Tank Rack in back of truck?

[J_glenn06]

Hey all i am thinking about building some sort of tank carrier for the back of my truck for when i go diving. I will need to be abel to take it out when i need to. The tanks will be my set of doubles, 2 al 40s and some Al 80s. With The 80s will be for open water students also. So i am looking for something that i can use for my cave diving and tech diving but also use to carry open water students tanks. I would like for the tanks to stand up so i could have a little room for other gear. But i guess they could lay down also (just put the gear on top of them. So my question is anyone have or had something like this for travel? If so could you tell me about it or post pictures so i can have an idea at what im looking towards? Or should i just talk to the owner of the store i work at and get a small tralier lol? Thanks

This might work what do you guys think?

http://www.pvcplans.com/scuba.htm

Joseph

[JahJahwarrior]

I had a tank rack...then I bolted boards to the sides of the bed and strapped my doubles upright to it...then I took those out and just lay everything down int he bed. If you want to save space, stack them all on top of each other near the cab, then you still have bed room for other stuff. No need for a trailer, especially with that few of tanks. I've carried up to 15 tanks in the bed stacked at the cab with plenty of room for everything else.

[Sludge]

How difficult are you trying to make this? You can make racks like in my trailer in about an hour with a couple of 2x4s, a sabersaw, and a box of eye screws from Lowe's.

If you want to save space, stack them all on top of each other near the cab, then you still have bed room for other stuff. No need for a trailer, especially with that few of tanks. I've carried up to 15 tanks in the bed stacked at the cab with plenty of room for everything else.

It's illegal to transport gas cylinders horizontally. If a DOT official sees you riding down the road, expect a hefty fine. (Or do you have a cover on your truck bed?)

[J_glenn06]

How difficult are you trying to make this? You can make racks like in my trailer in about an hour with a couple of 2x4s, a sabersaw, and a box of eye screws from Lowe's.






It's illegal to transport gas cylinders horizontally. If a DOT official sees you riding down the road, expect a hefty fine. (Or do you have a cover on your truck bed?)

Do you have pictures of your whole trailer setup? Im kinda liking the deal you got going on. For my plesure and soon to be my open water students.

[JahJahwarrior]

Russell- We've been pulled over before (my buddy was driving, and he was weaving back and forth while joking about how he was so worn out he couldn't drive straight, and someone called us in thinking he was drunk) and the officer didn't say a thing. I do have a cover, but I don't use it much (hard topper, cuts down on mpg), and my buddy has no cover.


It's definitely better to strap them down vertically and all, safer if you get in an accident.

[Sludge]

Not by a cop. A DOT Enforcement Officer. They ride around mainly enforcing tractor-trailer laws.

[amphipod06]

Not by a cop. A DOT Enforcement Officer. They ride around mainly enforcing tractor-trailer laws.

Russell,

I believe those rules apply to commercial transport of compressed gas cylinders and transport of compressed gas cylinders weighing 1000 lbs or more....you'd have to have sh@*tload of cylinders to get to 1000 lbs...

And if you are transporting that many cylinders you will need a warning placards as well...

Dive safe,

Celia

[TommyB]

Just make a simple one. Does not take up any room, so need to remove it when doen. Here's mine and it works great.

http://forum.scubatoys.comCave Diver's Forum - Reply to Topic/241339-post16.html

[Brian Kakuk]

I've been using a very simple pvc pipe tank control that works well. These can hold any size cylinder from RB 19's to oxygen/helium K cylinders without much hassel. The line running through the 2" pvc pipes is knotted between pipes to keep proper spacing. It doesnt get much lower tech than this. I've Rhino coated the floor of the entire van fore and aft so it helps keep anything from sliding as well. The bench system in the photos wont work well for your truck but it works great for vans. Lots more storage space for boxes, crates, rebreathers, doubles etc. on top of the benches now that the wheel wells are hidden. Benchtops open up for more storage. This vehicle dives 4 to 7 days a week out on old logging roads and no clanging tanks, or falling rebreathers. Hope this helps.

Brian

[JerseyJersey]

I use the same thing except I use those foam pool toys ..... funoodles ..... instead of pvc pipe.