Arrives Today!

anniem · 03-20-2023, 01:27 PM

Hi all,
Today our TM 2518KS arrives! Can't wait. We hope to keep it in the garage, the doorway is only 7 feet 11 1/2 inches so fingers crossed. Quick question, how much space is needed behind the TM to safely open it up?

**Bill** · 03-20-2023, 03:01 PM

Annie -

Congrats on the new TM! I know you will love it. As you are getting acquainted, you will find that many of the common topics and questions are addressed in the TM Technical Library which is part of this Forum. It is worth scrolling through, just to see what is there. It starts here.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...splay.php?f=42

As for garage door height, if your door opening is just shy of 8 feet, you are in great shape. The height of a closed TM is listed as 82 inches - just under 7 feet. Many owners (like me) have garage door opening height that is only about 84 inches. For them, there is a topic in the Library that may be useful. See post 17 here

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...ead.php?t=5571

Bill

**Bill** · 03-20-2023, 03:09 PM

Annie -

Regarding space behind the TM to open it up, you will need something like 4 feet behind the rear bumper. Do you have a really tall ceiling in your garage? Remember that once you get the TM parked inside the garage, opening the rear shell requires that you first open the front shell, which has a height of something like 118 inches (almost 10 feet) above the floor. Very few of us are lucky enough to have that.

Bill

**Kidkraz** · 03-20-2023, 04:50 PM

Annie, congrats on getting the camper. If I can suggest, take tons of pictures, mostly of data plates connection points and such. I opened all the compartments and under the sofa and such. I even crawled under the camper and got a picture of the info tag on the axel, so I don't have to figure out what version or serial number if I need parts. I also scanned and saved to my phone the data sheet that comes with the camper, again I find pertinent data if I am at the store or searching online.

I wish you many many miles of good road, sunny skys and great camp sites.

anniem · 03-20-2023, 05:39 PM

Thank you all for the good wishes! We won't be able to open it in the garage, there is a small storage area at the back wall. Good info about the height. We have 88 inches height for the door. We opened it to have a fast look inside and plan to play tomorrow. Another good idea, to take photos. We will do that.

Wavery · 03-22-2023, 09:30 AM

Now the fun begins.

I highly recommend doing a weekend campout in Camp Driveway. Just pretend that you are in the wilderness and test out all of the systems. Don't go into the house unless you have to. Then make lists. Only plug in the camper if your battery gets low (around 12.1V). Try to use everything on 12V while camping but be sure to test your 110V outlets and air conditioner if you have (at least) a 20A outlet available. You may need an adapter.

Fill up your propane tanks and water tank and don't hook your hose to the camper. Use the water from the tank and use the toilet and shower in the camper. Be sure to fill the water heater before turning it on (just open the hot water faucet in the galley and turn on the pump. You will hear air escaping, then a steady strean of water when the water heater is full).
Just be sure that you have a place to dump when the campout is over.

If you do your 1st campout at a campground, it will be much harder and frustrating when you discover what you have forgotten.

anniem · 03-22-2023, 05:27 PM

That is a really good idea. We've opened and closed it a few times. We hooked up city water and plugged in the electricity. We put the sofa into a bed and back. We tested hot water and the ac/heat. My husband drained everything. We got the toilet cartridge out. Spent some time in it with our dog who is a bit confused with it all. Fun stuff!

**Kidkraz** · 03-22-2023, 10:29 PM

Cute pup, he'll figure it out quick enough.

anniem · 04-21-2023, 07:42 PM

Hi again! Well we took some time and ordered some supplies. We practiced setting it up and putting it down a number of times. This is a delightful RV! We invested in a Trailer Valet and we like it, makes moving TM really easy. Today was the big adventure of getting it into the garage. We have narrow garage doorways. Really narrow. There is weather stripping and creeping slowly we were getting it in with the weather stripping being pressed on both sides. We might have had an inch, but it was hard to tell. We stopped, because we couldn't really see where we were near the wood behind the weather stripping and we could have bumped it on one side or the other. We made a joint decision and removed the awning. Then all was going well until we hit the bump at the door. It didn't want to go up that bump. We had to make little ramp with some cardboard and got over the bump and got in!!! We like the swing hitch. Very clever. We are pretty happy with it all! We'll decide about the awning later, I see a post here where someone has a way to take it on and off, looks interesting.