Travel with a full load of water?

[ghaynes755]

Kelvin, if you start with 50gal FW full and empty grey/black tanks unless you added more fresh water how would you fill up the black and grey tanks which combined might be 75 gals or so?

[Moflash]

We always run full.

[Nomad518]

I do the same as many have already posted. If we're going to be dry camping, and there's no convenient place to quickly fill upon arrival, our fresh water tank is full when we leave home. If we will be staying at a campground with full hookups, we travel with just enough water to use the sinks and toilets if needed along the way. I can't tell any difference when towing other than the added weight of hauling with a full tank. The only other consideration I make is the route to our destination. If the roads include long steep hills, I am more likely to travel with only the amount of water we might need along the way. This reduces our towing weight which helps when going up and down those long hills.

I'll add another consideration. When we return and I'm putting our trailer into storage, the fresh water tank is always full. I look at this as part of our disaster recovery planning. Should we need to quickly hit the road to escape the impacts of a fire, flood, or earthquake (you can get any of those here in CA), our AS is ready to go with a full tank of fresh water.

[coloradopete]

Most of my summer camping is here in Colorado and at high altitude. We favor the NFS campgrounds, some of which have water taps available, but not all. So, there is a learning curve. Some taps have been altered by the NFS to prevent use of a hose for filling the tank. Others have special taps that require a special wrench if using a hose to fill. The wrench is available from the campground host. Then there is water available close to campgrounds for free or a small fee in many of the small towns that we pass through. All of this knowledge is gathered over the years. Ideally, I fill the tank to about 1/4 full, then fill it further upon arrival at, or close to the campsite. Towing the extra weight of a full tank at high elevation adds stress to the tow vehicle, but sometimes is required.

[alantbird]

I always leave w 1/2 a tank for the road and fill it closer to boondock destination.

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by AldeanFan

The tank I'm my safari is under the floor ahead of the axels so adding weight there adds stability and lowers the centre of gravity, in theory.
In practice I've towed with the tank full and empty and can't tell any difference in how the trailer tows.

Normally I fill the tank of we'll need water and leave it empty if we will have full hookups. So the tank will be full on the way to the NASCAR race but empty on the way for the KOA. I try not to tow with a half empty tank because the water sloshes around but I have and couldn't feel a difference. If we ever need to cross the desert I'll have a full tank in case of emergency.

I usually tow with full or almost full fresh water, and it's paid off several times;
I use it to "Go to the can" when on the road, and one time a storm knocked out all camp supplied water while I was all soaped up in the shower. Turning on the pump allowed me to finish my shower, and use the toilet after.

[Tater]

We run full on each departure with about 5 gallons in grey and black tanks.

[gecko]

We always travel as light as possible. We definitely feel the difference with the extra 320 lbs if we're full fresh. We've had two blowouts during the life of the trailer, and the last one occurred because we arrived at state campground dry and filled up locally, but they had no dump available. With most of the 320 lbs redistributed to the black and grey, we could really feel it, and I'm sure it contributed to the blowout.

We keep 1/8-1/4 for on the road use daily unless we know we're going to a place where there won't be water--which is almost never. We have had to fill using our 12 gallons of collapsible portable water tanks in some rare spots over the years.

[TRizzuti]

I tow with a full tank when I start out, but dump it once I start mixing water and know there's water hookups at the next campground. I like using our home water as much as possible. Also, Yertle seems to tow better with a full load of water. I don't see any difference in gas mileage.

[AtomicNo13]

I'll bet everyone would reconsider carrying full if bourbon could be carried 52 gallons at a time affordably........You know what I'm saying!

[Jacob D]

Pay attention to the capacity of your tank. The '67 Overlander has a 30 gal tank under the couch at the very front of the trailer above the floor. 8 lbs/gal makes that 240 lbs almost all of which is added to tongue weight. I have towed with full, half and empty water and can't tell much difference except with full water tank, the electric jack labors slightly more. My tongue jack is original so it has quite a few miles on it. I usually tow with enough water to be able to flush the toilet during potty breaks and wash hands. How much depends on whether I am planning to boondock at destination.

[kscherzi]

The fresh tank is located exactly between the two axles on my 27 FB so almost no effect upon tongue weight. Black is furthest forward and grey in-between.