FW capacity

Remember to pay attention to the waste tank size too.
All my previous campers were way outta whack on that.
My last two had 40 gallons fresh, and about 15 or so grey. Less than 20.
That made half the fresh water useless.
I’m really liking my current rig, it has more waste tank capacity than fresh. I can use all my water now. You want to make sure you buy something like that, what comes out of the faucet has to be able to go down the drain.

My short bed Arctic Fox 811 had over 40 gallons and my Host Mammoth has over 60 gallons. I also carry an 84 gallons in my enclosed trailer and 30 gallon gray tote for overflow. Usually we will use the outside shower if boon docking like this to keep from filling the gray too quickly.

Gjac wrote:

sbryan@vtbryans.com wrote:
We have a Northstar Igloo and we have 40 gallons of fresh water. What really makes that work for us is the cassette toilet, which has its own 5 gallon water supply and that can be used with very little water. We also carry jugs for drinking water and mostly use the FW thank for showers and dish washing. It's amazing how little water you can get along with if you try.

I just looked at your model online, looks nice with a dry weight of 2600 lbs, I am guessing that the traveling weight would be less than 3600 lbs, does that mean a truck with 4000 payload would be sufficient to haul it? Also I notice that the new Ford F150 with the 3.5 eng has a payload of 3700 lbs would this be sufficient?

What about people and "stuff" in the truck? They use payload too.

steelhunter wrote:

Gjac wrote:

sbryan@vtbryans.com wrote:
We have a Northstar Igloo and we have 40 gallons of fresh water. What really makes that work for us is the cassette toilet, which has its own 5 gallon water supply and that can be used with very little water. We also carry jugs for drinking water and mostly use the FW thank for showers and dish washing. It's amazing how little water you can get along with if you try.

I just looked at your model online, looks nice with a dry weight of 2600 lbs, I am guessing that the traveling weight would be less than 3600 lbs, does that mean a truck with 4000 payload would be sufficient to haul it? Also I notice that the new Ford F150 with the 3.5 eng has a payload of 3700 lbs would this be sufficient?

An F150 has a 3700lb payload?

According to Fords web site a regular truck cab is 3270 lbs. I was going by memory which is not too good. That still seems like a lot for a 1/2 ton truck.

My Adventurer has a 42 fw, 25 grey, 22 black. Pretty good sizes for a 9' camper. I think the 86FB has slightly bigger tanks. It definitely played a part for me to choose this camper as we never camp with services and sometimes need to go a few days between dump stations.

My Fleetwood camper had a 33 gallon FW tank. We could go for a 3 day weekend including 4 showers, rinsing off the kids, washing dishes, and drinking water and still have some left over.
I would not recommend an F150 or any other class 1 truck for a TC. Yes, a dually is necessary for the bigger campers, it's recommended for all but the smallest lightest campers. Truck's rated payload is a marketing game. They will say it has "up to" such and such a number. That usually means a stripped down 2wd model with no options. An actual truck's real payload is listed on the door sticker.
Campers are heavy, water is heavy, people and gear add up. If you are considering a hardside camper with big tanks you should be looking at a 3500 single rear wheel truck as an absolute minimum. But, you will likely be happier with a dually. I was.

63 gallons FW plus the 6 gallon HW tank Okangan 116ILt 45 gallon grey and 45 Gallon black water

Sorry....Double post.

burningman wrote:
About the F150 - wrong!! Don’t even look at a 1-anything for hauling a camper.
I’m a Northern Lite fan, because of the two-piece clamshell construction that isn’t anywhere near the leak and rot trouble of conventional built campers, and the freshwater on mine is 36 gallons, 42 if you include the freshwater that’s in the water heater.

I believe that most freshwater rated water capacity tanks include the capacity of the hot water heater....i.e. a 30 gallon capacity may be 24 gal.in the fw tank + 6 gal. In the WH equal a total capacity of 30 gals. That’s how the manufacturers do the math on the rated total capacity.

Gjac wrote:

sbryan@vtbryans.com wrote:
We have a Northstar Igloo and we have 40 gallons of fresh water. What really makes that work for us is the cassette toilet, which has its own 5 gallon water supply and that can be used with very little water. We also carry jugs for drinking water and mostly use the FW thank for showers and dish washing. It's amazing how little water you can get along with if you try.

I just looked at your model online, looks nice with a dry weight of 2600 lbs, I am guessing that the traveling weight would be less than 3600 lbs, does that mean a truck with 4000 payload would be sufficient to haul it? Also I notice that the new Ford F150 with the 3.5 eng has a payload of 3700 lbs would this be sufficient?

An F150 has a 3700lb payload?