Truckmount, general questions.. some concerns

Hi everyone. My name is Chris and I'd like to introduce myself and ask a few questions.

I just upgraded from a Ninja to a truck mounted unit. The van is all tagged up with the company logo too so I am really excited about that (pics on my website). I have about 12 years experience in the industry which consists of 5 in the sales room, 4 bonnet cleaning for a company and the rest on my own with a portable. I've never put my company name on my vehicle before because I thought it looked cheesy to drive around with a marked pick up truck and a portable in the back. Since I've been driving a Dodge Ram Truck, I bought a Dodge Ram Cargo Van.

I recently bought a brand new Panther 25 and I absolutely LOVE IT! I've heard a few bad things about it but Victor at Chem-Tex is a friend of mine and so far the customer service has been great so I'm pretty confident any issues will be addressed.  Plus I live in Houston where Chem-Tex is located.

I have the 65 gallon stainless steel fresh water tank also! Very happy with this. The only thing I noticed is the gas mileage in my van seriously decreases with a full tank of water so my hope of not having to unroll my water hose at every job is gone

I've been really pushing the Tile & Grout cleaning and I've noticed this machine is just as aggressive as my sales pitches are and backs up the confidence I have in my service! My customers are very happy and I'm hoping to get many more referrals (because the fact is, I work HARD..  but you are only as good as your tools in my opinion).


My questions:

First, the Panther is mounted on top of the fresh water tank so the exhaust on the machine blows directly in my face when I am adjusting pressure and priming/setting my solution line. I try not to breathe this in but it's inevitable. I would imagine this is dangerous and I need to have the exhaust routed down the fresh water tank so it doesn't blow directly in my face. Am I correct in this theory?


Second, I am running a gas tank on the side of the machine but I'd like to run it directly into the gas tank of the van. I've heard mixed reviews about this method. I've heard it can ruin the fuel injector on the van, and all kinds of things (didn't really understand it when I heard it though). What are some of the downfalls of doing this?

One guy tried to sell me a fuel pump and some other add ons to rigging this to the gas tank. Is that necessary? I would imagine it would work just like the gas tank method... drill a hole into the gas tank on the van, run the line into it and put an air tight sealer.

What is the best method? Gas tank on the side or run it straight to the gas tank of the van? Sometimes gas gets spilled and the entire van smells like gasoline. I can't stand it!

Thanks for your help in advance!

The pics of the van can be found here

http://atlantisrugandcarpetcare.com

If anyone has any suggestions for site improvement I would love to hear them!

Hey Chris,      I would reroute the exhaust using rubber exhaust tubing and cut a hole in the van floor and route it through there.  As for the gas, Don't cut a hole in the tank!!  Call Jon Don or interlink supply and they should have a fuel line install kit for your van.  There is usually a large rubber hose going from your filler cap and the tank itself.  With this kit,  you would cut that hose and replace a section with an adaptor that has an outlet for your machine and a small hose that runs into the tank via the filler hose.  With this setup you will need a fuel pump a 2psi one will generally be perfect.  I bought mine off the shelf at pep boys for less than 30 bucks i think.  I would also install an inline filter before the pump.  I did the install my self in a few hours on a chevy box truck and have no problems whatsoever!  Good luck. Any questions, let me know!!  Also Im not sure about your machine, but there is a "recirculating"  fuel install kit,  im pretty sure these are only for fuel injected truckmounts.  So you shouldnt need one. By the way, the website looks great!! Anthony Firmani

Thank you all for the replies!