Installing the Alu-cab Water Tank & Soap Dispenser
Prior to having the Canopy Camper, our water system consisted of 5-gallon jugs from REI. We had gone through several different iterations of our water system, from collapsible clear water cubes, to blue jerrycan-style storage containers. For a typical weekend, we would use about 2.5-3 gallons, so this system worked well for us. But, part of the appeal of having the camper is always having potable water at the ready, no matter where we went. For that reason, we knew that we would be going with the Alu-cab tank as part of the build.
Installing the Water Tank (2hrs)
The installation is fairly straightforward, but there are opportunities to improve the instructions. It’s a large, awkward container that requires a lot of fasteners which makes the removal of the water tank frustrating if you have to do it multiple times. So, you can learn from my mistakes and hopefully, only have to worry about doing it all once. I’d recommend following these steps first:
Prep the install and insulate first - The water tank sits against the bulkhead of the camper, which is fairly thin, powder-coated aluminum. To reduce the likelihood of the whole tank freezing, or just doing a better job of regulating the temperature of the water in the tank itself, it's a good idea to insulate the area first. Bedrug should work, but make sure that you cut notches in the bedrug for the plugs on the backside of the tank to clear. If you plan on using attachment points on the back of the tank, make sure you prep these first or else you will have no way of accessing the tank once installed.
Attach the breather prior to mounting - Cut the threaded plastic insert on the top to size, and waterproof it with plumber’s tape or sikaflex. Tighten and secure these parts before the tank is mounted in the camper.
Attach the top and bottom brackets first to the frame, then fasten place the tank brackets. If everything is too loose, it will be difficult to mount
Because there are a lot of fasteners required to secure the tank to the bulkhead properly, you’re going to need to maneuver yourself and your wrenches into some awkward positions, namely with the upper brackets. Be very careful here. It’s easy to drop tools between the bulkhead of the camper and the water tank, which to retrieve, will require you to remove the water tank almost completely. Unfortunately, this happened to me as I was tightening down the final nut and bolt.
Plumbing the Hose and Faucet
Once the tank is installed, you can then begin plumbing the water hoses to whichever location you’d like. Again, this part is pretty straightforward depending on where in the camper you plan to mount the faucet. I chose to run the hose on the driver’s side to the rear fitment panel on the camper. Currently, there is an excess of the hose and it is just looped in the camper; however, I have plans to remove the excess hose and run several 90-degree elbows once I know where the plumbing needs to route the plumbing through the Goose Gear cabinets that will be installed.
I used a step-bit to drill out the hole in the rear, external fitment panel, and the inner fitment panel. I tried to get fancy by adding some washers to increase the surface area of where the faucet is attached to the camper, to reduce the likelihood of the faucet damaging the thin aluminum panels, but it leaked and I ultimately removed the additions I had made.
Tips & Tricks
Don’t drop wrenches behind
Insulate first
Put the breather connection on before loading the tank into the camper - this will prevent you from having awkward breather tube placement
Installing the Soap Dispenser
While we’re out in the woods, a lot of the water is used to wash things, whether it’s dishes from our meals, hands after wrenching or before cooking, or our faces before bed. Prior to this setup, we kept a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s natural soap in our kitchen bin. It always ended up staying out, on top of our water jugs, for easy access. I didn’t want to have to deal with it leaking while stored, or explaining where it was located to folks we were hosting. So, I made the decision to hard-mount a soap dispenser close to the faucet to service all of these needs.
Thinking through what a solution like this would need, it had to be secure. Taking the roads and trails we do meant that this couldn’t be any old soap-holder or bottle dispenser - it had to be able to withstand the high-frequency vibrations of gravel and dirt roads. Furthermore, it was going to be mounted on the exterior of the camper, capable of withstanding the elements and remain durable through use. So, I began searching for the right bottle and mount.
I ended up purchasing a few different products to get it just right (see below). I had to modify the opening of the mounting bracket to fit around the neck of the soap bottle and hold it securely. Additionally, I had to cover parts of the mounting bracket with neoprene to reduce vibration and enable the bottle to remain secured in place with the additional friction that a neoprene surface would provide. Lastly, the mount was secured, and adjusted, using stainless steel hardware. The resulting mount was something I was very proud of, and I ended up mounting it just off-center incase we wanted to mount a second, or something different.
Parts List
Soap Bottle Holder
1/8-inch neoprene
industrial spray adhesive
Soap bottle