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Old 06-06-2021, 08:31 PM   #1
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Gas versus Diesel

Being a newbie = lots of threads with thoughts of a newbie…..

For the gassers, do you ever feel neglected when it comes to accessible pumps while towing large travel trailers?

Having just traveled roughly 6k miles pulling my travel trailer with my 7.3L f250, I realized one factor I missed in my research of figuring out if I wanted/needed a diesel or a gas burner. The gas pumps are very much less accessible than the diesel pumps. When pulling a longer trailer, having to go to the pumps in the front of the gas stations is a pain. Several times I felt like I was blocking travel in the parking lots. I sure wish they had some better access to gas pumps by the diesel pumps out behind the flying j or pilots for us with the big gassers. I guess maybe there’s never been much need?

At any rate, I feel like I missed a selling point on the diesel trucks that I missed before and that’s accessible pumps. Also, there wasn’t a diesel shortage, but there was a real gas shortage!

Thoughts?
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Old 06-06-2021, 08:42 PM   #2
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I have never felt that way, even in my diesel. With my Chevy I am just shy of 60' long. Also my pick up will not accept the high speed nozzles, but my aux tank does.

In my pick up I rarely used "truck stop" style stations as the price was way to high.

In my new HDT I always use commercial lanes and with a fuel card and a little research I can find fuel as cheap. When fueling the HDT with dual tanks and typically putting in at least 150 gallons it would be hard to do at a "regular" pump.

Now with my new set up I am almost 70' long and I still have to get gas in my toy hauler for the generator and the fuel station (60 gallons total). That means I still need to fill up somewhere.

I know geographically it matters, but you have to pick and choose your stations. One of the worst I have found is truck stops. I am also not pulling into your average "urban" fuel station to get fuel. Getting out of the major urban areas stations get lots of traffic of pickups with all sorts of sizes and shapes. The nearest town to me has 5 stations and I can get into all of them if needed, 1 would be a little tight. A lot of times the grocery store stations are some of the easiest to get in and out of.

Also I always fill at 1/2 of a tank. It allows me to get fuel when and where I choose. I have had a couple of times that I thought I was going to get fuel in a certain spot and did not. Sometimes I was a station I thought I would get into and then decided not to try last min. Sometimes it has been bad weather or rush out and I just wanted to get out of that area.
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Old 06-06-2021, 08:58 PM   #3
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Maybe it was the circumstances I was dealing with coming down the east coast recently. I really felt like I was inconvenienced by having to go to gas pumps rather than the diesel pumps big trucks use. Even your smaller town stations have offset diesel pumps usually set back that are easier for larger rigs to get to.
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Old 06-06-2021, 09:03 PM   #4
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When you buy a truck and trailer you need to be a driver. If you're terrified of traffic, close quarters and disturbing others, you may as well have your RV shipped to a campground and park it in a seasonal spot.

I've been able to get fuel anywhere, just need to get authoritative enough to take your spot and driver enough to not tak out the pumps.

We've gotten fuel with RV in tow even in L.A. and Vegas. Just make sure there's enough headroom.
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Old 06-06-2021, 09:58 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by kdauto View Post
When you buy a truck and trailer you need to be a driver. If you're terrified of traffic, close quarters and disturbing others, you may as well have your RV shipped to a campground and park it in a seasonal spot.

I've been able to get fuel anywhere, just need to get authoritative enough to take your spot and driver enough to not tak out the pumps.

We've gotten fuel with RV in tow even in L.A. and Vegas. Just make sure there's enough headroom.
This is exactly right. Give it a few trips, youll figure it out and just get used to it.
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Old 06-07-2021, 09:04 AM   #6
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It will get better!

Yes, the ability to use the big-rig lanes would be nice, but you won't find them away from major routes on the interstate highway system, and those don't go everywhere. So, you need to have a process and plan for filling the tank regardless of whether you're in a gasser or DP.

Pilot/Flying J's are great, when they have RV lanes, but only about half of them do. Those that don't are usually pretty difficult to get a longer RV in and out of. Other's that might have RV lanes (at least here in the West) are
  • Loves - there may be a couple of pumps at one end or the other of the big-rig lanes with gas pumps and RV signage

  • Maverik - stations on major highways or at highway junctions (not just interstates) will often have a couple of RV lanes.

  • Cenex - seems to cater to commercial clientele; pump lanes are usually parallel to the storefront and there are usually several pumps with access for semis and big gas rigs

Lacking designated RV lanes there are other options.
  • Many retail companies (Costo, Sams, Kroger and their local brands) have stand-alone fueling centers with plenty of room for bigger RV's. Many will also have propane.

  • Some outlets are more likely than others to have pumps parallel to the storefront and will accommodate big RV's. Chevron, 76, and Exxon are likely candidates.

I never hit the road without knowing where I will get the next fillup (and I usually have the next 2 or 3 planned out). Google Maps (satellite and street view) is an invaluable tool. Pilot has an RV Travelers' guide that lists most of their properties and the amenities (including if RV lanes are available). It's not always accurate, but it's a good resource. RV Trip Wizard, Allstays, Gas Buddy, and other apps help to find potential locations which can then be verified with Google Maps.

When I plan to fill near where we're parked, I'll reconnoiter local filling stations to plan access and egress in advance. It takes a lot of the stress out of the process.

I've only owned gassers, but I expect the process is pretty similar for DPs, at least those who get away from Interstates.

Regards,

Randy
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Old 06-07-2021, 10:12 AM   #7
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Do your homework

That is a problem with a gas truck. We go camping with 2 other couples. 1 has a diesel one has a gas truck. 2 of use fuel a the truck diesel pumps and we usually have to wait while our friend squeezes into the gas pumps. There have been one or 2 times that he could not fuel and we had to find another station for him to get gas. I only fuel mostly at Pilot/fly J since you can get a camper card from them and we plan our stops with their locations. I just made a 1000 mile round trip during the gas shortage and only had one truck stop that had a long line. There are many different aspects of a gas vs diesel. Fueling is a issue with a camper on the back when you have a gasser. Diesel is easy to fuel at a truck stop.
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Old 06-07-2021, 10:38 AM   #8
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I pretty much never fuel while towing. That cures all the problems of tight/low gas station spots. Even under the worst conditions I can get 400+ miles from a full tank and we never drive that far in a day.
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Old 06-07-2021, 11:19 AM   #9
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I pretty much never fuel while towing. That cures all the problems of tight/low gas station spots. Even under the worst conditions I can get 400+ miles from a full tank and we never drive that far in a day.
I can only comfortably get around 200 miles without looking for a station. I don’t like running down lower than 1/4 tank. If I could make my pulls within 250 miles of the house, or had a truck that I’ll could complete the pull within a tank, I don’t think it would be an issue for me, as id just leave with a full tank and then go fill up after dropping the trailer.
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Old 06-07-2021, 01:52 PM   #10
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My thoughts are that you are correct, most gas stations are not set up for large rigs and cater to passenger vehicles... truck stops cater to bigger rigs but not so much the gas powered ones.

Check with Titan or S&B for a larger fuel tank replacement, or an Aux transfer tank to go in the bed of your truck as 200 mile range limits your options for sure.

Upgrading my stock tank to a 65 gallon mid ship replacement is the best upgrade I have done to my truck, gives me the most options of stopping when and where I want.

Using Google Maps satellite view to plan ahead for your stops within your travel range would be most advantageous for your situation
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Old 06-07-2021, 06:20 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstocks View Post
Being a newbie = lots of threads with thoughts of a newbie…..

For the gassers, do you ever feel neglected when it comes to accessible pumps while towing large travel trailers?

Having just traveled roughly 6k miles pulling my travel trailer with my 7.3L f250, I realized one factor I missed in my research of figuring out if I wanted/needed a diesel or a gas burner. The gas pumps are very much less accessible than the diesel pumps. When pulling a longer trailer, having to go to the pumps in the front of the gas stations is a pain. Several times I felt like I was blocking travel in the parking lots. I sure wish they had some better access to gas pumps by the diesel pumps out behind the flying j or pilots for us with the big gassers. I guess maybe there’s never been much need?

At any rate, I feel like I missed a selling point on the diesel trucks that I missed before and that’s accessible pumps. Also, there wasn’t a diesel shortage, but there was a real gas shortage!

Thoughts?
I carry 96 gallons of fuel total in the truck ,fill up and go all day. I do agree that a gas truck with a stock size tank could be a challenge with a long trailer be hide you. The complaint I have is every soccer mom in town like to use the closed pump to the road not realizing its the only lane that has diesel on it. More then once I have had to get out and stop some pre occupied person getting ready to put diesel in there mini van while he or she was talking on the phone.

If The EPA gets its way by 2050 no one is driving anything that ISNT a plug in....
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Old 06-08-2021, 12:42 PM   #12
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I have a 250 gasser. There’s one time I pulled thru a CAT scale next to the truck diesel pumps at a LOVEs in PA. It was late afternoon. I can believe my eyes how many 5er rigs got sandwiched between big 18 wheeler rigs. There’s gotta be at least 5 big rigs ahead of them to get filled up. It’s definitely over an hour wait there. Probably just 18 wheeler rush hours. I weighed my rig and top off gas at passenger car pump side and on my way under 20 mins.
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Old 06-08-2021, 01:02 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstocks View Post
Being a newbie = lots of threads with thoughts of a newbie…..

For the gassers, do you ever feel neglected when it comes to accessible pumps while towing large travel trailers?

Having just traveled roughly 6k miles pulling my travel trailer with my 7.3L f250, I realized one factor I missed in my research of figuring out if I wanted/needed a diesel or a gas burner. The gas pumps are very much less accessible than the diesel pumps. When pulling a longer trailer, having to go to the pumps in the front of the gas stations is a pain. Several times I felt like I was blocking travel in the parking lots. I sure wish they had some better access to gas pumps by the diesel pumps out behind the flying j or pilots for us with the big gassers. I guess maybe there’s never been much need?

At any rate, I feel like I missed a selling point on the diesel trucks that I missed before and that’s accessible pumps. Also, there wasn’t a diesel shortage, but there was a real gas shortage!

Thoughts?
I purchased a 7.3 Superduty, and I love it. I do not regret the choice at all.

HOWEVER .... you are absolutely right about gas access.

Anyone that tells you accessing gas is "just as easy" or "not a problem" is being dishonest or is extremely lucky. It absolutely requires a little extra forethought. Add to that the relatively small gasoline tanks (short bed), and it is a real consideration.

Again, I love my Gas truck, and would 100% make the same choice, but the reality is that it is a consideration, just like diesel fuel, DEF, and repair cost is for diesel.

On the plus side, there are several major players that are increasing gas/racing/RV lanes, and identifying those stations is becoming increasingly easy. Maverik and Loves have definitely increased the number of stations providing gas equipped RV lanes in recent years. Pilot, T/A and flying J have started as well. We keep an informal list of these now, and using them is becoming routine. ("oh, heading through Wilcox, that TA has RV lanes with gas", etc)
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Old 06-08-2021, 11:57 PM   #14
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Well when making that decision to get a gas TV, one should consider towing mileage and size! Having a 26 gallon tank on a TV that get likely than 10 mpg, yea less than a safe 200 miles of travel.
I have a diesel, but when we picked up or current 5er it was a 250 mile trip to the dealer. We didn't fill up before going to the dealer. We knew we would not make it home so we saw a sign for fuel off the freeway and headed that way.

Just a regular station not an issue, 2001 Ram 2500 LB Quad Cab pulling a 32' 5er.
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