Tent camper finally gets a comfy place to sleep.

Originally Posted by Redtail Cruiser

Barry, just out of curiosity, what do you carry inside your wardrobe cabinet? When traveling we place our pillows and blankets in ours. I can't imagine the screws pulling out with a small amount of weight in that cabinet.

As far as the rubbing goes, I have a rug in the hallway that the wardrobe sits on for protection. The upper cabinets are stacked and bungied to the handle of the wardrobe and the bathroom wall. I place two towels on the corners of these cabinets to protect them from rubbing on the wardrobe and the bathroom wall, plus these cabinets set on the runner (rug) which has a rubber backing so it won't slide.

The Velcro fasteners do come loose from time to time. I have had good success with just using a little super glue to reattach the loose ends after cleaning off the old adhesive.

My stove grate has never bounced out, so I can't say what would cause yours to.

The flimsy construction you mention is the foam-core panels and is the reason the trailer is so light weight. If you spent any time comparing other campers to the TM, then I'm sure you realize that most trailers have marginal interior quality.

It may be that your unit was one of those infamous (Friday builds) that seem to plague the auto industry. Hopefully not and you have experienced everything that is in need of repair with no future problems.

We carry only a couple of pillows in the cabinet. I realize that any excessive weight would amplify the issue. The wood screws TM used are not sufficient to hold such a construction together permanently.

My solution is to remove the wood screws and replace them with machine screws and lock nuts with a somewhat liberal use of washers to prevent the heads and nuts from pulling through the wood. The cabinet will get small bumpers so that the bumpers take the wear not the cabinet. I use foam noodles to help insulate the rear bed to shell gaps. I will use those to also prevent the cabinet from sliding into other things when under way.

Marginal quality of interior components for lightness, yea I get it. Marginal quality of interior engineering, I don't get.

[tentcamper]

We're on our 5th used camper each from a different manufacture. These were manufactured by both very high and mid grade quality manufactures. They all have had some issues, and the PO of each of them did not keep up with much of the little maintenance. Each time we have to fix a lot of little things. Our early campers we beat up, we would over load a shelf's and find them broken after a rough road.

One camper the DW always wanted to load the can goods (40-70 cans) on a middle shelf. Long story why so many cans. After the second time of very rough roads and rebuilding the shelf with more support each time. The DW finally found a nice place on the floor of a cabinet, before I needed to framed it out with 2x4's.

Our TM, we cleaned up most the little issues before we started camping including some re-engineering of problem areas. This first year, about 25 nights and about 6K miles, which included traveling a lot of two lane roads that at times can be very rough. We have not had many issues. Things seem to be holding together well, a few screws need to be tightened every once in awhile. But I think we consider the little issue just part of owning a camper. Maybe our quality bar is to low?? I have always figured after a week of traveling there is some mechanical maintenance needed.

[Bill]

Barry, have you had your tires balanced? Many of these problems sound like the pounding from unbalanced wheels. It makes a big difference

Bill

Originally Posted by Bill

Barry, have you had your tires balanced? Many of these problems sound like the pounding from unbalanced wheels. It makes a big difference

Bill

That is a good point Bill. I did not think of that. Once again I assume that the tires were balanced before leaving the factory as I believe that the trailer has not had many miles on it when I purchased it so the tires are original. I just had a look at the wheels and see no balancing weights. Duh... that might be an issue not only for the interior but the entire trailer. Well if that is what is contributing to my problems I can say thanks TM for the attention to detail.

[mecicon]

Originally Posted by Bill

Barry, have you had your tires balanced? Many of these problems sound like the pounding from unbalanced wheels. It makes a big difference

Bill

I think you are on to something.

Well I checked the wheels again, more closely this time and did find balance weights on the inside of the wheels. I would think if the wheels were so out of balance that I would notice it in the TV. Either way I am due for a wheel bearing grease next camping season so i will have the wheels checked.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

[B_and_D]

We also place thin, small blankets/throws around the bathroom walls. First one goes on the rear wall before folding down the front wall, second goes over the top of the front wall and down the side before we put down the wardrobe. Over the years we noticed some rubbing there so this helps.