As the camper also had a rear bumper bar hitch fitted , we knew the 130L plastic water tank wasn ’ t likely to fall out . But we also knew that if we left things unattended , we were taking a risk that the tank might rub on the hitch bracket and put a hole in it . This was something we definitely wanted to avoid .
THE QUICK FIX
We saw the problem as two-fold . We knew we needed to improve how the tank was being held in place , and that we had to get that broken tank strap back into position . After a quick look through our toolkit , it was a toss-up between using a ratchet strap or some eight-gauge fencing wire .
We weren ’ t keen on letting some water out in order to to lower the tank to get the wire in place , so the ratchet strap was our pick . As it turned out , it was a relatively easy job to feed the strap under the tank and tank strap before securing it to some fixed steel recovery brackets .
This fix alone may have been good enough if we simply turned around and headed back along the 300km of corrugated road to the nearest town . But we decided to push on . The water tank was still full , and we had quite a long trip ahead of us .
Yes , we knew a more substantial repair was warranted , but we were confident in our ability to make the repair given everything we were carrying in our toolbox . It was time to find a camp and tackle the job first thing the next morning .
A BUSH WORKSHOP
With a canvas crawl mat in place on the ground , it was out with the toolbox , some battery-operated power tools , and a few steel and aluminium offcuts . Our Kimberley workshop was set-up and ready for action .
We didn ’ t have our welding leads with us on this trip , so we opted to make a bracket that would replicate the attaching threaded bolt . We thought this type of fix would keep the tank located in its original position , plus give us the best chance to continue our adventure as planned .
The bolt sheared off , possibly from fatigue .
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