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I've seen several types of, and plans for, racks to hold cylinders in cars, but almost all of those are loose, with no real connection with the car. A common practice seems to be to just wedge the things into place. There seems to be no consideration of how the cylinders will act in a collision. I'd want the heaviest things in the car, such as cylinders and weights, as low and far forward as possible (or practical), and attached as securely as a seat belt.
What I'd like to do is remove the rear seats completely from my Ford Escape, and build a rack to securely hold cylinders and weights. The rack could be bolted to the same mounts the seats used. It would not be as convenient to load as one built for the tailgate, but it would place these heavy, dangerous items in a location that puts ride quality and safety before convenience.
Does that sound crazy, or has somebody already done this?
With pickup trucks you can install cargo rails along the side edge and the behind the cabin. Attach ratchet straps to tie cylinders to the car itself.
With enclosed trunks and SUV's it becomes a little bit more tricky. If you're going to drill and heavily modify your car might as well look at various cargo rails.
At what point do you diminish the resale value of this vehicle enough to justify trading it for one that is more suited to hauling diving gear? Packing six cylinders in the back seat area of a small car isn’t too great for the car or your back.
Assuming the seats have those mount hook things (I have no Idea what to call them) you could go to a junk yard and get some, then you can make a removable rack that does not damage the car. As for a rack material, you would probably want the lightest material you can afford, so aluminum would be good. A horizontal rack would distribute weight better. Maybe consider taking the standard "pool noodle" type design, but use solid cores in the noodles, then all you would need is a tie down strap and some sort of baseboard and the tanks would not move at all.
If you wanted it to be really cool you could put rails on the rack so that you could pull it towards the back of the car.
EDIT: Noticed you already though of the mount thing.
At what point do you diminish the resale value of this vehicle enough to justify trading it for one that is more suited to hauling diving gear? Packing six cylinders in the back seat area of a small car isn’t too great for the car or your back.
The idea is to build a removable rack, thus not diminishing the resale value of the car. In fact, by using a rack instead of just letting the cylinders roll around and scratch things, one of the goals of this project is to preserve the car as much as possible. In response to your comments about "finding one... more suited to hauling dive gear" and "small car..." this thing is absolutely HUGE compared to our old '93 Honda Civic. This 2012 Ford Escape is the car I'll be using for the foreseeable future.
However, it seems most everyone has missed the main point of my post: I'm concerned with transporting my cylinders in a way that reduces the negative effects on handling caused by weight too far back, and I'm concerned about securing the cylinders to survive a collision. It seems to me that most people don't put a very high priority on these things when placing their cylinders in their cars; they're more concerned with convenience and ease of loading. I'm comfortable sacrificing some convenience to get a safer car.
I was thinking about making the frame out of steel, welded mostly, but probably in two or three sections bolted together to make it possible to remove, and fastened to the car at the points where the rear seat backs are attached now. It would have vee-shaped "nests" which would accommodate different sizes of cylinders, secured with bungee to keep them from rattling on the bumps. I was thinking that maybe they would load from the rear, so that they wouldn't rely on the bungee to hold them in a collision. It would also have a basket to hold weights.
Does anyone know of anyone who's done something like this already?
I am an avid jeeper and have a dive cylinder tank filled with CO2 that I use to inflate tires and run powertools. It straps into a bracket that can be locked closed and would hold a tank in a crash. You can buy the brackets separately if you like...
Also, make sure the valve of the tank faces the back of the car. Two reasons, firstly, easier to grab this way. Secondly, the valve does not become a projectile if you are in an accident. A friend who was hit from behind had a tank slide forward, straight thru the back of the rear seat and hit the passenger in the back. Luckily, no real damage to the diver. If the tank had been pointing to the back, it is unlikely to have even been felt.
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Originally Posted by Akimbo
