My Raptor Toy Hauler has a 110 gallon fresh water tank. We do a lot of dry camping and normally fill up the tank on arrival. It takes a while to fill that tank up. We are heading to Assateague this week and will be staying about an hour away before we check in on Friday. I could easily fill the tank where we are staying the night before our arrival. I have no problem hauling the extra weight. I am just concerned how well a full fresh water tank will haul. Should I be concerned about the structural integrity when hauling that weight in that tank? Bottom line..... Should I be concerned about this tank dropping out of the bottom of my unit while driving down the road? Calm my fears.Thanks for any reply.

I just came back with all tanks full, about 120 gal. The ride was terrific. Never smoother but I ? the weight on the structure and had no problems. Tires were good,I feel I had plenty of reserve and I had been "camping" in a friends driveway and did not want to dump all that sewrage into his septic tank all at once so it took it home to dump in a muni system. I'd say go for it.

I guess you just have to trust the integrity of the design by the RV manufacturer. I have a 90 gallon tank and have traveled it full on occasions without any problems as do most I would think.

Nearly always boondock and nearly always travel with my 100Gal fresh water. Been doing that for years with no known issues.

FWIW, '98 HH Champagne, 90 gal tank, been traveling with full tank for 16 years, water still in tank, tank still under trailer. Not to worryJim

A question in point. Do the storage tanks have baffles in them to slow the sloshing back and forth. Excessive sloshing I suppose could be felt or actually rupture a bladder tank. Does anyone know?? Fresh, Gray, Black water??

Towing the Toy Hauler with a full fresh water tank?

23 Replies

Jim-Linda
Explorer II
Jun 15, 2013
beemerphile1 wrote:
I would be very unhappy if any trailer I owned wasn't capable of carrying the weight of full tanks.

My Weekend Warrior holds 100 gallons of fresh water and I always leave home with the tanks full.

You won't find any baffles in the tanks. A full tank won't have room to slosh, a partial tank will. I have never felt any movement due to sloshing when I did travel with a partial tank. Does your tow vehicle roll back and forth when the fuel tank is half full?

Jim-Linda wrote:
FWIW, '98 HH Champagne, 90 gal tank, been traveling with full tank for 16 years, water still in tank, tank still under trailer....

Naw, I just dump a gallon or son of bleach in every couple of years..........

Jim

Maybe it is time for some fresh water after 16 years? :B
Lantley
Nomad
Jun 15, 2013
goducks10 wrote:
I have never read anywhere in the 3 trailers that I've own/owned that said you couldn't travel with the fresh water tanks full. We also travel with the black and grey full since some of the CG's we go to don't have dump stations. Do these RV manf really expect owners to just use full hookups or fill when they get there?

Exactly.
Fill the tank up and go. If the tank falls out the unit is defective no different than any other component on the RV.
The grey and /or black tank could fall out while your just sitting at the CG as well. I don't think there is any concern about using them.
Toy haulers in particular are designed with boondocking in mind.
I travel with full tanks all the time. I certainly would not waste 30 minutes of camping time filling my fresh tanks upon arrival.
portscanner
Explorer
Jun 15, 2013
I ran my Weekend Warrior with 100 gallons of water and never had any problem with the tanks.

Actually, the water tanks were about the only thing that didnt leak or fall off that trailer.
goducks10
Explorer
Jun 15, 2013
I have never read anywhere in the 3 trailers that I've own/owned that said you couldn't travel with the fresh water tanks full. We also travel with the black and grey full since some of the CG's we go to don't have dump stations. Do these RV manf really expect owners to just use full hookups or fill when they get there?
Turn_Key
Explorer
Jun 15, 2013
If your trailer can't handle a full water tank, why didn't they make it strong enough? That said, you don't want to tow 100+ gallons of water further then you have to but an hour won't effect your mileage that much and will save you a bit of time on arrival. Go for it.

Happy Camping!
belfert
Explorer
Jun 15, 2013
I had a Jayco Talon toyhauler previously. We hauled fairly long distances with a full 100 gallon water tank because were were in a rural area with no water available. I have a bus conversion now and we carry about 50 gallons cross country to run the toilet and such. There is no chance of the tank falling out of the bus conversion.

We never drink from the tank because some of the places we get water have arsenic in the water.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jun 11, 2013
It wouldn't be a bad idea to check the straps that support the tank. I checked mine on our Fuzion after reading about someone having their water tank fall out because the strap bolts came out. When I checked mine I had a couple bolts backed out nearly all the way and a few other loose. It's cheap insurance to check 'em out.
mr__ed
Explorer
Jun 10, 2013
I always travel with empty holding tanks and a minimal amount in the fresh water tank. I can't see hauling a lot of liquid at 8 lbs/gallon. But then, I'm not boondocking like you. What I would do (if possible) is leave the tank mostly empty until you get relatively near your destination. Then fill the tank at that time. Of course, this supposes there will be a water source available. May not work all the time but it's a thought...
K3WE
Explorer
Jun 10, 2013
Ok, there's lots of folks who usually travel with 10 to 20 gal of water because a full tank is a chunk of weight and the ride and milage might be adversely affected- a little bit anyway.

But the bottom line is your call and your needs.

If you want/need to travel with it full- do that.
If you want/need to travel win 20 or 10 or 0 gallons of water- that's fine too.
discovery4us
Explorer
Jun 10, 2013
I had a raptor 36ds12 and always traveled with full tanks, fresh going and grey and black coming home and never had a problem. That being said I was helping a friend flip axles on a 30' raptor bumper tow and while we were under it we noticed that one of the two support straps holding his fresh water tank was snapped. Might not hurt to check the tank supports periodically but I feel safe traveling with full tanks.