Theoretically between the internal tank & the auxilliary we can safely do 600 non stop towing miles. The habit is to draw the aux down to 1/4 & the internal to just below 1/2 before starting to think about a refill. It may be extra weight to carry around but having that extra fuel onboard is less stressful than having to look for fuel in the middle of nowhere.
Boat: 32' 1996 Albin 32+2, single Cummins 315hp
40+ night per year overnighter
I carry one 5 gallon can of diesel, I have never needed it (3 yrs), but still carry it along on each trip. I have found diesel everywhere and the prices were never so high that it made carrying another 6-700 lbs worth it to me.
F-250 PSD, 30ft Prowler, 18ft Bass Boat, 2 big dogs,
Boondocking at Rio Costilla, NM
No argument either. It does vary depending on the blend, temperature, altitude, pressure, and humidity, etc. "The ambient's". I have an electronic scale in grams and ounces and had weighed 128 oz in a one gallon plastic 15W-40 oil container last summer. Not real scientific but subtracting the empty container, the net premium diesel fuel weight was 6.72 lbs rounded off. (107.564 oz) (3.0523 kilo's) at 86 degrees F at my home 622 ft above sea level. I have it written down. I didn't record the barometric pressure or humidity though. Heck, 7 pounds per gallon is close enough for RV'ers to use for figuring.
Why did I weigh it? This subject had come up on another forum. 3 others weighed a gallon also but with less accuracy and the weight numbers varied quite a bit. They had to use the scale they could access. 2 were Toledo meat counter scales. Wonder if they had a meat sale the next week?
2004 Chev 2500HD D/A crew cab LB 4X4 - Air Bags - Loaded
915 Lance Camper with 2'X 8' rear porch (my own design n build)
29 ft Carri-lite 5th wheel - 1 large slide - specially built
36 ft Carriage - 3 axle 5'er -NOW SOLD- Looking at some new 5'ers
I plunked down big bucks for an in-bed 65 gallon auxiliary tank. Between truck tank and aux tank, we now have 100 gallons of diesel.
I didn't do it for the savings of finding the cheapest fuel (haven't seen the math to justify that anyway) nor did I do it so I could drive 16 hours at a stretch..although with my rig's mileage, that's exactly what I could do.
For me, it means that I can go where I'm going on any given day, park, unhook, then go fill up the truck without having to worry about a 39' extension behind the truck.
Before the aux tank, I carried 15 gallons in 5-gallon yellow jugs..they added a fair degree of peace of mind.
CRL
Temporarily (5 years & counting)displaced Alaskan
My Other RV is a 1946 PA-12
We have a 100 gal tank with an electric pump in our 2006 long bed F-250 diesel. Yes, it does hurt to put $300.00 worth of fuel in the tank and in the pickup tank but it means we can go from southeast Kansas to Moab, Utah without buying fuel while pulling our 30 foot Prairie Schooner followed by a 6X10 trailer hauling our Yamaha Rhino. Our tank cannot be connected to the pickup tank legally but filling the pickup at rest stops has not been a problem. Would I do it again, YES. If I changed anything it would be to buy a bigger tank next time.
travelnutz,no argument either. It does vary depending on the blend, temperature, altitude, pressure, and humidity, etc. "The ambient's".[/quote]
6.72 lbs sounds good to me but now i'm wondering,does the fuel in Michigan weigh a little different than here in Texas,i guess that's something to ponder as well.Meat counter scales ?,now that's funny,bad taste?. :B
Note: Due to invalid formatting, all formatting has been ignored.
chaffeekid wrote: I can't believe the Weight Police hasn't WEIGHED in on this one
Remember that fuel weighs about 8.8 Lbs per gallon, so when you put that 50 gallons in the aux tank, you just added 440 lbs to your truck, now you'll have to kick out the wife and the dog
Happy Trails
Chaffeekid brings out a good point. It would be great to carry all that extra fuel if you can remain withing the truck's weight ratings. In my case, I have a brand new Dodge diesel pickup which has a 35 gallon tank. I'm already concerned about being close to my max capacity (truck isn't a dually) so my idea is to carry just one, or perhaps two, 5 gallon plastic containers of fuel as a backup. When I traveled cross country in my previous motorhome I would check the mileage to my next destination. Then, using a worst case scenario mileage figure, I calculated how much fuel would be burned (I already knew my MH would get between 8-9 MPG).
With my new diesel truck I'm estimating a worst case mileage scenario of 10 MPG (I hope it'll be a little higher in reality). I feel I'll be pretty close in my estimate in the amount of fuel that will be burned between two points on the map. An extra 5-10 gallons would assure me of the ability to travel at least 50-100 miles to the next station, which shouldn't be difficult if I'm on a major road or interstate.
PS: On edit, I do understand that if one was to travel a lot on secondary roads where stations are few and far between a large aux tank would be desirable. As I get used to my new diesel I'll make an assessment as to whether that will be the case for me.
Mr. Ed (fulltiming since 1987)
2007 Hitchhiker II LS Model 29.5 LKTG
2007 Dodge Ram 3500/6.7 CTD/QC/4X4/SB/SRW/6-speed man/Big Horn edition
I also have a tank/toolbox combination in my bed and it's made out of aluminum ,the fuel tank was welded then it was put inside the tool box which makes a nice install,a FASS pump inside the tankhooked up with a filter on the frame pushes the fuel,the switch controls both tanks and each tank goes directly to the engine,the switch also controls the factory fuel guage.I carry just a few tools but i also carry fuel filters for the truck for that "just in case i get water" ,i carry each filter in a plastic coffee can and i also make it a habit to carry all recent fuel reciepts.
We usually only buy our fuel at a local station that sells premium diesel for the same price as the local competition. The chain is called Meijer. Across the street is Wal-Mart which has Murphy Oil and there are BP, Mobil, Speedway, Wesco, Shell, etc stations all around but none carries premium grade diesel except for Meijer. Meijer claims it gives up to a 5% increase in MPG's but I can't confirm 5%. It does however give about .5+ more MPG's in our experience. That's why we try to use their fuel. I did not weigh non-premium so I can't tell you the weight difference if any. Altitude does affect actual weight as well as barometric pressure etc. Normal weight is measured at sea level. You'd weigh much more close to the center of the Earth and be weightless a couple hundred miles above the Earth. Next time you're in your spaceship, try jumping on the scale.
I got a chuckle out of the Toledo meat counter scales use too. Store probably got complaints about the meat being extra greasy the next week. haha
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