Do You Travel With a Full Tank of Water? AGAIN

[ROLIN JOSEPH]

Hate to bring this up again as it has been discussed very extensively.
But....My concern is damaging the fresh water tank itself with all the weight in it as it is pounded and bounced down the road.
I don't know how these things are actually suspended from the frame but I am imagining a polyethylene ridge on the rim of the tank that can crack with all the bouncing weight on it. (never seen one)
JRTJH has put my mind at rest as far as sloshing around goes. He said modern tanks now have baffles. Great.
Nobody seems to be concerned about the tank falling off?.
I know they have a little strap that assists with the bulging when full.
Give me your two cents. :confused:
thanks

[f6bits]

My fresh water tank sits on the bedroom floor in my bed frame. I'm pretty sure there are no baffles.

[theeyres]

Stop worrying about all this stuff. I've been traveling with full water tanks, when needed, for 40 years and never had a problem. I've lost track of the fivers, pull trailers, campers I've had over the years, but they were all designed to haul water. Relax and enjoy the trip! :)

[CampDestinations.com]

Our fresh water tank is also on the floor under the bed. Yours probably is too, and if you lift the bed there's likely an access panel with screws that you can remove to see exactly how it's mounted. I have traveled a bit with the fresh water tank full and the other two tanks with about 5 gallons in each. I usually do this to really get the fresh tank cleanser going, to mix up water softener, to to let ice break up junk in the black tank. Sometimes I do it to add tongue weight if it's a bit light. Only once did I do it because I actually needed a tank full of fresh water. :) It's all good.

Wes

[dm1401]

Hate to bring this up again as it has been discussed very extensively.
But....My concern is damaging the fresh water tank itself with all the weight in it as it is pounded and bounced down the road.
I don't know how these things are actually suspended from the frame but I am imagining a polyethylene ridge on the rim of the tank that can crack with all the bouncing weight on it. (never seen one)
JRTJH has put my mind at rest as far as sloshing around goes. He said modern tanks now have baffles. Great.
Nobody seems to be concerned about the tank falling off?.
I know they have a little strap that assists with the bulging when full.
Give me your two cents. :confused:
thanks

We camp in the bush the bulk of the time, so we almost always travel with a full water tank, never had a problem, and thats going off road and traveling down rough wash board type roads, if it was a common problem i think there would be a lot of people posting about it, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
If my TT cant be towed with a full tank of water I don't want it, nor will I have a use for it....

[Ken / Claudia]

Yes, travel with a full or near full tank. Have on the 8 rvs I have had. This trailer has not been off road yet. If the tanks falls out I will post it here.

[Javi]

Stop worrying about all this stuff. I've been traveling with full water tanks, when needed, for 40 years and never had a problem. I've lost track of the fivers, pull trailers, campers I've had over the years, but they were all designed to haul water. Relax and enjoy the trip! :)

This...... :D

[SAD]

Yes, travel with a full or near full tank. Have on the 8 rvs I have had. This trailer has not been off road yet. If the tanks falls out I will post it here.

this x2

10 characters makes this post more useful

[ctpd814]

We always travel with at least some water in the fresh water tank just in case someone needs a potty break and there are no good places to near by.

[byrdr1]

I travel with 10 gallons in the tank most every trip, just in case.
but in the TT we traveled with full tanks as we dry camped at race tracks at lot of the time. So we had to have our water for all things wet. My well water just taste better than city water.
randy
enjoy the trip!

[canesfan]

I've seen lots of things along side, and in, the road, but I don't ever remember seeing an RV water tank. I've traveled many miles with a full tank, never lost one yet. Relax and enjoy. :)

[ROLIN JOSEPH]

Well, I guess I do overthink all things mechanical. I must agree I have never seen a full tank of water on the side of the road. So I suppose, against all my physics logic, I will erase this horrible imaginary scenario from my mind and spend more time having fun. Thank you all for the 20 cents. (10post @ 2c each):D

[limey]

I travel with a few gallons in there - but water=weight (8lb/gallon), and weight=fuel consumption!

I figure if the place I am going has water, why pay to haul my own?

[SAD]

I travel with a few gallons in there - but water=weight (8lb/gallon), and weight=fuel consumption!

I figure if the place I am going has water, why pay to haul my own?

Do whatever you feel is necessary....

However, near ZERO impact on fuel consumption. By far the LARGEST contributor to fuel consumption is aerodynamics/wind resistance.

The difference 600 lbs between.... 40 lbs (5 gallons) vs 640 lbs (80 gallons) considering a gross combined weight of 10,000 to upwards of 26,000 lbs is next to nothing.

The people who can testify to this are those who have (or have had) toy haulers. Garage empty? 9.4 mpg Garage full of 1,600 lbs of toys? 9.4 mpg.

[limey]

The wind resistance MAY be the most significant factor in fuel consumption, but total weight is additive to that - wind resistance does NOT overcome mass!

[SAD]

The wind resistance MAY be the most significant factor in fuel consumption, but total weight is additive to that - wind resistance does NOT overcome mass!

Like I said, do what you want.

But your reasons for limiting water on board lack merit. :)

[wbatto]

Hi all,
I have read alot of posts on this subject. I have read these water tanks have baffels in them. I wonder if all of them do as last year I towed my 2013 381 Fuzion with half a tank of water and was getting trailer chucking. I stopped along the road and dumped all but about 10 gallons and it was okay. I have also filled it all the way up and not had a problem. Has anyone else had this problem?

[limey]

It is SAD that some people forget that Force=MASS x Acceleration. No amount of wind overcomes that FACT! The wind is additive, not alternative. If you always get 9.4 mpg then wind is NOT the determining factor.

[Ken / Claudia]

I have done my own testing regarding towing. This is what I found, PDX to elk hunt about 300 miles, 70 gal water. Back home on same roads without water I got 11.4-7? mpg each way. I than pull the trailer to beach house 11.2-4 about 150 miles. Go back and get my boat I get 11.4 mpg same road same speeds. Trailer 7000lbs, boat 4000lbs it has windshield and cover both are 2 axle. I cannot say .2, .4 mpg is any different, it could be due to winds temps, etc as much as wt. I travel at 60 most of the time. That has been with the same truck listed below since 2002, pulling different rvs, and boats. at same speeds over same roads.

[JRTJH]

I've also found little if any difference in fuel mileage with the water tank full vs empty. Weight may play a small role in mileage, but that huge front cap and the vacuum created by that big square rear wall influence the mileage much more than 500 lbs of water in the FWT.

If you consider the weight of the added water and use that extra 3 or 4 % of total weight and try to calculate the extra percentage of fuel needed for a 200 mile trip, if your average is 9.4 miles per gallon with empty tanks, you'll use a little less than an extra gallon of fuel for the 200 miles. With all the other variables like headwind, traffic, overcoming the "bow wake" of 18 wheelers, temperature and even variability of fuel quality, an extra "less than 1 gallon" isn't really even a consideration when I get right down to a "yes or no" vs "convenience".

I think it really boils down to whether you want to or don't want to rather than any "economic reason" such as "marked increase in fuel consumption.

[Javi]

It is SAD that some people forget that Force=MASS x Acceleration. No amount of wind overcomes that FACT! The wind is additive, not alternative. If you always get 9.4 mpg then wind is NOT the determining factor.

I know of no one who gets a fixed fuel mileage when pulling a travel trailer. Pulling into a wind will reduce your mileage regardless.

I will say that if adding 500 pounds to the weight of my trailer significantly impacts my fuel mileage; I better start looking for another truck 'cause the one I got is substantially underpowered. :D

[GMcKenzie]

With the rear kitchen loaded up, I make sure I'm 1/2 full to full on the water tank. Tank is at the front. Front end is a bit light on my trailer with no water and all the food in.