Holding Tank Locations?

Ray LeTourneau

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Can someone give me the approximate locations of the holding tank locations in a 2007 3400RL. Fresh, black and greys. My serial# is 4995. I have an area about the size of a holding tank sagging just aft of the axles. It is hanging down about 2" below the frame. I don't think there are any tanks in that area and I haven't tried to look into it yet. At this point I'm just trying to find out if there is a tank in that area. This week I'll remove a few screws from the underbelly material to see if I can tell what gives. THANKS
 
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Chulinw

Guest
That tank that is sagging is your fresh water tank just after the second axles. The two gray water tanks are forward of the front axle and the black is located just under your tolet. You will need to get some metal supports to help hold your fresh water tank up. I used 2" L shape steel and put two of the under the OSB wood that helps hold the water tank.
 
C

Chulinw

Guest
That tank that is sagging is your fresh water tank just after the second axles. The two gray water tanks are forward of the front axle and the black is located just under your tolet. You will need to get some metal supports to help hold your fresh water tank up. I used 2" L shape steel and put two of the under the OSB wood that helps hold the water tank.
 
timk

timk

Well-known member
Ray, I can tell you that on our 3400 the fresh tank starts just a bit behind the rear axle, then goes forward. The first grey starts about 3ft from the front of the main storage area, then goes back. All the rest just rattle around somewhere in between.TimK
 
Ray LeTourneau

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Not having an opportunity to look into the underbelly yet leaves me wondering what the heck was someone thinking putting the tank way back there? I understand weight distribution and all but I also understand the KISS principle. Keep it simple s_____. So what I'm hearing is they routed all the fill, pump suction and vent lines to the aft to "improve" weight distribution? That would be the only reason I can think of to have a fresh water tank so far from it's supply and drain points. I guess I have some work cut out for me as others have already done. Too bad I have to lay in the gravel to fix it. Being full time makes it very inconvenient to have this corrected by the dealer. Thanks for the replies folks. I can't wait for the round table at the rally.
 
S

Scott

Well-known member
Just to head off any uneccesary discussions and possible hurt feelings at the round table - you really need to know what you are talking about before you bring up tank location on a fifth wheel. PLEASE - PLEASE - PLEASE do your homework on frames, water tanks, weight distribution, etc. and take a look at where 99.999999999% of all towable RV's tanks are located before you go trying to make some sort of smart comments at what is supposed to be an informative round table discussion at our owner's rally.
It would just be best for people to get better educated at such things before they go saying or inferring things about Heartland and our engineering.
ST
 
Ray LeTourneau

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
I just opened up the off door side of the underbelly to get a look at the sagging tank. It's actually not as bad as it looks from the outside. The sag is mainly belly material and insulation. The tank is well up in the frame supported by sheathing and from what I can see, two strips of metal running front to back between the crossmembers. I think as a temporary measure I'll add a couple pieces of angle iron running front to back under the belly material attaching it to crossmembers making sure not to do any damage to hidden parts. Once I get parked on a better surface I can remove the underbelly material and do a more permanent fix.
 
Uncle Rog

Uncle Rog

Well-known member
Hey Ray, when you brace up the tank shim the DS up an inch or so to allow full use of the tank, and you might consider combining and adding valves to your vent lines.....
 
timk

timk

Well-known member
Ray, I got to think its a lot easier to get the fresh water back to the axle area than trying to get the grey and god forbid the black tank back there. The four tanks I'm guessing take up 12-15ft of the frame area. Then its all about weight distribution, and then sticking them in somewhere. I think what they did in my rig makes good sense. Perhaps the kitchen grey could switch with the fresh tank, but then the 3/4 tons would start to have a pin weight issue.
 
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BigBlue

BigBlue
Another thing to look at for bracing is Unistrut. You can get it at Home Depot and it's a lot cheaper than steel angle. I used it to brace my gray tank. I ran it accross and bolted it to the frame on each side.
 
R

retiredalaskan

Member
water tank

Ray I just finished repairing mine 07/3400rl, I measured between the frame and took a pice of 1" square tube wnd welded on a flange plate on each end, placed it under tank&plywood and screwed it to the frame.works like a charm,one note of caution if you cut the plastic under belly do not try to repair it with duct tape!!! i took a 1x4 board placed it up between the frame and stapled the plastic to it then take metal duct tape (the kind that is used in A/C) clean the underbelly with acetone and apply tape it won't come off...
 
G

geeksrus

Well-known member
Scott said:
Just to head off any uneccesary discussions and possible hurt feelings at the round table - you really need to know what you are talking about before you bring up tank location on a fifth wheel. PLEASE - PLEASE - PLEASE do your homework on frames, water tanks, weight distribution, etc. and take a look at where 99.999999999% of all towable RV's tanks are located before you go trying to make some sort of smart comments at what is supposed to be an informative round table discussion at our owner's rally.
It would just be best for people to get better educated at such things before they go saying or inferring things about Heartland and our engineering.
ST
Click to expand...

I'm considering the purchase of a 2008 3400RL BUT I'm quite concern about the on-going sagging tank issue.
Has the problem been corrected in the 2008 models?
If not, what remedial action should I take at delivery to ensure that I won't run into this problem at a later date?

Thanks
 
S

Scott

Well-known member
1. There are STEEL bars under the tank.
2. There is a plywood sheet on top of the steel bars - under the tank.
3. Don't overfill the tank.
4. Success.
 
Ray LeTourneau

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Scott said:
1. There are STEEL bars under the tank.
2. There is a plywood sheet on top of the steel bars - under the tank.
3. Don't overfill the tank.
4. Success.
Click to expand...
The steel bars under my tank are 1/16" thick straps about an inch wide.
How can we overfill the tank if it is venting properly?
I have put 2 - 6ft. lengths of unistrut under the belly material as a temporary fix and still at 2/3 on the indicator the tank still sagged at least 3 inches.
I don't want to sound like a whiner here. I still plan on resolving my tank issue like so many others have as soon as I can get on pavement and have a couple days to do it in. In addition to tank support, my goal is to make sure the fill line and vent lines are as they should be.
 
S

Scott

Well-known member
Ray,
The Steel Bars I am talking about are steel angle iron. The steel straps you are noticing are IN ADDITION to the steel angle irons at either end of your tank.
A couple of inches of sag on a large RV fresh water tank made out of an ABS structure that has been filled up to capacity - even with extra support under it - is not necessarily out of the ordinary. Those tanks really do hold a lot of water and yes, in spite of our best efforts, they will balloon up and expand. Can you help prevent this? Yes, with even more (additional) steel support under the center of the tank - like we do on our larger toy hauler tanks. It's not necessary - just an extra precaution for those who don't want to see ANY sag at all in their fresh water tanks.
ST
 
Pulltab

Pulltab

Well-known member
I Know if I was carrying 600 lbs in my belly I would sag to!;) I can see why Ray wants it supported better though. When we travel to the desert you need to go there with full tanks of water and a sagging underbelly in a litte un-nerving. I would be a little more concerned with the pickup not working correctly. Gonna have to pull that part down next to see what is going on. Before I do though I am going to fill er up and travel down to the lake and see what happens.
 
G

geeksrus

Well-known member
Scott said:
Ray,
The Steel Bars I am talking about are steel angle iron. The steel straps you are noticing are IN ADDITION to the steel angle irons at either end of your tank.
A couple of inches of sag on a large RV fresh water tank made out of an ABS structure that has been filled up to capacity - even with extra support under it - is not necessarily out of the ordinary. Those tanks really do hold a lot of water and yes, in spite of our best efforts, they will balloon up and expand. Can you help prevent this? Yes, with even more (additional) steel support under the center of the tank - like we do on our larger toy hauler tanks. It's not necessary - just an extra precaution for those who don't want to see ANY sag at all in their fresh water tanks.
ST
Click to expand...

Yes, with even more (additional) steel support under the center of the tank - like we do on our larger toy hauler tanks.

Why don't you do this on the Big Horns?????
 
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