Tire pressure and gray water questions

[JonnysX2]

I am new to hard side camping as I just graduated from a pop-up to a 2003 30' Salem we purchased last month and had our first trip in it this last weekend. 

Anyways, my first question on tire pressure.  The tires say on the side to inflate to 65 psi, however the dealer only had them set at 50# saying it will cause less things from "bouncing around inside" while traveling.  Is this a correct theory?

Second question on gray water tanks - do you take a shower?  Sounds stupid, BUT, all we did is go camping Friday night through Sunday afternoon.  I would say normal water usage was used doing dishes and such during that time.  My wife took about what she says a 7 minute shower Sunday morning.  Then it was my turn.  Half way through, water was comming back into the tub!  Grey water tank was already full!  The tank was empty when we left - well atleast as empty as I could get it since the exit hose seems to be up an inch or so on the side of the tank and it also has a dip in the middle of the tank.  I tried looking in my manuals but no info was given, but the dealer thought it is a 40 gal tank.  So, what do you do when you are in the middle of a trip, all set up and the tanks get full?  I guess I could dump some in a bucket, but the dump station is accross the park from where we usually stay so I am open to any other ideas

Thanks in advance.

 

[Carl L]

Tire inflation:  The function of a trailer tire is to bear the weight of the trailer.  An underinflated tire can bear less weight.  An underinflated tire builds up heat faster.    I run my trailer tires at the indicated maximum sidewall pressure.  Since no one rides in the trailer, no one is discomforted.  The stuff in the trailer is more affected by road manuevers and stops than by tire vibrations.

Grey Water:  If you are on the tanks, boondocking, you must take navy showers.  Your shower head should have a off-on control on it.  Wet youself with the shower and shut it off.  Lather up and scrub with the shower off.  Turn the shower on to rinse and then turn it off again.  You are now done.  Ain't much fun, but then you are camping, right?  ;D

I like full hookups myself.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The pressure shown on the tire is the psi needed to support the tire's maximum rated load (which is also shown on the sidewall). Use that pressure unless and until you weigh the trailer when it is loaded for travel and can determine what the actual weight on the tire is. With that information, you can use the tire manufacturers Inflation Tables to possibly reduce the inflation pressure. Few RV dealers actually weigh the rigs and a lot of them either leave the pressure as it came from the factory (empty) or just pick an arbitrary number for it.

It's true that lower pressure gives a slightly softer ride, but too low a pressure will reduce tire life and likely result in blow-outs. Much better to have the pressure too high than risk going too low.

As for the gray water, you probably did dishes like you do at home (lots of running water), ran water in the sink while washing your face and brushing your teeth, and so on. With your size gray tank (35-40 gal is common in trailers), you will have to learn to be more economical in your water use.

You can get an auxiliary portable waste water tank, often called a "Blue Boy" because they are typically blue plastic. They have wheels and a handle that allow it to be towed [very slowly] behind a car to the campground dump station.  Capacities run from 5-40 gallons. Portable Waste Tanks

 

[joelmyer]

Enjoyed your story and the memories.  We filled our gray tank the second day of our 1st outing also!

You'll learn.

Enjoy

Joel

 

[BernieD]

A productThe Fitzgeralds clued us in on the best water saver available. It is a product (looks like a plastic wand) that screws into the bathroom fauscet and when yoiu move it the water flows. We've seen it at FMCA rallies for 2/$10. People are always looking at it and thinking our faucet is running, but it does a great job of conserving water. It is only only when you push it.

 

[Ron]

Enjoyed your story and the memories.  We filled our gray tank the second day of our 1st outing also!

You'll learn.

Enjoy

Joel

I won't mention any names but at Moab a couple years ago there was one guy that seemed to visit the dump station every evening.  We thought maybe that was the only way he could get pratice driving the new coach. ;D ;D

 

[ArdraF]

Bernie,

It's called a Water Saver.  Saves tons of water.  We've even had people say they want them for their stick houses so their kids won't waste so much water.  Camping World also has them and I think I've seen them in the ads at the back of some of the RV magazines (maybe Motorhome?).

Johnny,

There have been other threads in the RV Forum about saving water while RVing.  It's amazing how water-thrifty we can be when necessary.  Yes, we take navy showers.  The others are correct.  NEVER run your water during showers or dishwashing or when washing veggies.  That will run your tank down so fast it'll make your head spin - and who wants to stand in backed-up shower water?  UGH!  Sometimes it becomes a challenge to conserve water when you're boondocking for a week or more, but we do it.  Sometimes you shower on alternate days.  And you don't flush the toilet after every use.  (During droughts and water rationing in California the kids learned "If it's yellow let it mellow; if it's brown flush it down.")  Use paper plates so you don't have to wash dishes as often.  Etc. etc.  You'll learn.

ArdraF

 

[JonnysX2]

Thank all of you for your replies!  Looks like I am not the only one who had this prob with the water before. I will definately look into the Blue boy's as well and we will do our best to conserve water.  Lots of things to learn yet!  Thanks again!

 

[Tom]

Best you not mention names Ron  :-[

 

[Tom]

Here's an article in our library on Boondocking tips. which includes ideas for conserving water and maximizing use of your waste tanks.

 

[Ron]

Best you not mention names Ron  :-[

Oh I wouldn't mention names but maybe Ned or somebody else that was there might. ;D

 

[ArdraF]

Looks like I am not the only one who had this prob with the water before.

Jonny, I can assure you most of us have had this problem at one time or another.  These days it's usually when we forget to pull the gray tank handle and the gray water doesn't drain into the sewer hookup.  If you have full hookups just leave the gray tank open and you won't have to worry about it.  But, sometimes we forget....

You'll find other threads about Blue Boys too.  I think you'd be better trying to conserve water first and then worry about buying one of those if that doesn't work.  By the way, a seven-minute shower would probably fill that too!  There is no way "normal" water usage won't cause backups in an RV gray tank!

ArdraF

 

[Newt & Jan]

Shoot - you may even come to like Navy showers.  I still take them and haven't been on board a ship for any length of time since 1980.  I would just cringe to see water I was paying for running down the drain to become sewage I was paying for when I was scrubbing and didn't need the water.