Storing four tanks upright in a car seat?

[Javik]

I am looking for a way to store four 80/100 cf tanks upright in a car seat, and held in place by the lap belt and shoulder belt. I do not want to have tanks flying around if I have to brake hard or I get in an accident.

The idea is, just permanently leave the holder in the car seat and insert and remove tanks as needed, then take them all in as a group to get them filled, and repeat.

My sport utility vehicle does not have a trunk, and most of the space in the hatchback is occupied by a rather essential dual 15" subwoofer box for them techno beats.


The following plastic tank holder sort of looks like what I am trying to find, except it also needs a way to be secured upright with the seat belt. (This looks too thin and fragile to work for this application. If holes were cut in this item for the lap belt, it probably would probably crack apart and go flying, with the stress load of four steel tanks and an accident collision.)

Amazon.com : Scuba Tank Rack - 4 Positions : Sports & Outdoors

 

[CuzzA]

Since you have an SUV you have access all around the seats. $10, problem solved. 400 lb. Capacity 1 in. x 15 ft. Ratcheting Tie Downs 4 Pc

 

[Javik]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I am trying to not wreck the seat fabric as much as possible, which would happen with straps wrapped tightly around the back of it.

Also, using the lap belt, it will stretch slightly in a collision to dampen a crash, just like with a person sitting in the seat.

 

[SCRedWolf]

I am looking for a way to store four 80/100 cf tanks upright in a car seat, and held in place by the lap belt and shoulder belt. I do not want to have tanks flying around if I have to brake hard or I get in an accident.

The idea is, just permanently leave the holder in the car seat and insert and remove tanks as needed, then take them all in as a group to get them filled, and repeat.

My sport utility vehicle does not have a trunk, and most of the space in the hatchback is occupied by a rather essential dual 15" subwoofer box for them techno beats.


The following plastic tank holder sort of looks like what I am trying to find, except it also needs a way to be secured upright with the seat belt. (This looks too thin and fragile to work for this application. If holes were cut in this item for the lap belt, it probably would probably crack apart and go flying, with the stress load of four steel tanks and an accident collision.)

Amazon.com : Scuba Tank Rack - 4 Positions : Sports & Outdoors

Does your SUV has flip-forward seats in the back, the kind that the seat bottom goes forwards so the seat backs can lie flat? That way you can use a sturdy base, they'd have a much lower center of gravity, and therefore less tendency to end up in the back of your head in a panic stop. If you design it right you can make it a 'permanent' mount and leave it in place when the seat is folded down for use. I recommend that you do not have the tanks sit on the seat at all. They need a sturdy surface to avoid shifting while the plane is in flight. I've seen what a dropped tank does to an aluminum boat deck.

 

[kcprofessor]

Don't just think about the coming forward in the event of a sudden stop. They will want to tip sideways every time you turn a corner or swerve to miss that idiot on his cell phone. In order to properly secure an object in a moving vehicle it must not only have something strong around but also has to sit on a firm base. Also, if you have a small SUV, it pays to keep the weight low. Rollover anyone?

 

[Javik]

2000 Honda CRV, non-removable rear seats. The rear space is taken up by the subwoofer from the rear, up to the wheel well indentations. Right side rear seat is folded down and gear bag goes there.

I don't really see a way to make it work with them all folded down. This vehicle is on the small end for SUV's, not much room even with the seats folded down.

Images borrowed from teh webz:

kcprofessor: Yes I have been considering that. This is moving more in the direction of a fully enclosing 3/4" to 1" plywood box with a door on the side and rear slots cut out with a router, for the passenger belt to pass through, for a seat-mounted container.

Or perhaps do the same thing, but make a fully enclosing plywood box so four or more tanks can be placed horizontally in the rear underneath the subwoofer, with the tank valves facing forward, and use spacer blocks inside the box, so the tank rim is supported but the valves don't touch anything.

(I wasn't planning on this becoming a DIY topic, but seems to be going in that direction. I don't know of anyone that makes a hatchback tank storage box like this.)

 

[KenGordon]

My assumption is that in the event of an accident the cylinders will behave like the snow in one of those little glass toys you bring home from holiday. This will leave anyone inside the vehicle properly mashed and dead as a dead thing.

With my twinset I tie it down, but know in a proper accident it would break free and get me.

I am not convinced that the catches which keep the fold down back seats of my car upright are strong enough to resist 100kg of cylinders in an impact, so even the ones in the boot (trunk) are a risk.

If I have loose cylinders, weights etc I drive appropriately.

With your car, have the four cylinders side by side in the boot between the wheel arches, with a gear bag next to them to stop them rolling sideways and pile the rest of your stuff on top. The alternative is upright in the read footwells, leaning in the way or out the way. If they clunk drive more gently. This has the advantage of less delta v as they are closer. However almost any non zero delta v when hit by 17kg of Ali 80 is likely to have a poor outcome for those in the car.

 

[KDAD]

One way would be to make a holder across both seats that the tanks can slide into and lie down in side by side and the gear bag can sit on top of. Think of it like a wine rack. Pete @NetDoc has something similar in his Sprinter that he has posted pictures of that you can use as a starting point.

 

[guruboy]

It will be a pain getting tanks in/out of the side doors.

If you can put the subs on top of the tanks as you described, that would be best as you could then slide the tanks in and out easily from the back.

I would put them in tank valves facing back. In an event of a crash, I don't think the tank will go flying if it is boxed in securely (no chance to get momentum) but a valve certainly will.

It is also easier to slide the tank in and out with the valves pointing back.

 

[The Chairman]

My name was mentioned, so I thought I would give a few parameters I used in designing my tank racks.

• Design them for maximum strength with stopping. My tank rack which holds both vertical and horizontal tanks is designed for the tanks to be resting against either 2x4s or 3/4 Marine Plywood during travel. Momentum is your enemy during a hard stop and even worse in a crash. Valves are always up for rearward for that very reason and I try to eliminate any space between the tank and the stop.
• Ease of access was the second parameter. Bending in to get a tank is fine when you're young. I'm not young.
• 1" straps with adjustable plastic buckles worked well for my vertical tanks. I have enough strap so I can go around a tank on a BC but it adjusts down to hold a single tank. I can now unbuckle my gear which is already set up, sit on the back end and don it.

Be safe. Stopping is far more abrupt than accelerating. If tanks are in a cargo area that's shared with passengers, please strap them down. Make sure that in the unlikely even that you're in an accident that you're not going to be killed by a flying tank missile.