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Old 05-19-2021, 05:35 PM   #1
autismalanimal
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Towing '17 Passport ultralite bh2400 with full tanks?

Soon I will be embarking on my first boondocking journey. Ive heard you're not supposed to tow it with full tanks. This seems counterintuitive to me, as I was under the impression that travel trailers are meant to be fully usable off grid. I havent had any luck finding the answer on Google, so wondering if anyone can tell me if I can haul my travel trailer with full water and/or full waste water tanks.
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Old 05-19-2021, 05:51 PM   #2
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Yes they are supposed to be built to just "fill er up and head out". Unfortunately real life is out there too and that concept can butt head with the other concept.

What kind of boondocking? In an unimproved campground with easy (road) access? Probably no problem. Want to drive 3 miles back in the woods over rocks, debris etc. throwing the RV all over the place? Probably not.

Your holding tanks are made of "plastic" held on tenuously by whatever means they felt appropriate at the time....maybe solid (as it could be), or not. Filling a 40gal. tank full of liquid, suspended by little plastic edges and screws in the frame then trying to jolt it over 12" drops and ledges....well, it won't go well.

So to your question; yes they are useable off grid with common sense. If you want to REALLY go off grid with no issues and get in the rough.....they make some really great land rover type RVs but they push $1/2M.
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Old 05-19-2021, 06:06 PM   #3
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What you can or cannot tow safely depends on your vehicle. The 40 gallon fresh water tank on our model is very close to the front so a full tank adds 300+ pounds to the tongue weight. With 10 gallons in mine, my tongue weight is roughly 925 lbs. loaded for a trip. Can your vehicle take 240 lbs. on top of that?

Another reason I don’t advise running with full tanks is the extra weight it adds to the lightweight frame. Loaded tanks have been known to fall out onto the road if you hit a big enough bump because the supports can’t handle the weight. Think of it this way; lay a cement block on your foot. No big deal right? Now pick up that block and drop it on your foot (hopefully you won’t actually try this). Same block, same weight, but force multiplies exponentially making that block weigh hundreds of pounds when it hits your foot. Extrapolate that to the water and waste tanks that weigh hundreds of lbs. but can have a force on the frame of thousands of pounds. Recipe for disaster in my opinion.

I boondock often and will be doing it for three days over Memorial Day weekend. I start with empty grey and black tanks and 6-10 gallons of fresh water. When we get to where we are going, we fill up the fresh tank and we are good for the weekend. I am in the fire service so we may stop at a fire house closest to our destination and fill up there if our camping spot doesn’t have a fresh water supply.
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Old 05-19-2021, 07:10 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NH_Bulldog View Post
What you can or cannot tow safely depends on your vehicle. The 40 gallon fresh water tank on our model is very close to the front so a full tank adds 300+ pounds to the tongue weight. With 10 gallons in mine, my tongue weight is roughly 925 lbs. loaded for a trip. Can your vehicle take 240 lbs. on top of that?

Another reason I don’t advise running with full tanks is the extra weight it adds to the lightweight frame. Loaded tanks have been known to fall out onto the road if you hit a big enough bump because the supports can’t handle the weight. Think of it this way; lay a cement block on your foot. No big deal right? Now pick up that block and drop it on your foot (hopefully you won’t actually try this). Same block, same weight, but force multiplies exponentially making that block weigh hundreds of pounds when it hits your foot. Extrapolate that to the water and waste tanks that weigh hundreds of lbs. but can have a force on the frame of thousands of pounds. Recipe for disaster in my opinion.

I boondock often and will be doing it for three days over Memorial Day weekend. I start with empty grey and black tanks and 6-10 gallons of fresh water. When we get to where we are going, we fill up the fresh tank and we are good for the weekend. I am in the fire service so we may stop at a fire house closest to our destination and fill up there if our camping spot doesn’t have a fresh water supply.
I have a Ford F250 that has a towing capacity of 10,000 lbs, so I dont think the extra weight would pose a problem. However I totally see your point about the tank and the other commenters remark about the plastic parts.

Anyone know if there is a way to secure the tanks more? I've heard of someone putting some sort of supportive straps underneath them
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Old 05-19-2021, 07:31 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by autismalanimal View Post
I have a Ford F250 that has a towing capacity of 10,000 lbs, so I dont think the extra weight would pose a problem. However I totally see your point about the tank and the other commenters remark about the plastic parts.

Anyone know if there is a way to secure the tanks more? I've heard of someone putting some sort of supportive straps underneath them
Yep! Your F250 is rated to "tow" 10k, but what is rated to "carry"? Newer 1/2 ton trucks are rated to "tow" 14k+, but the lack of payload prevents it from being able to "carry" the load of that much rv.
There's a big difference between these 2 numbers.
Check the payload on the drivers door jamb on the yellow/white tag. That's your tongue/pin weight (which WILL be affected with full tanks) + weight of the hitch + everyone/everything in/on your truck. I'm guessing your payload is 2000-2500lbs with a 10k rv GVWR that's 2300 lb hitch/pin weight (the average 23% of rv GVWR for a 5th wheel, 13% for a TT), loading 3-4 tanks full could be considerable weight placed on your truck depending on tank locations.
Tow ratings & dry weights are the most misunderstood, misused numbers in the rv industry, both mean absolutely nothing when pairing a truck to a rv.
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Old 05-20-2021, 03:28 AM   #6
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Towing capacity is irrelevant. My F150 is rated to tow 12,000 pounds. The maximum loaded weight of the camper is just a little bit over 7000 pounds. What matters is the cargo carrying capacity relative to the weight that you were putting on and in the back of the truck. My cargo capacity is 2250 pounds. I could comfortably tow my camper with fully loaded tanks if I choose. But because of the limitations of the frame of the camper and the amount of weight in the tanks when they are filled I choose not to do so.
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Old 05-20-2021, 04:45 AM   #7
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We normally do not tow with full fresh water tanks. We carry enough FW to overnight or use the toilet while on the road. We did wind up spending a couple nights but that was because the county park we were staying in was having water issues. We conserved and made out OK. Even had coffee both mornings.
We normally fill the FW as close to our boondocking location as possible. Since our Cougar is is absolutely NOT made for off-roading, We're usually traveling on improved dirt or paved roads. If you are planning to use unimproved roads, I'd suggest removing the coroplast underbelly and have a look at how your tanks are attached. Adding some reinforcing straps is not too tough a job.
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Old 05-20-2021, 06:10 AM   #8
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What does "ultra-light" mean to you?

Quote:
Originally Posted by autismalanimal View Post
Soon I will be embarking on my first boondocking journey. Ive heard you're not supposed to tow it with full tanks. This seems counterintuitive to me, as I was under the impression that travel trailers are meant to be fully usable off grid. I havent had any luck finding the answer on Google, so wondering if anyone can tell me if I can haul my travel trailer with full water and/or full waste water tanks.
I agree with what others have responded. "Yes, travel trailers are meant to be fully usable off grid". The problem with sweeping generalizations is that they are wrong as often as right. There is a reason your trailer is "ultra-light". You have benefited from a purposeful design of lighter weight structure and materials, fewer components and fasteners, etc. This is a good thing from a towing perspective. However, compare this with something like a Raptor, purpose built to haul heavy toys, hold over 800#s of water, accommodate a lot of occupants, and be used off-grid for boondocking.

So you really need to take YOUR trailer and YOUR circumstances into the specific set of circumstances. You can probably go just about anywhere (within reason) as long as you remember what you are towing - an RV specifically designed with "light weight" prioritized over "strength". Travel with as little weight (e.g. fluids) as possible, go SLOW in the rough areas, baby the equipment and it should reward you with reasonable service life.
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Old 05-20-2021, 07:43 AM   #9
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"Anyone know if there is a way to secure the tanks more? I've heard of someone putting some sort of supportive straps underneath them"



Here's a short video with a novel idea for reinforcing the water tank strapping. There are a couple of others as well

Sorry, posted the wrong video earlier.
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Old 05-20-2021, 07:58 AM   #10
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I can't speak for the Passport line but my Laredo 265SRK has the water tank centered right over the axles and carries a full load of water just fine. Unless I'm planning on full service camping I run with the tank topped off.
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Old 05-20-2021, 09:51 AM   #11
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I think there is a class of RV meant to go over rougher terrain called an "adventure rv". I would buy something like this for real rough terrain:
https://earthroamer.com/

Never mind... saw prices and will stick to my ancient 5th wheel in rv parks.
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Old 05-20-2021, 10:06 AM   #12
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If you have the payload, you can always carry several 5 gallon jugs of water in the truck and transfer as needed. Maybe fill you FW tank 1/3-1/2 and carry along 4 jugs in the bed.
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Old 05-20-2021, 11:12 AM   #13
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When hunting, I will drive 5 to 25 miles on dirt and gravel roads. I bring water in by way of the full fresh tank. It is slow driving, otherwise any RV will be shaken apart. I have been thinking of removing the coroplast and make extra straps around each tank, returning the gray and black tanks are full. At that time go over the whole bottom and seal up everywhere I can. Then replace or use old coroplast bottom cover.
Maybe this summer I will get it done. I did add another welded steel bar under the batteries. If 1 of the four factory welds broke loose both batteries would end up under the trailer and drug along until?
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Old 05-27-2021, 12:36 PM   #14
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I used to keep my camper in a hunting lease for part of the winter and found and bought multiple 7 gallon water containers from Walmart, they had good caps that also contained spouts that fit the opening in the fresh water tank and made filling the tanks easy, you still have to carry the weight of the water but can leave the tank empty till you get to the campsite then add the water, it also allows you to replenish the water in the containers to refill the tank if you can find a water source.
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Old 05-28-2021, 04:59 AM   #15
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Transfer pumps are marvelous. Lifting and pouring 7 gallon jugs is not good in my book!
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Old 05-28-2021, 07:23 PM   #16
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Yea, I have several 6 gal water jugs, Those are also carried full in truck bed.
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Old 06-03-2021, 08:20 AM   #17
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I have a Passport 238ml Ultra Light, a 25' bunkhouse under 4000# dry and around 5500# max. I usually start trips with the fresh water tank full (30 gal, towards the front). On the way home I usually have the grey and black tanks half full (they're in the rear) and sometimes will have refilled the fresh tank. No problems so far.
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Old 06-03-2021, 08:28 AM   #18
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Quote:
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I have a Passport 238ml Ultra Light, a 25' bunkhouse under 4000# dry and around 5500# max. I usually start trips with the fresh water tank full (30 gal, towards the front). On the way home I usually have the grey and black tanks half full (they're in the rear) and sometimes will have refilled the fresh tank. No problems so far.
I had to look up what a "2000 Chevy G1500 Majestic Land Yacht" was. In any case, do you pull y our Passport with that thing? Interesting.
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Old 06-28-2021, 05:31 PM   #19
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I dry camp a dozen times (long weekends) a year and none of the places I go have water so I usually fill my water 2/3 full. I use my bathroom. I drain the fresh water before heading home. I usually go 2-3 trips between dumping and my black tank is behind the rear wheels while the two grey tanks are over the axels.

All roads are paved with a few short stretches of gravel so the ride is soft.

I have never noticed any difference in handling as the black tank filled up.
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