Gas Station

[PARAPTOR]

Originally Posted by Jim Dow

I am nervous about running low on fuel and not being able to find a suitable supply station.

Therefore, I added a 35 gam aux-tank with toolbox to my truck bed.

If necessary, I hope to find a good level open parking lot.

X@ trucker Lou

Seems like we find ourselves juggling stuff. Worry about fuel add another tank, etc. I that is 35 gal tank; Gas ~210 lbs, Diesel ~249 lbs, Tool box + stuff ~ 80lbs. For the sake of talking say total ~300lbs added to truck bed in addition to the Hitch. That is taking away ~300 lbs from your available payload for your truck. Just curious, do not want to turn this into a TV discussion.

What I do is when I get around 1/4 tank on main roads start looking for a station, When looks like getting of main roads start looking at 1/2 tank. I use diesel so I need to be more careful especially off main roads. It was pounded into my head " Do not turn into a GAs Station unless you have a plan on how to get out"

[JRTJH]

While reading this thread, it's become apparent to me that a lot of RV owners are significantly more concerned with "how to fuel" than I am. Maybe part of that comes from having "done it" for so many years, but I find it strange that after towing for a number of years, someone would be so reluctant to pull into a gas station that they would consider unhitching at an overnight campground to drive into town to refuel so they could avoid having to tow a trailer thorough a fuel island. I think it's more a case of "beginner's jitters" than anything else. With experience and practice, the confidence to maneuver your rig into a refueling island will become second nature.

Certainly, the first few refuelings are somewhat tense, a fear of the unknown almost always causes that to happen. But after refueling a couple of times, it "should" become less tense and toward the end of the first lengthy trip, there shouldn't be much more "anticipation of fueling" than there is with driving and refueling the family sedan.

On those first few times, if you're unsure, then get out, walk around, survey the terrain, visualize what you see and what you expect your tow vehicle and trailer to do as you maneuver through the area, and if needed, have someone spot for you to help.

Once you've done it a few times, you should know enough about how your rig corners and how it turns so that you can anticipate where you need to start a turn and where the trailer will be once you get there. If you are "afraid to try it at a station", then by all means, find an empty parking lot on a Sunday afternoon, set up some obstacles and drive around them until you're comfortable with your ability to control your rig. Remember that everyone started somewhere with little knowledge of how their trailer will react in a turn or when backing, but we all managed to figure it out. That sense of confidence comes from getting in that parking lot and learning your rig and how to drive it.

It's really more a matter of experience creating confidence than it is a matter of some "mystical ability to pull a trailer". If you never practice towing in close quarters like a gas station, you'll always be nervous. No matter how well you plan, as Outbackmel said, sooner or later you're going to have to figure out how to get out of an "impossible situation". It happens to everyone if you tow long enough.

The key, I think is learning where not to try to go rather than being afraid to drive into a tight spot. Never put your rig someplace that you didn't already plan how to get out of that spot. Refueling in tight places is really no different than backing into a tight campsite. It is just another part of RVing.

Go slow, expose yourself to the experience and gain the skills it takes to be confident and capable. It's really a "must learn/must do" part of RVing.

[Javi]

I think the best thing for anyone who is tentative about driving, parking or backing a vehicle regardless of whether it is a TT, 5th wheel, motor coach or semi tractor/trailer combination can do is to find a large empty parking lot and using cones or cardboard boxes set up to simulate the evil situation and practice until it becomes comfortably second nature.

Everyone who starts out need to learn the swing, follow, turning radius both forward and in reverse as well as the pivot points and blind spots of their rig and I promise you the street or gas station ain't the classroom.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Javi

I think the best thing for anyone who is tentative about driving, parking or backing a vehicle regardless of whether it is a TT, 5th wheel, motor coach or semi tractor/trailer combination can do is to find a large empty parking lot and using cones or cardboard boxes set up to simulate the evil situation and practice until it becomes comfortably second nature.
Everyone who starts out need to learn the swing, follow, turning radius both forward and in reverse as well as the pivot points and blind spots of their rig and I promise you the street or gas station ain't the classroom.

I agree completely. If you aren't comfortable, then set up controlled situations and practice until you are comfortable. You simply can't always avoid having to maneuver your rig when towing so it's best to know how to do it rather than to always "try to avoid" it by trying to work around the skill. You can't count on what's over the next hill or around the next curve as something that will accommodate your lack of experience. Learn the necessary skills before you put yourself in the situation so you're prepared.