# How to Tie Down this Big Liquid tank HELPPPPPP!!



## Plow man Foster (Dec 10, 2010)

Ok well recently my Cousin called me asking me if i knew of a way to tie down this 550 gallon liquid tank in his truck! I went over there yesterday and the tank has no tie down points!
He has a big GMC or Chevy on or the other Over sized trucks 
he found the tank on ebay for $50 which is a steal!
(still waiting for it to explode)Thumbs Up

I imagine 2 heave duty tie downs should be fine since its gonna be like 5000 punds PLUS full!

Does anyone know how to tie one of these down???
heres a pic of the tank


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## tuney443 (Jun 25, 2006)

Seems to me there might be 4 threaded holes underneath the 4 bottom ''feet''.If not, very simple---get 2 3'' or 4'' strap ratcheting binders that are DOT approved and secure them evenly spaced over the tank to some beefy anchoring points on the truck.Probably doesn't have a baffle in that tank so tell him to allow plenty of room for stopping with anything less than a full tank and to slow down in the turns.


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## AJ 502 (Dec 31, 2010)

Build some type of railing around it (tight). 2 ratchet straps. Is it going to be on a trailer or truck?


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## BSDeality (Dec 5, 2005)

the two grooves on either side of the tank opening are for stainless steel straps you can get at a supply house. you could use 2/3" webbed straps. I'd recommend the 10k lb 3" type. as mentioned half loads are more dangerous than full loads in a tank that size.


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## Plow man Foster (Dec 10, 2010)

Its going in a GMC 8' Bed with a liquid setup behind it....
So what we are at so far is we put piece of wood thats like 5inches wide and like 3 ft long infront of the tank so it doesnt slide into the trucks back window in the worst case. 
Then we have one strap pulling it to the front of the truck just holding it on from the lip of the 9" inlet. (on the top)

Safe not at all but its not going anywhere.....
Still thinking of what we're going to do!
Hes not gonna drill wholes in the bed though!


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## spiviter (Oct 31, 2004)

I have 2" angle Iron bolted to the bed and 2 2" straps over the top in the goves by the legs to hold it in place.


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## forestfireguy (Oct 7, 2006)

GMC 8 ft bed??? What kind of chassis? 5K is a big payload(especially sloshing around) for a pickup. I ran a 220 Gallon unit in a Ford F350 PU for a season, dedicated to a site and when it was half full the sway and surge when braking was not fun........Hope it's a bigger truck if you're planning to road it from site to site. Is is a water tank? If so you may have even more issues depending upon what liquid you put in it, some de-icers weight ALOT more per gallon than water.


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## Mark Witcher (Feb 21, 2004)

They are designed to have a strap over the top of the tank right over each leg. Usually bolted down through the bed of the truck. I have the same tank on my truck. But mine is mounted on a steel channel skid frame, which is bolted down to the truck bed.


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## Plow man Foster (Dec 10, 2010)

forestfireguy;1200686 said:


> GMC 8 ft bed??? What kind of chassis? 5K is a big payload(especially sloshing around) for a pickup. I ran a 220 Gallon unit in a Ford F350 PU for a season, dedicated to a site and when it was half full the sway and surge when braking was not fun........Hope it's a bigger truck if you're planning to road it from site to site. Is is a water tank? If so you may have even more issues depending upon what liquid you put in it, some de-icers weight ALOT more per gallon than water.


Yeah the truck is a Kodiak it can handle it! 
I took a ride with it to spray full to empty it wasnt bad! 
Sloshing didnt effect anything!
Fully loaded it just felt like we were pulling a heavy @$$ Trailer but other than that... no problems


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## tuney443 (Jun 25, 2006)

Plow man Foster;1200661 said:


> Its going in a GMC 8' Bed with a liquid setup behind it....
> So what we are at so far is we put piece of wood thats like 5inches wide and like 3 ft long infront of the tank so it doesnt slide into the trucks back window in the worst case.
> Then we have one strap pulling it to the front of the truck just holding it on from the lip of the 9" inlet. (on the top)
> 
> ...


The wooden cradle is a good idea,I should have mentioned that.DOT rules state that you must have at least 2 anchoring points for your load.As I said,use 2 straps,you can come straight down into the anchors that you will have to drill through the box floor.Remember,the floor is only sheetmetal so you will at the very least need to put at least say a homemade 1/8'' or thicker 8'' x8'' washer under the bed for rigidity.Please do not say
''Safe not at all but its not going anywhere.....'',I might know somebody in your part of the world.That tank can very easily kill someone with all that sloshing heavy weight if it's not properly tethered.


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## Plow man Foster (Dec 10, 2010)

tuney443;1200706 said:


> The wooden cradle is a good idea,I should have mentioned that.DOT rules state that you must have at least 2 anchoring points for your load.As I said,use 2 straps,you can come straight down into the anchors that you will have to drill through the box floor.Remember,the floor is only sheetmetal so you will at the very least need to put at least say a homemade 1/8'' or thicker 8'' x8'' washer under the bed for rigidity.Please do not say
> ''Safe not at all but its not going anywhere.....'',I might know somebody in your part of the world.That tank can very easily kill someone with all that sloshing heavy weight if it's not properly tethered.


this is his toy/ work truck he's not gonna want me drilling holes in the bed!

I think what i'll do is build a wooden box to go around it then 2 straps over the top of the tank then 2 straps holding is in the middle 
-one pulling it forward
- one pulling it backwards
-------------------------------
6 10k ratchet straps should do the trick!


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## Kubota 8540 (Sep 25, 2009)

The 2 grooves molded in the tank are for a steel hoop set. Most are either pipe or straps. It appears your tank requires the pipe type hoops. They have a plate that extends away from the tank approx 3" and are then bolted down to the bed. Rachet straps slide easily on the plastic tanks, add snow or moisture? To cheaply eliminate 90% of the slosh, add corrugated drainage tubing to the tank. I used the non-perforated type which I cut into pieces approx 2' long and filled the tank with them. It will displace very little liquid and is amazing how much slosh it will reduce and/or eliminate. It takes approx 100' of drainage tubing per 100 gallons of tank, but is far cheaper than buying the baffle balls or surge preventers. This is a link to find the hoop set. http://www.tank-depot.com/productsearch.aspx?search=hoop+set


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