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Originally Posted by clgish
I'm considering buying a new 2007 3023 from theTM dealer in Colorado Springs and towing it with an 03 Toyota Sequoia V8. I've never owned an RV before.
1. Generator?
Does anyone have any opinions on whether I will need to purchase one or more generators. I live in Las Vegas, NV and will likely be using the TM in the southwestern states during the summer months.
If I should get a generator(s), what size, how should it be mounted, and where would be the best place to purchase one? Should I ask the dealer to mount it?
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If you intend to camp in the southwest where electrical hookups may not exist, then yes a generator is a necessity if you want to run the AC. Do NOT buy anything but an ultra-quiet generator (e.g. Honda EU series)...low cost "contractor grade" generators are so noisy that most public and private campgrounds will immediately tell you can't use them. At low elevations (below 3000 feet), a 2000 watt generator (e.g. Honda EU2000)
may be sufficient to start the AC. At higher elevations, you'd need a pair of EU2000s...or simply get a Yamaha 2400 or 2800 watt unit.
I would strongly discourage mounting a generator on the trailer. There really are only two places it could go: on the hitch (where it will increase tongue weight substantially) or on (or behind) the rear bumper (where it will greatly destabilize the trailer and make it more prone to sway). The best place to carry the generator is (1) inside the Sequoia, (2) mounted in some way to the Sequoia's front bumper, or (3) inside the trailer.
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2. Solar Panels?
Whether I have a generator or not, I will be getting solar panels of some type. The dealer is discouraging me from purchasing the factory roof mounted 80 watt solar panel system because of the $1000 price tag. They state they can sell me an 80 watt tripod solar panel for approx. $400. I am concerned that my idiot dogs might knock over the tripod. Additionally, I am not thrilled about storing the tripod panels inside the TM or about having to set it up everytime I camp. Therefore, I am much more inclined to spend the extra money on the roof mounted system. Does anyone besides my wife think I'm crazy
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As one of the solar pioneers here, I went the panels-on-the-roof route and mounted 170 watts of panels on my TM's front shell. I considered the tripod method but went with roof mount because:
- I needed not one but 2 panels (a 50 and a 120) to get the reserve capacity I needed for days when there would only be 2-3 hours of useful sunshine due to cloudiness/thunderstorms. It's bad enough to deal with moving, storing and setting up one panel at each campground; I decided 2 panels would be an unbearable pain.
- I felt that panels-on-a-tripod were just too easy for a thief to walk off with...even if I could rig up some kind of security device (which would be yet another hassle).
Keeping in mind that the cost was about equal for either roof or tripod as I was designing/constructing/installing the system myself; I still feel I chose the right route with a roof install.
But in the interest of full disclosure, I must say that by having the panels on the roof, I have to carefully select every campsite I camp in so that I can get 4 to 8 hours of full sunshine every day. In other words, no camping under the trees whatsoever (the shadow of a single branch on even one panel will cut output by 80% or more). Because I camp almost exclusively at high to very high elevations (minimum 8000 feet; more often 9500 to 10500 feet) where the daytime highs seldomly exceed 75 degrees, I don't need to have a shady campsite to stay comfortable. If I had a tripod mount, I
theoretically could park the trailer under the shade of trees and place the tripod in a spot that gets full sunshine all day. I say theoretically because it's usually the case that if the campsite has enough trees to be fairly shady most of the day, then it's unlikely you'll be able to find a spot suitable for a tripod mounted solar panel anywhere within the general confines of the campsite that remains sunny most of the day.
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3. Dealership?
Does anyone have any opinions regarding the Colorado Springs dealership? They claim they are the best in the country for "dealer prep" of TMs. I could save approximately $500 by purchasing from the dealership in Anaheim, CA but the Colorado dealership says the Anaheim outfit won't do as good of a job prepping. Are the folks in Colorado full of it, or not?
Sorry for asking so many questions in one post. Any information anyone has would be greatly appreciated. Thank you?
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I bought my trailer from the Car Show in Colorado Springs (easy decision...they're just across town from me
) and can definitely testify that they're an extremely honest and very thorough dealership when it comes to new trailer prepping. Although the Anaheim dealership also has an excellent reputation on this forum, I feel you can probably take the word of whoever you were talking to at the Car Show because I've never heard of them to make a claim (especially that bold a claim) unless they can really back it up with convincing evidence. And don't underestimate the importance of dealer prep...the TM factory (like all RV makers) ships a lot of trailers that aren't quite right and its up to the dealers to find and fix the glitches before you take possession. Sometimes the trailers come in from the factory nearly perfect (mine was like that) and some come in with all kinds of poor and incomplete construction (e.g. wiring that's not fully hooked up, plumbing that leaks big time, etc.). Good dealer prep is very important....especially when the dealer is not right across town.
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