Tough or Fragile

Another current thread is discussing a TM that got banged a bit. ShrimpBurrito has described damage to his caused by a dirt road. I have always been of the opinion that the TM is not really robust enough to do much/any off roading with. Which is unfortunate as I am a desert lover. Anyhow, I would be very interested in hearing of other experiences and opinions regarding this...

I, too, am interested in this topic. So far we have stayed on paved roads. As the TM looses value with time, my temptation to go off the beaten path a little increases.

Before we bought th TM, we considered tent trailers. Specifically the off road variety.

My opinion is that a TM is not as offroad worthy as any tent trailer. But, I don't think it is much more fragile that a traditional upright travel trailer or a fifth wheel.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Interesting topic. I personally don't think there is any mainstream travel trailer sold today that is off-road worthy. And by off-road, I'm not talking about the rock scrambling that Lars does, I'm just talking big potholes and badly wash-boarded dirt forest roads. It's fine on occasion, but on a regular basis, expect things to come loose. That shouldn't be surprising, as stuff comes loose regularly over time on paved roads.

While traveling across southern Utah last year, I ran into the owner of this trailer:



Simply by virtue of having a space specifically designed for a 4-wheeler, you'd think it would be beefy enough to sustain some rough roads. We chatted for quite some time, during which he told me how disappointed he was about how it held up while "off-roading" on the type of roads I described above. He said just about every screw he could find came loose, so he went through and put adhesive on every one he could find.

If you look at this thread where I talk about my off-roading adventure:
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=8100

...I think you'll agree that, with the exception of the toilet, all of the problems are as a result of fasteners pulling loose. Perhaps if that problem was solved, and you traveled with the toilet empty, you'd be set.

If you want to go off-roading on a regular basis, there doesn't seem to be any middle ground between traditional travel trailers and the expedition trailers like Safaris.

http://www.safaritrailers.com/index.cfm

Perhaps that's too small of a market niche for any manufacturer to jump in.

Dave

I’m just a prospective TM owner, but have to get in my $.02.

Dirt roads make for an awful lot of dust inside any camper, and I’ll bet it would be especially bad with a TM due to all the extra seals that they require due to their uniaue design.

Not to mention all the vibration issues mentioned before.

When I get my TM, I plan on avoiding gavel roads as much as I can, let alone forest service roads or two-tracks.

In response to Dave’s post:

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Interesting topic. I personally don't think there is any mainstream travel trailer sold today that is off-road worthy.

I agree that there are no off-pavement capable trailers in the mainstream, but there are some out there. Here are a couple of examples:

http://www.adventuretrailers.com/

http://conquerorcampers.com/

http://www.tentrax.com/

If you are interested in off-pavement camping, you might be interested in this forum:


http://www.expeditionportal.com/

And particularly the Trailers sub-forum:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...splay.php?f=42

[ShrimpBurrito]

Originally Posted by DadOfTwo

I agree that there are no off-pavement capable trailers in the mainstream, but there are some out there. Here are a couple of examples:

http://www.adventuretrailers.com/

http://conquerorcampers.com/

http://www.tentrax.com/

And if you look at each one of those links, you will note that all of those trailers are basically a tent that sit atop the trailer. My neighbor has an Adventure Trailer.....it's arguably suitable for military use, but in my opinion, in terms of comfort, it's only a slight step up from a $100 tent. Maybe I'm missing something. Aside from being more contained and organized than say just regular car/tent camping, the only advantage I see is the ability to sleep up off the ground.

Dave

In the early 70's a friend of mine had a small TT. It was either a Low liner or a Lil Loafer. At any rate, though it was a TT, it was low enough that he could park it in the garage without letting air out of the tires.

He towed it with a Jeep CJ5. He added skid plates to the bottom of the trailer so that when he dragged it across the tops of rocks, especially while crossing creeks deep enough to get the drivers feet wet, nothing would get broken.

I can say from observation that it tows faster when the wheels are on the ground.

The box was rather sturdy.

Tough or Fragile?

Good question. I have owned only two RV’s. One was a Coleman Santa Fe model pop-up. It was much tougher than my 2720 ever thought about being. It being my first RV it was towed probably too fast over the Forest Service roads of Carson National Forest in New Mexico. It bounced so much we named it “ tigger “ after the Winnie the Pooh tiger with the bouncy tail. Aside from some pots and pans moving and sometimes a little dust penetration it did very well.

Alas, one gets older… gets married… DW must have a bathroom… etc …

Hence the TM, whose name is “ turtle “ ( are you starting to see a pattern here? ) can be, and has been, taken on well maintained Forest Service roads in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in Colorado and some gravel roads here in Georgia as well with no problem other than the occasional loose screw. As Lars would say, " I have a screwdriver " I check every so often in the season to make sure the seals are doing their job and that the shells are lined up. I pull it SLOW and STEADY off pavement, (read real slow, I am not in a race.) avoiding anything that looks like a pothole. IMHO the TM is a bit on the fragile side. However, having said that, given a good gravel road, a decent 4X4 for low speed power (so you do not sling rocks all over the TM in case you misread the road.. like someone I know) and the two inch lift kit, me thinks you should be able to get back into those woods far enough for true boon docking. The compromise works for me. With the TM what I have lost in toughness is more than made up for in comfort. Tough or Fragile? Uuhhmmmm? Given all the moving parts? Yes to both...

My biggest advice would be to let half the air out the tires. That will greatly soften the ride. Don't run a WDH or you will break something expensive AKA your truck. I have the 2" lift and 15" tires on the TM and the bumper often drags when going through deep gullys. It ends up peeling back the nice aluminum trim on the bumper. It otherwise has good clearance.

It won't go anywhere that most other trailers and motorhomes can go to. I think the regular production offroad tent trailers are no better. You need to get a tentrax or build a Kaiser military trailer for serious off pavement. Not what I'm looking for. I want a weekend house. Loose screws are not so bad. It's the stripped ones that are annoying. The real enemy are those wash-board roads. Careful driving will get you to many quiet and beautiful places.

[wbmiller3]

Nice picture!

Thanks. People should post more pix. It brings color to the forum. Maybe it's tough for manualy to host them though.