I have to ventilate

[whitegs]

We are on the last leg of a 4000 mile trip from Ohio to the Grand Canyon and back. We set up every night and took down every morning. It is becoming increasingly difficult to set up the trailer, a 2009 2720 SL. The rear frame seems to be distorted. We have a hard time setting up the rear part of the front door (it won't mate with the frame easily.) We struggle to move the lock pins into place. And the bathroom walls just don't go together easily.
I am so frustrated. I have come to hate the trailer.
The trailer is still under warranty. I contacted Trailmanor about bringing it to the factory for a tuneup, but what's to say it won't fall apart again?
Please comiserate.:mad:

Richard

[Wavery]

We are on the last leg of a 4000 mile trip from Ohio to the Grand Canyon and back. We set up every night and took down every morning. It is becoming increasingly difficult to set up the trailer, a 2009 2720 SL. The rear frame seems to be distorted. We have a hard time setting up the rear part of the front door (it won't mate with the frame easily.) We struggle to move the lock pins into place. And the bathroom walls just don't go together easily.
I am so frustrated. I have come to hate the trailer.
The trailer is still under warranty. I contacted Trailmanor about bringing it to the factory for a tuneup, but what's to say it won't fall apart again?
Please comiserate.:mad:

Richard

Would love to commiserate with you but I can't :cool:......our 1998 2720 has been popped up & down hundreds of times without issue. You may find that it is something simple.........I haven't got a clue what could do what you are describing, unless the trailer frame is cracked or something (which I highly doubt).

[Digger]

Richard,

It can be frustrating. I had the same problem with mine for a while, not being able to get the door to line up and close. I found that if I leveled the front end first then jacked up the back by bringing the curb side stabilizer down until it touched the ground and gave it 7 or 8 more turns, did the same to the street side then back to the curb side for another 5 or 6 turns and finishing up by leveling the TM side to side with the street side stabilizer I could get it to line up. Worked every time with the door and rear shell always lining up. After the fact, I found out the frame was cracked over the street side axle and the read of the TM was sagging which caused the problem. I didn’t discover this until the frame finally broke and it was next to impossible to set up the TM. With the slide model, the weight of the batteries plus what ever else you have in the rear storage causes the frame to flex up and down every time you hit a bump in the road and may weaken it. I wouldn’t think this would be as much of a problem with a shorter TM and I hope it’s not the problem with yours but, if I was you I’d check underneath and see if there are any cracks in the frame or if you can tell if it is bent down at all. And, definitely get it fixed while it is still under warranty

Ed

[ZekenSpider]

Does the frame look bent or just the shells?

Our experience with our 2010 3326K (delivered in August of 2009) was similar after our first 500 mile trip. We found the top shell support struts had slipped down on the torsion bars on one side and were uneven. The shells were hard to set up, appeared to be crooked as we lowered them and the rear door frame became very difficult to put into place.

This is hard to explain even with pictures, but I'll give it a try.

Your basic problem may be that the leg adjustments have slipped. There are four bolts on the bottom of each strut(when the TM is set up). We found all of the struts on the street side were OK but the struts on the door side were all different. (currently, the distance between the torsion bar top and the bottom of the strut "L" is 40.5" on all eight struts on our TM). Since you are having problems with the bathroom set up, I suspect your rear shell, street side may be crooked.

We have more than 6,000 miles on ours since correcting the adjustments and all continues to work well. We did find several of the adjustment bolts loose at the time of our problems.

A quick strut check is to (with the TM set up) measure the distance to level ground from the bottom of each shell. It should be the same for all four corners of each shell. It is 59" on our TM (but we have 15" wheels so it may not be the same for yours). If the frame is bent or broken the bottom of the trailer should also appear crooked.

Sorry for your discouragement. It is something the factory or your dealer can (and should) fix. If it is a cracked frame as Ed found, then it is a factory problem for sure.

Good Luck,

Jerry

[whitegs]

As soon as I get home (day after tomorrow), I'll take the TM back to the dealer for a tuneup. It's still under warranty and I hope they can fix whatever is wrong. In view of previous replies, I did notice that it's worse when I have to crank up the right rear jack to level the trailer. I just went out and cranked up the right front jack a bit more, and the door frame seems to have settled in better. I'll also take out a tape measure as soon as I get back into my driveway which is a more even platform.

I'm so disappointed that this problem has arisen, because my wife and I and our two white German Shepherds otherwise love the trailer.

My thanks to everyone for their suggestions and encouragement.

Richard

[myersm]

I just had my 2002 in to the dealer for a tune-up... they adjusted all the struts and I was surprised how much easier everything opened, latched and fit together properly!

[lnussbau]

One more thought: We discovered that when you deploy the scissor jacks, you need to use them evenly (on each side), or else the door doesn't work right and other things may not fit properly. Typically, I'll level the TM fore/aft with the tongue jack, then I'll extend all four scissors jacks to the ground just enough to give solid support, then crank the low side (if there is one) two or three turns at a time on each of front and rear until level.

Granted, though, that I've not seen it quite as bad as you describe, so it may be more than just technique, as some indicate above.

[kninshar57]

I would tend to disagree with using the scissor jacks for leveling. They are actually used for stabilizing. Myself, I purchased a leveler (1JA482088) through JCWhitney for $89.99. I level front to back first, then side to side using the leveler on the low side (obviously). Then bring down the stabilizers snug and when I open up the Tm I make any necessary adjustments. I have not had any problems since buying the leveler and going through this procedure.

[OneMoBear]

We have had issues like you mention a few times, when leveling was more of an issue than usual and/or when we were tired and in a hurry and didn't take as much care with leveling as we might have otherwise. I'm not saying that is the case with you, but that's when we have experienced it. You didn't mention how many days your trip took. We took a trip about that long a couple of months ago but we did it over a period of almost 40 days. Setting up and breaking down every day and night on a trip that long wears you out IMHO. We took ours to Flagstaff and back to Denver in five days last December and next time a trip like that will have La Quinta written all over it.

Just my thoughts but it seems a little premature to talk about it falling apart before you know what is wrong. Hopefully it is something minor and you will love it for years.

Malinda

[Al-n-Sue]

You don't indicate what year and model your TM is, but I know on later models, the jacks can be used for leveling - to a degree.

On my Starcraft popup the "jacks" were simply stablizers and not used to raise the trailer - I had to get it level side to side with blocks then use the tongue jack for front to rear. In fact, you are not supposed to crank up the trailer top with the stablizers extended - to keep from torquing the frame.

But I digress. On my TM - 2003 and later, the jacks can be used to level the trailer if it is no more than an inch or so. I've even read of people using the jacks to change a tire! That being said, still the best process is to level the trailer with blocks under the tires, then use the jacks to "fine tune" the level. A small "torpedo" level on the counter over the fridge is a good measurement.

[TrailGuy77]

I kind of agree with Larry and Al-n-Sue.If you have a newer TM with good stabilizer jacks like BAL with a 7500 LB leveling/stabilizing capacity then you can easily level the TM "side to side" to a degree without any problems.As stated, whether the jacks can handle a lot of torque or not,if you put too much twist into the TM frame then things are NOT going to "line up right".

I level my TM "side to side" first.I get it as close as I can with leveling blocks under the "low side" tire.Then I level it "fore-aft" with the tongue jack.Finally,If I am lucky and it is level,I crank down the stabilizer jacks just till they make contact with the ground and are snug.Oh yeah,I also chock my tires really good like Wayne (PopBeavers) does to minimize movement,wiggle in the TM.This method has minimized any problems with alignment and opening/closing my TM.

Picking a campsite as level as possible definately makes life easier with a TM!

[PopBeavers]

I have posted numerous times how I level and stabilize my TM:

1. I level side to side by putting some combination of planks and Lego blocks under the low side. This lets the tires carry the weight. I carry two planks and two bags of Lego blocks. There is one campground that we like where I have to cross a dry creek bed. I take extra planks for that trip.

2. I set a pair of chocks in front of the TM tires. I pull the TM tightly into the chocks. Then I chock the back side of the TM tires. Then I put the truck in neutral and let the TM center itself between the chocks. I always use two chocks for each wheel of my single axle TM.

3. I disconnect from the truck and use the tongue jack to level the TM front to rear. I leave the corner jacks up as I pop the TM open.

4. My definition of level is that I can fry an egg in the middle of a frying pan. So I place a frying pan with a little water in it. I then use the corner jacks to adjust level until the water is spread equally across the bottom of the frying pan.

5. Like most everyone else around here, I use a cordless electric drill with an Allen wrench in it to lower and set the corner jacks. My corner jacks are never tighter than I could have gotten them by just using my hand directly on the jack with no handle or electric drill. I just don't feel like crawling down on the ground.

When I am done:

1. I can fry an egg in the middle of a frying pan.

2. The fridge is within spec.

3. The beds are more then level enough for sleeping.

4. The TM does not rock much as I walk around.

This procedure has worked well for me. It took me 2 years to figure this out. Now I use this same procedure every time.

If I will need to crank the jacks more than about half way, then I put blocks under them. I find that greatly extended jacks have some wobble to them.

If anyone has a better procedure I would like to hear about it.

[rotor_wash]

I would tend to disagree with using the scissor jacks for leveling. They are actually used for stabilizing. Myself, I purchased a leveler (1JA482088) through JCWhitney for $89.99. I level front to back first, then side to side using the leveler on the low side (obviously). Then bring down the stabilizers snug and when I open up the Tm I make any necessary adjustments. I have not had any problems since buying the leveler and going through this procedure.

The tire leveler from BAL looks interesting: http://www.norcoind.com/bal/products/consumer/leveling_products/tireleveler.shtml
There is some question if it fits 15" tires. Anyone have have experience with this item?

[[email protected]]

The tire leveler from BAL looks interesting: http://www.norcoind.com/bal/products/consumer/leveling_products/tireleveler.shtml
There is some question if it fits 15" tires. Anyone have have experience with this item?

I have and use one of these and it does fit 15" tires although it is very snug on my marathons. if you have a small hydraulic jack yo can use it to spread the chock a little to make it easier to install. This leveler works beautifully and it chocks the low side at the same time.

[rotor_wash]

The "spreading technique with a jack" to fit 15" tires was discussed on another trailer forum. Does this permanently open the leveler to a new width (bend?) or do you need to do it each usage?

[rumbleweed]

I use lego blocks and work great, don't rust and spread the load over a larger tire area.

[[email protected]]

The "spreading technique with a jack" to fit 15" tires was discussed on another trailer forum. Does this permanently open the leveler to a new width (bend?) or do you need to do it each usage?

No. Just the once. It bends it open a little. You might not even need to bend it depending on your tires.