Gas Engine - Fill It Up

[riltri]

This question is a bit tongue 'n cheek. I've traded my diesel for a gasser. It's been so easy to pull thru truck stops to get fuel. Now what?? Any tips on finding gas in locations that are easy to pull thru while towing a 5th?

[goducks10]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
I don't make it as complex as some of you on here.

#1. When my gauge is between E and 1/4 I look for fuel.

#2. I pull into a town and see where most of the fuel stations are located at on my GPS.

#3. I drive down the street and if I see fuel for a reasonable price and an open pump that I can get in to, I pull in and fuel up. If not; I move on till I find a #3 that works.

#4. I continue on down the road until I need to start over at #1 again.

x2

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

I don't make it as complex as some of you on here.

#1. When my gauge is between E and 1/4 I look for fuel.

#2. I pull into a town and see where most of the fuel stations are located at on my GPS.

#3. I drive down the street and if I see fuel for a reasonable price and an open pump that I can get in to, I pull in and fuel up. If not; I move on till I find a #3 that works.

#4. I continue on down the road until I need to start over at #1 again.

[Lantley]

My unofficial observation is only 25% of gasoline stations are RV friendly when pulling a 35' trailer. Identifying those stations on the fly is the challenge. Just pulling off the interstate without any prior knowledge or scouting is not good enough. Just rolling the dice leads to waisting time and headache.
Let's face it we are just talking finding a gas station.
Sure you can maneuver and wiggle through lots of gas stations.
Some are manageable until that random car gets in the way.
But the fact remains, there are no dedicated fully clear gas islands like there are diesel islands.
Many convenience stores now have large dedicated diesel islands to accomodate over sized vehicles. These islands are often seperate from the other filling areas. Then there are truckstops. While I agree truckstops can have there own set of issues, access to the diesel pumps isn't one of them.
At the end of the day diesel is much easier to accesss than gas when traveling the interstates with a large RV in tow. I'm not saying it's impossible to travel in a gasser. But I am saying it will take more efforrt to find and manuever through a gasoline station vs. a diesel station.
My own personall preference is that access is more important than other factors when filling with the trailer attached. Acess is more important than price, Its more impprtant than other amenities available. Access is the most important priority.
Yes I try to fill without the trailer if possible. I also have a Enduraplas Auxilary tank. I seldom need to fill while attached but when I do, I'm fortunate in that I need to find diesel vs. gas.

[valhalla360]

Lantley wrote:
It's not about skill. It's about convenience. I have the skill to back up a 1/2 mile down a single lane road to turn around, but it certainly is inconvenient and not the best approach to making a u turn.
Finding fuel should be convenient

Maybe if you are filling up at an inner city gas station.

If you pull off at a rural interchange gas station, it's largely a non-issue.

Certainly never needed to back up 1/2 mile to get out of a gas station. A few times, we've backed out but it's really the oddity.

[Grit_dog]

Lantley wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Lantley wrote:
Lots of gasser guys in denial. You certainly have to be more selective when fueling a gasser while hitched.
Once upon a time, I had a V-10 Excursion and a 39' TT getting gas was much more challenging then getting diesel.
I eventually traded the V-10 in for a 7.3 PSD Excursion.
Getting fuel was less of a challenge with the diesel.

Having had a diesel in the past, we tried the truck lanes a few times...no thanks to standing in a puddle of diesel.

If you are half way competent handling the rig, it's a non-issue pulling up to a gas pump.

If it were truly a non issue this thread and many with the same topic would not exist
Yes there are some dirty diesel pumps, but there are also some less desireable gas pumps. Cleanliness is a seperate issue.
People are not researching,scouting and reviewing google satelite images for puddles.
They are simply looking for accessible pumps. Finding accesible diesel pumps is much easier than finding accesible gas pumps. Somehow some are still in denial and pretend gas pumps are equally accesible.

This is really a case of discrimination against gas powered truck owners who tow trailers!
Waiting for the class actions here against the major oil companies and fuel station franchises…It’s a travesty! Lol.

[ReneeG]

Lantley wrote:
It's not about skill. It's about convenience. I have the skill to back up a 1/2 mile down a single lane road to turn around, but it certainly is inconvenient and not the best approach to making a u turn.
Finding fuel should be convenient

Amen. My hubby can do the same and has backed out of many a gas station, because he's had too.

[pitch]

It sometimes takes patience. I am 53 ft. I don't mind being "rude" and positioning myself as needed to fuel up. My wife doesn't mind directing traffic. Almost every tight spot is caused by a motorist thatt is not cognizant of his surroundings and willing to make the necessary concessions.
We take only as much time is needed to run the card, fuel, and acquire receipt.
If we have any business inside the establishment I pull away from the pump.

In all of our miles of travel the times we got jammed up at a fuel stop can be counted on one hand!

[Sjm9911]

Mostly, you get used to it. If on hyways, there are usally choices. You learn to choose wisely. A few times it was an issue with me, once when someone else blocked my forward lane and parked where I needed to turn. Another time , and this was me not paying attention, I pulled into a city during rush hour. There was no where to pull into a station without blocking a street, or coming close to hitting people rushing home from work, so I went back on the road and got off a few exits down. Just dont wait untill your on e to get gas. And , first trip I learned to never take the truck lanes. Some states have the rest stops for trucks only go to diesel pumps, and then stright back on the hyway. Who knew?

[Lantley]

It's not about skill. It's about convenience. I have the skill to back up a 1/2 mile down a single lane road to turn around, but it certainly is inconvenient and not the best approach to making a u turn.
Finding fuel should be convenient

[otrfun]

valhalla360 wrote:

Lantley wrote:
If it were truly a non issue this thread and many with the same topic would not exist

Sure they would...it's simple fear of the unknown.

The guys who drive gas rigs pretty much always say it's a non-issue. It's the guys who have never towed or have always used the truck lanes that ask.

I would venture to say gassers typically haul smaller, lighter rigs. Diesels typically pull longer, heavier rigs. The longer, larger the rig, the more difficult it is to maneuver.

Yes, we've seen a number of folks with large TT/5r's fuel up using the gas/diesel islands. We've done it a few times ourselves. However, it goes without saying a 60 ft. long rig tends to disrupt the efficient flow of pedestrian and vehicle traffic in and around their rig. Most gas/diesel islands are not designed to accommodate longer rigs like this. Some folks are comfortable with this disruption, some are not. Sometimes it's not all about skill.

[valhalla360]

Lantley wrote:
If it were truly a non issue this thread and many with the same topic would not exist

Sure they would...it's simple fear of the unknown.

The guys who drive gas rigs pretty much always say it's a non-issue. It's the guys who have never towed or have always used the truck lanes that ask.

[otrfun]

This thread brings back the trials and tribulations we went through when we towed our 30+ ft. TT's and 5r's. Wasn't fond of using the big rig, truck stop fuel lanes. Noisy, messy as hell. Prices typically 20-30 cents higher. More times than not had to walk inside to pay--sometimes waiting 10-15 min. On those occasions we fueled up elsewhere, it took the usual google satellite check to make sure there was enough room to maneuver before committing. The last 3 years with our truck camper has been a real joy in this regard. Any stop, fuel or otherwise, is just so much easier.

[riltri]

Lantley wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Lantley wrote:
Lots of gasser guys in denial. You certainly have to be more selective when fueling a gasser while hitched.
Once upon a time, I had a V-10 Excursion and a 39' TT getting gas was much more challenging then getting diesel.
I eventually traded the V-10 in for a 7.3 PSD Excursion.
Getting fuel was less of a challenge with the diesel.

Having had a diesel in the past, we tried the truck lanes a few times...no thanks to standing in a puddle of diesel.

If you are half way competent handling the rig, it's a non-issue pulling up to a gas pump.

If it were truly a non issue this thread and many with the same topic would not exist
Yes there are some dirty diesel pumps, but there are also some less desireable gas pumps. Cleanliness is a seperate issue.
People are not researching,scouting and reviewing google satelite images for puddles.
They are simply looking for accessible pumps. Finding accesible diesel pumps is much easier than finding accesible gas pumps. Finding accesible diesel pumps is much easier than finding accesible gas pumps. Somehow some are still in denial and pretend gas pumps are equally accesible.

^^That is why I asked the question. When I pull our 5th to Florida, my wife follows in her truck (gas) pulling a 20' center console boat. I never have issues getting to the diesel pumps but there have been times that we had trouble finding easy access for her truck/boat.

Unfortunately with the gas, I will need to fill up twice per pay with the 5th attached. We will make it work....just looking for suggestions. I had not thought about using Google Sattelite. Great idea!! Thanks!!

[thomas201]

I am just old enough to remember when the truck islands had both diesel and gas pumps. However, I too am switching from a diesel to a gas. I am installing an in bed gasoline tank, with pump and filter. I should only need to fill once a day.