TrailManor Owner's Forum  

Go Back   TrailManor Owner's Forum > TrailManor Technical Discussions > Trailmanor Elkmont Models
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-04-2011, 05:18 PM   #11
cochise
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 160
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by hartsafyre View Post
Bob, Bigbit, ng...

Folks, I just heard some crushing news from an outfit that does a lot of installs etc (Trick Trucks) about. I went in to see what they had in the way of WDH/stabilizer controls. They told me that EVEN with the wdh/stablizer that I would be all over the road because the truck is NOT long enough, OR WIDE enough! There was a customer said he was a truck driver and always saw trucks being pushed/pulled all over the road by even the slightest of wind. (That took the wind out of my sails).

I specifically bought my 2011 Toyota Tacoma, with the factory installed tow package, and towing capacity of 6500 pounds because it could tow any of the TM's.

I see that one of you has a Pre-Runner, and someone else has an Enclave, and both tow a 24' Elkmont. My Tacoma's specs put it at about the same length, width, wheelbase.

I believe that you all say it's a breeze to tow with my size vehicle (which you have). Tell me these guys are TOTALLY, and COMPLETELY INSANE!

Maria *struggling to keep my cool here ::sigh::*
Ok Maria…
So you have probably also heard that the holocaust never happened and that we were never on the moon. Do you really believe that? Of course not.

I used to tow my Elkmont 24 with a 2003 Chevy Silverado, with at 6 cyl engine and the tow package. NEVER had a problem. My Silverado was much like your Tacoma. The way the Elkmont 24 is constructed with the axle to the far rear gives it a LOT of stability. Does that mean that you will never have problems with sway in windy weather? NO. But than again a smart RV/travel trailer owner will not venture out on the road when there is a possibility of inclement weather.

I think that you will be just fine. Remember that you will often meet a “very smart” guy that will tell a horror story about towing or something else for that matter.

So if I were you I would just go camping with your new Elkmont 24. Good luck to you.
cochise is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2011, 06:08 PM   #12
Barb&Tim
TrailManor Master
 
Barb&Tim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Posts: 621
Default

I agree with cochise on this, you should not have stability problems with your setup!

I expect those "experts" have never towed a Trailmanor

Tim
__________________
Previous owners of a great 2010 [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] TM2720SL.
Barb&Tim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2011, 08:11 PM   #13
hartsafyre
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

<woohooooooo> Thank you B&T, and Cochise (Cochise, I responded to you from my email alert, just to see if/how it was going to show up here, so far it hasn't).

I truly appreciate your comments, they helped to de-stress my distress. I'll be buying a wdh/stabilizer control unit just to make me feel comfortable about towing since I've never towed a thing before. It will be a challenge, and I'm ready for that

Thank you.
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2011, 12:25 AM   #14
Bigbit
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

My Enclave has about the same wheelbase as your Tacoma (maybe a little wider) and I have had no major issues with sway. I do use a WDH and sway bars. My Buick also has a 4500lb tow limit, and it pulls the Elkmont fine as long as I follow some self imposed rules, which I have posted previously on this forum. You will know you're towing the Elkmont, but I never feel out of control.

One comment I will make is that speed is important. The faster you go, the more load you put on your engine, tranny, and brakes. I religiously keep my highway speeds to 60 or less and let the rest of the world pass me by!

Your Tacoma should be fine.
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2011, 11:20 AM   #15
cochise
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 160
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigbit View Post
My Enclave has about the same wheelbase as your Tacoma (maybe a little wider) and I have had no major issues with sway. I do use a WDH and sway bars. My Buick also has a 4500lb tow limit, and it pulls the Elkmont fine as long as I follow some self imposed rules, which I have posted previously on this forum. You will know you're towing the Elkmont, but I never feel out of control.

One comment I will make is that speed is important. The faster you go, the more load you put on your engine, tranny, and brakes. I religiously keep my highway speeds to 60 or less and let the rest of the world pass me by!

Your Tacoma should be fine.
I fully second this rule. Being in Arizona I travel quite a bit in California, and there the speed limit is 55 mph for trailers. So I keep my general speed at 55 to 60 mph, and that is just fine. And I stay home or at the camp ground if the weather is excessively windy.

On another note to ease your mind: When I purchased my Elkmont, we were told that the trailer weighed under 2500 lb. Not true but in any event we went to Texas and towed the Elkmont all the way back to Arizona, about 1000 miles with a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. Now that was a task, but we did it. Today I tow a different brand with a 2007 Ford F 150 XLT V8 Triton with a full tow package. Had TM gotten Mr. Eichhoff at the wheel a little earlier I would still have been towing my Elkmont 24. He is the best thing that has happened to TM in years.
cochise is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2011, 05:46 PM   #16
brulaz
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Elkmont 24 and a Tacoma

We've put many miles in our 2009 Tacoma 4x4 Double Cab with the 6500# tow package and our Elkmont 24. It has served us well.

The max tongue weight should be listed on your hitch. Ours says 650#.

I do not use any sway control because the Tacoma has enough wheelbase, and the Elkmont 24 puts around 620# on the hitch. This is quite high, over 15% of our loaded trailer weight. If you look at the trailer, you'll see that the wheels are set pretty far back. That's why the high tongue weight.

This high a tongue weight helps get rid of any potential sway. But it created another one for us. We also wanted to carry 2 kayaks, bicycles and other junk in the truck. So we added a cap and all this stuff only to discover that with the trailer hitched up, we exceeded the Tacoma's GVWR by 350-600#. And a WDH is absolutely necessary as otherwise the rear GAWR would be badly exceed as well.

IOW, while the Tacoma with tow package is spec'ed to haul a 6500# trailer, it has *only* a half-ton (1151#) payload. Once you subtract 620# tongue weight, there's only 531# left for you, passengers, and any gear.

The Tacoma tows the trailer weight well, but it is only a V6 gasser with relatively low torque at highway speeds and rpms. As a result, on the flats or slightly rolling highways, you will get shifting from 5th to 4th or to an intermediate unlocked Torque Converter state. All this is normal. The engine and transmission handle it well. But over long trips, depending upon the terrain, you may find this frequent shifting a bit tiring.


We recently decided to upgrade to full-size pickup primarily because of the GVWR problem.
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2011, 06:11 PM   #17
cochise
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 160
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by brulaz View Post
We've put many miles in our 2009 Tacoma 4x4 Double Cab with the 6500# tow package and our Elkmont 24. It has served us well.


The Tacoma tows the trailer weight well, but it is only a V6 gasser with relatively low torque at highway speeds and rpms. As a result, on the flats or slightly rolling highways, you will get shifting from 5th to 4th or to an intermediate unlocked Torque Converter state. All this is normal. The engine and transmission handle it well. But over long trips, depending upon the terrain, you may find this frequent shifting a bit tiring.


We recently decided to upgrade to full-size pickup primarily because of the GVWR problem.
I don't know about the Tacoma, but my old Silverado had the "tow button" at the end of the shift lever. When that was activated the shift points changed and the overdrive was locked out. So I did not have a lot of unnecessary shifting. And I do believe the wheel base is the same as the Tacoma (118”). When I bought my Lance trailer we were too close to the tow limit, which is why I got the Ford F 150 with the V8, tow package and a tow limit of 9500 lb. It has the same transmission tow button on the end of the lever. It works really well for us, except the Lance is a piece of crap. The Elkmont had a 5” thick floor this one has 2”. And there are lots more, I miss the simplicity of the Elkmont but not the problems I had with it.
cochise is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2011, 06:35 AM   #18
brulaz
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by cochise View Post
I don't know about the Tacoma, but my old Silverado had the "tow button" at the end of the shift lever. When that was activated the shift points changed and the overdrive was locked out. So I did not have a lot of unnecessary shifting.
The Tacoma doesn't have a Tow/Haul mode but you can manually force it 4th gear. We did this when the shifting became too irritating. But 4th at highway speeds is quite a bit noisier than 5th, so it's a trade-off.

If all we were doing was occasional trips, not too long, we would have kept the Tacoma, and lived with the over weight and bit of noise. It really is a great truck otherwise. But last year we towed 15,000 miles and plan on towing to Florida every winter with all our gear, so ... it's for sale. Or maybe one of the kids will take it over (I hate to see it leave the family; funny how you get attached to these things).
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2011, 11:55 AM   #19
Bigbit
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

My Enclave has the tow mode button too to change the shift points, and we don't experience any hunting.
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2011, 04:12 PM   #20
Vic Mendoza
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Elkmont 24 and a Tacoma

brulaz -

The Trailmanor brochure states that the Elkmont 24 has a base hitch weight of 297lbs. How do you get to 620# - what am i missing?

Elkmont 24 - Approximate Base Dry Weight 2498 lbs.
Base Hitch Weight 297 lbs.
Approx. Dry Weight w/Value Package 3000 lbs.


Thanks
  Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Thread for Elkmont Owners? Carol & Lou cornell Trailmanor Elkmont Models 9 05-11-2015 09:49 AM
To Elkmont Owners w/conventional toilet Shandysplace Trailmanor Elkmont Models 6 12-04-2010 07:09 PM
Elkmont 24 Owner's Manual kmmoore Trailmanor Elkmont Models 3 11-30-2010 11:19 AM
Elkmont 26 owners near New Orleans Doctorlock Prospective Owner Questions 2 10-30-2010 07:47 AM
Let's hear from all those new Elkmont owners! cali camping Trailmanor Elkmont Models 21 08-04-2009 09:09 AM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:29 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright 2022 Trailmanor Owners Page.