When I was heading to my sisters at Tin Can Bay, I detoured through Pomona/Kin Kin Road, as I often do. But I stupidly went by Counter Road which is very rocky and rough. When I arrived at Sis', bil noticed water coming from the tank. I don't use the tank very much, because of the extra weight, but I do put 10 litres or so in if I'm staying put for a few days. Son crawled under to have a look and sure enough, I bashed a big hole in the tank.

So another lesson learned. Don't use Counter Road!

Now I'm deciding whether to bother getting another tank, considering the weight aspect, or just do what I mostly do, and carry containers of water. I have a 10ltr container, which is a struggle for me to lift, and along the way I've kept a few 4ltr bottles from buying drinking water. These are much easier for me to handle, and they sit nicely under the table.

By the way, I returned home through Gympie and the new section of highway, the M1, and found it so much safer/quicker than the old highway.

The tank is actually forward of the axle, hence why I thought it would add weight to the ball.???  When my son was setting everything up for me last year, he went on about weight so much I may be a little paranoid now.  So as yet, I've never carried 40 or 50 litres of water, or anything near that.  

The ball weight for the i30 is 75kg, so I carry a lot of stuff in the car as directed by said son.  

I guess it would be more convenient to have water in the tank as there's a tap, sink etc in there. Maybe I'm just making extra work for myself.

There's one at the local tip..I used it last year to work out the weights. And it costs nothing if you don't need it for official purposes.

As for lugging heavy containers, that's why I changed to the 4 ltr bottles. Much easier to 'woman-handle'.

When the menfolk get back from hols I'll ask them to take another look to see if it can be repaired.

Hi Beth

It is very easy to measure the ball weight when it is a slow as 75kg all you need is bathroom scales and a piece of wood sufficient to support the weight, just put the scales under the van coupling with the timber held in place, then lower the van down onto the scales using the jockey wheel there is no need to have the jockey wheel more than just the minimum off the ground and then if if it slips off the scales there will be no drama, you can then measure you ball weight with and without water in the tank.

If the hole in the tank is not too big, it is easily repaired using Selleys Knead It, available from the hardware store, it is a plastic putty that sets very hard and is very useful for many repairs, i always have some in my toolbox for trips in the van, it can be used for emergency repairs to fuel tanks and radiators plus many other uses

Cheers

David

Finally got an answer to my text to number one son...tank is toast! Apparently I did a really good job of it.  As I said, lesson learnt.

ibbo wrote:

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HI Beth,don't laugh but I used to use wine cask bladders to carry water.Just kept four of them in a milk crate.Not very delicate but they served their purpose.

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 Sounds like a damn fine idea, but I can't drink cask wine to save them up!