Landcruiser 78 got amazing potential for carrying onboard water, thankfully there are some very good products to choose and is all depends to your interior design and camp setup to discover what’s best option for you and for type of traveling you do, front pictures nothing to do with our current setup but always is a good reminder of our back in the days travelling and camping in Iran totally remote and out of access miles away from any habitant, a good reminder to ourself that water was always crucial subject in our trips, when you have it no worries and even you dont think about its crucial part in your trips but as soon as you run out water then your camp is almost over and you have to get back to somewhere to fill up the tank to be able to explore more again, so all those past experiences and type of travelling we will do with our new setup finally pushed us to do a wise investment for our water tank option,
Here is a list of all available options for Troopies for water tank:
- 10 or 20 Ltr water jerry cans could be mounted inside or outside of the Troopy
- Tapered 40 Ltr water tank to install behind the seats from Boab, or Ironman etc… (this is the one you see in my first cabinet 3D layout behind the seats in my post related to our cabinet design)
- 40 Ltr PVC under body water tank to install on rear underbody, just behind the AUX Diesel tank from Bonetti camper Australia
- 75 Ltr Stainless steel tank from the Longranger Australia/ARB supplier
- 90 Ltr stainless steel tank from the Long-range Automotive Australia
- Custom PVC or Stainless square water tanks, to be fitted under body after moving or modifying the OEM muffler
Also a good point here to mention do not use any Aluminum tank to store water, suddenly is not food safe grade material for storing your water, Only PVC food grade or Stainless steel tanks to consider.
Ok and what was our choice? We decided to get the 90 Ltr water tank from The Longrange Automotive Australia with a lead time for fabrication and to be sent to us in 3 months !! for installing this tank under the body you need to free up a prefect spot under the Troopy where exactly the OEM muffler is seating, lots of people usually only rotate the muffler on same place and same pipes 90 degree in such a way that the oval shape of the muffler will seat vertical and will give you an ample space to fit this water tank, But there is a technical issue here! Muffler is where the exhaust gasses passes the tube and gets so hot during driving and hot days, installing stainless steel water tank just beside the hot muffler is not a clever idea, first of all the tank and its corner welds will get hot and cold, hot and cold a lot and that will push stainless steel to fatigue stress and pitting rusts and cracking/weaknesses on the welds then eventually you will need to repair or replace the tank, if you were lucky to not face any water crise in your trips, another reason to avoid such thing is water when gets warm all the time is prone to grow all bad things instead of remaining fresh and it will be smelly and for sure not healthy after while.
So by above explanation why we have chosen this water tank? well I decided to modify the muffler in another way, not rotating the OEM muffler in same place, instead I totally removed the muffler and by a small round muffler just under body behind the side step and totally away from the future water tank area you can completely address the issue, in other hand I’m not really fan of the noisy cars at all and I wanted to modify the muffler in such a way to get even calmer/smoother breath from the engine, so I run the same size tube from the first installed new muffler to back of the Troopy, then I added another extra stainless muffler to calm down any extra noise from this grumpy motor, and finally you will not believe how smooth and silent is the Troopy now and much much more quieter than before, and all resonates from OEM muffler trough out the floor vanished away too, thanks to the famous Coby NZ made mufflers which made this modification excellent possible and at the same time I’m having a totally free big area under the body and ready for installing the life saver 95Ltr water tank, Even I have a 3D scanned file of this free area for anybody wanted to fabricate their own tank and I can send it for you, flick me an email if you needed it.
Below is a video of the finished modification, showing the new route from the OEM front under step original flange then small tube shaped Coby muffler stock at the corner just under the body behind the step, then running to the back, finishing with an oval stainless steel bigger Coby muffler with a bended tip which is seating at the same place as the original outlet point.
UPDATE:
If you have plan to install a rear bar from Thorburn, I found that this bar will use Troopy chassis mounting location for securing its sides, which my new extra rear muffler shown above was seating on the way of rear bar bracket placement supplied by Thorburn, I ended up to remove the rear extra muffler and surprisingly troopy sounds normal and not loud even by one tube shape muffler under side step, so you don’t really to add two mufflers and only one smaller round shape muffler sounds normal, this muffler is from Coby brand.
Finally after about 6 months wait the ordered water tank from Long Range Automotive Australia arrived, overall Im happy with this product and communications done with their team, they answer emails almost good and help you along the way as much as they can,
I would say their fitting instruction needed to be better specially I asked couple of times for the installation documents and photos by email to understand if this tank could be installed at home easy or I needed to get help for it, the document came from the product was very basic but some images which I asked them to send me extra by email helped to understand better, but not 100 percent will help you to understand where exactly this tank will be bolted on the floor,
Which sometimes is very important to understand all required spaces and fittings of the accessories for your interior design beforehand.
So in my following details you will find very worth information about this tank if you have decided to get it for your Troopy is a big help for your decision/installation,
The tank design is good and well used the available muffler space under the body, came black and it should be powder coated to me, but top coat was very weak as it just pealed off by even a tape on the surface, so I guess they powder coated it but sprayed on top, not sure yet.
The tank coming with fittings and water filler/tubes which I didn’t use because definitely there is much better option than what they have suggested for their products on the Troopy, which I detailed my way of installing it in below, the right hand side water sensor shown above is extra order from the RV electronic.
Also I did my own muffler modification as I explained above previously which gave me much better free clearance beside the tank from the hot exhaust, and I’m so happy I did my own modification for it.
Regarding the installation I have to say technically is straight forward just bolt a tank under the body, but is hard to do it by yourself, I definitely suggest to find proper hoist and lift for ease of the installation, plus you need to remove the drive shaft and rear hand brake wire on the rear differential to be able to pass it through the tube implemented in their design thought the tank body, then mount them back again, so in general you need to go to a workshop they know how to deal with 70 series Landcruisers and do the job tidy with their lifts,
In their instruction there was not clear eventually where from inside of the wagon you will have the mounting plates/bolts which they might interfere with your cabinets etc … but in here I’m showing you the result and where you would expect the mounting brackets to be seated, another important topic to note, the mounting plates seating inside are for using M10 bolts, I strongly suggest you weld the bolt heads on the plates then rivet fix the plates on the floor from the both end of the plates, reason is, if any thing happened to the tank and on the roads you wanted to un-mount the setup by fixing the bolt and plates from inside you will be able to un bolt the four mounting bolts from underneath, otherwise you will need to remove your entire cabinetry off the wagon to be able to access and un-bolt the free bolt heads!
So, images shown below will help you understand how to make strong fixing points inside the wagon then nut them from underneath without any needs to access the bolt heads in the future,
Thanks to Aiden and P&B group for helping me to get this job done by their hoist and good workmanship and they did very good tidy job. Aiden from Ironman NZ/P&B is a good guy to deal with easy going and helpful with great attitude to get the job done and I totally suggest them.
Another important topic which I did different than what they suggested is for the water filler run, The Longrange Automotive basically is telling you to run the filler to the front right hand wall cavity and drill 50mm hole on the main body of the Troopy just beside the front diesel filler door !!! this to me is totally un necessary and to void making such a big hole on your main body , the solution is so simple, the rear Troopy vent hatches are the perfect place to be able to mount your water filler and even a shower head side by side and instead of going to the front right wall cavity you just go to the rear right wall cavity and run about 2 meters of the filler pipe to the rear of the Troopy, I found prefect water filler with the key lockable and stainless steel from Talamex brand and I’m so so happy with this modification and even my shower head from Ausj installed beside it so neat, clean and dust proof without any need for extra hole on the main body!
Placing the filler inlet line and the vent line before placing the tank in place will help to clamp them on the tank heads later, as the filler line is very stiff to bend later in such a tight area, the other lines could be fitted even on the ground later. (Outlet and wirings etc..)
You will need to run both Vent line and Filler line to the rear of the wagon while you are installing the tank on the hoist, basically after placing the tank in position you will have very tight area to fit these two lines and when the vehicle is on the hoist is manageable but on the ground will be so hard to run these, so better to be sorted while you are in the workshop, I bought 2.5M water filler same supplied size and 2 meter with some extra lengths for the vent line which is 3/8″ tube, the vent line will need specific ventilation design to be added on the end of it, with specific one-way fittings to let air in on one the fittings and let the water out on another, as I will show this vent design in below images, Also this filler line and outlet run after passing your water pump will go though the rear cavity to the rear interior of the wagon as I will show by below images, you can get specific easy useful stainless tube fittings and very solid for passing the tubes through the body and also pump and sensor wires will pass though OEM drain hole plugs which already existed under the Troopy,
The breather vent for this setup is shown in front images, basically you need two one way barb connection and you set them up into the two way joint, the top will breath in Air but only one way, the lower one will drip Water if excess fill would reach to this level while you fill up the tank, but will not get in any dirt or air into the setup, so by this assembly you will make very simple safe breather vent for the tank and you can fix it on the rear chassis, and even when it started to drip water while you are filling the tank, then it means you filled up the tank full.
The connections I used to pass through the body on the rear cavity are shown below, the reducer tube connection are very effective and strong for passing your tubes through the body, you can easy use a good washer on outside bigger head and nut them fixed from inside of the cavity, the bigger side of the reducer will accept your tube size into the smaller reduced hole but at the same time it will make ample free space around the tube to seal it on the connection from the bigger side of the connection too, How cool and effective is this creative setup! I’ve been thinking to discover the best way for the required tubes to pass through the body perfect enough, and here is the best option to me, after sealing the tubes on the connection by Sikaflex 291 or Sikaflex AT FACADE, you will have a perfect flexible seal and at the same time removable in the future if needed, the backing nut will press the washer on the wall so the main reducer connection will be sealed hard against the wall too, just be careful to find perfect flat spot with enough flat space for both side of your fittings to seat flat for both reducer and its nut and to be pressed flat on the wall, from inside or from outside, and thankfully rear cavity of the Troopies got a great flat area to choose and drill for these two connections as I’ve shown in below images,
The stainless steel tube reducer you need to buy for the main filler tube is 1+1/2″ to 1+1/4″ and the required reducer fitting for 1/2″ smaller outlet line from the pump will be 1″ to 3/4″ connection, then you need washer and nut for the reduced side of the fittings, these sizes perfectly accept the required tubes on the reduced side of the fittings and you pass them thought the wall by drilling the outside diameter of your fittings but their smaller side, then you wet seal the tubes perfectly inside the fittings on the bigger side of each fittings.
I decided to run the tank’s drain to the rear of the Troopy, made a bracket and lockable gravity tap for the purpose of fully draining of the tank or mostly to use this unpressurised water tap for using it almost most of the times! basically this unpressurised tap means without any needs to run the water pump easy you can access your water all the time even in the case of water pump failure in remote areas, why to use water pump which will be noisy and power consuming all the time, while in most of the times there is potential to use a gravity water tap and convenient?
So this tap in the case of full draining and washing the water tank will be able to help you to clean the tank and fully empty it, and in the case of outdoor usage very convenient to access from back of the Troopy from outside, the pressure was normal and very pleasure to use also this type of tap got a pad lock point to secure it while the Troopy is in the park out of your eyes, some kids might drain your water without you noticing it so is good idea to get lockable tap.
This tap running from drainage point by a 3/8×1/4 brass bend and you will need to get 3/8 water hose same as the vent line size.
For inside sink water tap also the shower head for sure there is certain need of using a water pump,
I have chosen the Flojet Pump 11lpm 50psi and seems this pump does not required the accumulator on the line which is a plus benefit to not use any extra device, I added a bigger sediment filter for it comparing what supplied with this pump in its box and front image is a mounting box and bracket I made to mount it under the Troopy on the chassis member after the rear diesel tank, also by a layer of rubber on the touching parts is good idea to damp the noise and vibration of the water pump too, the setup showing below is mounted on the main chassis and its related hose is 1/2″ size and running from the tank on top of the rear diesel tank into the sediment filet shown below then straight to the pump, from the pump straight to the interior rear cavity for shower and sink connection,
Still is very early days and not sure about the quality of this flojet pump but hope this pump could serve the system well and without any hassle in its future.
UPDATE ON THE WATER TANK:
The water tank from long-range Automotive still is the best, using great available space under troopy and seating low without disturbing driver from any slushing, but there was one issue alway in my mind which was fully draining it, there was nothing under the tank to be able to empty the tank 100%, the supplied drain hole is on the side which will not drain the tank completely , I decided to weld extra 1/2″ stainless steel socket, and found that lots of water was seating inside the tank for very long time, location of the new drain socket is front towards the drive shaft and now the tank is fully drainable in any case we want to store it for long time or fully drain any possible dirty water, now we are able to do. some pictures of the new welded socket are here.
I think this should be standard on their design as its crucial to do not keep dead water for long time and any new added clean water should suddenly become contaminated again and again.
After welding this extra socket I used black zinc spray paint to cover the new weld area plus standard half inch plug on top of the socket and is very easy accessible all the time from left side of the wagon.
