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Old 06-28-2020, 07:38 PM   #1
Sharko
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2020 3930 Montana driving full?

Newbie here, maybe stupid question. Is it okay to fully fill fresh water tanks when driving hours.
I assume since grey/black must handle driving full.
Ofcourse when not concerned about truck capabilities.
 
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Old 06-28-2020, 07:43 PM   #2
Patrickdoran
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To be totally honest, I dont dry camp or rough it. I always go to a campsite that is full hookup. If you dont plan on using the water, then why haul it? It will make your TV work harder and add to your cargo weight. I also dont haul with any water in my gray tank. I keep a little water in the black tank to prevent the pyramids from forming.
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Old 06-28-2020, 08:27 PM   #3
Carl n Susan
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I travel with water, sometimes full, in the fresh tank. But I never travel with full or close to full gray or black tanks. They are not nearly as strong as the fresh tank.
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Old 06-28-2020, 08:47 PM   #4
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The one thing you have to remember is that for every gallon of water you put in that fresh water tank you are 8.5 lbs to your total weight of the unit while towing it down the road. At even adding 50 gallons you'll be adding 425 lbs to your unit. I normally run with about 1/4 to 1/3 of the fresh water tank full incase we pull over at the rest stop and don't want to use their facilities or need to stop along the way somewhere and use ours. I have only run full fresh water tank once and that was from a campground we stopped at the night before going into Quartzite for the Circling of the Montana's and we only traveled a short distance then to get to the Circle. We do fill it partway while staying at our winter campground in AZ but that is just incase they have to shut off the water to do repairs (which usually happens because someone backs or runs over a water faucet in the park) or incase it gets a little colder than we would like it too and we have to disconnect our city hookup because of freezing temps in the night.
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Old 06-28-2020, 08:57 PM   #5
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Putting water in a rear fw tank is one way to take weight off the pin.
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Old 06-28-2020, 10:13 PM   #6
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Thanks,
As stated, " not concerned about truck capabilities ".
Dont need to discuss weights. My only question is: are the tanks built strong enough if you so choose?
My issue is dry camping. Since I cannot add water without hose pressure / hose thread. I'm stuck with loading prior. Which I'm fine with, just don't know if okay.
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Old 06-29-2020, 05:20 AM   #7
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Sharko, I never tried it but I would think it is ok. BTW, I recently purchased a bladder tank and pump to provide a fresh water fill for our rig. Not dry camping, but water at site is turned off in winter due to freezing. I can get water from the "comfort station" but don't want to move the rig every time I needed water. If you have access to water somewhere close like I do, this may be an option. I ordered the bladder tank on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009MU64Y0...v_ov_lig_dp_it and the pump https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074T9C3JX...v_ov_lig_dp_it. You can also find the pump on Harbor Freight for around the same price. The tank folds down very small when empty, and is easy to transport when full.
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Old 06-29-2020, 06:35 AM   #8
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No issue traveling with a full water tank. You are probably better off with a full tank that does not slosh around than a partially full tank. You never know when you might need water.
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Old 06-29-2020, 08:39 AM   #9
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If going to a CG with full hook ups we do not travel with a full tank. As noted above, water weighs over eight pounds per gallon, I see no point in dragging a full tank to the CG. We carry enough to handle a delay/breakdown.
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Old 06-29-2020, 10:17 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharko View Post
Thanks, My issue is dry camping. Since I cannot add water without hose pressure / hose thread. I'm stuck with loading prior. Which I'm fine with, just don't know if okay.
I dry camp all the time. I fill the fresh water tank full and never had any issues. If you need to add water, you connect the outside shower to the city water/tank fill hose spout, connect the male end of a short section of hose to the winterize port and dip the other in your portable water jugs. I cut up an old hose to keep the length around 6-7 feet. Make sure the pump switch is on. Turn the winterize valve to on, open up the cold water side of the outside shower and the water valve to "fill". The pump should start drawing water from the jug through the winterize port and pump it through the shower valve to the fresh water tank.


When finished, return the three valves to their normal positions.



It's not fast, but it works. I carry four 6 gallon jugs if we don't have water hook ups.
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Old 06-29-2020, 10:26 AM   #11
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Hell YES, you are the man. Just the info I was looking for.
Sorry off topic, Just by chance do you have any solar experience? I have 1 stock 265 watt panel with 30 amp controller. I would like to add panels and wondering if my stock wires to original panel is thick enough? I assume in series to keep amps consistent. Again sorry if I should post a different place.
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Old 06-29-2020, 10:29 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharko View Post
Newbie here, maybe stupid question. Is it okay to fully fill fresh water tanks when driving hours.
I assume since grey/black must handle driving full.
Ofcourse when not concerned about truck capabilities.
We always travel with a full fresh tank, every trip. Probably 50% of the time we travel back with maybe half full grey/black tanks. We have done this in all our Montana's and our toyhaulers. I asked the toyhauler manufacturer about it; I was assured it was a non issue as long as I stayed under their axle weights.

My take away was that as long as you were within the gross weight spec of the axles the trailer doesn't care.
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Old 06-29-2020, 10:35 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharko View Post
Hell YES, you are the man. Just the info I was looking for.
Sorry off topic, Just by chance do you have any solar experience? I have 1 stock 265 watt panel with 30 amp controller. I would like to add panels and wondering if my stock wires to original panel is thick enough? I assume in series to keep amps consistent. Again sorry if I should post a different place.

The factory wires are 10ga and should work IF you run the panels in series to keep the current below 30A. This can be achieved by running the panels in a combination of series and parallel. You will need to upgrade the charge controller as the output current at 12-14V will exceed the factory Jaboni controller beyond the 285W panel. The wiring to the battery will need to be upsized to 2 or 4 gauge. I got a Victron 150/85A and have 860W so far. It uses the same display as the Jaboni.


You probably want to search the forum. There's tons of discussions on this topic.
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Old 06-29-2020, 09:08 PM   #14
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I all ways drive with water. I use to empty my fresh water tank and then filled it up when I got to the camp grounds. Until we went to a camp ground and they didn't tell me at the gate that the camp ground didn't have any water at all. Big pipe broke that fed the camp ground. Ever since then I all way's carry water. Also if we stay at a rest stop and we want to shower before we go to bed or shower in the morning before we leave to get on the road
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Old 07-05-2020, 01:50 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharko View Post
Newbie here, maybe stupid question. Is it okay to fully fill fresh water tanks when driving hours.
I assume since grey/black must handle driving full.
Ofcourse when not concerned about truck capabilities.
Anytime you are towing, avoid fluids in any tank if possible. First reason is tow weight, second reason is potentially hundreds of pounds moving around can break tanks, and non-zero probability could cause an accident. If you are on the way to a boondock site, find a place as close to the site as possible to fill water on way in and dump tanks on way out. I do carry a very tiny amount just in case we need to use our washroom.
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Old 07-05-2020, 02:03 PM   #16
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At Quartzsite alone they get 1,000,000 campers per year dry camping. They all arrive with full water tanks. We dry camp in the Rockies at 10,000 feet elevation. We have been doing this with Montana’s for 16 years without an issue. They are built with 12v systems and pumps because people dry camp. If we dry camp, we always leave full. If we are going to campgrounds, we have about 1/4 to 1/2 for bathroom stops. The black and gray tanks are now rotomolded to eliminate earlier problems with breaking. I agree from a fuel economy standpoint, less is better.
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Old 07-05-2020, 02:08 PM   #17
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I always travel with the fresh water tanks full. That is what you have a water tank for.
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Old 07-05-2020, 08:48 PM   #18
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Full fresh water tanks

I carry full water tank when wind is blowing from certain directions when planning a trip to lower center of gravity and hopefully improve stability.
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Old 07-06-2020, 06:12 AM   #19
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I always have a full tank of water as well. i never travel with anything in the black or gray tank. I usually pour the chemical in both tanks and 5 gallons of water. Going down the road sloshes the water around and hopefully it keeps the tanks cleaner. But no bad goo in the tanks.
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Old 07-06-2020, 08:37 AM   #20
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Water

I do a lot of dry camping , and I leave home with about 30 gal. In fresh water tanks. I figure why pull all that weight 70 gal. Up to the Sierras. At 8,000 feet. I stop at a road side rest when I get close to our campsite and fill up there. I have a portable 15 gal. Water tank with a built in 12v. Pump and I just plug it in to a 12 v socket I put in the rear of my truck and a hose on the discharge side of the pump. Other end of hose goes into city water inlet and switch the lever to fill. Done deal. The tank is a Harbor Freight spray tank, I just did not use the spray wand instead attached the garden hose. Cost $ 100.00 for the tank with pump holds 15 gallons of water.
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