FW capacity

[Gjac]

I just started looking on line at TC's and noticed there are not many units that have more than 30 gals of FW. Those of you that dry camp most of the time which I assume most of you do where do you store extra water?

[hedge]

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.

[KD4UPL]

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.

[32_Chev]

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

[Troutguy]

Sorry....Double post.

[Troutguy]

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.

[steelhunter]

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?

[jaycocreek]

Gjac wrote:
I just started looking on line at TC's and noticed there are not many units that have more than 30 gals of FW. Those of you that dry camp most of the time which I assume most of you do where do you store extra water?

We boondock almost exclusively..Our TC has a 30-35 gallon water tank..We only worry about drinking water,not dish or bath..I carry extra drinking water in the shower stall or back seat..

We use Sawyer water filters(What backpackers use) to purify creek water as were never not by a creek or water source..We use all this water for dishes and bathroom needs and drinking if needed..

For long stays and if we take the UTV trailer, I have several 50 and 25 gallon water barrels with nozzles on them to take as needed.

Water last a long time if you only drink it and not use it for dishes/the toilet and showers...Good clean creeks answer all those needs.

[Lwiddis]

My TC had 45 plus the water heater.

[burningman]

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.

[Kayteg1]

For us gray water tank is the limit as it is 1/2 of FW tank, so even we have water, we can't use it as GW tank fills with 4 short showers.
We discuss in other topic carrying water on the roof and 1 member made permanent tank for it.
I have 40 gallons bladder tank that I would consider for carrying water from campground faucet to the spot, but not for interstate driving.
99% of setups don't have much cargo capacity to spare and water is heavy.

[Grit_dog]

AF860 = 50 gal I believe.
I carry extra water in a ballast bag (think bladder) that we use for ballast in our boat. Folds up small when not in use and the same 12V pump for use on the boat works well to get water transferred into the camper tank.
400lb ballast sack fits nicely on the back seat floor, seat or in the truck.

[Troutguy]

Arctic Fox1140= 59gal. fresh water..

[rider997]

Arctic Fox campers generally have 50+ gallon fresh water capacities. We carry another 5 gallons of drinking water in the under-dinette storage area.

[work2much]

Gjac wrote:
Which campers besides the Mammoth have 50 gals or more of FW? Is the Mammoth the largest TC on the market? Do you need a DRW truck to haul these campers with higher FW capacity?

Both our Bigfoot and Arctic Fox had 50+ gallon tanks. Not sure about others, these are just the ones I have owned.

We have a dually that we used on our last camper (Arctic Fox 1150) as well as our current Mammoth. I have seen them on SRW trucks but we like the dually ourselves.

Edit: Eagle Caps larger campers also have very large tanks.

[Gjac]

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?