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03-24-2018, 09:56 AM
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#1
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Junior Member
Name: Tom
Trailer: Casita
Illinois
Posts: 29
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Tow Casita with water or not?
Hello,
Last summer we bought a 16' Casita and took it out only once camping . This summer we will be taking it where there will be no water hook up. Should we carry in water and fill the camper tanks once when we set up camp; or can we fill the camper tanks at home before we leave on our trip. It will be about a 3 hour drive. We towed last year in a 2006 Ford Ranger extended cab (6 cylinder). This month we are buying a 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 extended cab (8 cylinder).
Oh, and by the way if anyone is looking for a Ford Ranger mine will be for sale next month.
Tom Moquin
email, tamoquin@foxvalley.net
Tel, 847 683-0804
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03-24-2018, 11:58 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Name: David
Trailer: Former 13’Scamp, now Snoozy
Arizona
Posts: 2,316
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Tom, you should not have any problems towing with a full tank of fresh water, especially for such a short distance and with such a small volume the Scamp has. Just figure moving heavier items toward the front of the trailer to off set the water weight behind the axle.
Dave & Paula
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03-24-2018, 12:11 PM
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#3
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Junior Member
Name: Tom
Trailer: Casita
Illinois
Posts: 29
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Carrying water while towing
Dave and Paula,
Thank you for the advice. We are looking forward to using the camper this summer.
Tom and Debbie
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03-24-2018, 12:50 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2002 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel
Posts: 3,640
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Be sure to Sanitize the tank B 4 you finally add the water.
ME, We purchase bottled water, freeze it, Pre cool the fridge a day B 4, put the frozen water in the fridge and also have some in a cooler in the tug and we have cold water to drink and it prolongs the cold in the fridge. We do not drink the water tank water.
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03-24-2018, 12:53 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Name: bob
Trailer: 1996 Casita 17 Spirit Deluxe; 1946 Modernistic teardrop
New York
Posts: 5,413
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[QUOTE=David B.;689203] with such a small volume the Scamp has.
He has a Casita 16, how big is the water tank. I assume it is in the rear? Water weighs 8.3 lb per gallon so that will help figure how much to offset the weight towards the front. Never towed our Casita with water in the tank, so don't know how it would affect it, but ours is a 17 and the axle is farther back than on a 16 so any experience I had would be irrelevant in this case.
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03-24-2018, 01:25 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Name: John
Trailer: Escape 21, behind an '02 F250 7.3 diesel tug
Mid Left Coast
Posts: 2,937
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note that the fresh water tank is in the rear, but the grey and black tanks are in the middle and front... so as you use that water the rear gets lighter while the front gets heavier.
Our trips often involve a few days here, then a few more somewhere else, sometimes 4-5 different stops.
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03-24-2018, 02:32 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Name: Dave
Trailer: Casita SD17 2006 "Missing Link"
California
Posts: 3,738
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Won't be a problem Tom. I always tow my SD17 with an '02 4L 4dr auto Ranger with the 25 gal fresh tank full. It's never been an issue even as the weight changes from the rear to the front holding tanks.
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03-24-2018, 04:38 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Name: David
Trailer: Former 13’Scamp, now Snoozy
Arizona
Posts: 2,316
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[QUOTE=mary and bob;689216]
Quote:
Originally Posted by David B.
with such a small volume the Scamp has.
He has a Casita 16, how big is the water tank. I assume it is in the rear? Water weighs 8.3 lb per gallon so that will help figure how much to offset the weight towards the front. Never towed our Casita with water in the tank, so don't know how it would affect it, but ours is a 17 and the axle is farther back than on a 16 so any experience I had would be irrelevant in this case.
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Sorry, I don’t know why I had Scamp on my mind, and I remember with our 13’ ones, we only had about 10 gallons of fresh water capacity, compared to the 40 gallons in our Lil Snoozy, which is located directly over the axle. We travel many miles with that tank full when we know there is not water available where we are going, but if there is some available in a town nearby our destination, then we will only carry a few gallons to use along the way, and fill up just prior to our destination.
Dave & Paula
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03-24-2018, 05:14 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Trailer: Scamp
Posts: 7,056
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I always make sure my fresh water tank is full before I leave home and usually before I leave a campground that has a dump station.
__________________
Byron & Anne enjoying the everyday Saturday thing.
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03-24-2018, 05:58 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Name: John
Trailer: Escape 21, behind an '02 F250 7.3 diesel tug
Mid Left Coast
Posts: 2,937
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[QUOTE=David B.;689238]
Quote:
Originally Posted by mary and bob
... We travel many miles with that tank full when we know there is not water available where we are going, but if there is some available in a town nearby our destination, then we will only carry a few gallons to use along the way, and fill up just prior to our destination.
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yeah, thats what I try and do. For an example, mid summer, I go to a multi-night star party thats in a very rural area about 7 hours drive from home. about 4 miles from the site is a tiny town, and in that town is a USFS station, and at that USFS station, there's a very handy tap, and that tiny town has fantastic quality water, so I fill my camper *and* my 5g drinking water bottle there. Their water is so good, I've been known to refill that drinking bottle before going home
fyi, my drinking water bottle is one of those water cooler bottles, that I have a hand pump for, like this: https://www.amazon.com/Water-Bottle-.../dp/B00APU2Y8Q
btw, a Casita 16 has a 16 gallon fresh tank, so thats 130 lbs if its completely full.
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03-24-2018, 06:28 PM
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#11
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Member
Name: Vivienne
Trailer: Sun Trek 1998 "Wannabe"
Michigan
Posts: 46
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Tow Casita with water or not?
Good thread, I learn something every day here.
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03-24-2018, 09:10 PM
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#12
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Junior Member
Name: Tom
Trailer: Casita
Illinois
Posts: 29
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Carrying water while towing Casita.
Darwin Maring brings up a very good point about sanitizing the fresh water tank. What is the best way to do this? I was just going to flush our the pink Rv antifreeze from the holding tank two or three time and leave it at that.
Tom Moquin
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03-24-2018, 09:22 PM
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#13
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member
Name: J
Isle of Wight
Posts: 536
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SMH.
Is the fresh water tank on a Casita 16 behind or ahead of the axle?
Casita 16's are already light on the tongue because they put the axle too far forward.
If the tank is behind the axle - do NOT tow with it full.
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03-24-2018, 09:24 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Name: Dave & Kathie
Trailer: 2013 Escape 21
Oregon
Posts: 426
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Moquin
Darwin Maring brings up a very good point about sanitizing the fresh water tank. What is the best way to do this? I was just going to flush our the pink Rv antifreeze from the holding tank two or three time and leave it at that.
Tom Moquin
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Here you go Tom: https://www.rvtrader.com/research/ne...v-water-system
Kathie
__________________
"I do not understand how anyone can live without some small place of enchantment to turn to." M K Rawlings
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03-24-2018, 09:50 PM
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#15
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Junior Member
Name: Tom
Trailer: Casita
Illinois
Posts: 29
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Sanitize water tank
Darwin,
Thank you for the link. It was great advice.
Tom Moquin
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03-25-2018, 12:01 AM
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#16
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Senior Member
Name: David
Trailer: Former 13’Scamp, now Snoozy
Arizona
Posts: 2,316
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Just a word of caution. I had read about sanitatizing the water system from another source, and it recommended that the bleach should be diluted in a bucket instead of just pouring it through the filler into the tank. I couldn’t see why this would make any difference, so I did it my way..... big mistake. The bleach ate the hose on my filler, but it must have taken a little time, as the split that caused the leak did not show up until the second time I tried filling the tank but actually only filled the trailer floor with water. This filler tube was less than 2 months old when I did this. I now dilute the chlorine in a 5 gallon bucket and pour it into the 3/4 full trailer tank.
Dave & Paula
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03-25-2018, 02:25 AM
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#17
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Senior Member
Name: Dave
Trailer: Casita SD17 2006 "Missing Link"
California
Posts: 3,738
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David B.
The bleach ate the hose on my filler, but it must have taken a little time, as the split that caused the leak did not show up until the second time I tried filling the tank but actually only filled the trailer floor with water. This filler tube was less than 2 months old when I did this. Dave & Paula
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That's interesting Dave, I've done that a number of times with no problems, that must have been some "hot" bleach . I wonder if the filler tube was defective but not readily noticeable. Glad you found it s you did.
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03-25-2018, 02:39 AM
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#18
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Senior Member
Name: Kelly
Trailer: Trails West
Oregon
Posts: 3,046
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Water can have a very different taste in different towns due to the mineral content. Sometimes the minerals are so high that they can stain tanks. I lived in a community where we have very high manganese levels and it stained the inside of our toilet tanks black! Other places I lived had very high iron levels and everything had rust stains. If you like the water from where your start the journey you might want to fill up before you leave.
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03-25-2018, 04:00 AM
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#19
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Senior Member
Name: John
Trailer: Escape 21, behind an '02 F250 7.3 diesel tug
Mid Left Coast
Posts: 2,937
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Quote:
Originally Posted by widgetwizard
SMH.
Is the fresh water tank on a Casita 16 behind or ahead of the axle?
Casita 16's are already light on the tongue because they put the axle too far forward.
If the tank is behind the axle - do NOT tow with it full.
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My Tacoma has towed my SD16 all over the place with a full tank With a smaller lighter duty vehicle like a unibody crossover, yeah, could be pretty sketchy. I couldn't make the taco+casita sway or destabilize when I tried. My Taco is a 2008 4x4 TRD Off Road, with the 4.0L V6 and a 6 speed stick shift, its rated for 1200 lbs payload on the truck, and a 6500 lb trailer. for a small truck, it has very big wheels, with LT265/70R16 BF Goodrich All Terrain KO2 tires... due to its off road nature, it was kind of pitchy, a tendency to dolphin a bit towing the Casita, until I added airbags. It wasn't ever scary, just uncomfortable.
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03-25-2018, 12:20 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Name: kenny
Trailer: 93 "Lil" Bigfoot 13.5'
Utah
Posts: 519
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As John stated I fill up at home with water that those that come from out of state complement; when going some place where we know the water tastes poor. If we go back in the mountains someplace it is almost a guarantee,to be very good we will carry a small amount. we carry frozen water, talked about. There is a term called using a sacrificial load of ice in the frig and coolers to get the interiors cold before putting cold or frozen items in place.remove melt water U can use the melted ice if is considered clean.
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