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Old 06-07-2023, 01:58 PM   #1
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Towing with full fresh water tank

I've got a 2020 Forest River Flagstaff Micro Lite 22FBRS travel trailer with a 54 gallon fresh water tank and I've filled my fresh water tank full for several short trips, but we are heading from WEST from Texas to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado in July and while we are staying in some RV parks in various places we will be overnighting in a few truck stops and rest areas in between and wanted to seek advice about is that too much weight to be hauling over that long of a trip? I've done it on the short 200 to 300 mile trips with no issues, but other than gas consumption should I be worried? Maybe just fill with half a tank or below to be safe? I couldn't really find anything in the manual about it.
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Old 06-07-2023, 02:13 PM   #2
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I've got a 2020 Forest River Flagstaff Micro Lite 22FBRS travel trailer with a 54 gallon fresh water tank and I've filled my fresh water tank full for several short trips, but we are heading from WEST from Texas to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado in July and while we are staying in some RV parks in various places we will be overnighting in a few truck stops and rest areas in between and wanted to seek advice about is that too much weight to be hauling over that long of a trip? I've done it on the short 200 to 300 mile trips with no issues, but other than gas consumption should I be worried? Maybe just fill with half a tank or below to be safe? I couldn't really find anything in the manual about it.
The weight of the water would make little to no difference in your fuel mileage. It’s aerodynamic drag from the frontal area of the trailer that mainly affects your mileage, driven significantly by how fast you drive.

As for the weight of the hauled water, stop at a scale and get your trailer axle and tongue weights with a full water tank to be sure you are well within your trailer, tire, and tow vehicle weight ratings. Also check that your tongue weight ratio is good.

Unless you’re heading out on an extended boondocking trip, or have a huge family on board, I wouldn’t think you’d need a full water tank for a few overnight stops. That’s up to you. My wife and I could easily make 54 gallons last a whole week.
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Old 06-07-2023, 02:14 PM   #3
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The answer is........depends. If the tank is over the axles, not an issue. If the tank is aft of the axles, it will reduce tongue weight. If the tank is forward of the axles, it will add tongue weight.

That much water is about 430 lbs. Don't forget there may be contents in the grey tank and the black tank. These add too. So with the trailer loaded for the trip, how will you be on Gross trailer weight? And with the stuff loaded in the tow vehicle plus tongue weight, how will you be on Gross Vehicle weight?

I don't see losing a couple of hundred lbs of water would have any significant issue with gas consumption. Your right foot will have a major impact on gas consumption. I drive conservatively at about 10 MPH below the posted speed limit. I put the cruise control on, hang in the rightmost lane and watch those blow by me in the show-out lanes to my left.

Based on your plan and stops, I don't think I'd start with a full tank of water.

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Old 06-07-2023, 02:30 PM   #4
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You sure the trailer can really hold 54 gallons of fresh water? I saw that in the specs and immediately assumed it's a misprint. An astounding amount of water for a 23 foot trailer in my experience.

But unless you're going to exceed the cargo capacity of your trailer carry as much good water as you want.

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Old 06-07-2023, 03:03 PM   #5
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Until you actually look at the tank supports yourself, it is anybody's guess if they are adequate for long term. I'm assuming your tank is suspended below the floor and not positioned above the floor (as in under the bed).
Micro lites are notorious for minimal tank supports in the name of weight savings. Remove the bottom covering (if applicable) and inspect your tank supports.
Many of us have added extra fresh tank support structure just for piece of mind or to correct a problem. Unistruts are one option. There many posts on this forum about this subject that can be found using the search tool.
As for traveling long distances with a full tank, if you didn't notice any handling issues on your shorter trips, I wouldn't think it would be any different for longer ones.
Personally, I usually travel with a full fresh tank. It has come in handy too many times to mention.
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Old 06-07-2023, 03:16 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Chuck_S View Post
You sure the trailer can really hold 54 gallons of fresh water? I saw that in the specs and immediately assumed it's a misprint. An astounding amount of water for a 23 foot trailer in my experience.

But unless you're going to exceed the cargo capacity of your trailer carry as much good water as you want.

-- Chuck
Its the fresh tank capacity+water heater capacity. My 21ft trailer is 50gal. 43-44 in the main (measured during fill) and a 6 gal water heater.
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Old 06-07-2023, 03:26 PM   #7
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Timely post. Just a little info is all.

I dropped the front bottom cover for my tank(54 gal) this morning just to see what supports if any are there. Wanted to know myself.

Hard to tell by the pictures but there is about a 1/4" to 3/8" of bulge below each of the supports where the tank is sagging. There were either three or four supports. I have maybe 20 gallons in the tank and that is just from running the showermiser in the morning to get hot water at the shower, no sense filling up the grey tank. It is getting dumped on the ground before I head to the dump station Friday, thirty yards as the crow flies.

Only distance I have traveled is about 125 miles max in a day with maybe 25 gals max in my tank, usually 15-20 gallons.

After seeing the amount of sag I am definitely going to beef it up. More worried about the tank rubbing on the cross bracing than anything. Plastic rubbing on a steel corner. Don't plan on putting anything heavy across it just something thin to take care of the contact areas.

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Edit: My tongue weight increased 300 lbs from empty to full. My tank is in the area of the foot of my bed forward.
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Old 06-07-2023, 03:37 PM   #8
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I went with the external unistrut support method. a pair of unistrut bars clamped to the frame. doesn't stop the sagging that exists but helps keep it from getting worse.
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Old 06-07-2023, 03:49 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by NMWildcat View Post
Until you actually look at the tank supports yourself, it is anybody's guess if they are adequate for long term. I'm assuming your tank is suspended below the floor and not positioned above the floor (as in under the bed).
Micro lites are notorious for minimal tank supports in the name of weight savings. Remove the bottom covering (if applicable) and inspect your tank supports.
Many of us have added extra fresh tank support structure just for piece of mind or to correct a problem. Unistruts are one option. There many posts on this forum about this subject that can be found using the search tool.
As for traveling long distances with a full tank, if you didn't notice any handling issues on your shorter trips, I wouldn't think it would be any different for longer ones.
Personally, I usually travel with a full fresh tank. It has come in handy too many times to mention.
^^THIS^^... all of it.
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Old 06-07-2023, 06:31 PM   #10
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I have a 2020 Flagstaff microlite 21 DS. As you can see, the original tank flexed well below the angle supports. I primarily boondock. As such, I bought a new tank to replace the original factory tank. The new tank is supported with plywood and unistrut channel. I also have unistrut channel going side to side under the trailer for additional support. The last thing I want is to have my tank spring a leak or fall out while I'm in the middle of nowhere.

The concession I had to make, in order to fit the three quarter inch plywood bottom, was a smaller tank (essentially, I had to give up 10 gallons). The new tank is 39 gallons which works just fine for me.

By the way, your 54 gallon tank is not really 54 gallons. It's common practice for manufacturers to include the six gallons in the water heater as usable fresh water capacity. Your 54 gallon tank is really 48.
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Old 06-07-2023, 06:48 PM   #11
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Your second photo is what mine looks like. I put the unistrut bars right under those two bulges to keep it from getting worse. One of these days I might replace the tank and just build additional supports. Not willing to give up on tank capacity though.
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Old 06-08-2023, 12:07 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by Chuck_S View Post
You sure the trailer can really hold 54 gallons of fresh water? I saw that in the specs and immediately assumed it's a misprint. An astounding amount of water for a 23 foot trailer in my experience.

But unless you're going to exceed the cargo capacity of your trailer carry as much good water as you want.

-- Chuck
My little 17 foot trailer has a 55 gallon fresh water tank. And that's just the tank. It does not include the extra six gallons in the water heater. So with everything filled up, I'm toting 61 gallons of fresh water. A lot of smaller trailers have a decent size fresh water tank.
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Old 06-08-2023, 12:25 AM   #13
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By the way, your 54 gallon tank is not really 54 gallons. It's common practice for manufacturers to include the six gallons in the water heater as usable fresh water capacity. Your 54 gallon tank is really 48.
That is not true. Every trailer I've had did not include the water in the water heater as part of fresh water capacity listed in the brochure. The only manufacturer that I know that includes water heater water as part of fresh water capacity is Northwood Manufacturing.
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Old 06-08-2023, 06:36 AM   #14
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Timely post. Just a little info is all.

I dropped the front bottom cover for my tank(54 gal) this morning just to see what supports if any are there. Wanted to know myself.

Hard to tell by the pictures but there is about a 1/4" to 3/8" of bulge below each of the supports where the tank is sagging. There were either three or four supports. I have maybe 20 gallons in the tank and that is just from running the showermiser in the morning to get hot water at the shower, no sense filling up the grey tank. It is getting dumped on the ground before I head to the dump station Friday, thirty yards as the crow flies.

Only distance I have traveled is about 125 miles max in a day with maybe 25 gals max in my tank, usually 15-20 gallons.

After seeing the amount of sag I am definitely going to beef it up. More worried about the tank rubbing on the cross bracing than anything. Plastic rubbing on a steel corner. Don't plan on putting anything heavy across it just something thin to take care of the contact areas.

Attachment 288314

Attachment 288315

Attachment 288316
Edit: My tongue weight increased 300 lbs from empty to full. My tank is in the area of the foot of my bed forward.
Dave, You are a brave man. That is like a kid opening the closet to see if there is a boogie man inside. I don't want to know what's inside.

I never travel with water in the tank.
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Old 06-08-2023, 07:43 AM   #15
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Dave, You are a brave man. That is like a kid opening the closet to see if there is a boogie man inside. I don't want to know what's inside.
Not really, I had been putting it off(afraid of what I would find) and now my to do list just got a little longer. At least I am camped on grass for the next couple of months and they do not complain about maintenance being done. At least not yet. And local stores for projects which is a big plus.
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Old 06-08-2023, 08:08 AM   #16
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That is not true. Every trailer I've had did not include the water in the water heater as part of fresh water capacity listed in the brochure. The only manufacturer that I know that includes water heater water as part of fresh water capacity is Northwood Manufacturing.
And I don't believe the above to be true.

Forest River is careful to not list "tank size" but rather lists "capacity".
I was told by a factory representative they DO include the water heater AND the plumbing lines capacity in their calculations. In more recent brochures, there is an asterisk * denoting a change in capacity if you have an on-demand tankless water heater.

It's all about marketing hype and making you believe you are getting more than what you actually are. Just like Nitrogen filled tires... wait... did I just say that!
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Old 06-08-2023, 08:18 AM   #17
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I've got a 2020 Forest River Flagstaff Micro Lite 22FBRS travel trailer with a 54 gallon fresh water tank and I've filled my fresh water tank full for several short trips, but we are heading from WEST from Texas to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado in July and while we are staying in some RV parks in various places we will be overnighting in a few truck stops and rest areas in between and wanted to seek advice about is that too much weight to be hauling over that long of a trip? I've done it on the short 200 to 300 mile trips with no issues, but other than gas consumption should I be worried? Maybe just fill with half a tank or below to be safe? I couldn't really find anything in the manual about it.
I would only load up on what you think you might use between stops where you can get more water .. these units are notorious for having tanks not mounted well and falling out .. view the tank and seeing how it's secured and adding extra supports may be in order .
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Old 06-08-2023, 08:34 AM   #18
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I would only load up on what you think you might use between stops where you can get more water .. .
X2. You don't need to haul a full tank of water. We only haul what we think we'll need between stops at rv parks.

Water weighs about 8 lbs a gallon and every gallon we haul reduces the cargo carrying capacity of the rig. That's a critical number when we're planning on
long trips and need to carry cold weather gear as well as summer clothes.
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Old 06-08-2023, 08:39 AM   #19
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I agree with not traveling with full tank if the destination has water.
We travel with 10-15 gallons for bathroom breaks and had washing during stops.
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Old 06-08-2023, 08:49 AM   #20
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It's all about what YOU want during a trip. (the entire trip)

Personally, I'd never own a R/V + tow vehicle where filling the fresh water tank would concern me that I'm approaching exceeding the carrying capacity of my rig.

We boondock a lot so water is an important commodity.

But even when not boondocking, unless we are taking a short trip withing a few hours of home base, we ALWAYS fill the fresh tank. And on those short trips, we always have at least a half a tank or enough to return home if necessary.

I have said this before... you never know what might happen to keep you from reaching a destination where you PLANNED to fill your water tank or even arriving to find there is a problem with the source water. (well pump bad, city water line broken, etc.)

We have saved countless lost camping days by having water with us when traveling.

Again, it is all about what one wants.
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