The new TrailManor Company

[cochise]

After having owned a TM Elkmont 24 for nearly 18 months, we have now returned our Elkmont to TM. Actually it happened in November of 2010 right after we had the incident with the bed collapsing. I contacted TM and got to speak to Bob Eickhoff. He agreed that it was not a good situation, and he asked me what I wanted to do. I told him that after all the visits to the repair shop we had been through we wanted to return the Elkmont to TM, for a full refund. He agreed to that and on 11/12/10 they picked up the trailer in Tucson AZ and trucked it back to TN.

After inspecting the trailer there Eickhoff agreed that it was indeed a mess. Our collapsed bed resulted in a new bed design among other things. In February 2011 we received a check for the full amount, and that has now cleared. We now own another brand of travel trailer, almost in the same weight class, but with 2 axles and two bunk beds. The change in trailers resulted in us getting too close to the tow limit of our 2003 Silverado V6, so we ventured out and found a pearl. It is a 2007 F150 but it only has 10800 miles (guaranteed) on the odometer. Power plant is a 5.4 Triton V8 with a 3.73:1 rear end and a tow capacity of 8900 lbs and a super crew cab versus the regular cab on the Silverado. I figured that with the V8 I would get a bout the same mileage on the Hiway as the V6, but when towing it would have to work a lot less than before and thus increase my towing mileage a bit. We were down to 10-11 mpg with the Silverado when towing and 19-20 without. This new F150 gives me 19-20 on the hiway and about 14-15 towing so far.

BUT after dealing with Mr. Eickhoff, extensively, we may well return to a TM in the future. Eickhoff is in this game to turn TM around. He has pumped a lot of his own money into the company and I believe that the product leaving the plant in Lake City will be top notch. Had the turn-around come a little sooner, we would have stayed with the TM Elkmont, but we were running out of time. As a matter of fact we did purchase our new other brand on the same day they picked up our TM, but we were in an other state to purchase our new trailer.

I have enjoyed being part of this board posting comments, taking flak and chatting with others. I have learned a lot about camping do’s and don’ts and will continue here. This board is more serious than many of the others I have visited. Lots of good advice here.

So I think there is a future for TM if they improve the quality as it seems they are. And one person at TM has always stood out: ED LYTLE. One way or another we were always able to talk to him, either by phone or email. I truly did not envy him his job, but he always tried to make the best of any situation.

In closing Mr. Eickhoff told me that there were other Elkmont owners that had had serious problems with their product, but he assured me that he was doing everything in his power to make it right. And I believe him. He certainly did it for us.

A thank you to everyone here for good and (perhaps not so good) times here. I will continue here as a member of this board.

Cochise.