Hauling fresh water long distance full tank ? Possible or not good ?

[hylasw]

We are going to a non hookup site in south rim grand canyon and do not know if their is a place to fill water in our tank ?
Is it possible to haul fresh water on a full tank for a long distance like 130 miles ? Or is that not good ?

[Camping family]

I would think it’s okay. Is added weight but would not think it’s a problem. Personally I don’t travel with anything in my tanks. But that is just me. But I also have not been anyplace where they don’t have water.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by hylasw

We are going to a non hookup site in south rim grand canyon and do not know if their is a place to fill water in our tank ?
Is it possible to haul fresh water on a full tank for a long distance like 130 miles ? Or is that not good ?

If I'm traveling more than a couple of hours I always carry 15 or 20 gallons in my FW tank so the DW can flush and wash her hands.. I would never haul a full tank of water any distance.

Most of the campgrounds around tourist destinations will have water available even if the sites are no hookups..

[ADQ K9]

I travel long distances with a full FW tank (60 gallons or 480#) of course I live in Alaska where potable water may be hard to come by or if we have a breakdown we will have water for a few days.
The nice thing about water is that is a known weight and if you are weight concerned you can add only as much as you think you may need.
One needs to compensate for the added weight for this is part of your cargo carrying capacity.
From what I have seen around the GC I would carry a full tank YMMV

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by hylasw

We are going to a non hookup site in south rim grand canyon and do not know if their is a place to fill water in our tank ?
Is it possible to haul fresh water on a full tank for a long distance like 130 miles ? Or is that not good ?

If you have the extra room in your pickup truck and available payload you can get a collapsible fresh water bladder on Amazon with a little portable pump…that way if you run out during your stay you can go out and get more water without having to move the rv….wife’s cousin has one and loves it…he also had a tank leak from towing with a full gray tank I believe …something split or a strap broke..can’t remember exactly

[BookPaul74]

I do it all the time during the winter Boondocking for the same reason, not everyplace I go has water. Mine only hold 70 gallons.

[Canonman]

If you are staying at Mather CG then no problem with filling your fresh tank once you arrive. Plenty of spigots throughout the CG if you need more during your stay.
Desert View does have potable water but I'm not sure if they have a dedicated "fill/dump" site. I think they have a 30' maximum for RV's.
Great photo opportunities at Desert View

[Ken / Claudia]

I think I have made several trips of about 400 miles with fresh water tank full.
Past Rvs I traveled with full fresh water tanks if I needed the water. If I do not need the water than fill until the gauge is at 1/3 full. Nothing like spending 5 bucks for a couple gals to get the toilet to work when you do not bring any water.

[MotoDad293]

i have gone all over the country with full fresh water tank. we almost exclusively boon dock and i do not always know when and where i can find potable water before reaching our destination. so 100% of the time i leave home with a full fresh water tank. if you have the right sized tow vehicle it should not be a big deal.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by MotoDad293

i have gone all over the country with full fresh water tank. we almost exclusively boon dock and i do not always know when and where i can find potable water before reaching our destination. so 100% of the time i leave home with a full fresh water tank. if you have the right sized tow vehicle it should not be a big deal.

Nope, plenty of truck, but I've seen the results of the full tank breaking the straps and mounting brackets.. not worth it but that's just my opinion.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Javi

Nope, plenty of truck, but I've seen the results of the full tank breaking the straps and mounting brackets.. not worth it but that's just my opinion.

^^^^Agree 100%. Unless you've pulled the coroplast, inspected and reinforced the tank supports there is NO way I'm going cross country with a full tank of anything. Would I be the "lucky" guy that gets to do it and says it's OK or one of the many who find that whoops; my tank wasn't centered well on the rails, there were no straps, the tank split, the neck cracked etc. etc. etc.

Pull the coroplast, install strapping, steel support rails and vent/neck supports....THEN I "might" let it fill up and drive across our "pristine" highways and byways....nope.

[GaryUT]

We haul with the fresh water tank full when we are boon docking. Sometimes we travel 30 or more miles on a dirt road to get to a campsite, never had a problem.

The gray and black tanks are not empty on the way back out either.

Gary

[RickV]

Originally Posted by Javi

Nope, plenty of truck, but I've seen the results of the full tank breaking the straps and mounting brackets.. not worth it but that's just my opinion.

Reading this thread this came to mind. I mean our Federal and State Highways are perfectly smooth and have no bumps or anything else that would put stress on a tank or mounts

[JRTJH]

We do a lot of boondocking and typically tow the fifth wheel with the boat behind it down 1 lane dirt/gravel roads to get to a 5 or 6 site state forest campground that has no facilities except a pit toilet next to a pristine fishing lake. So, it's either tow with full fresh water (in) and full holding tanks (out) or not have water while camping.

We've done this since the Cougar was new and almost always with the fresh water tank filled with water at home before the trip begins. That's usually a 100-200 mile trip going and a 50 mile trip returning before we spend a night in a full facility campground to clean up and clean the inside of the trailer, dump tanks and get the boat cleaned up so we can "cross the bridge without bringing snails and stuff with us".....

2 years ago, we "dumped Michigan water in Las Vegas".....

Our water system is 43 gallons, 6 of which is in the water heater and we always have at least a half tank of fresh water when traveling.

[dutchmensport]

I think only you can make that determination if you can tow with a full tank of fresh water or not. The trailer itself might be able to handle it just fine, but adding a full tank, how does that affect the performance and stability of the trailer. Does adding water make the tow vehicle feel like it's being pushed harder when attempting to stop? Does the trailer feel like it's swaying (water sloshing in the tank back and forth), when it's really not?

For these reason, I travel with a little water as possible in all of my tanks. I've never had one fall off, even when they were full. But if the tanks are full, the performance of the tow vehicle and trailer act totally weird. This has been true for all 4 of my different travel trailers and fifth wheels.

About the danger of the tank falling off your trailer under a full load. It's doubtful that will happen (but not impossible). You should fill your tank, take the trailer out for a test drive and see how everything responds .... including making a panic stop. Find an isolated road and slam on the brakes ..... see what happens. Then you'll know if you REALLY want to carry a full tank of water, and/or full tanks of black and/or grey water.

[ChuckS]

With my current 2104 Alpine we have towed to our boon docking area many times in the last eight years…66 gallons of fresh water..

Our two precious toy haulers we towed the same.. full fresh water tanks..

However… I dropped the coroplast on my 2014 and removed the SM self tap screws they used to hold the bottom straps in place and replaced with bolts and washers and nuts.

My fresh water tank also has two molded lips that hold the tank in place in between two frame support bars.. as long as the tank molded lip edge engages the frame rails all “should be” good..

But I’ve seen many sad stores over the last couple of years with tanks that were not mounted correctly and fell thru..

Given the current state of typical OEM builds coming from the factory no way would I tow with a full tank of water without seeing how the tank is held in place
Image of typical OEM fresh water tank support straps…

[Ken / Claudia]

I have done tests on mileage and towing a truck camper and TT across Oregon empty or full of fresh water and holding tanks. With 2 different F350s and if there was any difference it was not noticed. Even did a panic stop with truck camper, a 10 foot bed, 18 overall and a 15 ft boat in tow on a steep down grade without losing control.
Several years ago with the current TT, I changed from D rated tires at 65 psi to E at 80. Completed the same trip from PDX to Boise ID and back before and after 3 weeks apart. I could not tell a bit of difference towing the trailer. Some say they do.
I do understand RV companies caution in print about towing with full tanks since that could change the TVs handling since they cannot know the TV and RV are truly matched for each other.
I will not pretend to be an engineer or RV designer/builder but think the tanks location's and shape's help to prevent movement of water that would destabilize the load/trailer while traveling at highway speeds.

[bobbecky]

We have well over 70,000 miles on our rig and 99% of the time have a full tank of fresh water, about 54 gallons, and have never had any issues with the fresh tank.

[34kw]

I have always traveled with a full tank with every RV I've ever owned (5 or 6). I've never had an issue or seen one. Until this forum, I've never thought or heard about it. Even if I'm headed to a campground I like to use my RV on the way.

[JRTJH]

I think human nature is to "lump things together", sometimes too often and too unrelated...

Many people see the molding "installed wrong" or see the the cabinet pull with a loose screw and think, "Well, what about the fresh water tank"..... Maybe it's installed wrong too.....

While it's true that "it could be" that doesn't mean that "it is" or even that "one in ten or six in ten or even one in a thousand" are incorrectly installed.

Sure, there's the occasional fresh water tank that falls onto the road while towing, but I'd suspect there's probably a similar number of people who were struck by lightening while holding a golf club in their hand... That doesn't stop us from golfing, and IMHO, it shouldn't stop us from towing with water in the tank.... You (or me) might be the next to be "struck by lightening with a full FWT, but then again, probably not".... YMMV