Dare I travel with water in these temps?

[Ro646a]

We are leaving the Metro Detroit area to go to Florida in our 2005 Winnie Journey diesel. I have never traveled without a full tank of water, winter or summer, but this weather is colder than it was last year. Any thoughts as to whether this is a good idea this time? I plan to run the gas furnace while we travel, stopping for the night in Lexington, KY and near Atlanta.
Also, do you think my 38 gallon propane tank will last until we make it to Florida?

[Ro646a]

?

[Bill_Satellite]

Nice! Thanks for getting back to the forum to show the naysayers that it's an easy thing to do in most Class A's. You get to shower and flush without issue. Wow, it's almost the reason for owning an RV!

[Ro646a]

UPDATE
I was the OP on this thread. We are now in Florida.

As it turned out we decided to go ahead and fill our water tank just before hitting the road south.  It was 15 degrees outside. We filled the tank with hot water, added 2 gallons of pink antifreeze to the waste tanks, and ran the gas furnace continuously over the 3 days it took us to get to Florida.

 Everything worked perfectly. We kept the thermostat set on 75 degees, ran the fridge
and gas water heater while driving, and we still have a half tank of propane left.

Thank you for all of your kind advice

[John_Joey]

[AlaskaShooter]

This is true if you don't mind listening to the TPMS squawking at you all day once pressures exceeds your high or low settings, excessive tire heat, wear and potentially poor handling of your vehicle. IMHO

[DSSAMP]

There is no need to "lower" the air pressure in your tires. They are designed to be aired up to the max on the sidewall when COLD. After driving a while, yes they get hot and the pressure will go up...but letting air out is NOT recommended. The next day when you start out the air will be exactly what it should be as the tires are again cold...seems to be a lot of bad info on times floating around...

[Mile_High]

Bill.Satellite wrote:

Earl E wrote:
Probably too late to add any more but we used to leave Eastern OR in those temps every year. We just left the rig winterized until we got to warm weather and them de-winterized. Just used bottled water and went ahead and used the gray and black tanks knowing there was antifreeze in them. Never had a problem.

It appears you have been using a 5th wheel for travels and I would not travel in Winter weather in many 5th wheels either. However, most class A units are 4 season units designed to be used in most any weather. I am currently in NJ and it was not above freezing for 2 weeks. We were warm and comfy and had full use of our water and all facilities.

X2,
that was one of the advantages we felt we had moving to a MH. Even though the 5th was heated in the belly, it leaked air so bad on the road that things would freeze anyway, not to mention all of the exposed tank drain valves below the belly.

[ferndaleflyer]

I cam up from Fl the other day and when I got to Savanna all water was working except the outside faucet which had froze enough that I could not turn the knobs. I put a small electric heater (light bulb would do) in there and continued on up North. Although the temp has been in the teens about every night I have seen no problem other than that. My underneath bays are heated by the propane furnace.

[JaxDad]

AlaskaShooter wrote:
With the extreme cold you will loose 1 psi for every 10 degs lower the temp is from when you last checked the air pressure. Then take a tire gauge with you as you head south and check as the temps warm and release air as needed to keep the pressure at manufactures specs. Safes on tire wear and insures proper handling of your rig.

True, but since the pressure increases at the same rate and tires heat up as they roll, within an hour they are at about 90 deg F regardless of ambient temps.

So if you set the tire pressure at 0 deg F then start driving very shorty the pressure will be about 9 deg higher than what you set it to.

“Cold” tire pressure recommendations are based on about a 65 deg F ambient temperature at the time of taking the reading.

[olfarmer]

I would worry more about the water pipes than the water tank.

[AlaskaShooter]

I would carry water in the tank, use RV antifreeze in tanks before you leave and check your tire pressure before you leave. With the extreme cold you will loose 1 psi for every 10 degs lower the temp is from when you last checked the air pressure. Then take a tire gauge with you as you head south and check as the temps warm and release air as needed to keep the pressure at manufactures specs. Safes on tire wear and insures proper handling of your rig. When I travel I check the engine oil, other fluids each morning along with the tire pressure when I'm transiting areas of lower or higher temps on a regular basis.

[Dutch_12078]

To answer your propane question; "Maybe". Whether it will make the full trip is hard to say, since it depends on how warm you keep the interior, how low the outside temps go, and how many overnight stops you're making along the way. Leaving upstate NY with our two furnaces running and some hot water usage, we refilled our 24 gallon tank in southern Virginia at a 1/4 tank. Many parks have propane on site, so refills are usually not an issue. We also carry a 30 cylinder we can switch to if needed.

[rgatijnet1]

If it really concerns you, we have WATER in Florida so there is no need to bring your own from Detroit. I am also sure that at any RV park you stay at on your way down here, they will also have water available.
If you coach is already Winterized, just leave it the way it is and head on down. The temperatures along the way will dictate IF you want to fill your fresh water tank or not.

[Bill_Satellite]

Earl E wrote:
Probably too late to add any more but we used to leave Eastern OR in those temps every year. We just left the rig winterized until we got to warm weather and them de-winterized. Just used bottled water and went ahead and used the gray and black tanks knowing there was antifreeze in them. Never had a problem.

It appears you have been using a 5th wheel for travels and I would not travel in Winter weather in many 5th wheels either. However, most class A units are 4 season units designed to be used in most any weather. I am currently in NJ and it was not above freezing for 2 weeks. We were warm and comfy and had full use of our water and all facilities.