Water tanks

Sometimes it's just easier to have a heap of 2 litre soft drink bottles stashed strategically.
If you hole a water tank you lose the lot.

It all depends on how much outback stuff and travel you intend to do and how much space you want to take up... maybe permenantly.

I got two of the olive drab military type 20 litre water containers at a disposal store. They don't leak and are easy to pour from. They have two screw tops, one big & one small.

I have the same type of vehicle as you do, and I find that they'll stand behind the seat quite well.

Of course if you can get the proper military one, all the better. Sometimes they are available.

I also use plastic juice bottles put out by Berri for rain water. They are small enough to shove into tight places and if one does split and leak, what the hell?

Hi Ron and Lorraine

Questions, not answers. What amount of water do you want to carry? How will you fill it? How will you access it? Why not carry two or three 20 - 25 litre plastic jerry cans in the tray? This can be supplemented with collapsible 20 litre water cans which take up next to no space when packing, but can be used for times when extra water needs to be carried. Any spillage in the tray will be less damaging too.

Motherhen

We had an unsatisfactory experience with one of those bladder tanks - fairly expensive it was, too. Over $200 for 70 litres, if I recall correctly, but that was before the high dollar.

We put padding over anything sharp or hard that it might rub against (seat runners, etc) but that wasn't the problem.

We could not get rid of a kink in a crease - the water forced the thing to take a certain shape, creating the crease and kink. In transit the water sloshed about, working the crease and the kink and eventually the kink sprang a leak.

Not happy.

Frank

Hi Ron and Lorraine, I have a Triton cab/c and have a 60lt tank under the camping pod, might have a look to see if one would fit under the car instead of in it. They can be bought on ebay. But 2/20lt plastic containers would fit in the passenger area as they fitted in my old Triton twincab.
Andy

Thank you for your tips and also sharing your experiences. We will take all of your comments on board. Great ideas!

This might be what you are looking for.

http://www.dolium.com.au/Retail_Catalogue_page/WTP40FW_item.html?ref_cat_id=Water_(Poly)

They have a bunch of other poly tanks, some of which are designed to go upright in a utre tray.

Opposite lock stock their products but you may find other sites, including some online stores, that stock similar items.

Here is an online store:
http://poly.net.au/shop/vehicle-rv-4x4/water.html

Hullo Ron and Lorraine
The key question for me is how are you going to secure anything heavy in the cab so that in the admittedly unlikely (hopefully) event of an accident, they don't kill or seriously injure you.
My strong suggestion would be to put them in the tray - see www.enmachind.com.au (no affiillation) for a range of strong, food quality fitted tanks. We have one 65L tank with a sloped back that fits snuggly against the cargo barrier in the back of the LC and fitted a hose and tap.
Cheers
Andrew

Ron & Lorraine,
In my early 4wd days when money was very limited in my pocket I made a light plywood box into which I stacked 10L plastic containers. This was cheap, the box protected the light containers, the water was not all in one tank and it was easy to make to fit into my then Landrover. I still use 10L containers sometimes to top up my total capacity when going into dry regions. They are also much easier on the back when lifting out of a vehicle. 20kg vs 10kg.

cheers

Like a lot of others we started out with a couple of 10 litre plastic water containers and gradually after we worked out our own water usage either got rid of one or got a third.

Now we have a long range fuel tank under the car which also holds 55 litres of water is a separate chamber. We added a pump to raise the water to a convenient place near the tailgate. We still retained the standard low level outlet in case the pump failed, which it shouldn't as it really cost a quid. As an emergency we carry a 10 litre bottle in the car as well.

It will be a growing solution for you. Don't do any heavy or irreversible engineering until you are sure of what you want. A few plastic containers in the back may be all that you need.

Phil

Hi,
we have a Triton and have removed the rear seats and put a board in its place to increase storage. We use a Flexitank water bladder in the rear seat footwell. It holds 70 litres of water and the hose that comes with it is easy to use as long as you dont let the air get back into the hose.
It needs to be filled once inside the car so care is needed when filling. I use normal hose fittings to do this. The garden hose needs to be run for a while to clear the old water from it before filling the bladder.
As someone else suggested, it pays to pad the front seat floor runners.
It is a good aetup because the weight is kept to one of the lowest points in the car. We have used it twice, once into the Simpson Desert, without any problems.
Good luck finding your solution.

Hi Ron and Lorraine,

Strongly agree with what others have said - since you are new to this off road scene hold off doing any permanent installation until you have evolved your pattern of travelling and particularly your water use/needs. This may take a few trips, but thats OK. Finding out what works is half the fun of this type of travel.

If you plan to travel in outback areas you will find that the quality of water that you can get will vary a lot. You do not want to be putting it all in the one tank - not having all your eggs in one basket. For this reason we have several containers including 10 of 3l juice bottles which we fill at every opportunity, discarding poor quality water if something better is available. We also have a 20l container and a water tank in the trailer and have never been short of water.

Cheers,

Val

Hi Ron and Lorraine P,
I Fitted a 60 ltr caravan water tank vertically behind the passenger seats attached to a steel divider. I installed it vertically with a pump and could spray water 6 meters if required.
Being a plumber helps but it is not hard.You can put the pump on the floor and run a hose to the bottom of the tank through the top tank inlets.
It is handy in case of a fire and you can rig it up as a shower. The power was from the cig lighter and had no problems.
The only thing I can say against it is the sound of the water splashing in the tank going over sand dunes.