Driving with waste in the gray/black tanks

[jguida]

Apologies if I missed this somewhere else, I didn't see the answer I was looking for.

We were looking at some dry camping trips and some didn't have a dumping station. How far can you safely travel with waste in the gray/black tank to find a dumping station? Speed limitations? Balance/weight issues? We are in an Imagine 2800BH.

Thanks!

[klenger]

My thoughts are if you took the water there, you can take it back. Of course, the load is likely to shift forward or aft depending on the location of the tanks. The bigger issue would be if you took a full load of fresh water with you, and then re-filled the fresh water tank while you were camping, then you might be over the trailer's weight ratings on the return trip.

[jguida]

My thoughts are if you took the water there, you can take it back. Of course, the load is likely to shift forward or aft depending on the location of the tanks. The bigger issue would be if you took a full load of fresh water with you, and then re-filled the fresh water tank while you were camping, then you might be over the trailer's weight ratings on the return trip.

That's what I thought. I was just basing it off these lines from the manual "If your RV holding tank(s) are located behind the axles, the weight of the full tank(s) will reduce the hitch weight. If you are dry camping and cannot immediately empty your holding tanks, reduce your vehicle speed until you reach
a dumping station."

[Bob/OlallaWA]

AAAAH, not sure that is the answer I would be looking for. You need to weigh your trailer, tanks full , tanks party full etc. I dry camp when hunting. Start with full supply water, end with mostly black water tank at 3/4. I do add a bit along the way, and do drop some out of the gray tank when camping. Sway is sway, if you notice sway, do whatever you need to do to not have any. Sorry but that is the way I do it...

[bry1956]

Actually your trailer is always rated at its max carrying capacity which is all tanks full !!! Plus extra !!!


Bryan

[jim1521]

Actually your trailer is always rated at its max carrying capacity which is all tanks full !!! Plus extra !!!


Bryan

So in the case of the 313RLTS, where the UVW is 8,994 lbs does that number assume all tanks are full (i.e. fresh tank 60 gallons = ~ 480 lbs, grey tank 118 gallons = ~ 944 lbs, and black tank 43 gallons = ~ 344 lbs: total 1,768 lbs)?

Therefore, with all tanks empty, the UVW is actually 8,994 - 1,768 = 7,226?

[bry1956]

Yes


Bryan

[jim1521]

The day I bought the trailer and drove it home from the dealer, I stopped at a CAT scale and weighed the truck and trailer. The truck was full of diesel and DEF. The trailer was in it's stock configuration, with no water in any of the tanks.

The trucks weight was 7,580 lbs with just me sitting in it. I've confirmed that numerous times on CAT scales.

With the trailer attached to the truck with WD hitch (note: WD was not adjusted well, hence the big difference between steer and drive axles):
The steering axle weighed: 3940 lbs
The drive axle weighed: 4920 lbs
The trailer axle weighed: 7,740 lbs
The combined gross weight was: 16600 lbs.
The tongue weight was: 1280 lbs. This was verified with my tongue weight scale.

This computes to the trailer gross weight of: 9,020 lbs. That's only 26 lbs heavier than the advertised UVW of 8,994 - with all tanks empty. So either the UVW does not include water, or I picked up over 1,700 lbs somewhere on a stock trailer.

I have to really fight with the numbers to keep everything within recommended levels. My last weight when we evacuated was as follows (this was with the trailer loaded with clothes, tools, equipment, etc.):

Steering axle: 4080 lbs
Drive axle: 4680 lbs
Trailer axle: 9280 lbs
Combined Gross Weight Rating: 18040 lbs
Tongue Weight: 1160 lbs (11%)
Trailer Weight: 10440 lbs

Again, full diesel & DEF, empty water tanks. If I were to fill the water tanks (adding 1,768 lbs) that would put me over the numbers on the trailer (10995 is the max trailer weight, and I'm at 10,440 here). I'd love to be able to travel with fresh water, but that seems like an impossibility.

[bry1956]

Then I guess most people are above the weight if they have any tanks full ????


Bryan

[Bob/OlallaWA]

But... I would guess most would empty waste tanks as soon as they could and drive accordingly until they could. Not rocket science here, just do what you have to do to get by.