Propane tank Mount question

2horsegarage · 10-03-2013, 07:06 PM

Did a search, didn't find anything right off...

I am looking for pics, and ideally a write-up about mounting a propane tank under my E250 so I can plumb my heater and stove without storing the propane inside. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Michael

Abitibi · 10-05-2013, 12:37 AM

Hi, sorry I can't really answer your question but you didn't mentioned if you already had a tank or not? These might work for you if you don't already have one.

http://www.busdepot.com/253070601d

Cheers
Mr. D

almathison · 10-05-2013, 01:43 AM

I installed the tank that Abitibi referred to on the drivers side. It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, and I ended up using these for mounts:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson-S...5#.Uk_CMhB2daQ

I'll take some pics tomorrow and post them here.

cheers,
Al

2horsegarage · 10-05-2013, 10:50 AM

Well... Is there a reason that I shouldn't use a "regular" propane tank?

**BroncoHauler** · 10-05-2013, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2horsegarage

Well... Is there a reason that I shouldn't use a "regular" propane tank?

Regular propane tanks, like that come with BBQs, cannot be mounted on their side. Mounting one of them vertically would be fairly tall, and would hang down quite a bit.

Herb

2horsegarage · 10-06-2013, 08:40 AM

That makes sense. Thanks!

Ford_6L_E350 · 10-06-2013, 10:30 AM

I had a p/u camper that used a regular propane tank. It was mounted in a box in the body, only accessible from the outside. I like the permanently mounted tank on my SMB.

Mike

almathison · 10-07-2013, 12:32 AM

I took a few photos of my tank installation. One just shows where it's located on the van, which is right behind the drivers door.

The other pic is a view looking forward above the tank. The Simpson tie-downs on the left were cut short and screwed into the sheet metal with a butt load of sheet metal screws. The one in the foreground on the right was bolted thru the frame. The support in the background on the right uses the emergency brake cable bracket, I just drilled a hole in it.

I did have to cut the horizontal tank brackets because the whole thing was a couple inches too wide.

As BroncoHauler noted you can't lay a vertical tank on its' side. That was going to be my approach when I first saw the price of these tanks. But because propane is liquid, the exit valve must be on top.

Cheers,
Al

dhally · 10-07-2013, 09:27 AM

It looks like one side of the mounting brackets are supported from the frame, and the other from the body? The body is mounted on the frame with rubber, is there any concern that the body might move different than the frame and put stress on the tank brackets?

dhally · 10-07-2013, 09:40 AM

I got the Sportsmobile tank, which appears to be custom made to fit on the driver's side of a Ford van. The mounting ears are designed to hang the tank from the floor with through-bolts. The rock guard is sized to fit in the space.

the valves are on the side and designed to work with the SMB access door.

I like it because the tank is tucked up out of harm's way, and the valves are accessible. We also have our electrical inlet under the cover.

The tank, regulator, and cover are available from Sportsmobile West and the prices are competitive. We got the bigger (10 gallon?) tank and it is overkill. But the smaller tank is the same diameter so it takes up about the same space.

If you have rear air conditioning I don't think the tank can be mounted here because the AC piping goes through the same area.