This is my first toy hauler and I'm trying to anticipate my needs for the first trip out.

How long can I expect two propane tanks to last if I'm using them to power the fridge 24hrs a day and the furnace at night? Do most people keep the water heater running all the time or just when you're gonna shower?

It has a 50 gal fresh water tank. If we use it for two quick showers/day plus all the regular use, how long can I expect that to last?

From what I understand, the 12v charges off the truck while towing and off of the gen any time it's running. Is that right?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

From my experience:
2 7 gal propane tanks last a LONG time. You should be able to last more than a week in your situation, probably longer.

I keep my water heater running the whole time I'm out. Some of my friends don't but I like to have hot water whenever I need it.

I need to defer the water question. I have 150 gals and I never trust my gages, so I really can't tell you how long 50 gallons will last. I would suspect about 3 days if you conserve.

Your batteries should be charging off your truck when you are towing, but it takes a long time to charge these batteries. A 3-4 hour trip will not charge your batteries much. It's best to charge them fully with a stand-alone charger before you leave (if you're dry camping). Depending on your batteries, this can take more than 24 hours. Also, your furnace will drain your batteries very quickly. When I first got my hauler it came with one 12v battery. It lasted only one night using the furnace. I have since replaced the setup with 2 6v batteries and have not had a problem.

My onboard generator make a lot of noise and is overkill to use just to charge the batteries. I bought a Honda 2000 and use it during the day to keep my batteries charged and it runs everything on the trailer except the air conditioners. I can run the 2000 all day on a gallon of gas and it's much quieter.

Good luck, have fun, be safe

They'll last longer than you can probably stand to be out there anyway. We usually keep the water heat on the whole time, cook for 5-8 people heat all night, keep the fridge running on propane starting the day/night before, and use maybe 5 gallons over a 5 day trip.



Eliminate the word "shower" from your vocabulary and replace with "spit bath" and you'll be fine. We bought a basin that fits in the tub that is just big enough for my feet and stand in that during a bath. First, I get just enough water on me to get my hair wet then turn it off. Then, I shampoo, and squeegee my hair with my hands until most of the shampoo is gone, then I rinse and turn off the water again. Then, I lather up, squeegee, and use the water in the basin to get most of the soap off, then a quick rinse and I'm done and dump the basin outside. Generally, I can get away with a 2 gallon shower this way and the water lasts. Sure, it's a lot colder than a home shower, but you get clean. I usually shower in the evening to maximize "clean time" since morning showers are wasted on morning rides.

BTW, you dump the basin outside to conserve grey tank capacity, since this always runs out first. Get some dishpans for the sink and dump your dishwater outside as well. Dumping grey from the tanks is illegal, but isn't if it never hits the tanks. If you've got some nasty dishwater, just dump it in the toilet since you'll likely have plenty of capacity left over there anyway. Trust me, you don't want to attract flies.

We also bring 2 or 3 5 gallon containers for washing hands after working on the buggies and emergency water if we ran out.



Yep, but charges off the truck are almost worthless and most stock chargers on these aren't very good. Invest in a rapid charger ASAP to best take advantage of generator time. As someone mentioned, a Honda 2000 is usually more than enough for everything except AC, but they're a bit pricey. If you're on a budget, a Honeywell 2000 is almost as good for a lot cheaper (they can be picked up for $299 in store at Home Depot often times and are $549 online).

The heater kills batteries and propane... I use it to warm the trailer before I shower, and if its gonna be cold, I set it to 60 while I sleep. I can go through 3/4 of a tank of propane in a 3 day weekend if my GF is in the trailer and has it up to 80... or I can go through 1/8 of a tank doing it my way mentioned above.

I don't have an electric start water heater... so I just let it run... If I had an electric start, I'd turn it on and off.

I conserve my water... don't wash many dishes since I use paper plates for the most part... but even when I go through what I think is a whole lot of water, I still leave with a 1/2 tank of fresh water. I do run out of gray water room though... to handle that, I take a 5 gallon bucket and dump into it to transfer from the gray tank to the black tank.

Turn off the water when you are soaping up in the shower... you can do a lot to conserve when washing dishes... don't let the sink run and recycle rinse water into wash water.

I leave my fridge on auto so it switches to AC power when the generator is on... I bring a lot of gas so I'm usually less concerned about generator use than I am propane use. Of course it helps that my generator doesn't use much gas.

To add:

I have a Funrunner with a 50 gallon fresh and 25/25 black/gray tanks... probably the same as yours... you WILL run out of gray room with 2 showers per day.... just use the bucket and dump some gray down the toilet.

Thanks for all the advice. That helps. I had box trailer prior to this with 12v and Honda 2000 EU so I have a little experience. I think I'm going to get a 2nd Honda 2k EU and get the connector that makes them a 4k watt gen. I will switch to two 6v's when it's time to replace the 12v that came with the trailer.

The advice about conserving the grey water tank really helps.

One more question: I know I can switch the fridge to gas, elec or auto. On auto, it only goes to elec when the gen is on? Is that right?

Yes... it monitors the the 110VAC input... When it senses sufficient power it will switch over. Usually takes a few seconds to happen... switching back takes a moment or two.

Keep an occasional eye on your fridge panel, I've seen them (rarely) go into fault mode because of an air bubble or something in the line... not a big deal as long as you catch it before your food gets warm. When that happens, just restart it and you should be good to go if it was something benign like an air bubble.

The fridge will try for about a minute to start back up on gas... you'll hear it clicking. If it doesn't start after a certain number of attempts, it will throw a fault code. Pretty normal to have happen if you haven't used the fridge in a week or two... gotta prime the propane lines... and I have a method for doing so... it may work for you depending on your layout.

My heater is right below my fridge, and probably shares the same propane feed line. The propane gets to the stove before it gets to anything else on my trailer. So instead of taking 5 minutes to get the fridge started on gas... I light a burner on the stove... that gets the propane halfway. Then I start the heater up... once I feel it light (its much faster than the fridge due to the bigger burner) I then will start the fridge. Only takes me about a minute to get the fridge lit that way... very important when your beer is getting warm.

I have an 08 funrunner and it has 2 5 gal bottles. I only took 4 Fri/Sun trips in it this year and still have about 1/2 bottle left. I turn the gas on Thurs night and leave it running the fridge till Sun also. I leave the water heater switch on the whole time also. I upgraded to an extra 12V and could survive the whole weekend but I run my Honda genny for a couple hours at night and breakfast when eating. We usually only do one shower each for my wife and I on Saturday and don't really conserve it much all weekend and still come home with 1/2 tanks left. Just don't keep it running the whole time your showering.

Also, I have only one Honda 2000 genny and can run all lights on stereo/microwave with no problem. Or even run the AC no problem. Can't run both micr/ac at teh same time though. Truthfully one is all you really need though.

With the genny on the fridge stays on gas unless you turn it off and back on again. Just leave it on gas all weekend you'd be surprised at how little it uses. Also one tank has a guage on it, I'd suggest going to Costco and for $20 you can get another with a quage on it. You should get 2 weekends out of 1 tank with some to spare.

6Volt is the way to go but I just had an extra 12V marine battery laying around so I used it.

Also if you just got it before it starts raining again go up on the front of the roof and pull the cap on the left side that vent the crapper and re-seal it on the inside along with the seam in the front. I had a major leak from some (_|_) hat being lazy from the factory and not sealing it good.

Post some pictures up of this beast!

heater kills the propane.fridge doesnt use much at all.

I have a titan (same thing) we can go to glamis for a week stay and still be fine with water and tanks.We will take an extra 10 gallons of water for those trips.It helps to use the outside shower too.

I went with the 6 volt batts too been on them for 5 years and they are still going strong.I also mounted an power inverter below the tv stand so i dont have to run a generator just to watch tv.

A couple of things to add along the maintenance side
1 - the roof vents 14" X 14" the manufacturers usaully install the thin plastic vent and the sun eats it up in 2 or 3 years can be bad news in a rain storm if your storing the trailer somewhere and don't get by to check it give those roof vents a good look for breakdown! You can pickup new lids from most RV supply places it's a 5 minute job to replace just the lid.

2 - If you have trouble getting the water heater to light check in the tube that propane jet is in damn spiders like to set up camp in that tube the web interferres with air flow so she won't light.

Have fun