Traveling with full tanks

Bcdonaher · 08-19-2014, 05:32 PM

We pick up our new 19 this Friday from the factory, driving back to Utah, we only have 3 days and the first night will be dry camping near Leavenworth WA
Left it a bit late to book a site with hook ups, so may have to get ETI to fill our tank before we leave it will be a 4 hour drive from Sumas.
Any problems traveling with a full tank of water, apart from the obvious weight?
Any tips on where to fill up other than truck stops. We'll be traveling down 5 then across on Hwy 2 east.
Barry

gbaglo · 08-19-2014, 05:41 PM

If you are in an actual camp ground, there should be water available there. I would think they have a sani-dump and potable water for those not on hookups.
There is a free rest area at Nason Creek (which must be near by ).
Download the free app Sanidumps.com

float5 · 08-19-2014, 05:41 PM

The problem could be your tongue weight too light possibly with fresh water full back there. You might want to find the nearest truck scale and weigh TV and Escape, then drop Escape a few feet away and weigh TV only. That will get you tongue weight. There are people who have had problems getting home with unbalanced loads. You could be okay if you have plenty of weight up front. Do you have a front box to load? You can put more weight inside up front on floor or inside benches.

KarenH · 08-19-2014, 05:48 PM

Aren't RVs designed to be towed with a full fresh-water tank? What is the point otherwise? BCdonaher states the first night is dry camping--no mention of available water and many, many campgrounds don't have potable water available.

J Mac · 08-19-2014, 05:51 PM

Just bring a small water hose . Keep it handy and fill what you need at the camp site. 1/3 full fresh water should be all you'd need for an over nighter .

dave macrae · 08-19-2014, 05:54 PM

I have towed our 19 with full , empty and most levels in between and can never feel a difference. I would just fill it at Eti and not worry about it. Altough those that make a olympic event of weighing tounge weight will probably disagree

float5 · 08-19-2014, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J Mac

Just bring a small water hose . Keep it handy and fill what you need at the camp site. 1/3 full fresh water should be all you'd need for an over nighter .

I was going to agree with that -- only needing one third but that depends on whether you take showers. New people, especially, have been known to quickly empty their tanks.

No, the trailers are not meant to be towed with fresh tank full. In fact, they are meant to be towed with fresh tank empty. A full tank has been a real problem.

J Mac · 08-19-2014, 05:56 PM

Water weighs 10 pounds+- per gallon . A full tank is only 200 pounds+-. Shouldn't be a problem weight wise.
If it is , drain some out .

float5 · 08-19-2014, 05:57 PM

Full water tanks have been a problem. It was once related that that had much to do with Reace making the front boxes. Don't know if that is correct. What I do know is that people were showing up at rallies very unbalanced (dangerous situation) and it was said to be due to that.

thoer · 08-19-2014, 05:59 PM

We usually travel with our fresh tanks 1/3 full and our two 5 gallon jugs full in the back of the truck. Gives us options if fresh water fill in hard to find at the site when we arrive.

Grey and black tanks can sometimes be a problem in places with no dump. That app that Glenn posted above looks great - more complete than any other site of app I have seen so far.

But like Dave just said -- our 17B seems to handle excellently with any sort of fill levels. Heck it even handled well with an exploded tire!

gbaglo · 08-19-2014, 06:00 PM

I often fill my fresh water at home when heading to BC Forest Service Camp. I've had no issues. And, I have a Sherline scale to measure the tongue. I'm almost always at #320 or a bit more.
Of course, I have six dozen beers under the front dinette.

KarenH · 08-19-2014, 06:00 PM

Golly, I don't know what people do who head out into the wilderness (or to some Forest Service campgrounds in Washington State) with empty FW tanks. Where do they get their water?

thoer · 08-19-2014, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Of course, I have six dozen beers under the front dinette.

Safety weights.

gbaglo · 08-19-2014, 06:03 PM

Barry - what's the name of the campground?

jamman · 08-19-2014, 06:13 PM

We have a 19 and often travel with a full fresh water tank - no problems. See post #8 in http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f1...gvwr-3875.html for actual weights

walloe · 08-19-2014, 06:14 PM

In some cases, maybe it depends on the trailer, having a large amount of water could cause handling problems with the trailer if there is sudden braking, or a quick, sharp zig zag turn to avoid something or someone one the road. The water will slosh around. (Have you ever carried a full container with an open top?) The reaction of the sloshing will not be the same timing as the vehicle or trailer and it takes longer for the water to recover causing the trailer to sway more and longer.

Jubal · 08-19-2014, 06:16 PM

Barry if you ordered the front storage box and dual 6v batteries you will not have a problem with a full fresh water tank and water heater. Adding 18 gallons of fresh water and filling the hot water heater lowered the tongue weight on our Escape 19 only 35 lbs. I do not tow with a full tank to lower trailer weight. Usually 12 gallons in the fresh water tank is adequate for the first night out.
We have never used a campsite with full hookups. Fill fresh water tanks when arriving at the campground and dump/refill on the way out.

dave macrae · 08-19-2014, 06:26 PM

I like Glens idea of using beer as balast, if its not towing well , pull over and enjoy a few pops and worry about it tomorrow

Jim Bennett · 08-19-2014, 06:51 PM

I have towed with the fresh tank at various levels, but because of mostly boondocking, we usually have the tank full. If towing through lots of mountains with the Pilot, and knowing we will have fresh water available at the destination, we will only put a few gallons in, as the weight savings can be noticed, mostly in performance, but likely a wee bit in fuel economy as well.

For those of you using pickups or other large tow vehicles, the weight would not be an issue. I know towing with my F-350 diesel, it barely notices the trailer, let alone the water on board.

Brian B-P · 08-19-2014, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Floating Cloud

No, the trailers are not meant to be towed with fresh tank full. In fact, they are meant to be towed with fresh tank empty. A full tank has been a real problem.

I don't think that's true of RVs (including travel trailers) in general; in fact, the capacity table provided in new RVs shows the cargo carrying capacity after allowing for a full water tank... and it makes sense: if you can't fill the tank, why make it so large?

Do you mean that specifically Escapes are not meant to be towed with a full fresh tank? The fresh water tank is - as far as I know - behind the axle in all Escape designs, so filling it reduces the tongue weight; however, this is quite common in travel trailers.

Since the distance from fresh water tank to axle is much shorter than from coupler to axle, the change in tongue weight is a small fraction of the weight of the water. I can't remember is Escape's gallons are imperial or U.S., but in the worst case (imperial) that's 200 pounds of water, and thus a small change in tongue weight compared to the tongue weight of a 19'.

Some designs do have problems: one Bigfoot model was recalled to have a huge steel plate added to the tongue to fix balance problems under some loading conditions. I'm not aware of such an issue in any Escape, but I could have missed it.

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