Increasing potable water tank
My camper has a 55 gal. fresh water tank (I think). I purchased it used in May and took it out for the first time on July 23rd. We ran out of water in 3-4 days and refilling with a water jug was a pai...
Forum Discussion
myredracer wrote:
I'd be very cautious about the additional weight. The first thing I would do is go to a scale and weigh your camper and compare that to the GVWR to see if you would be overloaded. That's 374 lbs of extra weight. I would also be very careful about the strength of the floor and what the frame has for supports under the floor. It would also affect your tongue weight which in some cases could be an issue.
Personally, I would not entertain the idea at all. Many trailers have a problem with carrying just one tank full of water as it is. Some have ended up with serious frame problems from carrying too much water even though you would think trailers are built substantially enough to handle the weight, but they're not. In our case, if we traveled with just a full load of fresh water, we'd be overloaded.
If I were planning on traveling over the road with the water tanks full, I would have serious reservations, as well. In addition to the effect the load would have on the truck/trailer combination, the loss of fuel mileage from hauling 800# of extra weight would give me pause also. Since I would only be driving from the potable water spigot to the camp site itself, I didn't see a major problem.
However, as I said in my last post, the tank won't fit under the bed, so, it's moot at this point anyways.
