High winds

[LarryLS]

Is it advisable to travel with full tanks when windy?

[twinboat]

No, it makes a big mess when you get blown over.

[Dutch Star Don]

Since all the tanks are at the lowest point in the coach, they would add ballast to the coach. With that said, if you're questioning if the tanks should be full or empty, you probably are looking at conditions that are too windy for travel.

We've been RVing for 50+ years and 200,000 miles and never had winds that forced us to stop driving for the day. However, we live out west with windy deserts, but no tornados or winds like some states get.

[ThunderRidge]

I had to pull off the road once for high winds in South Dakota. I was driving a Class C at the time, going due East with high winds straight out of the North. I came close to pulling off a few years ago with the Dutch Star in Iowa, but it was about 45° off the nose of the coach. It wasn’t a pleasant experience even with the comfort drive. Full water tanks both times, and close to full fuel tanks.

I saw this chart and keep it for reference, combined with Wind Alert App.

[twojayhawks]

Originally Posted by LarryLS

Is it advisable to travel with full tanks when windy?

Empty/full tanks won't make enough difference either way. Your coach is 45' long & 13' tall. Cross winds will punish you regardless. Even your weight of maybe 45,000 pounds isn't enough. I deal with wind a lot in KS and it has altered a few trips. My threshold is a max of 30-40 mph crosswinds. Anything higher than that & I'm out. I've seen too many RV's on the shoulder with awnings unrolled, or air conditioner covers blowing around. Too many risks including our safety.

[Flyer15015]

I've had to shelter twice in Kansas due to high cross winds.
Once in Oakly where we sat between a pair of semis and once when we parked behind a grocery store in Colby for the night. Not fun....
We have seen many trucks blown over on our way up to Casper on I-25 and we just don't want to be "that guy". If it feels scary, don't do it.

Mike in Colorado

[Rev. Roy]

I have pulled into a rest area and sat for a few hours waiting for the winds to subside on a couple of occasions, but not since we switched to our behemoth DP. However, I have seen a temporary ban for "high profile" vehicles on I-80 in PA and Ohio several times in the last two years. I don't ever remember that happening before that. I will assure you that both the Pennsylvania State police and the Ohio State Patrol will stop anyone in a motorhome or high top van and order them off the highway. When these things are issued, we just "stay-put" where we are. We got rocked in the park two days ago when wind gust were clocked at 80mph. I would not have considered driving in that. Most often winds die down after dark. 40 mph is my limit level.

[Dieselboy]

Fairly common to see certain vehicles restricted driving through Wyoming at times. Winds can get pretty extreme there. Last time driving east in my car I had a tailwind of 55mph. They had restrictions in place that day.

[alank]

Everyone just has to learn what's comfortable and safe for what they drive. I'll do 50 to 60 mph cross winds as about my limit and at that speed the wind just simply scrubs the front tires across the pavement as you drive, so keeps you on your toes. We got into campsite west of Oklahoma City one afternoon and weather station reported measuring 55 mph wind gusts in the metro area of Oklahoma City. Every second of driving required steering corrections.
A couple of years ago in the Texas panhandle, it just looked like all of Texas was blowing north, but the wind was steady. Our stop was in the west side of the panhandle, got parked with the rear end to the south, no slides out for the night, not pleasant in our motorhome but doable. Next morning was a pretty day, weather station reported recording 115 mph wind gusts in the panhandle overnight and the trucks on the side of I40 the next morning supported what the weather station reported.

I have a Freightliner chassis and the absolute best thing I did for handling in severe conditions was to get the alignment set near to Prevost settings. I've done this to my last four motorhomes.

[Donskiman]

Several vehicles blown over on I-25 near Walsenburg, Colorado today. At least 2-3 were RVs. From the TV view, one was pretty much destroyed. Winds today were 60-70+.

In recent years a few RVs were blown over at Cheyenne Mountain State Park a few miles from my house.

High winds are no joke.

[NLOVNIT]

Tank fill status doesn't matter. What matters is how high are the sustained winds & how high the wind gusts.

In 22 years of RVing, I pulled over only once. Cross winds were sustained at 30mph with gusts to 50nph. I was driving the Bounder & it was scary.

[NCC-1701A]

I have only pulled over once and that was in Nebraska during a horrendous storm with high winds and microbursts. A few other times I should have, but just slowed down to under 50 mph. We did change travel plans once when we were to depart a park on the gulf coast near Port Aransas, TX the next morning and had to cross the high bridge on the JFK Memorial Causeway. Severe storms with very high winds were to hit around 9am the next morning, so we made sure we were out and across the bridge by 7am and well north of the storm path before it hit.

The older I get, the more cautious I become about many things. ��

[MarkMaxPayne]

If the wind is head on or at an angle I don't care. Sideways? A cross wind? Different story. 30 years ago I once saw 2 tractor trailer rigs and their trailers knocked on their sides while driving 60 MPH+ on I-10 just east of Ontario, southern California about 2 football fields in front of my car. My little low to the ground sportscar at the time got knocked sideways across a couple of lanes seconds later as I was braking to come to a stop directly behind them. Since then I have held a high regard for strong cross winds.

I have only had to pull my motorhome off the road once since then to avoid super strong crosswinds and I turned to aim my nose into the wind to wait it out after the exit.

Best,
-Mark

[RetrdTrvlr]

We were traveling I10 in NM and AZ during the recent high winds and dust storms that caused major accidents and road closures. Our motor home is smaller but it did feel more stable with a full tank of fuel (90) gallons and half tank of water (50) gallons.

As expected the strong crosswinds were not pleasant but doable. Strong headwinds were easier to handle but I was indicating 3-4 miles to the gallon. That’s roughly half my normal mpg.