Gray Water tank for Hawk

[dorocks]

Well I am just about done with a experimental project to put a small gray water tank under the bed rail on the 2005 Dodge Ram. The reason I wanted to do this was to not have to put on a collapsible jug just to rinse a dish or two at lunch on the road.

I used a piece of 4" drain pipe (5 feet long). I got some rubber ends with clamps. I drilled a hole in one of them on the high side and the other on the low side.

I inserted a 90 degree through-hull connector. I Teflon taped the through pipes and they don't leak. The rubber ends act like a gasket. I used a adapter with a scrap of marine tubing to put on hose ends.

So the sink drain from the camper will go in the high end. Another piece of hose will be in the rear. I put a small air vent hole on the high side of the pipe. I attached the pipe with metal plumbing strap.

If I did it again I would probably use 5" pipe. It is too soon to see how it works.

Here is a capacity chart.

http://www.thermidaire.on.ca/pgw.html

I will let you know how it works.

http://keithbarnes.smugmug.com/OffroadingandJeeping/Ram-gray-water/21889883_vKf43t#!i=1745437763&k=HTxm86m

Keith Barnes
La Mesa

 

[Lighthawk]

I like the capacity chart, Keith. I bookmarked it for future reference.
Great lil' formula for round tanks: diameter in inches squared x yards tall = weight or gals/10 Approximate, which is often just right when working in the field!

On a side note to this thread, how many of you have problems with rodents getting into your gray water? We've had two instances where mice have clambered into our collapsible 5 gal gray water tank. Pretty gross pouring out a dead mouse in the morning!
I should probably work out some sort of cloth covering or rough gasket to thwart the rodentia!

 

[billharr]

I am looking at putting a 3" pipe above my bed rail and below the camper. I have room with a standard Hawk on my 2005 Tundra. I like your tank better and I think it will fit. Do you have room to reach that valve with your camper on the truck? Not sure I have room on the Tundra reach it and may have to redo the drain.

Bill in Stockton

 

[dorocks]

I am looking at putting a 3" pipe above my bed rail and below the camper. I have room with a standard Hawk on my 2005 Tundra. I like your tank better and I think it will fit. Do you have room to reach that valve with your camper on the truck? Not sure I have room on the Tundra reach it and may have to redo the drain.

Bill in Stockton

That valve was temporary. I am going to get a scrap of hose to run from the rear connection to just the edge of the bed and have a garden hose shutoff. I can reach up there to that area however from the back on the Dodge and through the tie-down porthole. On my 2001 Tundra I doubt that I could have gotten into there from the rear.

I am going to take off the 6 foot hose that connects the camper to the front of the tank and use a shorter piece that goes more directly to the front without a loop.

 

[Gormley Green]

Great idea, very clever and thanks for sharing. The install looks really clean.

 

[UglyScout]

On a side note to this thread, how many of you have problems with rodents getting into your gray water? We've had two instances where mice have clambered into our collapsible 5 gal gray water tank. Pretty gross pouring out a dead mouse in the morning!
I should probably work out some sort of cloth covering or rough gasket to thwart the rodentia!


I run a hard bucket with a lid and have a threaded fitting for my drain hose, not so much for the critters but to keep my kid from tossing stuff in it... Yuck.

 

[White Dog]

Very clever idea.

The same design could be used to carry extra water. My truck bed is 8'. A 4" pipe on each side would give me about an extra 8 gallons of water in a space that is mostly wasted.

 

[BobM]

Next time (if ever) I have my camper off, I'm going to make one of these. I would also put a vent hose at the highest point to allow air to escape

 

[dorocks]

I got the camper back on and everything clears. Added a length of hose to rear of pipe. Hangs out the rear of bed.

Needed to put a 90 degree hose connector up front and will have to get another to put on camper outlet, This will allow me to make the hose pretty straight, so it won't kink so easily.

A couple new pictures added to the gallery.

http://keithbarnes.smugmug.com/OffroadingandJeeping/Ram-gray-water/21889883_vKf43t#!i=1745437763&k=HTxm86m

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

I got the camper back on and everything clears. Added a length of hose to rear of pipe. Hangs out the rear of bed.

Needed to put a 90 degree hose connector up front and will have to get another to put on camper outlet, This will allow me to make the hose pretty straight, so it won't kink so easily.

A couple new pictures added to the gallery.

http://keithbarnes.s...37763&k=HTxm86m


I like 'um.

 

[dorocks]

Interesting. Saw this on a Northstar Camper page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/northstartruckcampers/6686708897/in/photostream/lightbox/

 

[BobM]

The Northstar I looked at had that. It was one of the items I missed giving up when I ordered my Raven. I didn't miss giving up the weight though

 

[billharr]

Finally finished my gray water tank on my Hawk and Tundra. Do not have all the room of the larger trucks with my 2005 Tundra. As with most thing I had to do it twice.

First try. Tank fit by the elbow stuck out 1/2" too far


Second try had to lower tank so it was lower than the wheel cut out. Tanks holds 3 gallons enough for a stop or two.


I made the tank out of 4" PVC put caps on the end. Had to move the fill when I lowered the tank. All holes were drilled and tapped, I put epoxy on the threads and tighten then down.


Sink stays attachecd to tank. Note how close to the camper the pvc had to be on the Tundra.


See next post can only get 4 pictures on this post.

 

[billharr]

I did not have enough room to run the drain between the camper and tail gate opening. Solved by running a 1/2" copper pipe through a hole I drilled to the side of the tail gate opening. Above is my fresh water drain.


How close to the bed the fill needed to be


Vent hose


Going to give it a try next week gong to Port Townsend WA.

Edit if I did this again I would attach the tank to the camper under the wheel cut out, there would be room on the Tundra. Would run the fill to the tank under the sink with a 3 way valve so you would not have a hose attached all the time. 3 way valve would allow you to still use the out side drain. Drain from tank would need to be run out the back of the camper behind the heater, this would take more work.

 

[MarkBC]

Clever!

 

[billharr]

Let me know if anyone needs some 4" PVC to build a tank. Had to buy 10 feet and only used 55 inches. Free to anyone who can pick up in Stockton CA.

 

[Ted]

Bill, you're a genius! I have eyed that big wide space between the camper and our bedrails for years thinking I could use the space somehow. Extra gas tank? Fresh water tank? Grey water tank! Excellent. A new project going on the list.

 

[K6ON]

Not sure how I missed this thread, but just found it. Great idea. I'm in Stockton all the time, and if you still have that extra piece of 4" pipe, I'd love to have it.
Bob

 

[dags]

I'm thinking about using this idea for fresh water, anyone have a clever idea on how to fill it while on the road?

 

[BobM]

I like the idea of having a permanant gray water storage also for all the resons mentioned. And if this old man ever gets the initiative to remove the camper so I can do the ABS concept I will. In the meantime I made this storage system out of a roll of foodsaver plastic. I sealed both end witht the food saver except for the PVC access holes. The reason I did this is so I could install the bag flat via the gap between the camper and the truck. Next test is to see how long it lasts, I will wrap it in a beach towel to protect the plastic. More news @ 11:00: