Do you tow full of water?

[Shorty Cox]

As Siamese said, "There's the fill the tanks crowd, and there's the carry the minimum crowd" both of which have there reasons for doing so. I'm in a total different category: "Never put water in it" category. No reason, just thus far, never had a need too. Now, this statement will open the next two categories: "Never use the campground water" crowd and the "always use the campground water" crowd. I fall into the latter category.

[TxLoser]

Originally Posted by Shorty Cox

As Siamese said, "There's the fill the tanks crowd, and there's the carry the minimum crowd" both of which have there reasons for doing so. I'm in a total different category: "Never put water in it" category. No reason, just thus far, never had a need too. Now, this statement will open the next two categories: "Never use the campground water" crowd and the "always use the campground water" crowd. I fall into the latter category.

Now you've done it. Something new to debate.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Force]

Put me in the "always travel with a full tank of fresh water crowd"

I have the same camper as the OP and I think the tank is 45 gallons or thereabouts. I have thousands of miles traveled and the tank hasn't fallen out yet, nor can I tell tell the difference towing when it's full or not (it's always empty on the ride home).

I don't buy into the argument the camper or tank isn't designed to handle it (yes, I have read a story or two of straps failing but there are 100's of thousands of campers out there so just keep that in mind when you're subjectively judging relative risk).

[SkyBound]

I keep just enough fresh in the tanks while traveling so we can use the bathroom if needed and a bit of rinse water if we pull over for lunch. Probably 10-15gal max. If we are towing to a park, we fill there. If we are dry camping, we fill at home and haul full. I have to watch weights when planning on towing full of fresh water because my 90gal capacity equals roughly 750lbs.

I also have towed with full black tank (at the very rear of trailer) with no adverse handling effects. I have never towed with full fresh and full waste tanks. Too heavy.

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by SkyBound

I keep just enough fresh in the tanks while traveling so we can use the bathroom if needed and a bit of rinse water if we pull over for lunch. Probably 10-15gal max. If we are towing to a park, we fill there. If we are dry camping, we fill at home and haul full. I have to watch weights when planning on towing full of fresh water because my 90gal capacity equals roughly 750lbs.

I also have towed with full black tank (at the very rear of trailer) with no adverse handling effects. I have never towed with full fresh and full waste tanks. Too heavy.

I tow full water when heading boondocking and then during the next two weeks I have a conversion process that moves that water to the waste tanks. I also supplement the conversion with canned hops products

My fresh is over the axles, the waste is under the basement so full waste is more pin weight.

[oldmanAZ]

LOL

I, too, supplement the conversion but prefer using bottled hops products

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

LOL

I, too, supplement the conversion but prefer using bottled hops products

I said canned but mostly it's bottled. The canned stuff I use as a bottled water replacement.

[kneeslider]

on the flat having maximum water on board ok, but steep hills no. the 300 +- gallons is to much extra weight.

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by kneeslider

on the flat having maximum water on board ok, but steep hills no. the 300 +- gallons is to much extra weight.

What RV do you have with a 300g fresh tank? I only have 85g.

I would like a larger black tank though.

[TWP723]

Have never towed with water. Every place we stay has water. We're snobs! lol

[max2bob]

we rarely tow without full water tanks, we are always dry camping. does not seem to affect the performance or mileage. The wind is what affects our mileage the most.

[rbintheup]

Only 1/4 full.

[LabMan]

Agree that wind/frontal surface area and speed has the largest affect on mileage. We travel with our FW full probably 75% of the time, 102 gal capacity. I see no difference in mileage full or 1/4 full over the last 4 years/ 60,000+ miles towing. On the other hand, my right foot on the pedal can make or break the mileage. That lack of self control and wind cost me much more in fuel than the ~900# weight difference.
I sometime wonder how much the people worrying about mileage actually tow yearly. I know for a fact the difference between the 9 mpg and 9.8 mpg I typically get with my Duramax spread out over the 15,000 miles year towing we average is less than $350 a year. Not near enough to make me change one way or the other. LOL

[Timber]

We tow mostly with full water, we were in a full hook up camp ground this year that lost all water for 24 hrs ( no restrooms ) lots of unhappy people, not us. Thats why we also have the honda 2000 at all times

[SkyBound]

On the rare occasion we are at a full hookups site, I still will fill my fresh tank for that very reason.

[Mopar_Earl]

I also fill my fresh water tank even if the place I'm going to be staying at has water. The water could be bad. We camped at a campground and the water was brown. No mater how long I ran it (flooded my campsite) it wouldn't clear up. We weren't running that crap through our trailer. Also like said above, never know when the place will have water issues. No water or nasty water. Sometimes we don't even hook to the campground water and just use our home filtered softened water. I love a soft water shower.


Earl

[kneeslider]

300 lbs +-

[Chrisb-24]

I tow with my fresh water tank full only because the lake I go to's camping grounds water system is down until March of 2018. It is only 12 miles that I tow with my fresh water tank full. Water weights approximately 7lbs a gallon so if you take that into your total capacity that is extra fuel your burning to tow. I travel to S. Texas and go to Las Vegas every year for the Nascar Races. I never travel with full holding tanks.
Chris

[bluegill1]

We never dry camp so we never tow with water, we fill up at Campground.

[gegolden]

I try to ensure a full tank of water whenever we start our travels. I use the pump for my needs from my tank, not the hose at the campground except to use the hose to fill up the tank. Even at a campground I use the pump for my fresh water needs from the onboard tank. This keeps the water you may have in the tank refreshed, sanitized and not getting stale. There is no noticible difference in handling or miledge.