New Owner 377RLBH - How much fresh water while traveling?

[Venture4th]

Hi all,
We're getting our 2021 Jayco 377RLBH next week and getting ready for Boondocking. After reading thru the Owners Manual I didn't find any mention of recommended fresh tank fill for travel. I called Jayco Customer Service and they replied:

The tanks are held in place by straps and are not meant to bear the changes that occur during travel (up, down, left, right etc.). We recommend that you store any fresh water you want to transport into containers that can be stored within the unit during travel, or in the back of the tow vehicle, or wait to fill your fresh water tank as close as you can to your intended site."

I understand that water is heavy and not carrying any water in the tank is great from a load perspective, but, in a practical sense, does seem limiting.

In our prior TT, our usual methodology has been to put 10-15 gallons for on-the-road use, then find water as close to our Boondocking as possible. This could be 5-50 more miles with more water in the tanks.

Fellow Boondockers, what are your thoughts and experiences?

[Jagiven]

Welcome aboard!

From reading the forum, I think a lot of people carry 10+ gallons for pit stops. My tanks are usually empty when we travel. I have a full 2 gallon?? jug we keep at all times in the bathroom.

My dad was a firefighter back in the 60's-70's. He strongly recommended never driving with a partial tank, as there is a lot of mass/momentum behind the sloshing water that can affect your handling. I am in the school of full or empty. I only tow with water when I know there is bad or no water at our destination point. I also always try to fill as close to our destination point if possible.

There have been many posts over the years where someone has lost or seen a dropped FW tank, that was full of water.

[SmokerBill]

I extended the water pump winterizing hose, drilled a small hole through the cabinet sidewall for the hose to pass through, and put its end into a filled 7 gallon blue water cube. That's how I supply water to my plumbing system when on the road.

Might not work in other TT models, but it works great in my 26BH. I keep a couple of water cubes filled so I can switch them out when one empties.

When I arrive to my destination and fill my tanks, I switch the pump valves from the winterize setting to the on-board tanks.

I prefer to keep the tanks empty when driving long distances.

[Tunce the traveler]

I also travel with 2 gal. in the bathroom.

[Route 66 Traveler]

I have always traveled with the fresh tank full. My current trailer holds 65 gallons, and the tank is well supported. On more than one occasion I have arrived at my destination where there was a problem with the water and it was shut off.

We fill it at the house with soft water because my wife prefers it for washing her hair and 65 gallons will last us 4 days before we need to add more.

Tow with the tank empty or full. A partial tank creates a lot of sloshing that can cause problems.

A full tank also makes the trailer more stable in high crosswinds and from passing semis.

[Venture4th]

Jagiven, Smoker Bill, and Route 66 Traveler
Thanks for the quick replies.
We usually carry a couple gallons in the bathroom and I think it would be a good idea to keep on doing that, just for flushing.

You bring up some good points. The inertia of sloshing fluids can be bad. I've worked on various fluid tank designs in the past, but we incorporated specialized baffles to eliminate any dynamic effects. I also agree a full tank will be less dynamic than a partial fill, but the dead hanging mass going over potholes or rough road could do some damage, too.

Once I get the trailer I'll get a chance to inspect the flexibility of the piping and take a look at how the tank is supported. It may be possible to add some additional supports and spread the load out to the frame. Looking at some potable water tanks online, I'm pretty sure I can fit one in the bed of the truck up in front of the hitch and pump the water into the gravity feed water port. I'll have to do some CAT Scale measurements to get a baseline for the new truck / trailer to see how that might work out.

As a side note, I'll look a the Black and Grey tank installations as well. So far, it hasn't been my plan to get a tote for offloading those when we're closing out our boondocking.

So much to learn with new rig.....