Hauling water

[djcjc]

Whenever we go to the races in Joliet I travel with water tanks full only a 20 minute drive and buy water only if we run out. Headed to the race in Sparta KY about 6 hr drive no water hookup at CG but water can be bought. Anyone travel long distances with full water tanks or not a good idea?

[Hannibal]

Our Jayco with it's Elite package came with 80 gallons of fresh water capacity. We haven't dry camped since our Harley/tent camping days. We didn't carry much water then either. Now, all of our camping is with a/c and water connections and close to the beach or water sports like Ginnie Springs. We carry enough to flush at rest areas. I also use it to sanitize once or twice a year.

[CampingN_C_]

Twice I've been at a FHU site that has had an issue with the water supply for one reason or another. Both times I had very little fresh water on board because I though "didn't need it".

I now travel with full tanks and also found it tows much better as well.

[temccarthy1]

jrhanbar98 wrote:
I have never carried water, but I don't boondock, and we tend to go to the same campgrounds that have good water and are reliable. I used a simple in-line water filter works great. Carrying extra water never made sense when traveling we always used test stops or gas stations. To each their own, and that's not a bad thing.

X2- That is exactly what we do and with a good in line charcoal filter have never had bad tasting or smelling water! Not carrying an extra 300 lbs is important to me if I can avoid it. We always bring a case of bottled spring water for the fridge so we always have cold spring water to drink and use the campground water for brushing teeth, showers and dishes.

[ktmrfs]

JBarca wrote:

Huntindog wrote:
John.
My tanks are like ktmrfs as far as the mounting goes.

I did have a sagging problem with the FW tank. I fixed it with a welded metal support system. I don't believe in using wood in any way for tank supports.

A trip that we take at least once a year across the reservation has horrendous frost heaves on the road. This road will defineatly show any weak areas. So far, so good.

Thanks, good to know.

I agree on the wood concerns for tank supports when it is in a structural pulling capacity which mine has with the screws holding the black & gray. Since Sunline made my fresh tank cage so beefy, it is an assumption they never intended the black and gray to haul long distances full at highway speeds. I will address this if we change camping needs requiring us to not have ready access to a dump.

And yes, backcountry roads show up all the weak areas of a camper, hangers, frame attachments, axles, tanks you name it.

Thanks

John

I'll agree on not using plywood for tank supports. In my case, the fresh tank support is by 4 pieces of angle iron crossways under the fresh tank. The plywood I addded above it is for load distribution, rather than support. keeps the tank plastic from sagging down between the angle iron when full of water.

[ktmrfs]

JCR-1 wrote:
Carrying water is unnecessary in most cases. For me we bring bottled water for drinking and only a minimum in the tank for flushing. Very minimum.Unless boondocking there is no need to carry extra unused weight. Most TT are sized with minimum carrying capacity, so why use it up in carrying something you wont need to use unless you are boondocking for extended time. depends on your vehicle gross weight capacity but most 21 footers use 3500 lb axles and the trailer is usually around 31- 3200 lbs dry, so that does not give you much room before you max out the axle. So if you have single axle keep in mind the GVWR when filling up.

\

Well, we drink the water from the water tank, like to pull in to a campsite and unhook and relax and not worry about immediately needing water, and have on mutiple occasions found that either water was not available due to a power or pump problem, or the water while potable was not really something we wanted to use.

For us, it's travel with full tanks, give me water for 4-5 days if I want it, and even with full water tank I'm well under trailver GVWR.

But what works for me is not necessarily what works for someone else.

[dewey02]

MFL wrote:
Good upgrade SoundGuy! That tank cannot move, and nice to be able to use ALL the water.

My tanks are frame supported, but have a couple thin metal straps looped under them. I wished mine had some iron under them, as they can still sag a little.

Jerry

I had 3 iron straps holding mine, but they still bulged between those straps. So I added 2 more straps between the existing 3 on each of my two tanks. So far it is working very well.

[JBarca]

Huntindog wrote:
John.
My tanks are like ktmrfs as far as the mounting goes.

I did have a sagging problem with the FW tank. I fixed it with a welded metal support system. I don't believe in using wood in any way for tank supports.

A trip that we take at least once a year across the reservation has horrendous frost heaves on the road. This road will defineatly show any weak areas. So far, so good.

Thanks, good to know.

I agree on the wood concerns for tank supports when it is in a structural pulling capacity which mine has with the screws holding the black & gray. Since Sunline made my fresh tank cage so beefy, it is an assumption they never intended the black and gray to haul long distances full at highway speeds. I will address this if we change camping needs requiring us to not have ready access to a dump.

And yes, backcountry roads show up all the weak areas of a camper, hangers, frame attachments, axles, tanks you name it.

Thanks

John

[JCR-1]

Carrying water is unnecessary in most cases. For me we bring bottled water for drinking and only a minimum in the tank for flushing. Very minimum.Unless boondocking there is no need to carry extra unused weight. Most TT are sized with minimum carrying capacity, so why use it up in carrying something you wont need to use unless you are boondocking for extended time. depends on your vehicle gross weight capacity but most 21 footers use 3500 lb axles and the trailer is usually around 31- 3200 lbs dry, so that does not give you much room before you max out the axle. So if you have single axle keep in mind the GVWR when filling up.

[Huntindog]

John.
My tanks are like ktmrfs as far as the mounting goes.

I did have a sagging problem with the FW tank. I fixed it with a welded metal support system. I don't believe in using wood in any way for tank supports.

A trip that we take at least once a year across the reservation has horrendous frost heaves on the road. This road will defineatly show any weak areas. So far, so good.

[Huntindog]

aftermath wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

rbpru wrote:
So, after all this typical diatribe the answer to the OP question is,

Some folks always carry a full tank of water.
Some folks never carry water or only enough for use in transit.
Some folk only carry what they think they will need for the trip.

The choice is up to the OP.

So why is this discussion a diatribe? ... I don't see anything offered that's "bitter" or "abusive". :h Obviously each one of us makes our own choice, based on our own preferences, but newbies especially likely appreciate the commentary offered in this discussion.

I agree. Some, probably most, will carry lots of water as we travel. Before the OP makes this decision it was important to inform him/her that on "some" trailers, carrying a full tank down the road can and has caused some serious problems. So, yes it is up to the OP but he/she needs to know the ramifications of the decision. I thought this thread did a good job of showing this.

Agree... It is also very informative to newbies that don't yet realize that build quality is not universally a given... And that there are some pretty shoddy things being built... So they can look for them when they are TT shopping.

[aftermath]

SoundGuy wrote:

rbpru wrote:
So, after all this typical diatribe the answer to the OP question is,

Some folks always carry a full tank of water.
Some folks never carry water or only enough for use in transit.
Some folk only carry what they think they will need for the trip.

The choice is up to the OP.

So why is this discussion a diatribe? ... I don't see anything offered that's "bitter" or "abusive". :h Obviously each one of us makes our own choice, based on our own preferences, but newbies especially likely appreciate the commentary offered in this discussion.

I agree. Some, probably most, will carry lots of water as we travel. Before the OP makes this decision it was important to inform him/her that on "some" trailers, carrying a full tank down the road can and has caused some serious problems. So, yes it is up to the OP but he/she needs to know the ramifications of the decision. I thought this thread did a good job of showing this.

[SoundGuy]

rbpru wrote:
So, after all this typical diatribe the answer to the OP question is,

Some folks always carry a full tank of water.
Some folks never carry water or only enough for use in transit.
Some folk only carry what they think they will need for the trip.

The choice is up to the OP.

So why is this discussion a diatribe? ... I don't see anything offered that's "bitter" or "abusive". :h Obviously each one of us makes our own choice, based on our own preferences, but newbies especially likely appreciate the commentary offered in this discussion.

[rbpru]

So, after all this typical diatribe the answer to the OP question is,

Some folks always carry a full tank of water.
Some folks never carry water or only enough for use in transit.
Some folk only carry what they think they will need for the trip.

The choice is up to the OP.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Some of you do nice work on your trailers that the factory neglected to do from the get go.

Nice job people! 🙂