Thank you so much!! We have the 22FBS version of your trailer. It came off the line 10/21. In April we drove 1600 miles starting with 30 gallons and came home with 20. We just looked underneath and the water tank was bowed down and 2 of the metal brackets were bent and bowed down! We just finished your mod. We are thanking God for your video! We always camp places that don’t have water. We always traveled with water in our old camper and didn’t think anything of traveling with this one.
Thank you for the kind comment, I’m so happy that we were able to help. Sorry you had issues with your tank. Our goal from day one is to share what we do to maintain Belle and to hopefully help as many people as we can…Thanks for subscribing! Tony😀
What a great idea! We have the Flagstaff sister (22FBS) to your camper and I will be doing this modification as well. Thanks for the info. I have subscribed and am looking forward to your other videos. Don
Great video and DIY advice. I just bought a Mini Lite 2509S and use my camper the most in winter when many campsites have the water turned off. And the larger tank in the Mini was a big value add for me. So traveling 3hrs with a full tank can be a necessity.
Here is another solution I did this past year. ruclips.net/video/FvxPs638OpA/видео.htmlsi=NCIJU7WcDLNBJhwX Thanks for watching & commenting! Safe travels & Happy Camping!
Great idea. I was looking for a pic of the water tank vent line. It loops lower than the top of the tank, can fill with water and then gurgle during filling. My trailer keeps burping for a few minutes after I stop filling it. ugh. Think I'll add the straps and raise the fill and vent line while I'm there.
Well it’s disappointing that the model isn’t structurally sound enough to safely carry what is advertised. The tank and brackets look flimsy. Solid solution. Let us know if it holds up long term. Great vid!
I would double-ditto this, disappointing it is!! I can't understand why Forest River, having received feedback on the problems with bowing tanks and brackets, wouldn't proactively add more and thicker braces to solve this problem on their own. Wouldn't that be smart engineering from the factory? Don't they care?
I could have easily added the unistruts like others. I felt that solution wasn’t safe, it would be a disaster if they came off while underway. Thanks for watching & commenting.
Thank you for sharing. What year rockwood mini did you perform this strap on? And just a thought on your solution, specifically where the straps touch the corner edges of the tank; maybe use aluminum angle strips to carry the load of the straps along the entire length of the tank on both sides. This will help prevent chafing from the straps. Just a thought.
Great vid . Now that you have the added support if I was you I'd be more apt to carry 40 gallons than say 30 gallons . Might have less sloshing around being more full . Who knows but I like what you did .
Fortunately I have a Hensley hitch, the sloshing doesn’t effect us with sway. I still will only travel with that much water when I am close to our destination. No sense hauling that much weight and burning more fuel… thanks for watching!!!
Our Winnebago Voyage has a sheet of OSB between the braces and the tank but thinking I may try this or a similar mod using straps for added support. I have always traveled with a nearly full freshwater tank since starting RV’ing in 1999. Cheaper and cheaper builds on these newer units.
Hey Tony. I bought the straps from your Amazon link and I'm having a heck of a time figuring out the shortening part you talk about at about 3:40. I'm starting to wonder if my strap is constructed differently, because I can't make sense of using the "same loop end as the bolt is inserted". We've been going frame by frame in the video but it's really hard to see. Any tips or ideas?
@@TNTRVingyes, it just didn't make sense how I could put that bolt back through in a way that would make it a little shorter. Pausing the video it looks like your strap is folded back on itself in some way.
Okay great, Now all you have to do is remove the bolt on the ratchet end, remove and rotate the strap 180 degrees and put the bolt thru the same strap loop of the hook. I just folded the extra strapping out of the way when I did it. Hope that helps.
i sent an email to Forest River they replied back and said the tanks are fully supported and although they dont recommend travelling with full tanks they realize that people do , so the tanks are fully supported ??? what kind of answer is that ?
After this video we are looking into doing this method. 2 questions: 1) We see that the Haul Master straps come in a set of 4. Is there any reason you used 3 instead of using all of them? 2) Any reason for starting from the driver's side versus the passenger side? (i.e. is there a reason to have the ratchet on one side or the other?). Thanks again, Tony.
Great questions! I felt that three was sufficient for our usage. A forth would not hurt and probably benefit. The passenger side has more room to use the ratchet end. The drivers side has other wires that would be in the way…
You are correct the additional weight of water will affect towing/ payload capacity. The only time we completely fill the water tank is when we are stationary. Here is a short video where we visit a Michigan State Park and how we fill our water tank. ruclips.net/video/qEjq_JjC8DQ/видео.htmlsi=1-FGP6OVHkeuYKtp Appreciate you watching and commenting!
Not at all, the sides tuck in the frame pretty easily. When you insert the screws start them all partly before tightening all the way down..This way if you have to shift it you can… Also, don’t over tighten them… Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the great video Tony. It was terrific just to see under the underbelly layer. We'd been hesitant to try to take it down but now have a better idea what is involved. We decided on the Super Strut approach but I see a lot of value in what you have done with the straps. Seeing how the internal supports run... I'm now doubting that running the Super Struts perpendicular to them is adding but so much support. You've given us something to think about. (do modifications *ever* end??d) Side question: is the Williamsburg t-shirt a tourist item, or do you live near there? I grew up in Va Beach and live ~ 3 hours away in NC now. If you live near there it would be great to see you at a campground some time!
Thanks for the comments, I was concerned about adding an external support across the water tank. My big concern was if it ever got loose and fell off it would be a major road hazard. We are always modifying and trying new things, I enjoy sharing and hopefully helping others. The Williamsburg T shirt is from last year’s visit, we didn’t have a RUclips channel at the time so we may have to go back to film. Thanks for watching! Hope to see you at the campground!
Is this noted anywhere in the owners manual? I haven't heard of issues with the tank and hauling water. Is it a known issue I should be calling FR about? Have a 2022 MiniLite 2104s. Thanks for making this!
@@markbutcher2734 Hi Mark. I recently put together a document on issues people have had with fresh water tanks, plus different approaches people have used to address this (I'll be adding Tony's link to it because his approach is different than the two typical approaches). If you'd like a copy send an email and I'll forward it. There definitely is recommendation from FR not to travel with much water in the tank.
Inadequate support for the tanks seems to be an issue across many brands for decades. The don’t carry water with it line seems to me a pretty lame excuse. At least in the west a lot of people boondock with quite a distance of bad road between the last safe water and the camping spot. Trading thin angle iron for thicker square tubing is for me just something I have to plan on doing whenever I get a new rv.
@@TNTRVing I run a Monster Hauler rack with 2 ATV’s over the bed, access to the front of the bed is pretty limited and there are usually gas jugs under the rack in the rear. I will run one 6 gal potable jug that I’ll use to grab a bit of water. Thinking I might mount a say 30 gallon water tank under the front part of the rack, with an RV type pump. Would also be good to have more weight ahead of the rear axle.
Yes, works great, I normally only travel with 25 gallons or so in Belle. I also have a 65 gallon in the bed of the truck. Here is a link to our setup. ruclips.net/video/FvxPs638OpA/видео.htmlsi=Xxn-qLIPVgJD4_d6. Thanks for watching and safe travels!
@@TNTRVing I think I am going to do something similar. Steel cable inside rubber tubing with eye bolts and turnbuckles! My setup is a little different than yours. The steel looks strong enough, but I broke one of the bolts on the removable beam and almost lost the entire tank. I absolutely must support some of the weight elsewhere because it cracked my tank. I can fix the crack, but it'll just do it again if I don't support weight elsewhere!
@@aarongoodwin4845 you may want to try a separate tank like I did and only partially fill the onboard tank. on our Rockwood Mini Lite, it is recommended to only fill the tank when at a campground and travel short distances. I have another video coming out soon that shows us at a harvest host, instead of using our onboard tank I hooked up the water line from my truck water tank to the winterization port and used the onboard water pump. I liked that setup as It didn't add weight to the front of the trailer. We only used the water that we needed. Hope that gives you more ideas! Happy Camping and Safe Travels!
I prefer not to have all the additional tongue weight while towing, that's why I added a 65-gallon water tank in the bed of our truck. I can now park the camper and get water whenever convenient. Safe Travels & Happy Camping!
@@TNTRVing Yeah, that's a good option for transporting water. What do you use for carrying the fresh water I have a Ram 3500 so not concerned about weight. Keeping the mini lite on my list for now. Would also like to combine the gray tanks suing equalization technique. do you think this is possible?
Here is how we haul our water using the 65gallon water tank, ruclips.net/video/FvxPs638OpA/видео.htmlsi=voucCRvlZ-0TGub2 Funny you mention combining grey water/ Black water tank for just Grey, I was thinking of getting a composting toilet and doing the same thing. Tina doesn't like the idea of the composting toilet at this time. Thanks for watching, Safe Travels and happy Camping!
I have been told it’s ok to fill the tank and travel within a campground or short distances if your tow vehicle can handle the excess weight. We travel with around 15 gallons in our freshwater tank and carry 65 gallons in our truck.. when we are set up there is no issue filling it up. Here’s a video of our new setup. ruclips.net/video/FvxPs638OpA/видео.html
@@TNTRVing Loosely quoting from Oren 'FR has to run a balance between the need boondockers have for a large freshwater tank and keeping weight low enough that the 1/2 ton pickups can haul them'
If Rockwood does not support traveling with water, I will never buy Rockwood. Because the whole point of an RV is to travel around the world withyour own supplies. Does not make any sense in just connectiong to a city water source, or adding water once you reach the camp ground. This is lunacy.
You are in luck! since this video was posted, Rockwood has improved the structural support of the tanks. The only issue now is that the additional weight will add more to the tongue weight. Safe Travels!
Thank you so much!! We have the 22FBS version of your trailer. It came off the line 10/21. In April we drove 1600 miles starting with 30 gallons and came home with 20. We just looked underneath and the water tank was bowed down and 2 of the metal brackets were bent and bowed down! We just finished your mod. We are thanking God for your video! We always camp places that don’t have water. We always traveled with water in our old camper and didn’t think anything of traveling with this one.
Thank you for the kind comment, I’m so happy that we were able to help. Sorry you had issues with your tank. Our goal from day one is to share what we do to maintain Belle and to hopefully help as many people as we can…Thanks for subscribing! Tony😀
Hi. Interesting solution
Hope you enjoyed!
Appreciate you watching and commenting
Great video . Nice to see how things are installed and wires ran.
Thanks for watching!
Good info. I dropped my underbelly to install Lippert auto leveling system. Got to learn what’s under my unit
Thanks for watching!
What a great idea! We have the Flagstaff sister (22FBS) to your camper and I will be doing this modification as well. Thanks for the info. I have subscribed and am looking forward to your other videos. Don
Thank you Don, appreciate you watching and subscribing!
Safe travels and Happy Camping!
Great video and DIY advice. I just bought a Mini Lite 2509S and use my camper the most in winter when many campsites have the water turned off. And the larger tank in the Mini was a big value add for me. So traveling 3hrs with a full tank can be a necessity.
Here is another solution I did this past year. ruclips.net/video/FvxPs638OpA/видео.htmlsi=NCIJU7WcDLNBJhwX
Thanks for watching & commenting! Safe travels & Happy Camping!
Very helpful, thank you!
Glad it helped! Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Very Smart!! I'll do just that once I get mine.. Totally Wise man you are !=-)
Thanks for the kind comment!
Appreciate you watching and subscribing!
Tony, thanks for the video and a great easy mod. Can you please share your source for the ratchet straps
I got those at Harbor Freight. Might be able to find them at any of the big box stores. Thanks for watching!
Great design
It’s been two years since you posted this video. How did the modification work out?
It’s working great when we use it.
Thanks for watching.
Great idea. I was looking for a pic of the water tank vent line. It loops lower than the top of the tank, can fill with water and then gurgle during filling. My trailer keeps burping for a few minutes after I stop filling it. ugh. Think I'll add the straps and raise the fill and vent line while I'm there.
I get the same burping on occasion, Glad the video helped! Thanks for watching and commenting
Well it’s disappointing that the model isn’t structurally sound enough to safely carry what is advertised. The tank and brackets look flimsy. Solid solution. Let us know if it holds up long term. Great vid!
Thanks for the comment, I will keep all posted on how it works out long term or if I further modify it..
Most towable RVs are like this. Not unusual at all.
I would double-ditto this, disappointing it is!! I can't understand why Forest River, having received feedback on the problems with bowing tanks and brackets, wouldn't proactively add more and thicker braces to solve this problem on their own. Wouldn't that be smart engineering from the factory? Don't they care?
I’ve seen others that ran 2 sections of Unistrut under the freshwater tank for support. Would that method have helped with your frame design?
I could have easily added the unistruts like others. I felt that solution wasn’t safe, it would be a disaster if they came off while underway.
Thanks for watching & commenting.
What a great, simple mod. I would have preferred a smaller, more ridged, more supported water tank.
I totally agree! I would have preferred a tank that was half the size and well supported…Thanks for watching and subscribing..
Thank you for sharing. What year rockwood mini did you perform this strap on?
And just a thought on your solution, specifically where the straps touch the corner edges of the tank; maybe use aluminum angle strips to carry the load of the straps along the entire length of the tank on both sides. This will help prevent chafing from the straps. Just a thought.
Ours is a 2021 2205Ss
@@TNTRVing thank you!
Welcome!
Also, Thanks for the suggestion of aluminum. Be careful not to overdo and crank down the ratchet straps. Slight pressure is all you need.
Great vid . Now that you have the added support if I was you I'd be more apt to carry 40 gallons than say 30 gallons . Might have less sloshing around being more full . Who knows but I like what you did .
Fortunately I have a Hensley hitch, the sloshing doesn’t effect us with sway. I still will only travel with that much water when I am close to our destination. No sense hauling that much weight and burning more fuel… thanks for watching!!!
Our Winnebago Voyage has a sheet of OSB between the braces and the tank but thinking I may try this or a similar mod using straps for added support. I have always traveled with a nearly full freshwater tank since starting RV’ing in 1999. Cheaper and cheaper builds on these newer units.
Thanks for the comment, appreciate you watching. Glad this video might have helped you…
Hey Tony. I bought the straps from your Amazon link and I'm having a heck of a time figuring out the shortening part you talk about at about 3:40. I'm starting to wonder if my strap is constructed differently, because I can't make sense of using the "same loop end as the bolt is inserted". We've been going frame by frame in the video but it's really hard to see.
Any tips or ideas?
Does the strap that you purchased have a nut & bolt that go thru the ratchet end on the short piece of strapping?
@@TNTRVingyes, it just didn't make sense how I could put that bolt back through in a way that would make it a little shorter. Pausing the video it looks like your strap is folded back on itself in some way.
Okay great, Now all you have to do is remove the bolt on the ratchet end, remove and rotate the strap 180 degrees and put the bolt thru the same strap loop of the hook. I just folded the extra strapping out of the way when I did it. Hope that helps.
i sent an email to Forest River they replied back and said the tanks are fully supported and although they dont recommend travelling with full tanks they realize that people do , so the tanks are fully supported ??? what kind of answer is that ?
LoL!!! Exactly why I added support!!!
After this video we are looking into doing this method. 2 questions: 1) We see that the Haul Master straps come in a set of 4. Is there any reason you used 3 instead of using all of them? 2) Any reason for starting from the driver's side versus the passenger side? (i.e. is there a reason to have the ratchet on one side or the other?). Thanks again, Tony.
Great questions!
I felt that three was sufficient for our usage. A forth would not hurt and probably benefit.
The passenger side has more room to use the ratchet end. The drivers side has other wires that would be in the way…
@@TNTRVing Thanks bunches for the additional info.
We have a 2205S also and I used your method today using all four straps. I am sure this will be a benefit and certainly gives me peace of mind. Thanks
what about the weight of the water ? 8 lbs per gallon that's 320 IBS extra for towing ,
You are correct the additional weight of water will affect towing/ payload capacity. The only time we completely fill the water tank is when we are stationary. Here is a short video where we visit a Michigan State Park and how we fill our water tank. ruclips.net/video/qEjq_JjC8DQ/видео.htmlsi=1-FGP6OVHkeuYKtp Appreciate you watching and commenting!
Enjoyed the video Tony! Did you have any problems in getting the bottom enclosure reattached?
Not at all, the sides tuck in the frame pretty easily. When you insert the screws start them all partly before tightening all the way down..This way if you have to shift it you can…
Also, don’t over tighten them…
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the great video Tony. It was terrific just to see under the underbelly layer. We'd been hesitant to try to take it down but now have a better idea what is involved. We decided on the Super Strut approach but I see a lot of value in what you have done with the straps. Seeing how the internal supports run... I'm now doubting that running the Super Struts perpendicular to them is adding but so much support. You've given us something to think about. (do modifications *ever* end??d)
Side question: is the Williamsburg t-shirt a tourist item, or do you live near there? I grew up in Va Beach and live ~ 3 hours away in NC now. If you live near there it would be great to see you at a campground some time!
Thanks for the comments, I was concerned about adding an external support across the water tank. My big concern was if it ever got loose and fell off it would be a major road hazard. We are always modifying and trying new things, I enjoy sharing and hopefully helping others. The Williamsburg T shirt is from last year’s visit, we didn’t have a RUclips channel at the time so we may have to go back to film. Thanks for watching! Hope to see you at the campground!
Tony, it looks like I saw "B&L" written on the side of the frame! Is your 2205S using a B&L frame or a Lippert frame?
I see the sticker that you are talking about in the video. Our frame is an LCI (Lippert)
Thanks for watching!
Is this noted anywhere in the owners manual? I haven't heard of issues with the tank and hauling water. Is it a known issue I should be calling FR about? Have a 2022 MiniLite 2104s. Thanks for making this!
You may want to call and give them your vin and ask. My guess is they will caution you not to travel far with full water..
@@TNTRVing thanks a bunch. I'm going to do that. Crazy stuff isn't it. Thanks again.
@@markbutcher2734 Hi Mark. I recently put together a document on issues people have had with fresh water tanks, plus different approaches people have used to address this (I'll be adding Tony's link to it because his approach is different than the two typical approaches). If you'd like a copy send an email and I'll forward it. There definitely is recommendation from FR not to travel with much water in the tank.
Inadequate support for the tanks seems to be an issue across many brands for decades. The don’t carry water with it line seems to me a pretty lame excuse. At least in the west a lot of people boondock with quite a distance of bad road between the last safe water and the camping spot. Trading thin angle iron for thicker square tubing is for me just something I have to plan on doing whenever I get a new rv.
In addition to the straps, here is what we also do for water. ruclips.net/video/FvxPs638OpA/видео.htmlsi=iSm5w-VV5kiwO9Dy
@@TNTRVing I run a Monster Hauler rack with 2 ATV’s over the bed, access to the front of the bed is pretty limited and there are usually gas jugs under the rack in the rear. I will run one 6 gal potable jug that I’ll use to grab a bit of water.
Thinking I might mount a say 30 gallon water tank under the front part of the rack, with an RV type pump. Would also be good to have more weight ahead of the rear axle.
@JeffinTD great idea! Thanks for Watching and commenting.
Did it work for boondocking?
Yes, works great, I normally only travel with 25 gallons or so in Belle. I also have a 65 gallon in the bed of the truck. Here is a link to our setup. ruclips.net/video/FvxPs638OpA/видео.htmlsi=Xxn-qLIPVgJD4_d6. Thanks for watching and safe travels!
@@TNTRVing I think I am going to do something similar. Steel cable inside rubber tubing with eye bolts and turnbuckles! My setup is a little different than yours. The steel looks strong enough, but I broke one of the bolts on the removable beam and almost lost the entire tank. I absolutely must support some of the weight elsewhere because it cracked my tank. I can fix the crack, but it'll just do it again if I don't support weight elsewhere!
@@aarongoodwin4845 you may want to try a separate tank like I did and only partially fill the onboard tank. on our Rockwood Mini Lite, it is recommended to only fill the tank when at a campground and travel short distances. I have another video coming out soon that shows us at a harvest host, instead of using our onboard tank I hooked up the water line from my truck water tank to the winterization port and used the onboard water pump. I liked that setup as It didn't add weight to the front of the trailer. We only used the water that we needed. Hope that gives you more ideas! Happy Camping and Safe Travels!
@@TNTRVing I do appreciate you and your time! Cheers!
Thanks! Cheers to you as well!
Hey Rockwood that's ridiculous was thinking of buying a mini lite 2511 but not anymore, i boondock all the time and need a full fresh tank. too bad
I prefer not to have all the additional tongue weight while towing, that's why I added a 65-gallon water tank in the bed of our truck. I can now park the camper and get water whenever convenient. Safe Travels & Happy Camping!
@@TNTRVing Yeah, that's a good option for transporting water. What do you use for carrying the fresh water I have a Ram 3500 so not concerned about weight. Keeping the mini lite on my list for now.
Would also like to combine the gray tanks suing equalization technique. do you think this is possible?
Here is how we haul our water using the 65gallon water tank, ruclips.net/video/FvxPs638OpA/видео.htmlsi=voucCRvlZ-0TGub2
Funny you mention combining grey water/ Black water tank for just Grey, I was thinking of getting a composting toilet and doing the same thing. Tina doesn't like the idea of the composting toilet at this time. Thanks for watching, Safe Travels and happy Camping!
How are you suppose to have water when boondockong, if u dont bring it with u? Haha cmon rockwood
I have been told it’s ok to fill the tank and travel within a campground or short distances if your tow vehicle can handle the excess weight.
We travel with around 15 gallons in our freshwater tank and carry 65 gallons in our truck.. when we are set up there is no issue filling it up.
Here’s a video of our new setup.
ruclips.net/video/FvxPs638OpA/видео.html
What the hell is wrong with forest river ?
Not exactly sure why it’s designed that way, I would have preferred a smaller better supported tank.
Thanks for watching!
@@TNTRVing Loosely quoting from Oren 'FR has to run a balance between the need boondockers have for a large freshwater tank and keeping weight low enough that the 1/2 ton pickups can haul them'
If Rockwood does not support traveling with water, I will never buy Rockwood. Because the whole point of an RV is to travel around the world withyour own supplies. Does not make any sense in just connectiong to a city water source, or adding water once you reach the camp ground. This is lunacy.
You are in luck! since this video was posted, Rockwood has improved the structural support of the tanks. The only issue now is that the additional weight will add more to the tongue weight. Safe Travels!