Flagstaff Travel Trailer Fresh Water Tank Support

There’s an easy solution to the poorly supported fresh water tanks put on so many travel trailers. When the factory has a note in the manual that the trailer should never be moved with water in the tank, they know how puny the support it.

I had only filled my water tank one time and the side support toward the front of the trailer bowed. 

I went to Home Depot and bought 2 Superstrut 10 ft. 12-Gauge Half Slotted Metal Framing Strut Channel – Gold Galvanized $28.98, 4 Superstrut Channel to Beam Strut Clamp with U-Bolt – Silver Galvanized $4.35, and nylon lock nuts.

I was able to borrow an angle grinder and bench grinder with a brush. After cutting the strut with the angle grinder I cleaned all cut edges so they’d be safe to handle. 

To install the struts I had to remove the cross supports shown in the above pictures. I then started the nylon lock nuts on all 8 screws on the strut clamps. I placed the strut so it didn’t interfere with the low point drain on the tank, holding up both ends with plastic containers. Simply slide the clamps on the strut and hook the end on the trailer frame for all four clamps.

I tightened the nylon lock nuts as far as I could and then asked a friend to see if he couldn’t tighten them further. I didn’t want anything rattling off when going down the road. 

Since there’s nothing to stop the tank from sliding side to side (another reason to not drive with a full tank) I cut pressure treat boards that fit perfectly between the original support, drilled holes in the ends and used cable ties to attach them to the supports. No the tank doesn’t slide.

Easy install. The hardest part is cutting the strut.