Okay to travel with full tanks of water?

This is a general question for anyone with a travel trailer. Should you be able to travel with a full tank of fresh water? What about a full tank of black and grey water at the same time? And what about a 2nd tank full of grey for those that have a galley tank?

I've read about some who have ended up with frame damage and support strap damage from carrying too much water and/or too often. Are trailers built to handle carrying this weight or not?? In our case, after a trip to a scale, we only have 200 lbs left before we reach the GVWR rating of 6800 lbs. We'd be overloaded with just a tank of fresh water. Our total tank capacity is 132 gallons which is 1100 lbs and we'd seriously overload our TT.

I do not see on any RV manufacturer's website a warning about not carrying water in any of the tanks. By virtue of a trailer being supplied with fresh, black and grey tanks, a purchaser of a travel trailer would expect to be able to fill them all up. Should you be able to travel any distance with any one of the tanks full or partially full or do they put them in so you can drive 100 yds to a dump station or get a fill of fresh water somewhere in the campground?

Travel trailers generally seem to be constructed to the limit of weights with little cargo carrying capacity (with empty tanks) left plus frames and related components are sized to the max. load capacity. In some cases, the frames can't even handle just the factory dry weight without having serious problems. It seems to me that trailers are built with dry camping in mind, so why shouldn't you be able to travel with all tanks full without damaging anything? Even *IF* you could travel with all tanks full and be under your GVWR, is it still risky? Or is there even a trailer out there that will allow this?

For those that do travel with one or more full tanks, have you ever inspected your frame or support straps for damage? In other words, do you just *think* you are okay or do you base it on something?

Should a manufacturer be liable if you end up with frame damage from carrying full tanks? But isn't Lippert just going to say it's your fault?

If you really shouldn't, maybe there should be a big bright warning label not to travel with full tanks, or maybe not put them in to start with....

Searching_Ut
Explorer
Jul 22, 2013
I have a lot of campers over the years, and other than a tent camper that didn't have tanks, I always "Use" them. We rarely camp where there are hook ups, and about half the time water, or dump stations aren't available. I've never had any issues, even though we often drive a considerable distance over rough dirt roads.

The above said, even with full fresh water tanks or waste tanks, I was never close to my weight limit. I never really worried about full fresh and waste tanks as I always basically just transfer the water from one tank to the other.
NebulaTig
Explorer
Jul 22, 2013
We always travel with full fresh. Used to fill at the site but some of the campsites to the North use well water and you have to flush everything afterwards.

No problems at all.
goducks10
Explorer
Jul 22, 2013
Old sarge wrote:
As said before. The fresh water tank is usually in side the trailer either in front of the axcels or over them. The black and grey are usually hanging below and toward the back. I would not go any further than necisary with full B&G.

I think most newer TT's have 3 tanks underneath. And if the Fresh is the only one filling both the grey and black then unless the fresh is really big, then the grey and black won't get filled. We have a 54 fresh, 40 grey and 37 black. Split 54 between the two and each only has 27 in it.
Monaco_Montclai
Explorer
Jul 22, 2013
I always do the dump thing before leaving, wow problem solved, works for me , and now it's all. Happy-camping
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Jul 21, 2013
Downwindtracker2 wrote:
I thought one of the reasons OutdoorRV added a bigger,66gal, tank when they changed our model from a Mallard to a Creekside was to add weight to the tongue. We just came back from a week of dry camping, and we could have used more fresh water.

My old TT only has about a 25 gallon fresh water tank, if even that much. If I'm going dry camping I carry a 5 gallon jug in the back of the pickup to dump in too. And, I can find a place to fill the jug a second time if I need too. After that my black and gray tanks will be getting full anyway.
Downwindtracke1
Explorer
Jul 21, 2013
I thought one of the reasons OutdoorRV added a bigger,66gal, tank when they changed our model from a Mallard to a Creekside was to add weight to the tongue. We just came back from a week of dry camping, and we could have used more fresh water.
facory
Explorer
Jul 21, 2013
We just finished a 6,700 mile road trip through the plain states. We found plenty of campgrounds and state parks to stay at for a very reasonable cost. Most of the places we stayed had a dump station, even the one with no electric or water. We were able to add fresh water through a common spigot using a water filter. Keeping around 25 gals of fresh water on board for misc. needs served us well. We added only 200 lbs which was mostly on the hitch. Did not affect handling or hurt gas mileage at all.
69_Avion
Explorer
Jul 21, 2013
I just returned from an approximately 5,000 mile trip in just over 2 weeks and I never used up all of my 80 gallons. Keep in mind I took a few showers at RV sites, but most of my stays were boondocking. I carry an ice chest with plenty of drinking water and the 3 of us are very careful with water usage. I travel with full water so I'm sure of my water supply. I carry hoses and a filter in case I need to fill up, but I always travel with full water. Maybe it is an Arizona thing.
Old_sarge
Explorer
Jul 21, 2013
As said before. The fresh water tank is usually in side the trailer either in front of the axcels or over them. The black and grey are usually hanging below and toward the back. I would not go any further than necisary with full B&G.
Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
Jul 21, 2013
I always travel with a full tank.

A trailer without water is pretty much a tent with a stove.

Are there trailers out there that can't handle a full tank of water while traveling? I'm sure there is; but I wouldn't own it.