# LP Tank Cover



## CamperDC (Oct 30, 2003)

I took off the LP tank cover this evening to open the LP valve and found a birds nest on top of one of the tanks.







Check the album for a picture.

I have been considering replacing this cover with an aftermarket cover that just covers the tanks and this just may be the what pushes me over the edge. I also lost one of the four straps that hold the cover to the frame on my last trip.


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## Travelers Rest (Feb 27, 2004)

...saw the pic... I used to have some crows that like to build nests in my grill...until turned it on. OK just kidding I never turned it on but those things are hard to get rid of!!

What other reason is making you consider changing the front fairing? I like the way it looks but it is a little bit of a pain to work with isn't it?

Steve


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## CamperDC (Oct 30, 2003)

You said it. It has always been a pain to take off and put on. What has kept me from changing it is the fact that I like the look of it as you do.

A friend of mine has an aftermarket vinyl cover for his tanks that has a zipper for access and he can get to the valves in no time.

Maybe I need to consider the access door mod. but worry that I will mess the whole thing up.


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

It's flimsy, , it cracks easily, and I hate the straps. (they break!) Most of the dirt flies up from underneath, and cruds up my batteries. I need to find some battery boxes to fit my 6 volt batts, and then I'm all for getting rid of that cover! I like the looks of the slip over double propane tank cover.


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

I agree, like the look, hate the hassle. Ever carry it across the yard in a stiff breeze? I think I like the idea of the cloth cover and a battery box.

Mike


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

I tried the adco vinyl cover and couldn't get it to fit over the bottles, man I wrestled with that thing and couldn't get it to go. Seems the way the bottles are mounted, they are too far apart for the cover to fit and they won't go any close to eachother. I wasn't a happy camper, got the cover dirty from rain and dirt, spent 15 minutes cleaning it up so I can return that useless thing







Oh well, I'm over it now and will probably do Kirk's mod idea with the access door.

Mike


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## Gina Ford (Mar 15, 2004)

Someone had posted a picture somewhere showing how they cut an opening in the side of the tank cover and just put a lid on it that simply flips up to turn on the tanks. It looks like the door on the cargo holders. My husband would like to see that so he can make his own modifications.


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## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

That was my pic, if you like i will post it again. It wasn't all that difficult to do. The hardest part was to find a hatch the right size and I wanted one made of plastic with no lip some where around 12-14" x 4" opening, A little pre-measuring and lay out, then cut useing a dremmel tool/ cutoff blade. Carefully open the hole to the right size by grinding away the plastic and pop rivet the new hatch on. Someone else came up with another hatch that also looked like it would work but I don't know where online they found it. Kirk

PS: let me know about the pic's


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

I added one of the electric tongue jacks during our trip, figured I'd fight the cover. But I really haven't had any problems with our cover. Its a bit of a pain but nothing huge. I wonder if some how ours is different. Humm. I do like the idea of cutting an opening to make it easy to open and close the propane tanks though.


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## Phil (Mar 15, 2004)

I agree Steve. I put a power jack on myself, and it is about the same to get the cover on and off as it was when it had the manual jack on. I've also thought about the 'door' mod. It would be nice to be able to turn the gas on and off with out having to take the cover on and off to do it. Definitely like having the power jack vs. the manual one.


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## bassplunker (Dec 2, 2003)

They must have made a change to the cover because it's a breeze for me to take the factory cover on and off.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

All the more reason for a rally... so we can compare LP covers!


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## borntorv (Apr 13, 2004)

Hope you all don't mind if I resurrect this topic for some additional input,

Kirk, I assume you've removed the tank cover mod pics you had on here at one time? I'm wondering if any of our new (or old!) members have employed any similar approaches to simplifying access to the propone tanks.

I had previously purchased one of those aftermarket access panels for a standard propane tank cover. I still have it and would like to use it. The problem I see is that the Outback's cover is sloped down to a point where mounting on a flat portion would cause the access point to be below the level of the tank valves.







So what would a solution here be? Mount it where it should go and forget about the access panel not being flush with the cover?

Hope I haven't completely confused the issue here but you guys/gals seem to be a particularly creative bunch!

Thanks for the input,

Greg


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## campingtom170 (Apr 26, 2004)

I have also added a power jack. It did make getting the cover off a little more difficult but not impossible.

One of the very helpful thing that I have leearned here is to not strech those little rubber latches. I only pull them to the T and not to the little ball.

The other trick that I learned from a service tech at the dealer was to stand on the streetside of the trailer, with the cover free, lift slightly on the back while pulling the entire cover towards you. As the cover starts to clear the oposite side, lift the rear slightly while tiping the front down, continue lifting and rolling the cover off of the tanks allowing the front to just clear below the power jack head.

I hope I explained the action adequately. When done right the cover just rolls right off the tanks with very little effort.

Hope this helps, sunny

Tom


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## JimMcCombe (Apr 3, 2004)

I agree, the plastic cover can be a bear to get on/off, but it does look nice. We had vinyl covers for the LP tanks on our last trailer. It may have been the design, but I found them even more of a pain to take off when trying to refill the LP tanks. They had a draw string on the bottom which had to be untied, meaning you had to get on your back on the ground to do the job. Also, after the 2nd year, the tops of the cover were badly cracked. I cleaned them and lubed them up with 303 on every trip, but that didn't seem to matter.

I like the idea of the trap door to get to the valves--any pictures of that? Thanks,

Jim


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