traveling with water tows better?

[RoyBell]

This seems odd to me, but I have come to the conclusion that towing with a full fresh tank of water, the trailer actually tows better. Anyone ever experience this before?

It's not night and day better, but just seems to be better.

I am concerned about the trailer load traveling with an extra 300# of water if it's not needed. Maybe it's in my head?

[elivi8]

The extra weight has no bearing on the MPG. After a certain speed the wind resistance will do much more.

It depends on where the fresh tank is. Mine is in the front so it makes a difference on the tongue weight. Towing with water is better without. Also, when I get to a campground or close to it, the last thing that I want to do is get water. Park, relax.

[Walaby]

I towed empty and with a tank nearly full. With water, I could feel the trailer shift slightly when going around curves, as the water "sloshed" from side to side. Still very controllable, and not an issue, but I could definitely feel the difference. Other than that, no problems.

Mike

[Lynnmor]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
I travel with full fresh water tank because:

I want water while I travel (potty breaks/make lunch/wash up)
I want water when I get to destination (got caught once when NO Water was available)
RV is self-contained

I do the same with a TT and can't tell the difference.

I have been caught in campgrounds with no water and bad water so now I won't let an empty tank spoil my trip.

If 300lbs. is a problem, just let your mother-in-law at home.

[evanrem]

I have come to this conclusion myself. I have logged a lot of hours towing this summer and started tweaking the setup a little here and there and taking note of how it felt. I found when we have more weight on board from black, grey and fresh water the trailer seems not to jiggle as much from passing cars and so on. It Tows fairly good to begin with but sometimes it tows like its not even back there and I can never seem to hit the sweet spot except on accident. This is purely unscientific and just guessing.

[Old-Biscuit]

I travel with full fresh water tank because:

I want water while I travel (potty breaks/make lunch/wash up)
I want water when I get to destination (got caught once when NO Water was available)
RV is self-contained

Full or empty doesn't change how my FW tows

BUT it did make a difference on previous TT. Fresh water tank was over/forward of front TT axle. Added to tongue weight which made TT better balanced weight wise.

[marcindy]

We mostly travel with a full tank of water as 90% is dry camping- the tank is over the axle/slight ahead, it does tow a little better full, but stable either way. BTW, open range LT308BHS w/ GMC2500 duramax

[RoyBell]

The dealer filled the tank when I took it home. I didn't drain the tank until after the first camping trip. We made 2 more trips with it empty. I filled it up on this last trip since we were boondocking with no water hookup. Tank was pretty much empty on the way home then.

Limited exposure, but I thought it was odd the added ballast helped keep the trailer in line. I am not sure where the tank is since the underside is covered. The drains are right between the axles I think.

I don't have any sway issues either way. Just felt more controlled if that makes any sense.

[PAAK]

I have traveled with water in the TT a few times, it didnt tow to much differently but I felt the MPG while I was going through the mountains, 8 pounds per gallon. We boondock a good bit, and I usually carry water when we do, at times if I am familiar with the CG and I know where the water is, I will wait till I get there.

[myredracer]

Depends on where your FW tank is.

Ours is ahead of the axles somewhere under the pass-through area. Drove maybe 10 miles with it full once. The handing didn't feel safe. I thought I had a soft tire or mechanical problem. Dumped the water at a rest stop (took forever) and it was okay again after that. The extra tongue weight was taking weight off the steer axle and throwing off our Reese DC WDH (cams not centered exactly). Never again for me. We never dry camp so not something to consider.

If I wanted to do it regularly I'd have to adjust our WDH first.

I've read many stories of tank supports breaking away so it's not something I'd want to do anyway.

[rbpru]

I cannot say that I have noticed a difference, but there are so many floor plans if it tows better with water, the TT is trying to tell you something.

[carringb]

Mine tows much better with water. Partly due to the added tongue weight, but mostly I think it's simply the extra ballast which counteracts the massive sail area (my trailer is relatively light for how huge it is).

[RavensFan24]

I never travel with water or full tanks of any kind, but I would guess that may be it's help to distribute weight better in your trailer. May be you have too much or too little tongue weight and the 300lbs in the middle is helping to balance things out inducing a better ride.