FUELING UP WHILE TOWING: Diesel & Gas
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- The day we left as fulltime RVers, we filled up our tank while towing for the first time - it was a challenge. Chris tells the story & we give tips for getting gas while towing for both diesel lanes and gas lanes. Happy Labor Day!
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Love the stories! We just finished our longest RV trip, about 2800 miles from Seattle to San Diego and back. 27 foot Class C, towing a Honda Fit so maybe 40 foot total. For our fueling needs, we generally look for Costcos. Trouble is, as you say they are generally in city areas so sometime we were in very tight turns. But they'll usually have both diesel and gas; and for the most part they are fairly maneuverable. Hot dogs and ice cream too! Google Maps was my best friend; I'm a planner like you and would calculate where we'd stop so as to not get below 1/4 tank. We also had at least one roadside stop at some random ARCO that we took a look and said "nope" and just kept going. We had a lot of fun and definitely a lot of learning. Thanks for your channel!
Gas and Diesel nozzles are different diameters to try and prevent mistakes is what I understand.
Subscribed!!👍👍
I’m a trucker and at my loves they have a RV only pump site. It’s super convenient.
I know the feeling! Thanks!!👍😎👍
I understand completely the stress involved in fueling up while towing. My F350 only has a 26 gallon tank. After my first long trip I had a 50 gallon auxiliary tank installed in the bed of the truck. It automatically pumps fuel into the truck's tank. This way I only have to fuel up when disconnected from my 5th wheel after we are done driving for the day. I then have the advantage of finding the cheapest diesel without having the concern of whether the station will accommodate my trailer. (The auxiliary tank is a Transferflow which has its own pump and has a monitor that sits on the dash that shows how much fuel is in both tanks.) This has totally taken the stress out of fueling up.
Steve Martin
New RVer here. What a great story. I'm definitely going to fill up before I hook the trailer back up. Thanks for sharing.
I travel on the top half of the tank while towing. When I get down to one half tank, I start looking for gas stations when I am towing. I drive on by stations that are going to be difficult to maneuver with the RV on the back. With the one Suburban, the gas filler was on the right hand side of the vehicle. I by passed all busy gas stations as long as I had that tow vehicle.
Thanks for sharing what worked well for you.
The pump on the right side is called a satellite pump. Chris has the right idea by fueling up b-4 hooking up the trailer. Great advice.
Satellite pump! Thanks for letting us know!
Good suggestions. We always just go to the regular vehicle lanes for diesel. We've never used the tractor trailer lanes. Another suggestion, make sure the rig will fit under the roof/canopy in the regular lanes before driving in your truck and rig. People have actually damaged the gas station roof and their rigs because they didn't pay attention to the roof heights.
"I'm back in there territory"..lol..so funny.it can be intimidating..glad you guys stuck with it
We've been RVing for about 6 months now with our gas truck. It's been great, but we haven't gone father than 1 tank of gas can get us yet, luckily we have lots of great places to camp nearby. Fueling anxiety is a real thing when you're pulling a TT and are trying to get into gas stations designed for cars.
As a retired heavy haul trucker, I would always take my oversize loads in and park then drop the trailer and bobtail to the fuel island to fuel. And I always fueled up the night before in case the truck stop would lose power or something
I find on my 2017 RAM when using the high volume pump, I let it flow lightly for about 5 seconds to avoid air forcing a backwash. I am also surprised the attendant did not recommend pulling away from the pump to the staging area when you have to go in and collect a receipt or pay so the truck behind you can enter the lane to begin fueling.
We had already been on the road approximately 3 years when this happened: We had a diesel pusher pulling a 28-foot tri-axle trailer with a 5-foot tongue, so we were 70 feet long. We always pulled into truck stops and since we had a 100 gal fuel tank on each side, used both pumps. Normally those pumps will shut off when the fuel gets to the top of the tank. Well, that didn't work one time on the opposite side of our rig and you will not believe how much fuel can be spent on the ground before you can reach that nozzle to shut it off. The truck stop attendant was not a happy camper either! Now we are pulling a 40-foot fifth wheel with a 450 dually and still use the truck lanes. What happens is the RV lanes are usually set at an angle and when we try to come in, we can't straighten up the rig to make a nice exit when done. Something else for those traveling should consider. Oh, like you mentioned, wear disposable gloves and I also wear booties on my shoes and remove them before getting back into the rig! Clean rig, happy wife!
I have only used the truck lanes once. I was also clueless about how they work. Luckily, no other trucks were there. My issue was, like you said, they fuel fast and fuel came spraying back at me. What a mess. Thankfully it was only in the side of the RV and on my shoes. Still a mess on the ground and I had to wipe up the mess to get back inside and try to get my shoes off. I will stick to the regular fuel lanes from now on.
Thanks for the tips.
Maybe you could do a PSA about gas cars fueling up at the only diesel pump at the fuel station?
I've fueled up at a lot of passenger pumps with a trailer, usually avoiding busy times. It's not too bad but it does make you picky on how fuel stations are laid out.
One problem I run in to with using the big rig nozzles is that they will pressure up and shut off short of full. Usually a gallon to 2 short.
You guys are fantastic thank you for all the tips esp the red light being on that can save you a lot of money
Thanks so much for the encouragement!
Very good video
Thanks
LOL, great story! Sounds like one of mine. ☺ My Wife and I started using the 230 rule. On travel days we try to limit distance to 230 miles or be at our destination by 2:30pm. Doing so allows me to re-fuel prior to hooking up the 5th wheel. If I need fuel while towing, I'll pick a station before or after a town like you guys do. Thank you for sharing.
Yep , use gasbuddy to find good prices along my route and check google maps to confirm I can get in. Saves a ton of money that way. Also, no copilot for me and I'm a Class A towing a car so it is never easy to maneuver. I plan my route and stops the night before. Of course no car is ever courteous when trying to pull in or out. Such is the full time life in a motorhome. It's not all rainbows and unicorns...
We just traded in our 2014 Silverado for a new 2018. For some reason, Chevy has seen fit to equip it with the new, hi-tech cap-less fuel system. NO CAP (other than the vinyl cover I bought off Ebay because I've already had dirt collect in the indentation where the nozzle enters - great engineering, people!) Are they now thinking the motoring public is THAT stupid that they can't deal with a screw-on cap???
Besides reading horror stories of people getting the nozzle springs, especially the older types, jammed in the filler, (one had to have the nozzle unbolted and left IN THE VEHICLE to take to a dealer for extraction,) I've already, within the first 1200 mile so far had a close call, so reading your tales of woe was quite amusing and realistic! Thanks for sharing!!
If possible I use Flying J because they have a RV lane.
Wow, what a first experience. Thanks for those tips. Love your videos. Safe travels.
Great tips, great stories! 😎
Oh for sure I have to look up ahead of time where to get gas. I have a 26’ motorhome towing a car. I can’t back up towing, so need to make sure it’s maneuverable going forward only. Gas Buddy is good for pricing, then Google maps for the satellite view. Sometimes (most times) The lowest price gas is not accessible to me.
Also, have to do the same thing with where I’m going to get my propane. Check that I can get in, face my on-board tank the right way and then get back out. Proper planning before getting on the road for the day is a must.
Really enjoyed your stories! You had me laughing. Thanks for your videos!
Fabulous stories! I enjoyed the interaction in this video. Starting out each travel day with a full tank is a great tip. I had one station where the overhead clearance was only 13'. I need a bit more than that so after filling up, I had to back out. That was a hassle. At crowded truck stops, my wife would go in to pay and get the receipt. After filling up, I just pull forward out of the pump as they usually had a lane to pull into right after filling up to allow the next person in line to start filling. Good tip on the red light. A commercial driver mentioned that to me but also said to not trust the light but check visually as well while filling. Easy to do with a 5th wheel as you can easily look over the bed. Harder with a motorhome.
Thanks for adding these tips! This is great!
you guys are so adorable and absolute pleasure to watch
Thank you so much! We hope are videos are enjoyable & uplifting, thanks for the feedback!
we have a large class a diesel, we dont go to the truck area, we fuel up up front where the cars fuel up up front
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Love your gas station story. I know the feeling, the more stress your under the more you mess up. It seems to snowball sometimes. Could be worse. I had a Christmas morning once where I needed to run out to a job once quickly (I was stressed) before a Christmas party and I fueled up on the way there and by the time I got there some 20 miles later my truck would barely run. Long story short, I filled my diesel truck with gas as my mind was was on other things that morning. So while everyone else was at the party I was waiting for a tow truck. Good memories lol.
I use Google maps to view all stations ahead of time.
Peaceful Greetings, we love you, thanks for sharing.
How long you been rving
You've given us another reason to be happy we didn't buy a diesel. Thanks for all the tips especially the satellite image for approach and space.
This is so funny. I love the truck stops. So glad I have a diesel.
Sooo funny...thanks for the laugh and tips...BTW we just got our “New to us” Casita...maybe we will see y’all in Gulf Shores one day...enjoy your videos...safe travels
Love the casitas!!! I always like to see them at campgrounds! Congrats! And we would love to see you there! That will probably be our next trip, but not sure when yet.
I need to remember my satellite view on Google maps more often. Good tip.
We laughed so hard at this, way to tell a story, Chris!! We have been pretty lucky so far (knock on wood) but we did once cause a traffic jam in a TA plaza because we didn't see that there was no way to turn the corner since a big 5th wheel was blocking it. We thought he would just pump and go, no problem -- wrong! He was in a big confab with the gas station employee over the pump charging him the wrong price. We had to back up through the whole plaza (thank goodness we did not have our Wrangler behind us that time!) and made quite a few people very angry! Ah well....stuff happens.
Great video guys! You made me laugh, again.....
Too funny, because I would have done the same thing.
Great post! We have had the exact same experience to a T! Love the tips and really like the idea of additional fuel storage. So funny, now.😂
Great tips thanks. Love Flying J's / Pilots. Let everyone know Camping World Good Sam's Visa card gives you discounts at Flying J's on fuel and many items. Even though the Flying J app may say you don't get a fuel discount we have experience that almost all will give us a discount using our Visa Rewards card regardless of what is listed on the Flying J app. Love your stories and love how you find humor in your stories. After 8 years of Towing my wife and I decided we don't need to slide or hitch all the time it takes a little more time than we want to didn't have any problem for almost the entire year except for 2 weeks ago. Yep we did it we blew out our back window. My wife and I just laughed and said wow I guess we have something to fix now.
WONDERFUL tips and great sharing of your stories, thank you so much. Super helpful to just see real people having real experiences. _/|\_
OMG, I was laughing so hard, I was crying. I have had difficulty getting the nozzle out too. But I did not have a trucker waiting behind me. I do avoid the truck lanes if at all possible.
_Great tips, and stories! You two had me laughing and smiling, and Jen expressions while Chris was telling his apologue. Thank you!_
So glad you enjoyed it! We like to smile, as you can probably tell, and I love when Chris tells a story!
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You could just fuel up in New Jersey where they pump it for you. LOL