Free Water Fillup

[dannyjenkins81]

Hello

I am going on my 2nd RV with my New Coachmen 385DS this Thursday. I was reading that travelling with a full tank of fresh water is not advisable. As it increases weight and has a extra cost on fuel.

However, the we are staying onsite at the greensboro coliseum,NC. The site only included electrical hookup, and no water or waste.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on places that you can fill you fresh water before arriving onsite.

Many Thanks

Danny

[atreis]

I'm not familiar with that specific campground, but would be surprised if they don't have freshwater available at all. I never travel with water because of the weight and have never had trouble finding places to fill at or very near the destination.

BTW - traveling with full water won't affect your gas mileage noticeably. It can be inadvisable for other reasons, depending on the overall weight, and where the water tank is in the trailer, which can affect tongue weight.

[Ozlander]

I guess you could say the same thing about traveling with a full tank of gas.
All that weight will cut the gas mileage, so leave home with an empty tank and only put in a 1/4 tank at a time.
Makes as much sense.

[CabinetmakerII]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
7 Yrs. of FT travel and only once did we NOT travel with fresh water tank full.

Then we got caught without water due to issue with CG water source.

There are designed to be full in transit so they can be used.

The weight is NOT going to affect mpg.

The weight could have an affect on tank supports if mfg. was a cheapskate and didn't install tank adequately. BUT that should not be the case.

I to prefer to travel with water on board. That said, I encountered the unthinkable this past fall. While searching for the source of a foul odor (which turned out to be a leaking black water gate valve) I discovered that BOTH fresh water tanks were falling out of my Toy Hauler. The angle iron support structure was under sized and inadequate to support the weight of 50 gallons of water. Thank god for extended warranties that covered the cost of repair. A local welding shop redesigned and beefed up the supports. Now I can travel with a full complement of water (110 gallons) with no worries. Been full timing for only 6 months but we know we're going to like it!

[dannyjenkins81]

Thank you for all over your replies. I did leave with a full tank. I also found that flying J's has fresh water when using the dump station there.

We managed 4 days with 2 adults and 3 kids on a single tank. Which I was very happy with.

This was very useful when I finished my trip, because 10 hour drive home and all I had was a full gray, and full black tank.

[Tvov]

I don't usually travel with a full water tank, but that is mostly due to where the tank is on my TT. It is in the front left corner of the trailer. 30 gallons of water all in one spot.

When I do travel with it full, I try to move some weight to the other side of the trailer and tighten the weight distributing bars a bit.

I've not run into the situation of having to fill while on the road, but what about "camper friendly" stores like Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Cabela's, etc?

Also, if you ask at a gas station convenience store, remember to BUY something in the store -- long time ago a friend owned a convenience store, and he hated when people came in asking for directions or anything else without at least buying a cup of coffee. Heck, at a gas station, top of your fuel tank and then ask about filling your water tank.

[bucky]

I need to drop the underbelly and check my tank mounting. Water is good to have onboard, but after an event with a prior TT I need to be sure before I tow with any more than about 10 gallons in the tank.
I have learned to fill the tank when arriving even if FHU. When the power goes out or the water is off for whatever reason we're still good for a few days.

[jbrad13]

We pulled into a campsite here in Texas a few weeks ago and were advised the water was shut off due to a hard freeze warning. Good thing we filled our freshwater tank before leaving NOLA or we would have been SOL.

[rk911]

curly5759 wrote:
I'm still new to traveling with a TT. I also read about not traveling with a full water tank, so this past summer,I dragged my son's (now mine) TT to Wyoming where he was going to be Camp host.
When we got to the closest town (Alpine) I asked where I could get some bulk water or for directions to a water store. They never heard of such a thing.:@ (They are all over Az.) No place in town to fill the tank. Luckily, the local grocery store let me use their spigot to fill the tank.

Curly

truck stops and gas stations are two places we've loaded up with water in the past...at no charge I might add. never have heard of a 'water store'. as I mentioned we always leave home with a full tank and replenish it as needed from known-to-be-good sources, usually the CG or RV park we're in and where we've used the fresh water hookup.

[camper19709]

Leave home with a full tank of fresh water. And, waste tanks empty. Another option would be to stop at a campground on the way. Not to stay overnight but to use their dump and fill with fresh water. Usually about $10.

[wlstroud]

I had a radiator hose blow off due to failure of the factory hose clamp. We were "in the middle of nowhere." Thankfully, I had a full tank of fresh water to use to re-fill the radiator. That permitted me to drive on and get service miles down the road.

[curly5759]

I'm still new to traveling with a TT. I also read about not traveling with a full water tank, so this past summer,I dragged my son's (now mine) TT to Wyoming where he was going to be Camp host.
When we got to the closest town (Alpine) I asked where I could get some bulk water or for directions to a water store. They never heard of such a thing.:@ (They are all over Az.) No place in town to fill the tank. Luckily, the local grocery store let me use their spigot to fill the tank.

Curly

[Veebyes]

Leave home full. The added weight is insignificant on gas milage.

[Gary_]

I have a 100 gallon fresh water tank and when we travel I only put about 33 gallons in it. SO FAR we have had enough to get where ever we need more water. Also SO FAR we have never had a place where we had a water problem and were not able to get more. (knock on wood.)
Works for us!

[doxiemom11]

I think the real issue is that you need to either have just a few gallons to flush toilet etc with, or a full tank. A partially filled tank sloshed around a lot and could cause damage to the mounting structure of the tank. We did that once by accident before we loaded our rig, so light weight and it did affect the handling too.