Howdy Fellas, I don't post much here but I am in need of some help. I have a F-350 and I got the V-10 engine which has been great up here in Fairbanks AK. I am a military guy and I have a need to haul drinking water to my home in the hills. I am going to purchase a pick-up truck water tank in either a 300 to about a 400 gallon size tank.

I did some rough math and I understand that a gallon of water is about 8 pounds.

Can anyone steer me the right direction as to how much is to much to be hauling on a bi-weekly basis. I am wondering if the 400 gallon tank will be to much wear and tear on the truck with water sloshing around and what not.

For that matter is the smaller 300 or 325 gallon tank a better choice.

Any opinions are welcome. You'd be helping a Soldier out!

Thank You!

 

hey there,
water is 8# per gallon.

I've never had to haul water in such a big tank. I've done a 100 gallon tank before, and there is sloshing around, especially if the tank isn't filled to the brim.

But something I've heard from a few people--mainly Landscapers--is that water sloshing around in a big tank, making braking harder on the truck, will be worse than if you have a bunch of little tanks sloshing water around. There's some physics involved in why that works, but...

 

I haul a 400 gal tank sometimes in the summer. When it sloshes, you can feel it kind of like a rocking motion. I have never noticed any problem braking, or hauling it. I have a V10 too. Only problems I ever had were, a hold down strap broke once as I was going up an incline and it slid into my tail gate, putting a nice dent on the inside of the gate. The tie downs bent out of shape due to sliding too.

 

To be exact water is 8.34lb per gallon. We have people around here that have 1000 gallon tanks they haul but the big thing is the sloshing but most have said that it does not cause any problems just have to drive carefully as with any heavy load.

 

You might be able to haul more water safer if you got a trailer. Then you could get a 1000 gal tank and only make one trip per week. Fuel savings would pay for the trailer after some time depending on how far you are driving.

 

our local VFD has a F350 7.3L with a flatbed as a grassfire rig. on the flatbed they have a 150 gallon tank and a transfer pump with 40ft of 2in hose. all that is on the bed.


then a local rancher has a 300 gallon tanker trailer he used for fertilizer that he hauls around with a dodge 1500 or ford f-250 (w/ the 5.4 i believe).

i know it doesn't really matter but this is what the guys trailer looks like... I dont what the appx. this one if the pic is but this is his setup. so i think you'll be alright with 400gallons

http://www.kbhequipment.com/Liquid_F...se_Trailer.htm

 

First thing I would recommend is looking on your door sticker to see what your GVW is. Then weigh your truck as you normally drive it and subtract that weight from your GVW. This will tell you how big of a payload you can put in the bed.

For example my trucks GVW is 11500 it weight about 8000 so my max payload is 3500lbs. So a 400 gallon tank would put me right around my max GVW (400x8.34=3336).

Whatever you do be sure to fill your tank up as full as possible, to reduce the amount of sloshing that occurs. For example don't buy a 400 gallon tank and only put 350 gallons in it so you aren't overweight. Instead buy a 300 gallon tank and fill it to the top, you will just have to make trips more often.

 

Your F350 will haul all the water you want for years to come. I currantly have an F250 super duty 7.3 and haul water with a 300 gal tank in the box. Just be sure to fill the tank to the top every time and be sure to use heavy duty ratchet straps to anckor the tank to the box. When I haul water I make 2 trips a day until my 2000 gal. in ground tank is full. Before I got the super duty I had an 1988 F150 with extra leaf springs to handle the load and used that for 10 years. The only problem with that was the 5 liter engine was way under powered for that type of work. Thats why I got a super duty. When the tank is full the suspention drops about 3 inches. While you can feel the weight in the back the truck handles it with ease. Just be sure to alow extra distance for stopping. Stock brakes are ok for light loads. You may want to upgrade to better rotors and pads.

 

Like mentioned above, make sure the tank is slam full. If not, then look into getting a baffled tank that will greatly minimize the water sloshing around.

 

with that much weight you should be looking at anchors that attach to te frame not to the bed sheetmetal is not strong enough unless you go with 6 or 8 tiedown points

 

Yes make sure the tank is tied down secure and full to the top. I have hauled 500 gal of stove oil in my 97 F350 dueing 70 mph on ice roads. Just be sure to slow down ahead of time and do not drive too fast. Pottable water tanks need to be open and not baffle so they can be cleaned.

 

You will be fine with a 400 gallon tank. Last year I hauled a 400 g tank to haul water for livestock about every other day. the more you have if filled, the less sloshing...OVER half full. Under half full...just the opposite. The idea of alot of little tanks make less sloshing is also true. less cubic area for the water to move around in. EVen with alot of little tanks, the cubic area is still less than that one very large one. I would just always fill to the top...and the only feel I got was the extra weight in stopping and off the line performance. Just give yourself more stopping room.

 

Your truck will haul that load without trouble.

Save yourself a lot of grief and buy a baffled tank, and fill as suggested. Potable water is about 8.2lbs/gallon (sea water is 8.34 lbs/gallon as posted above).

DO NOT tie the tank to the tie points in the bed corners. Remove the bed bolts, and attach some big hardpoints to them. I'll take it on faith that you have a ready supply up there. You may have to buy longer bolts to accommodate the eyes. Be sure to buy grade 8. We have found that Kroil or PB Blaster applied before removing the bed bolts helps, and we always are generous with the anti-seize when we replace them.

Be sure to post pictures! Good luck.

 

Ok, sorry for being totally off subject here, but after reading the last post, I had to go pull out the old Fluid Mechanics text book to check my memory.

Saturated, liquid water at 60F does weight approximately 8.34lbs/gallon.

Sea water weights approximately 8.57lbs/gallon.

 

with the company I used to work with we frequently towed a water wagon " 500 gallon drum" that was made into a trailor. these were made with electric brakes to help at stops. I seen a F250 4x4 get pushed into a intersection by a 3/4 full trailor like this due to the back and forth fluid motion. this was because the guy did not have the electric brake hooked to his truck. point I'm trying to make is these trucks have no trouble pulling the wieght but stopping it takes a little help. after this accident we were made to haul the water either empty or full to the rim.