Ultralite - traveling with water

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Sammici

Sadly I can only bring a couple of gallons while traveling in my Palomino Mini 181FBS because tongue weight is already 550 pounds and the freshwater tank adds pound for pound on the tounge.

Unless your FW tank is located directly above the ball of your hitch, it does NOT add tongue weight "pound for pound." If it were directly above the axle, it wouldn't add any tongue weight. As it moves forward from the axle, the tongue weight will increase. If it's behind the axle, it will remove tongue weight.

https://www.engineersedge.com/calcul...ht-balance.htm

[Lundy]

Hear is a picture that was posted awhile back on this site. It was taken because the coroplast had peeled back on a trip and had to be repaired. This was on a Rockwood Ultralite, I cannot remember the model. You can clearly see how the tank is supported, but hard to see what gauge of steel is used in the construction. I carry full water tanks most of the time so I too was interested to knowing how they are built.

[MtBiker]

Originally Posted by PatHoppe

Thanks for all the replies. I’m not worried about weight. Even with full fresh water at 8 lbs per gallon, we will still be under GVWR for tt and truck. Class V hitch so lots of room on the tongue weight. As an engineer, I’ve run the numbers. I just didn’t know how well built the supports are. Since they can change over the years, I will have to open up the underbelly and look around once it’s out of warranty.

Forget about the warranty. Get in there and take a look at the tank structure. A couple of extra supports and you will never have to worry about it again. Go enjoy your TT.

[Sammici]

I'm just saying in my situation the freshwater tank is so far forward that it causes a lot of extra tongue weight for me.
I also only have a single axle and actually need to put water in my black tank that's behind the axle to take some weight off the tongue.

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Unless your FW tank is located directly above the ball of your hitch, it does NOT add tongue weight "pound for pound." If it were directly above the axle, it wouldn't add any tongue weight. As it moves forward from the axle, the tongue weight will increase. If it's behind the axle, it will remove tongue weight.

https://www.engineersedge.com/calcul...ht-balance.htm

[dbledan]

I have a 2016 ultra lite 26rlws. I mostly travel with the tanks with 5gal in it or empty. I have taken a few short trips with it "full" maybe 30 miles and not had any issues with the tank dropping in 2 years. I also have not taken the chloroplast down to look at it. I tend to fill the tank when camping rather than hook up.

I say "full" because it claims to be a 43gallon tank and I have only ever got 30 gallons in it measured by my water meter. This has not been a problem for me so never chased it down.

I usually drain it while I drive when leaving and I will say with half of the water in the tank things get sloshy until it has drained.

Hope that helps you. If you pull the chloroplast post a pic so I know if I should look at mine.

[llr]

Originally Posted by PatHoppe

I will have to open up the underbelly and look around once it’s out of warranty.

I would like to inspect mine, however I am not concerned enough about it to open it up.

[dave961]

When we boondock I need to take a full tank in with me. The cheap support FR put under the tank was bent 3" down in the middle. Since I plan on doing more boondocking and don't feel like dropping the tank, I had my local trailer place put a cross beam under it that will not bend... ever. Its screwed into the frame so I could take it out if I need to.

[Tundra 2014]

If you look @ the supports under the tanks, you may decide to only travel w/ a little water in them. I added screws to all 4 of my supports after we were on a trip and I saw the support dragging at a gas stop. For each 1/2" support strip FR had put only 3 screws in the support strip. Many of the screws were loose.Two of the screws were gone on the strip dragging. This allowed the plastic cover to start dropping. Water is 8 lbs. a gallon. W/ a 45 gal. tank an additional 360 lbs. to tow full. Bottom line, I do not trust the support structure from the factory.

[jimmoore13]

The rule of thumb is:
A) Verify that the tank is well supported.
B) If not, add support.

I boondock exclusively, so I always travel full. My tank was not well supported, so I added this for what was billed as 26 gallons of fresh water (20 gallons in the tank and 6 in the hot water heater.) The steel "looms" on the frame members were already there, so this was easy to do.

With a more sophisticated camper, with an enclosed underbelly and a bigger tank, you'll need to do better than that. Anything from angle iron to stainless fuel/air tank straps will do the job.

Water weights 8.34 pounds per gallon. 40 gallons of fresh water will weight in at 334 pounds. We all know better than to expect a poorly supported plastic tank to hold 334 pounds unless it's reinforced.

As to why they build 'em that way, it's price. Most RVs never boondock. You don't need to think about the tank structure and supports even if you have to fill on-site and then park with nothing more than an electric hookup. But if you're going to tow many miles, or worse, if you are going tow long distances (5 miles or more) on rough gravel roads, your tank is going to need all the help it can get.

I have a new rig that I'm outfitting for boondocking. I'm looking at stainless steel tank straps. They are strong, and they have ideal fasteners on the ends to ensure they are snug and can carry a heavy load. And they are thin. Angle iron is thick, and I know my tank is hard up against the underbelly. I don't have much room for extra support.
Illustration, not recommendation: https://www.4statetrucks.com/fuel-ta...RoCgbgQAvD_BwE

[rockfordroo]

Post 20 here

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...-129346-2.html

shows the bad supports. You DON'T want that empty slot on the vertical part of the L-angle. You can see that it allows the angle to buckle.

[babock]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Unless your FW tank is located directly above the ball of your hitch, it does NOT add tongue weight "pound for pound." If it were directly above the axle, it wouldn't add any tongue weight. As it moves forward from the axle, the tongue weight will increase. If it's behind the axle, it will remove tongue weight.

https://www.engineersedge.com/calcul...ht-balance.htm

Agreed. Mine is around half way between my hitch and the axles so every pound is around 1/2 pound on the tongue.

[Flat_twin]

I read those tank falling out posts. Since we boon dock quite a bit so we had a local welding shop build a ladder rack which added three additional supports under the tank. This pic was taken before I painted the new steel. Our 2016 has no belly cover and I like it that way.

[larry2c]

We boondock frequently and usually need to have a full tank for those trips. After reading a number of posts after getting our CruseLite I checked under our TT once I had filled the tank. I noticed that it sagged quite a bit so I decided to be proactive. I replaced the OEM angle iron with heavier gauge "C" channel supports. Here's a link to the post I created for the modification. There is very little deflection of these supports even with a full tank so I'm comfortable traveling that way now.

[trumpetmood]

Yes, after reading about water tanks dropping on the highway, then witnessing my own tank sagging, I used nice angled aluminum to reinforce the tank. So now, instead of two thin flat steel straps supporting the tank, I now have five sturdy aluminum angle supports. It was peace of mind for me!

[Nascardad101]

Originally Posted by PatHoppe

Hello,
One of the things that drew us to the Ultralite was the size of the tanks. Has anyone had any issue with traveling with a full tank of water in their a Ultralite?

Did anyone feel the need to re-enforce the the brackets/bracing under the fresh water tank.

TIA,

Pat

I drove from Northern mn to Chicago with a full water tank. The trailer was 38 feet and just under 10,000 pounds. Used a 34 ton gas truck. Pulled better full less sway. I was able to maintain seventy. When stopping the water will flow forward so it can affect braking like in anything hauling liquid.

[Gene Colorado]

I have a 2017 Flagstaff 25 bhs that I tow with a 2008 Toyota Sequoia Limited with the 5.73 engine. The angle iron on the 43 gal. fresh water tanked sagged 2 inch while towing with a full tank of water. I do tow over some rough roads. It was fix under warranty by the dealer in about a hour. They installed a thicker angle iron over the old. I have not had any more problems towing with a full tank of water.
I was once traveling thru Wyoming, on I 80, where the wind guests were 45 to 65 miles per hour. Should of probably stop, but did not want to sit in the wind either. The wind blew my stairs open on this trip! I think the lower center of gravity of the water, can be of benefit when towing in high winds. I think that is why my TT stayed up rite on it's wheels and not blown over like some. Just my opinion.

[GScott423]

I had two black tanks fall out of two different trailers. My fault each time. However what I learned is these tanks are long wide and very shallow and just hang on a ledge without any straps or supports. So they are designed to stay put in normal conditions. But that’s not always how life goes. So both times I had the repair crew build a substantial brace support so it can’t happen again. With this knowledge I will travel with nearly empty tanks.

[Whispering Pines]

I carry enough water for emergency needs only. Why carry all that extra weight when it is not useful. Weight is or enemy, lighten up!

[01tundra]

This how our 2020 2109s came from the factory and what it now looks like after I rebuilt the tank support. The factory supports appear to be around 11 ga steel, I could push up on them with my hand and deflect them, also as I filled the tank I could watch the belly cover start sagging. The real issue is the large notches that they put in the ends of the intermediate supports.

The other issue is that the tank is made of such thin plastic that it sags between supports, to help mitigate this I put a 1/2" thick PVC plastic between the bottom of the tank and support to distribute the load.

I used 2"x2"x1/4" angle for the two cross members and 1-1/2"x1-1/2"x3/16" intermediates. Everything is bolted in with no holes in the main frame and the support is easily removable.

Anyways, maybe we would've been fine, but I feel much better with my design and I know for a fact that the tank isn't going anywhere.

[dave961]

Originally Posted by dave961

When we boondock I need to take a full tank in with me. The cheap support FR put under the tank was bent 3" down in the middle. Since I plan on doing more boondocking and don't feel like dropping the tank, I had my local trailer place put a cross beam under it that will not bend... ever. Its screwed into the frame so I could take it out if I need to.

Here are picks for my reply above... You can see how the original support bar is bent.