First road trip with my TM

[Unstable_Tripod]

I recently completed a 9-week, 8,100 mile trip with my TrailManor. I went from the Seattle area to the desert SW, touring southern California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. The longest I stayed in one place was 8 days, in Sedona, AZ. Most stops were 2-3 days. I had 8 one-nighters. Altogether I set up and tore down the TM 26 times. I had a fantastic time.

I camped at elevations from -227 feet to 9,000 feet and experienced temperatures from 22 to 105. I had blazing sun, calm, high winds (50-60 mph storm), driving rain and even some snow. The TN handled it all extremely well.

Everything worked well with a few exceptions. The plastic hinge on the bathroom wall (between bathroom and kitchen) shredded but that was on the last day of the trip so I had little inconvenience with it. I've since learned that this is a common TM problem. I have a replacement kit on order.

Pressure in my kitchen sink faucet dropped to about half of normal. I think that something got in there and is partially blocking water flow. I have yet to take it apart and check it. I dry camp most of the time. I only had hook-ups four times on this trip and those were occasions when I couldn't avoid them -- the CGs I expected to use were full and I had to go to RV parks. The water problem developed while I was on city water in one of those parks, even though I had a filter on the water line.

The upper and lower halves of the door got out of alignment and the small plastic turn button that holds the top half of the door closed during transit broke off. (I held it closed with duct tape for the last three days of the trip.) I have partially fixed the door by repositioning the shells but something is still off. I think that one of the hinges may not have been installed correctly at the factory. I have some new turn buttons on order because I could not find them locally.

Finally, the valve on the bottom of the toilet quit working. It is permanently open. The T-handle slides loosely back and forth and does nothing. I was able to continue using it, though, because the waste going into the pipes actually just increased capacity. It still charged and flushed. I have purchased a new valve assembly bu do not look forward to that particular replacement job. I don't know if this problem was trip related or would have occurred anyway.

I learned that TMs are really not designed for dirt and gravel roads in that they are easily infiltrated by the dust. It gets up between the shells and the body and completely coats the inside. I was boondocking (i.e., camping in wilderness outside of a formal campground) in the mountains of northern AZ and, after driving 16 miles on gravel and dirt roads, popped up and found that I could write my name in the dust on the floor. Dust got into all cabinets and even into the things IN the cabinets. After all of the necessary cleaning I think I'll stay on pavement with the TM from now on.

As I reread this post it seems like I'm complaining about a list of problems but that's really not so. I'm simply documenting that a few things happened. Considering that many people only use their TMs a few weekends a year, I put several "years" of wear and tear on it in one trip. 8,100 miles is a lot of road vibration. Physical things wear out or need adjustment/repair. I took similar trips with my old pop-up tent trailer and found the TM much easier to use, much less work and far more comfortable. It's the perfect touring camper for me and I can't wait to go again.

One thing I am complaining about though, just a bit, is that TrailManor is dead wrong when it says that it only takes an extra gallon of gas to tow a TrailManor 100 miles. I have a 2011 RAM pickup truck with a 5.7 liter, Hemi engine. I get 18-20 mph when driving on the highway unloaded, not towing. When towing I follow Chrysler's instruction to put the truck in Tow/Haul mode, which changes the shift points and eliminates overdrive. That and the weight of the trailer combined to get an average of 14.1 mpg over the entire 8,100 miles. That's a big difference in mileage.

What a great trip!!
Enjoyed reading about it! Post again as you travel.
And we agree about the gas mileage.
We usually run 18 to 20 on the highway without TM, depending whose driving.
Down to 16.5 while towing. Was hoping for better but at least it was much better
than some towing taller trailers.

Karen

[Unstable_Tripod]

I'd hate to think what the mileage would have been on a standard travel trailer with the high, exposed frontal area. Pulling something like that is like dragging a parachute through the air. It makes the engine work as hard as if it were pulling a much heavier trailer and the mileage suffers as a result. I know a lot of travel trailer owners who get 8-10 mpg when towing. None of them goes on long distance touring trips like I do. TrailManor's low profile, like a pop-up tent trailer, is the main reason I got one.

[Mr. Adventure]

The water pressure issue is due to crud in the strainer that screws into the spout on the kitchen faucet. I've decided the crud comes from the water heater because it looks just like the stuff on the surface of the anode rod.

No consolation, I suppose, but 14mpg is a lot better than it could be.

Sounds like a great trip!

Originally Posted by Drews60

I took my new to me TM on a trip down to Odessa-Midland, Texas, 430 miles from home.

I have to say the TM towed without any bouncing, sway, tugging, no problems at all. TM sure did a good job by placing the axle a bit further back.

I'm looking forward to my next trip.

Glad all is going well. One thing to check. If your tires are original, they are about due for a replacement, maybe overdue. Find the 4 digit date code on your tires...1st 2 numbers are the week and 2nd two are the year the tire was manufactured. Current thinking is that they need to be replaced every 4 years max, whether they show wear or not. Do a search on tire problems and you will find some eye opening stuff! Continued enjoyment of your TM!