[alternety]

For various reasons I need to get a lot of water in my CRV. My well water system is broken, and we have very few flushes left. I have spent days trying to find a suitable water tank to put in the rear of the CRV. Then I can drive to an avilable (not close) water source to keep us going until I figure put what is broken. The following is a precis of what I have done. After that the question.

The base problem I have been working is finding a tank that fits (poly water tank). I have measured the spaces in the back.

1. 32 3/4" floor to roof
2. 41 3/4" wheel well to wheel across the car
3. Then that bulges out to further reduce the available space
4. Length from hatch to end of flat area 32" and beginning the really stupid back seats the do not fold flat (or even close)
5. Roof 33"
6. Hatch opening is also small

I almost found some that almost fit. However is is almost like Honda purposely jiggled dimensions so as not to fit anything. Everything is within 1/4" - 2" of allowing any tank I have found. I am still trying.

In addition after I cleaned out some junk, I thought I should look under the floor. aargh.There is nothing there except a thin material of some sort over the well. Everything in there is plastic. There may be some steel under the plastic; but not holding my breath. No attempt at adding support to the floor. There is some foam pieces glued on the lid.

The smallest tank that is useful, when full, is 400 pounds. The one I really want is around 800 pounds. This upper tank would only be partially full because the information on the car door would limit me to a total variable weight of 850 lbs, not including a driver and one passenger (maybe 450 after people - 650 with only driver).

OK, now the question.

Has anyone tried to reinforce the floor of the rear compartment? Or can provide information showing what the rear floor will actually support.

I really need some experience shared. I have a crises here.

 

[Traylaw]

Place a 1/4" sheet of plywood to distribute the weight. You can get it cut to the size you want at Lowes or Home depot if needed. The floor in the back will handle 400 lbs so long as it is spread out across it

 

[Traylaw]

Also make sure your spare tire is fully inflated since that's where the floor is resting on

 

[kloker]

I would not remotely attempt this. You are likely to do serious and expensive damage to the rear suspension, let alone what it might do to the bodywork. That's if you don't blow a tire or lose steering control and crash. I wouldn't try to load more than 300-350 pounds max in the back of the car. My best advice is to get a hitch installed and rent or buy a small trailer, 5x8 or 5x10. Or, just rent a truck. Don't tear up your CR-V, it is not designed for this kind of thing, and you'd be flirting with danger. Be safe.

 

[Traylaw]

Actually the car is designed to handle 550 lbs in the rear of the car. It's in the manual. Also if you do the engineering and look at the gross weight per axle minus the curb weight per axle you will see where they get the 550 lb cargo rating in the back. As for the tires they are rated at 1800 lbs per tire absolutely no problem there. I have carried 6 x 70lbs (420lbs) load cells in the back of the CRV with no issues. The issue is the floor panel which is why I placed the plywood in the back to distribute the load on the floor panel.

 

[alternety]

Thanks Traylaw. Good information.

What you have recommended is essentially what I was going to do. But I was not sure about the back floor. I did not find the load info you provided. My choice at the moment is to put several 2X4s across the tire well. I have, and can cut, those.

It is nice to get a fast response from a clearly knowledgeable person.

 

[Traylaw]

Just to let you know, when were looking at sticking 420 lbs. in the back. We were not sure what the urethane blocks under the floor panel could handle. So we placed the panel on the ground, urethane blocks down and I stood on top of the panel directly over one of the blocks.
The block had no trouble supporting 200 lbs, so we knew that 8 blocks would handle 400 lbs if the weight was distributed by placing a plywood sheet over the floor panel.

 

[alternety]

Thanks.

I got the tank yesterday. Got it home and opened the lid to "rinse" it like the vendor said. A nauseating smell, many many dead creepy crawlies, and the bottom covered with a thick oily material. Maybe dead bug juice.

There was no cap on the drain. Vendor said they don't put those on. You have to get one. Probably how all that stuff wound up inside. I am so pi**ed. This will be my drinking water. And, of course, I have no water to clean the tank.

 

[Traylaw]

Bottled water for drinking, the tank water for washing and flushing! You can also purchase drinking water in 1 gal. reusable containers at the grocery store.

 

[alternety]

Probably work OK without plywood. If standing on one post was good for 200 lbs. The tank has 2 legs about 3" wide. They are across the diameter of the tank and equally spaced. Does that feel reasonable.

For the last almost 2 weeks, we have been doing with bottled water. So far there has been enough in the basement tanks for flushing. But is it is real close. The new tank has been cleaned by a friend. Going for water. And it is all potable.

 

[Traylaw]

The legs would have to set exactly over several of the urethane blocks. But anything you can do to spread the weight out over a larger area will ensure you don't mess up the fiber board or carpet, it's kind of flimsy. Your idea of laying several 2x4s across the floor panel is a good one. Just keep in mind that replacement for that floor panel is around $160.

 

[kloker]

Thanks.

I got the tank yesterday. Got it home and opened the lid to "rinse" it like the vendor said. A nauseating smell, many many dead creepy crawlies, and the bottom covered with a thick oily material. Maybe dead bug juice.

There was no cap on the drain. Vendor said they don't put those on. You have to get one. Probably how all that stuff wound up inside. I am so pi**ed. This will be my drinking water. And, of course, I have no water to clean the tank.

It is against federal law and most state laws to carry drinking water in any container not made specifically for the purpose and labeled and sold as such. It would also be required to be provided in sterile condition when sold, new or used. It also violates most Health Department regulations. It is highly unlikely you will find access to a workable method to clean it properly. Thus, if you do use it, you will be putting the lives, health, and safety of yourself and your family in danger, for which you are legally responsible and liable. The whole scheme has the potential to turn into an epic catastrophe. At the very least, I would advise taking the container to the car wash and flushing it out thoroughly with bleach and soapy water. Then use bottled water only for drinking.

Heck, I don't drink the tap water here. I have a refrigerated dispenser and get the 5-gallon jugs of spring water delivered.

 

[can]

I would stick to buying 5 gallon water cooler jars for both purposes. This is the most economical method, guartanteed to work under all circumstances. You can fit LOTS of them into a CRV w/o having to think about weight distribution.

 

[alternety]

It is working with no apparent stress. Now I can fill a few garbage cans and finish power washing the inside of the storage tank. Each one holds 55 gal. Then I can try to get a water truck in.

 

[alternety]

Then the garbage can fell over in the night.

 

[Gas_Pumps]

I would not remotely attempt this. You are likely to do serious and expensive damage to the rear suspension, let alone what it might do to the bodywork. That's if you don't blow a tire or lose steering control and crash. I wouldn't try to load more than 300-350 pounds max in the back of the car. My best advice is to get a hitch installed and rent or buy a small trailer, 5x8 or 5x10. Or, just rent a truck. Don't tear up your CR-V, it is not designed for this kind of thing, and you'd be flirting with danger. Be safe.

The CR-V is set up to handle 3 people in the rear seat. The FAA standard used to be 170# per person. That would mean that Honda allowed for at least 510 additional pounds in the rear seat alone. Water is about 8# per gallon so if you do not carry more than 65 gallons you should not exceed the load rating of the vehicle. Renting an on site tank and having water delivered might make more sense. In any case the plywood over the floor sounds like a good idea.

 

[kloker]

The CR-V is set up to handle 3 people in the rear seat. The FAA standard used to be 170# per person. That would mean that Honda allowed for at least 510 additional pounds in the rear seat alone. Water is about 8# per gallon so if you do not carry more than 65 gallons you should not exceed the load rating of the vehicle. Renting an on site tank and having water delivered might make more sense. In any case the plywood over the floor sounds like a good idea.

Wow. So, all these years, I've exceeded FAA standards? Well, thanks a lot, that's just great. I will say, however, that I was not aware carmakers fell under aircraft standards. Also, I would make the point that, while the rear seat is forward of the rear axle, the cargo area is not. That plywood is a good idea, but it does not help with the fact that all weight put in the cargo area is behind the rear axle, putting a serious strain on the flimsy unibody, and worse, the Civic-rated compact car suspension that is under the CR-V. But, what the heck. Back when I had my beloved '91 Civic Wagon, I hauled a number of my heavy cast iron woodworking machines home in it, with no major problems. If I had access to a time machine, I would go back and buy a brand new one of those, and drive it for the rest of my life. My all time favorite car. No CR-V will ever measure up.

 

[Gas_Pumps]

Wow. So, all these years, I've exceeded FAA standards? Well, thanks a lot, that's just great. I will say, however, that I was not aware carmakers fell under aircraft standards. Also, I would make the point that, while the rear seat is forward of the rear axle, the cargo area is not. That plywood is a good idea, but it does not help with the fact that all weight put in the cargo area is behind the rear axle, putting a serious strain on the flimsy unibody, and worse, the Civic-rated compact car suspension that is under the CR-V. But, what the heck. Back when I had my beloved '91 Civic Wagon, I hauled a number of my heavy cast iron woodworking machines home in it, with no major problems. If I had access to a time machine, I would go back and buy a brand new one of those, and drive it for the rest of my life. My all time favorite car. No CR-V will ever measure up.

The 170# number was used when actual weights are unknown as in loading a 727 with 113 people. I think they have increased that recently because they found the average is now somewhat higher. True it may not be used in the auto industry, but I was using that as an example because I remembered that number. On a small plane you can use actual weight to calculate load. I think the airlines quit weighing people in the late 30s. I don't know what crash dummies weigh, but that is probably the auto industry standard.

 

[kloker]

I gotcha, I was just being silly anyways. Actually I read somewhere that those crash test dummies are quite heavy - like 500-600 pounds each. I saw a video where they used cherry pickers to set them in place. Apparently they are quite laden with robotics and electronic gear. Although, now that I think of it, so are people these days. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but I would say we do attract a lot of gravity these days, enough to create some respectable amounts of ground pressure when loaded into a CR-V, with all our paraphernalia. When my girlfriend's waist is measured, it is stated in acreage.

 

[racoon]

I thought the 500-600 lb number was a bit odd, since the whole idea of a crash test dummy was to see what happens to a human body during a crash, and there really aren't that many 500+ lb people walking around.

A few web searches suggests that they are now making "obese" dummies to mimic the increase in the average weight of humans, but the increase is only 100 lbs. That makes the male dummies weigh about 270 lbs.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucel...esity-epidemic-is-doing-to-them/#131328ca26ec

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...gain-pounds-to-reflect-fatalities-among-obese