Can I tow with my fresh water tank half full or full?

[prelucir]

I had purchased a 2015 Heartland Pioneer Travel Trailer and I read that I was not suppose to tow with the tanks full as it could cause failure. I did not see anything on my 2017 Bighorn 3575 EL. Can I two with water in the tanks? Will it cause harm?

Thanks,
John

- - - Updated - - -

I read another post that people said they are towing with full tanks. But they did not all state what they are pulling. Can I do it with the Bighorn?

 

[esscobra]

so I attend a lot drag and nascar racing events and almost always no hookups as well as escapes to state parks with no hookups - towed with full tank for 2.5 years before had issue- and only due to only using 4 self tappers ( 2 per side ) where each side had 4 holes in crossmember - so poor build quality- but upgrade and fixed and used proper bolts now- in previous travel trailer ( Jayco ) did for 7+ years with no issues - whats point of having a tank and pump id you cant use- I would recommend since you have similar year model that you check crossmember that holds tank up and make sure they put screws in all the holes in it ( 4 per side ) and possibly replace with quality bolts rather than self tappers that heads will pop off as they are not made to support weight - guess I was lucky it made it as long as it did

 

[BLR]

We are boondockers..
We always Travel with full fresh water and empty gray and black..
Then once fresh is empty or black is full we find a place to dump and fill.

Which is normally every 3 to 4 weeks..

Either find a new place to camp or go back where we just came from..

Sent from BLR Logistics

 

[CDN]

We have traveled with full tank as well. For example this summer we are boon docking for 8 days at a festival. We will fill close to the event at a former KOA on full hook ups and travel 30 miles to the site. I travelled 50 miles with my Bighorn, 3 waste tanks full and fresh water full. That was a heavy load. I was nervous but made it. Like others reinforcing tank structure is on the mod list.

Brian

 

[hoefler]

Begining of the season I fill the fresh water tank, ( 100 gallons ), and use it through out the year and drain when I winterize

 

[jnbhobe]

I always travel with a full tank. I added a piece of angle iron under the tank from frame rail to frame rail

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[RoadJunkie]

If you decide to tow with a full freshwater tank, be aware that you are likely to lose water from the overflow outlet. I put valves on my overflow outlets and make sure that I open the valves when I connect to city water. If you don’t do this step, and you connect to city water, then to potential for a failure of a backflow switch, either on the pump or the Anderson valve, may cause your tank to overflow into the belly of the rig.

 

[MTPockets]

Remember too the weight of the water. That is added to your payload limit.

 

[JohnD]

You can tow with a full tank of water, but only do it if you need to.

I generally keep 1/3 to 1/2 halt tank of fresh water unless I think I'll need more.

Once at a park with hookups, I'll fill the fresh water tank all the way...

Just in case another RV'er drives off and drags their water spicket with them or a big motor home runs it over.

Seen this a few times over the years and it was nice being able to make a pot of coffee and take a shower while the rest of the park had to wait for the plumber to come fix the leak.

 

[prelucir]

Personally I don't boondock. My idea of roughing it, is only 30 amp on a hot day. I'm not actually goin to drive with full tanks. I just wanted to put about a third of tank fresh water so while I'm on the road for a thousand miles, I can use the bathroom. And wash my hands. That's pretty much what I was after.

 

[esscobra]

depending on model the fresh water tank is over/behind wheels so it balances out the trailer a bit better - so sometimes the extra weight helps

 

[mlpeloquin]

Weigh your trailer first fully loaded. Then you will know exactly how much water you can carry without being overweight. With our BigHorn we cannot carry any water. Fully loaded we are within 100lbs of max weight. So weigh your trailer fully loaded first, and remember each gallon weighs 8.34lbs.

 

[SNOKING]

You can tow with a full tank of water, but only do it if you need to.

I generally keep 1/3 to 1/2 halt tank of fresh water unless I think I'll need more.

Once at a park with hookups, I'll fill the fresh water tank all the way...

Just in case another RV'er drives off and drags their water spicket with them or a big motor home runs it over.

Seen this a few times over the years and it was nice being able to make a pot of coffee and take a shower while the rest of the park had to wait for the plumber to come fix the leak.

So which is worst, a full tank and it's weight on the supports or a half full tank of water sloshing back and forth and side to side? Chris

 

[JohnD]

So which is worst, a full tank and it's weight on the supports or a half full tank of water sloshing back and forth and side to side? Chris

I suppose if one's trailer is too much for the tow vehicle this could be a problem.

Or if one is pulling at 80 MPH or faster maybe...

I'm more concerned about the extra weight as I like to travel as light as I can.

I've never noticed any kind of problem with the water sloshing around.