How low do you let your tank get before stopping?

[LanceRKeys]

I just got back from my longest trip with my travel trailer yet. I get nervous when the tank drops below half, which makes us stop every two hours or so. This was mainly on the interstate, so no lack of fuel stations. Stopping this often made the trip take much longer than it should have. So when going on a long drive, how low do you let your tank get before you stop?

I plan to add a small (36 gallon) auxiliary tank to help with this situation, but until that time, I need to work on my fear of running out and stretch my stops out a little more.

[Flashman]

I drive until the fuel light comes on. I still have 6 gallons left in the tank when that occurs. Then I start looking for a fuel station. I still have my 15 gallon reserve in the bed of the truck if I can't find a station to my liking.

[GeoBoy]

Around 300 miles. I drive 60 mph with the RV, so that’s about 5 hours or so.

[Willcamp4]

One of the shortfalls of my truck has been the newer Ford Super-Duty with a short bed only has a 25 gallon fuel tank. This spring I put in a 45 gallon transfer tank/toolbox combo that will auto-feed into the main fuel tank. Now the answer of when to start looking for a place to fill up; it can be planned a day in advance. I can even plan for the best prices using GasBuddy.

[Lessmore]

Halmfamily wrote:

Crabbypatty wrote:
In my old Suburban the gas pump is in the gas tank. The fuel keeps the pump cool. By running out of fuel you over heat the pump and shorten its life. Did that and to replace the pump, you have to remove the tank. Expensive. Now I always plan for no less than 1/4 tank and start thinking about at 1/2tank as where to pull over.

Been there, done that and $800 lighter in the wallet We never go below a quarter tank of fuel even on diesel. Our mechanic said you also risk sucking up **** on the bottom of your tank if your fuel gets low enough.

Exactly ! I keep the tank half full at a minimum and then top it up to full. For all those reasons you list.

[JTrac]

The 17 and up Ford Super Duty's with a long bed now have a 48 gallon tank. I also have a 25 gallon Enduraplas transfer tank. 73 gallons will get us further than I care to go in a day. Stops are for bathroom breaks.

[alexleblanc]

with my current truck and its 36 gallon tank I find that I tend to go look for fuel when I get right below half - its usually time for a washroom break or lunch/supper anyways.

I'll go further down below a quarter tank on familiar runs where I know I can get there on fuel without issue, like i'm doing tomorrow going from Moncton N.B to Portland ME, I know i'll stop for fuel in Bangor ME as I have enough range to get there and it will be time for supper.

[Huntindog]

It depends on how well I know the route, and just where I am. There are some areas out west where gas stations a far and few inbetween. And sometimes you arrive at a remote station that has been used many previous times only to find that they are out! True story. We had to make a decision on whether to carry on to the next station (even more remote) and hope that they had fuel, or backtrack. Luckily I was able to get a call thru to my hunting partner who was already camped, and explain the situation. We then continued on, knowing that if we did not arrive on time, that help would be on the way. The second station had fuel. So all was good.

[Groover]

If I have confidence in the miles to empty reading I use Google or Garmin to search for the last appealing gas station withing that range and head for it. Unfortunately, my pickup does a terrible job of adjusting expected mpg for current load condition so its predictions have to be taken with a whole bunch of salt. I don't understand why Ford has you identify each trailer that you have then doesn't do anything useful with that information (such as adjust predicted mpg).

[ScottG]

I really should stop around 1/4 tank to keep the injection system cooler but I often push it to 1/8.

[12thgenusa]

Halmfamily wrote:
Been there, done that and $800 lighter in the wallet We never go below a quarter tank of fuel even on diesel. Our mechanic said you also risk sucking up **** on the bottom of your tank if your fuel gets low enough.

Think about it. The **** is in the low point of the tank whether it is full or nearly empty.


Refueled many times on our trip to Alaska with the fuel light already on. But we had scheduled fuel stops ahead of time, knew how far we could go, and also carried spare gas. This with a 26 gallon tank.

[RCMAN46]

I used to let my fuel go below 1/4 tank if I was sure I could make the next town.

A couple years ago I was headed for Ft Peck Montana. Planned to fuel up there only to find Ft Peck is pretty much a ghost town today with no diesel available.

Had to have Sam Club membership bring me 5 gallons of Disel from Glasgow as I was not sure I could make.

Now I always refuel at 1/2 tank plus my bladder is usually past the 3/4 point by then.

[ljr]

I carry 135 Gal so stops are dictated by my bladder.

[shum02]

1/4 tank or when DW says it's time.

Carry a 5 gallon/20L jug of diesel with me anyway and have NEVER come close to using it.

[LadyRVer]

All depends... usually, since I travel alone, I start looking at about 1/2 tank. If I know my destination is XXX miles and I know I have enough gas to make it in (like my first stop from home is 204 miles and I roll in with 1/4 tank) then I get site, unhook and go fill up. At 1/4 tank IF I have not found a gas station to maneuver into (and out) then I start to panic. I have had to back out from a pump...

[filrupmark]

When we are in west Texas we stop every time we see diesel. Any other time we get fuel around a half a tank. Years ago I ran us out a few times and DW doesn't like that.