Flat Tank Truck Beds

admin

Here's some pictures of some of the Flat Tank truck beds I've been in on building in the past.   They're used as a Tender truck for water well drilling rigs.   Helped build 9 of them all together.   Each one is a custom job made to fit a particular truck and with customer desired modifications.
Reply:I think this rig is one of the nicest, highest end (and more involved ) one's we did.   The bed is mounted back from the cab to allow for a big engine driven welding machine to be mounted on the rig. This has to be the most complex rear bumper system I've ever built.  Those 2 rear steps fold up and latch over that tool box / cage for going down the road.
Reply:All though this one was a fairly straight forward and un complicated build I think it gets a lot of "style points" just for the paint job.This is a pretty basic (no extra bells and whistles) one.   I guess there wasn't much room in the customers budget for us to get to carried a way.
Reply:Very nice work.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:This is the last one I did.  I built this one (pretty much by myself) for a drilling company at their shop.  The first 8 were done while working at a friends shop while working for him.   Here it is with the bottom welded out.   Next step is to flip it over, weld the top on and fit it to the truck.  This is always the point where you find out if you've made any dumb basic math mistakes.  Here it is rigged up ready to back the truck under.   Once the mounts were made on the truck frame and I confirmed it fit like it was suppose to it got pulled back off the truck and finished out (tool boxes and other details added and finished out.   After that it got taken some where else local for painting before coming back for the final attachment to the truck.
Reply:Originally Posted by shovelonVery nice work.
Reply:Originally Posted by 7A749How many gallons are one of these holding on average?Real nice work!
Reply:Here's some of the detail showing how these flat tank beds are attached to the truck's frame rails.   The bottom of the tank lays on the tops of the frame rails and only touches them in four 3" x 20" places that have a hard rubber pad.    The flat bottomed, V-shaped nesting bracket (4 total, 2 up front, 2 in the rear) you see keep the tank from sliding fore and aft or side to side.   The tank can still move approximately 4" up and down to deal with the truck flexing while going over un-even ground or hitting bumps while driving.   You can more clearly see the two rear pads the tank sits on in this picture.    This particular truck hardly had any frame rail past the rear spring hanger so I was forced to make the splice for extending the frame rail right there up against it.   Didn't like having to do that but didn't have much choice.
Reply:That V-pocket with a spring loaded bolt is a clever way to get the job done.  Did you invent that or see is somewhere else?Benson's Mobile Welding - Dayton, OH metro area - AWS Certified Welding Inspector
Reply:I like those as for using Alu it can definitely be done and I'd bet for almost the same cost as steel due to how fast you can work it
Reply:Originally Posted by A_DAB_will_doThat V-pocket with a spring loaded bolt is a clever way to get the job done.  Did you invent that or see is somewhere else?
Reply:Originally Posted by 7A749Whatever the case, they're pretty cool. Never thought of a water truck built like that.
Reply:1 cubic foot equals 6.43 gallons.Your 12"x8'x20' tank would equal 1029 gallons.
Reply:Originally Posted by ironmangq1 cubic foot equals 6.43 gallons.Your 12"x8'x20' tank would equal 1029 gallons.
Reply:That math sounds like it's going in the right direction.   To put a finer pointed pencil to it....the tanks were actually only 92" (OD) wide.   And then I'd say you'd need to deduct some where around 10% to compensate for the volume you lose to the wheel wells and other internal structures.
Reply:Just in case I haven't exceeded any bodies interest in this subject yet....Some more detail of the mounting / attachment system...the bottom of the tank has a re-padded area where the inner V-bracket is welded to it.   This is the reinforcing on the inside of the tank where it's mounted.   It's located directly above where you see the re-pad welded on in the first picture.
Reply:Originally Posted by InsanerideAt what temperature ?
Reply:This shows a view of how the internal baffles are generally arranged in the tank.    The lid of the tank has a series of slots for welding cut in it right above the flange bent on the top of the baffle pieces.   This particular tank had two stake pockets on it's centerline.   They're made from 2", 1/4 wall square tube.  They run completely thru the tank and are open bottomed so that no dirt can fill them up and prevent the stake from going in.   Also in this picture you can see the beginnings of the next tank in the back ground.
Reply:If you'd like to see some more pictures of some really nice looking flat tank rigs check this link out.http://www.northwestflattanks.com/modx/past_work.htmlThey're the next generation beyond what me and my buddy were building.  They're essentially an improved on version of what we were doing.   This company just had better shop facilities and more equipment and resources that they could build them more efficiently and economically than we could and they ended up with the contracts to build them.
Reply:Originally Posted by 4956As long as we're talking about water in it's liquid state I don't think it's temperature makes any difference to the volume it occupies.
Reply:Wow! You got a beautiful working hands! Outstanding job on those truck beds!PlasmaCam CNC cutterLathe and Band SawClamps
Reply:Surprised nobody has pissed and moaned about welding on the truck frame"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Originally Posted by ironmangq1 cubic foot equals 6.43 gallons.Your 12"x8'x20' tank would equal 1029 gallons.
Reply:Originally Posted by ironmangq1 cubic foot equals 6.43 gallons.Your 12"x8'x20' tank would equal 1029 gallons.
Reply:Originally Posted by 4956As long as we're talking about water in it's liquid state I don't think it's temperature makes any difference to the volume it occupies.Originally Posted by farmersammSurprised nobody has pissed and moaned about welding on the truck frame
Reply:Originally Posted by hddnisNow we just have to settle the question "Does a water tank hold wet water or dry water?"Mr. HE
Reply:Originally Posted by hddnisI thought the same thing, it is nice to see a build respected like this. Of course it helps that it is clearly a quality job and the guy clearly knows what he's doing.Now we just have to settle the question "Does a water tank hold wet water or dry water?"Mr. HE
Reply:Originally Posted by hddnisNow we just have to settle the question "Does a water tank hold wet water or dry water?"Mr. HE
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersammDespite maybe long standing practices, or a good success rate, the temper has clearly been ruined in the welded areas.  This would cause me concern if it's anywhere but the end of a frame.
Reply:But you fail to take into consideration the very reason for the design.......ie. the spring loaded mount that is designed to take up slack when the truck frame flexes independently of the tank body.  Clearly there's some movement going on there.  Which translates to fatigue over time.  As you say, the body is more rigid than the frame.  The frame, in the meantime is trying to flex in accordance with the terrain. There's a disconnect going on.   The truck is trying to overcome a rigid body.Of any place along the truck frame, the area behind the cab, and in front of the axles, is a locus for stress.  It's the terminus for the pent up twisting motion as the vehicle travels over the ground.I know I'm being a bit picky, but........................  I think it deserves discussion.I came close, this week, to buying a long frame 1 ton.  When looking at it, my main concern was where I could do a splice to shorten it (was a looooooong wheelbase truck).  I felt it was doable because any work could be centered in the middle of the wheelbase without running afoul of high stress high moment areas.You gotta remember that any aftermarket alterations involving heat (welding), make the area pretty brittle.  So you need sufficient area to add a corresponding reinforcement that will take up some of the flex.  Just ahead of the drivers is a bad area I think.There's only two ways to go......remain flexible, or reinforce the damaged area.  I don't believe there would be a catastrophic failure, just an annoying tendancy towards cracking over time as done here.  It would probably manifest itself when the second owner buys the truck.We're in the oilpatch here, and I see a lot of second owner trucks on the road, and in shops.  Most problems generally occur when the second owner has to correct damage caused by the first owner.  There's a lot of mods on these trucks here, believe me."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:easiest way to figure the volume of an oddly shaped tank with out the use of advanced mathematics or 3d modeling,  weigh it empty,  weigh it full and devide the weight added by the specific weight of a gallon of water.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Originally Posted by ironmangq1 cubic foot equals 6.43 gallons.Your 12"x8'x20' tank would equal 1029 gallons.
Reply:Originally Posted by Dualieeasiest way to figure the volume of an oddly shaped tank with out the use of advanced mathematics or 3d modeling,  weigh it empty,  weigh it full and devide the weight added by the specific weight of a gallon of water.
Reply:Originally Posted by Dualieeasiest way to figure the volume of an oddly shaped tank with out the use of advanced mathematics or 3d modeling,  weigh it empty,  weigh it full and devide the weight added by the specific weight of a gallon of water.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersammBut you fail to take into consideration the very reason for the design.......ie. the spring loaded mount that is designed to take up slack when the truck frame flexes independently of the tank body.  Clearly there's some movement going on there.  Which translates to fatigue over time.  As you say, the body is more rigid than the frame.  The frame, in the meantime is trying to flex in accordance with the terrain. There's a disconnect going on.   The truck is trying to overcome a rigid body.Of any place along the truck frame, the area behind the cab, and in front of the axles, is a locus for stress.  It's the terminus for the pent up twisting motion as the vehicle travels over the ground.I know I'm being a bit picky, but........................  I think it deserves discussion.I came close, this week, to buying a long frame 1 ton.  When looking at it, my main concern was where I could do a splice to shorten it (was a looooooong wheelbase truck).  I felt it was doable because any work could be centered in the middle of the wheelbase without running afoul of high stress high moment areas.You gotta remember that any aftermarket alterations involving heat (welding), make the area pretty brittle.  So you need sufficient area to add a corresponding reinforcement that will take up some of the flex.  Just ahead of the drivers is a bad area I think.There's only two ways to go......remain flexible, or reinforce the damaged area.  I don't believe there would be a catastrophic failure, just an annoying tendancy towards cracking over time as done here.  It would probably manifest itself when the second owner buys the truck.We're in the oilpatch here, and I see a lot of second owner trucks on the road, and in shops.  Most problems generally occur when the second owner has to correct damage caused by the first owner.  There's a lot of mods on these trucks here, believe me.
Reply:I see I may be wrong about the weight of water. I always thought 8.54 lbs/gal but Jeeves said 8.34 lbs/gal.Funny thing about Jeeves is;  I asked why water xpands when frozen when all other matter known to man shrinks.  He said, " thats a good question, I will use it on my show". He didnt have the answer.  A physics prof told me that God made it that way so fish wont die. Truth is, all life depends on water floating/xpanding when frozen.  What I have since learned is ; reason ice floats has to do with the way hydrogen and oxygen bond. Thats the simple answer.Last edited by Insaneride; 08-12-2014 at 10:02 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by InsanerideI see I may be wrong about the weight of water. I always thought 8.54 lbs/gal but Jeeves said 8.34 lbs/gal.Funny thing about Jeeves is;  I asked why water xpands when frozen when all other matter known to man shrinks.  He said, " thats a good question, I will use it on my show". He didnt have the answer.  A physics prof told me that God made it that way so fish wont die. Truth is, all life depends on water floating/xpanding when frozen.  What I have since learned is ; reason ice floats has to do with the way hydrogen and oxygen bond. Thats the simple answer.
Reply:Awesome work!!!!Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:Originally Posted by HT2-4956To tell you the truth I don't know whether or not to cry, laugh or simply throw my hands up in the air in despair at your obviously highly gullible level of ignorance.  There's no chance you'd just simply go a way, is there?
Reply:When I got out of the army back in the last century I work for a well driller had one of the first coustom built flat water tanks in Conn/NY .area  this beast was made of 1/4 "diamond plate by a local welder  it had a head rack for  for 5 gal cans and two large tool boxes  one for fuel hose other for chain wrenches and air grinder etc. carried about 1,000 gals water and 200 gals fuel  +-,we always carried 2 lengths of sec 40 well casing and any place between 6 and 16 4" drill rods  I think the body was about 18 or 19 feet long ( pipe and rod were about a 2' longer than truck  ) no cranes back then we picked up the pipe and rod with the wipe line of the rig  and tailed it by hand with a rope ! Be fore I forget those are great looking bodies you made
Reply:You build it as big as you think you need. If at the end of the day you have enough water, you're good!
Reply:Originally Posted by InsanerideThat would be 8.54 gallons for water. For gas its around 6. xx depending on the type of fuel. I think diesel is lighter than regular gas.The formula I used L x W x H in inches divided by 231 has worked for me for 50 and 100 gallon gas tanks. I dont know why it didnt work for water but im with the 1200 gallon estimate or 6.43 gal/ft cubed.BTW, nice beds. I hope they hold with all that water.
Reply:Originally Posted by gxbxcWhen I got out of the army back in the last century I work for a well driller had one of the first coustom built flat water tanks in Conn/NY .area  this beast was made of 1/4 "diamond plate by a local welder  it had a head rack for  for 5 gal cans and two large tool boxes  one for fuel hose other for chain wrenches and air grinder etc. carried about 1,000 gals water and 200 gals fuel  +-,we always carried 2 lengths of sec 40 well casing and any place between 6 and 16 4" drill rods  I think the body was about 18 or 19 feet long ( pipe and rod were about a 2' longer than truck  ) no cranes back then we picked up the pipe and rod with the wipe line of the rig  and tailed it by hand with a rope ! Be fore I forget those are great looking bodies you made
Reply:On the last one of these I built this is what I did at the back of the frame rail pieces I spliced on to lengthen the truck frame.    The driller said he wanted to be able to put a pintle hitch on so that he could also tow a heavy equipment trailer loaded with a back hoe behind the rig.  Basically it was just the best idea I could come up with at the time.   In hind sight one thing I can see that I did wrong is that where I notched a top section out of the ends of the frame rails I should have cut a smooth radius on that inside corner instead of that sharp 90 like I did.
Reply:I forgot  to ask about the square tube holes showing in the back  od body ,were they for heaters or just structural  we had round pipe so we could light a propane torch and slide it in . I never saw it done but that't wat they said gxbxc
Reply:Originally Posted by gxbxcI forgot  to ask about the square tube holes showing in the back  od body ,were they for heaters or just structural  we had round pipe so we could light a propane torch and slide it in . I never saw it done but that't wat they said gxbxc
Reply:I don't know about water wells but the guy I worked for used to drill Blast Holes for Colonial Sand and Gravel on weekends  all year longgxbxc
Reply:those are nice looking beds. before I was self employed my boss had 2 of them on trucks not as nice as those but still pretty good. it was nice to haul everything out in one load, but sometimes the truck was hurting 1800 gallons of water500' of drill rod and 400' of 8" casing added up. Right now Im working off of a gooseneck trailer, saving my pennys, some day, some day. no more abusing a pickupDo not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
Reply:question on those beds. how thick is the top and bottom sheet and what is the spacing on the baffles? thanksDo not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.