Toy Hauler drawbar toolbox mount mod:

[Drover]

@crustt makes a good point. In NSW you are supposed to get a gas cert after any plumbing mods and that includes disconnecting a reg

Yeah like that happens, I doubt if anybody would even know..............but for changing a regulator ????? surely not.

I have seen vans that the bottles are only held by straps, sitting in half racks and strapped in with dinky fibreglass hood over them. I don't think they would last long out in the weather, a bit of dirt, add water and worn thru quick smart.

Nobody has complemented you @nawill on your tyre carrier, very neat , hope you never have to use it........

 

[nawill]

Ha ha...
Thanks @Drover
The gas has kind of overshadowed the spare tyre mount.... I thought that was the highlight too!

Thanks all for your comments, all advice has been taken on board. Im about halfway through reading the explosion thread, I will be getting a gas detector, and a gas fitter will be doing the connection for my gas heater.

The 2015 expander have cylinders mounted in a plastic box from factory, it can be requested as an extra on the WnP too.....
I reckon mine is better

 

[mfexpanda]

On the silverline do Jayco put a light in the boot?

No

 

[crustt]

That 250 kg rated tie down strap plus the 150x50 rhs chassis and the standard gas cylinder mount plate sit under the cylinder.... I'm satisfied.

Many caravans have the cylinders mounted in the boot, but I think they have a bulkhead in there to divide the cylinder from other gear.... ?
New ones do, but I'm pretty sure I have seen older ones that don't.?

I can only go by what I can see in the pictures, but you may want to rethink that strap, it may well be rated to 250kg but I don't think the way it is connected to the box wall is. To me it looks a though it would not take much force to rip the nut and bolt or whatever it is out of the wall of the box.

If you were to move the bottles back to their original position you use the original clamps to hold the bottles in place, only needs a couple of holes in the bottom of the box to drop down and connect them in the original position.

 

[pauljygrant]

My previous 2011 Swan just had the gas bottle secured with 1 strap, simply screwed to the wall of the boot; and the bottle sat into a moulded plastic base to help retain its place. Like many others, I added further tie downs to secure the bottle in the form of jamming stuff into the dedicated bottle side of the boot!

 

[nawill]

I can only go by what I can see in the pictures, but you may want to rethink that strap, it may well be rated to 250kg but I don't think the way it is connected to the box wall is. To me it looks a though it would not take much force to rip the nut and bolt or whatever it is out of the wall of the box.

If you were to move the bottles back to their original position you use the original clamps to hold the bottles in place, only needs a couple of holes in the bottom of the box to drop down and connect them in the original position.

Check out the plastic buckles on the straps retaining the cylinders in a brand new silverline, and consider the function of the strap when the cylinder is already retained by the box/boot of the van.....

 

[crustt]

The boot of the van is a lot stronger than a 1.6to 2 mm thick checker-plate box.

As far as the plastic buckles on the strap.........as much as I love my Jayco some of the things they do are a little suspect and that looks like one of them, I'd like to think that any mod done is above the standard Jayco sets.
But my comment had to do with the fact that the strap may be rated to 250kg but the fixing is not anywhere near that, breeching staple would be a better way to attach webbing to the wall.
The reason I would be cautious, if in accident of some kind the bottles may break out of the straps, what happens then?

 

[Dobbie]

Nobody here is hypercritical!

The box looks great and so does the relocation of the spare.

Just because Jayco have fitted the gas bottles in a way on one model doesn't mean it will be super safe on another with different mountings and straps, clips etc.

Our concern is with safety and any suggestions made are in the interests of safety...yours, in particular.

I'd certainly take on board the suggestions made to increase that safety from members who have done a lot of modifications and also done a lot of towing.

I get really hot under the collar when I see some travellers who carry gas bottles in what I consider to be totally unsafe conditions...on their sides, hanging off roof racks with bits of string etc. they compromise their own safety and others around them. Have you seen what happens when a gas bottle works loose when carried? I have and it scares the hell out of me.

Not suggesting you are doing the same but, with a little more adjustment to your design and implementation, you can achieve a high level of safety and not worry about it...ever!

 

[dagree]

Well said @Dobbie and totally agree!

Have you seen what happens when a gas bottle works loose when carried?

Yes but the bottle was stationary and got knocked over..... a large industrial bottle.... I won't go into details but lets just say seeing grown men running with skin literately melting from arms and legs is a sight that doesn't get wiped easily from the old memory bank!!!! Even after 30+ years since it happened!

@nawill I have a similar setup to yours but used the original metal holders braced underneath back to the original mounting brackets... Can almost see them in the attached!

 

[nawill]

The boot of the van is a lot stronger than a 1.6to 2 mm thick checker-plate box.

As far as the plastic buckles on the strap.........as much as I love my Jayco some of the things they do are a little suspect and that looks like one of them, I'd like to think that any mod done is above the standard Jayco sets.
But my comment had to do with the fact that the strap may be rated to 250kg but the fixing is not anywhere near that, breeching staple would be a better way to attach webbing to the wall.
The reason I would be cautious, if in accident of some kind the bottles may break out of the straps, what happens then?

They might move inside the box..... ......But not far as they are packed in by the rest of the gear

....Do you think a 9kg cylinder is going to punch through the checker plate box and go rolling down the road?
Inside the box is arguably safer from impact than exposed on the drawbar if that is your issue.

You must love these gas cylinder mounts for roof racks

 

[nawill]

Well said @Dobbie and totally agree!


Yes but the bottle was stationary and got knocked over..... a large industrial bottle.... I won't go into details but lets just say seeing grown men running with skin literately melting from arms and legs is a sight that doesn't get wiped easily from the old memory bank!!!! Even after 30+ years since it happened!

@nawill I have a similar setup to yours but used the original metal holders braced underneath back to the original mounting brackets... Can almost see them in the attached!
View attachment 37672

That is a nice set-up....
Any reason you chose a single line over the twin?
EDIT: just saw you have the 2way valve mounted, but no pig tails......
My local gas bloke sells stainless braided lines in a range of lengths at relatively low cost, much better than having hard copper lines getting moved/bent/bumped all the time and fatigueing the joints/rubbing through the grommet in the box....

The stock mounts can't be used in my set up anyway, as there is not enough room to lift them out vertically, hence a soft mount is essential.

I can also assure you I have seen far more gas cylinder incidents and mva's than the average joe, and am fully aware of what happens in car crashes and gas fires.
I'm satisfied with the security of the cylinders, and am confident it far exceeds the standard shown on many other factory set-ups.

Thanks for the feedback, if you guys want to inspect it in person, you better bring a 6pack

 

[dagree]

Any reason you chose a single line over the twin?

It is a twin reg... Pic was taken before being finished!

The stock mounts can't be used in my set up anyway, as there is not enough room to lift them out vertically, hence a soft mount is essential.

Just went back and had a relook...... See what you mean!

you better bring a 6pack

Would take you up on the offer but............ They'd be a bit warm by the time I got there

 

[nawill]

It is a twin reg... Pic was taken before being finished!

Sorry, missed that.... See edit above

The benefit of the set-up I have is that I can still change out a cylinder, and have full access to the toolbox with the bed end down.

 

[dagree]

The benefit of the set-up I have is that I can still change out a cylinder, and have full access to the toolbox with the bed end down.

Would have loved to have done the same but could only fit a 500mm high box on ours

 

[bigcol]

I have the same box as @dagree but only 1 gas bottle
as you can sort of see, I fed the original holder down through the base of the box, onto the original mounting brackets
I also put a small" wall" around it to keep the gas bottle clear of things likely to hit / strike / bump / be to close too etc



I like the idea of the straps,
but
as a rigger / crane driver - I personally wouldnt use them

however, I like your tyre carrier, and love the taller box

personally, I would re think the way you have the bottle being held

you could put a metal holder in that has the hinge that opens up to get the bottle


or a total re-design of your idea

 

[bigcol]

as @Dobbie said, we are not "poohoo-ing" your idea
we, as a community bounce ideas around to find a better or easier or safer way of doing things

constructive criticisms are just that
constructive

negative criticisms, would be along the lines of - you cannot do that - "why?" - because............

my $0.05 worth

as I said, I personally dont like straps,
but they seem to be legal - as you pointed out with the gas bottle holder for a roof rack (which is NOT in a box by the way)
or the new design by Jayco, and probably other manufacturers

however
one step back for a second
you can legally buy 80% tint for your car - you just cannot fit it
you can legally buy stickers that go across the top of your windscreen (that say anything you want) - but you can get busted for them by Mr Plod - and he is just doing his job... btw............ no disrespect for our uniformed members intended

if you have

I can also assure you I have seen far more gas cylinder incidents and mva's than the average joe, and am fully aware of what happens in car crashes and gas fires.
I'm satisfied with the security of the cylinders, and am confident it far exceeds the standard shown on many other factory set-ups.

then I can only guess that you have been involved in a thorough Accident investigation at some time, and also noted the safety aspects of each point in the chain of reactions
and the answer is always erred on the side of "worst case scenario"

the strap may be rated to 250kgs to tie down
whats the G force rating on the aluminum
how many Newton meters of force is applied to a 9Kg gas bottle moving at 90Kms /p/h when the box & van suddenly stop........


as I said, we are trying to be helpful, and thinking outside our own worlds..................

 

[Meanderthals]

@dagree & @bigcol, I think that you will find that us WnP owners have an advantage of sorts here in that our front beds are higher up and that's why we can fit a taller box. AFAIK we have a smaller front bed than general Expanda's. Don't know if this applies to Basestations as well. I wondered about this when I saw earlier mods where Expanda owners were modifying their storage boxes to level up the front and use alternate mattresses that weren't different thicknesses but ours was almost level as is.

 

[dagree]

Yeah @PhilD would have loved the extra height on the expanda bed ends to allow for a similar box that @nawill has. I get enough leverage on our lid to get the skinny arms in to change over the regulator and gas bottle valves if needed (Just need to remember to remove everything needed for a stopover before dropping the bed!!)

 

[Dobbie]

I don't want to get into a clash of ideas here so will refrain from further comment except to say the gas bottle I saw come off a vehicle was supposedly held on by a strap, not checked for ages, and it was a lethal missile then, when it hit the road, the valve burst and a danger to all within surrounding area.

I don't muck around with gas. Near enough is not good enough, as said.

 

[Meanderthals]

It seems that @nawill has a better one that us in being more accessible with the bed down but unfortunately it was the only one available at the time to get fitted prior to our picking it up. Now that we have the gas bottles outside the box again and are taking the Honda genny I really need a slide out on one side for accessing it. Another mod coming up I guess. Does it never cease?