket and then hitting the pavement while driving down the road, with all kinds of horror stories. Well this time I listened and in February in an unheated storage building in Michigan I installed two safety straps one on the gray water drain line and one on the black water drain line. After putting about 3000 miles on the new 179 my safety strap on the black water tank paid off!!!! The bolt broke holding and suspending the black water drain line, if I had not installed the safety strapping I would have been replacing the drain line after I had cleaned up the mess. What I found after examining the gray water drain line suspension (and thinking that both the black and gray water suspension were assembled the same way) is that 1) you have an "L" bracket secured to the frame with 2 self tapping screws (which was not a problem) 2) you also have a circular bracket that goes around the black water drain line and this bracket is tighten with a nut and bolt on the bottom of the circular bracket (which was not a problem). The problem occurs when joining these two brackets by a bolt and nut, when this bolt fails the two brackets separate, allowing the black water drain to hit the road and break. If the circular bracket was put on top of the "L" bracket and the nut and bolt installed then the weight of the circular bracket and the drain line would be supported by the "L" bracket (not just the bolt). The nut and bolt would just be used to keep the circular bracket from sliding off the supporting "L" bracket. I think that this should work just fine but I have not removed my safety straps on the black or gray water drain line. A big thank you to everyone that pointed out this problem....I can't remember (guess I just too old) if any solution was given to the problem other than the safety straps. I have passed on my suggestion to Forest River to change their assembly process. Maybe one less headache for us the end-users.
|
|
Jay
179/2019 |
|
SC for Huskers
Senior Member Joined: 22 Feb 2017 Location: Goose Creek, SC Online Status: Offline Posts: 144 |
Posted: 31 May 2019 at 3:52pm |
Prior to winter, I found where the brackets are bent at a 90 d angle, (1/2" from the bolt) out right broke off. Replaced all of it with hanger strap. Looking at the bold didnt do me any good. Would advise everyone to make a backup and place it next to the existing one.
|
|
Happy Traveling,
Tom 2017 172pod 2011 F150 STX |
|
PilotPodder
Senior Member Joined: 04 May 2016 Location: Portage, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 305 |
Posted: 31 May 2019 at 7:56pm |
Glad to hear the simple hanger fix saved you major trouble. I learned the hard way, but haven't had any issues since fixing it. Along with the hanger strap I used a longer bolt and locking nut and they have never loosened in thousands of miles now. All the best!
|
|
Portage, MI — 2017 RPod 179 - sold / 2017 Toyota Tundra — My RPod YouTube Videos
|
|
mjlrpod
Senior Member Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Location: Massachusetts Online Status: Offline Posts: 1214 |
Posted: 01 Jun 2019 at 8:45am |
My 172 has both the grey and black drain in one single drain pipe. I love that setup not only because it is not necessary to change the hose over to dump both, but, the two help hold each other up, and rely less on the inferior strap. I am thinking of getting a 195 in the next year or so, once they become more available, (I can't even find a place near by to just look at it), and I will have the 2 drain pipe system on that model I believe. I'll make up a nice clamp system at that time. One advantage of being a machine shop instructor, I have access to machines, materials, and student labor.
|
|
2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
|
rpod190
Groupie Joined: 07 Apr 2019 Location: Illinois Online Status: Offline Posts: 45 |
Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 11:17am |
On our maiden voyage to colorado, OUR black tank strap broke. The strap is actually a hurricane tie-down used to hold the wooden frame in place. There are many of them along the chasis. RPOD chose to use one of them as a blank tank holder strap. The problem is when 5-6 gallons of water sits in the 3" black tank pipe, it now weighs 50+ pounds and eventually breaks the strap!!! Its not a matter of IF, but WHEN as the 3" pipe fills up if your taking a long trip and the water settles there as it will. You need to add your OWN strap because the hurricane strap they used is NOT rated to carry the load of the 3" pipe once it is filled with water!!!!!!! Hope this helps MANY people !!!!!!! RPOD needs a design change to actually add a strap capable of holding 70lbs minimum!!! |
|
Wynnster
|
|
wthoms2000
Groupie Joined: 06 May 2017 Location: Costa Mesa, CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 44 |
Posted: 18 Oct 2019 at 8:12am |
Porta Poddy
Wil and Luz, Orange County, CA 2017.5 179 HRE 2021 Ranger XLT FX4 REDARC Brake Controller |
|
JR
Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2018 Location: Manistee, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 343 |
Posted: 18 Oct 2019 at 4:00pm |
I can't get the link to work???
|
|
Jay
179/2019 |
|
Motor7
Senior Member Joined: 09 Jan 2019 Location: E. TN Online Status: Offline Posts: 196 |
Posted: 20 Oct 2019 at 6:20pm |
My Black tank line drain bolt also snapped. I had used heavy duty zip ties as back up and it held. Going to put a HD steel strap on there now and leave the zip tie as redundant.
|
|
2016 R-Pod 176T
|
|
StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6283 |
Posted: 20 Oct 2019 at 7:00pm |
My solution was to take a piece of strap aluminum and bend it around the pipe. Then I gave the legs a quarter twist and attached them to the frame. Since the loop is not physically attached to the pipe, the pipe can move in it without continually bending and flexing the support. After having not just one, but two of the factory designed hangers fail, I did not want there to be a third time. The excuse is that "it is industry standard." If the "industry standard" keeps failing, it needs to be changed to something that will work. Why not use something that can flex and yet be strong enough to support the weight. Alternately, why not put the valve right next to the tank outlet and have an empty tube being supported by the hanger? Then the weak support would not be such an issue.
|
|
StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
|
tcj
Senior Member Joined: 05 Jul 2018 Location: Central WA Online Status: Offline Posts: 140 |
Posted: 21 Oct 2019 at 10:12am |
Strap made from some 3/16" thick conveyor belt. |
|
2018 R-pod 180 Hood River Edition
|
|
Post Reply | Page 12> |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |