[VAC] Re: tow with fresh tank full-user guide???

["Terry Tyler" <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Rusty - you're the guy with a 2,000 trip ahead of you. 

You asked about towing with the water tank full or not. 

A - We tow with a full tank of water for simple reasons. Because I want Sandie to feel confident
about using every feature in the Airstream, I clean and sanitize the 50 gallon tank once or twice
yearly to ensure we have a safe place to carry our daily drinking water and I make sure all plumbing
equipment in our Airstream functions the way it was designed - even when: 

1 - When we break down with a mechanical problem and stay overnight at a service station, 
2 - When we stop at rest areas, town parks and store parking lots for snacks or meals, 
3 - When we stay overnight (boondocking or at a Flying J truck stop) where there are no hookups, 
4 - When we want our ice cubes to taste good in our drinks,
5 - When we're in the southwestern desert and must drink a gallon (each) of water every day,
6 - When we're in an ordinry campground with full hookups,
and the list goes on.

B - A full water tank is important to me for one specific towing reason:

1 - The 50 gallons of water between the tandem axles weighs 400+- pounds. Like the keel on my boat,
this weight should lower the Airstream's center of gravity. Even if I never need to have the lowest
possible center of gravity, I want that option in place for any occasion where I might have to use
an escape route to avoid an accident. 

The one time I chose a farmer's hill side field (and tore down his wire fence) instead of continuing
down a narrow mountain road in Mexico with a locked brake on the trailer (smoking, screeching and
leaving a line of black rubber on the highway), our truck and trailer remained upright. Neither of
us was hurt. Our truck and trailer were leaning far toward the left on that slanted hill side. I got
out (fell out) of the truck, disconnected the brake wire on that wheel, climbed up into the truck,
backed out of the field, realigned the fence (poorly) and continued down the mountain. Whether it
made any difference or not, I was glad we had the extra weight between the axles.   

C - A full water tank means an additional 400 pounds to tow. Some people tell me I'm wasting fuel
money by lugging all that extra weight. What they don't know is that 50 gallons of fresh water
provides us with more personal satisfactions than it costs us to carry the 5.3% extra weight (400 #s
of water / 7475 #s of Airstream). By always having a full tank of water, our Airstream's plumbing
system is always ready to use. This is a major convenience during the eight to nine months each year
when we live in it full time. 

Rusty, you asked if there was an official recommendation about towing with a full tank of water. I
believe the answer is, "No." In my opinion, the Airstream's fresh water tank across the front in our
'63 22' and '67 22' is ideally positioned for stability while towing. The fresh water tank between
the tandem axles in our '77 31' and '86 32' Airstreams feels like a plus to me, particularly with
the longer models. 

This is all one man's opinion (mine), no more, no less. The final choice is yours. Only you know
which Airstream features will be most memorable during your trip. If you don't know, 2,000 miles
will soon make it evident - and will influence enthusiasm for the next trip (if there is one). 

Terry
mailto:tylerbears@airstream.net