2720 Ground Clearance ?

[MikeD]

Hi,

We are getting our 2720 at the end of October. A neighbor has offered to let me store it at their place while I have some work done on my garage. The only problem is that his driveway is on a downhill slope (I would back the Trailmanor in). The slope is about 2 feet down in 10-12 feet (about 10-11 degrees). After about 15 feet it flattens out again. It seems to me that the trailer will scrape before I am able to get it down to the flat portion.

Any thoughts ??

thanks, Mike

[Windbreaker]

Just from what you have said, I just don't know. But what I would do is break out the old protractor/ruler and draw it out. Easy way to check it. Did you get the lift kit? Could make all the difference in the world.

If it is not raining cats and dog in the morning, I'll do and let youknow what my guess is.

[RockyMtnRay]

The slope is about 2 feet down in 10-12 feet (about 10-11 degrees).

My driveway has a slope like that all the way down to the curb (an additional 6 inch drop). Never had any problems backing my 2720 into or up the driveway. But...and this might be a pretty important but...I do have the 2" lift kit (I kinda, sorta remember that I've seen only around 2 inches of clearance between the drain pipes and the ground at various points in the backing process).

As Windy notes, the lift kit can make a helluva difference.

[MikeD]

We don't have our 2720 yet, so I can't take any measuements. I assume that the tires without the lift kit raise the lowest point up to about 8-10 inches (assuming the 14 inch wheels). I also assume that it is about 15 feet from the wheels to the hitch point. This would tell me that I should scrape when going down the 2 foot grade, and that the maximum slope might be about 6+ degrees (worst case about half way down with a slope of 10 inches and 7.5 feet). Does this make sense ?

thanks, Mike

[Bill]

This might not be of much help before the fact. But if you do try to move the TM into the driveway, and you do start to drag, remember that you can raise the hitch and lower the rear bumper by cranking up the springbars higher than normal. Similarly, you can raise the rear bumper and lower the hitch by releasing the springbars and getting a couple people to stand on the A-frame.

Because the wheels aren't in the middle of the TM, the bumper moves up and down only about half as much as the hitch. But it just might make the difference between getting the TM into the driveway, and dragging a groove into the asphalt.

Bill

[Windbreaker]

Did some calculations, if you have 2 1/2" lift kit you should have about 3 inchs clearance. But this is assuming a level TM to TV connection. If the break in grade occurs before both sets of wheels on the TV are on grade you could be as much as 5" short on clearance. That is if the upper break in grade and the lower break in grade fall so that the bumper enters flat area while front TV wheels are on flat area you are compounding the problem.


If you do not have the lift kit I would not try it.

When all is said and done I would have someone stand to the side and watch as I slowly backed, if it looks like a problem, park it on the street. (and claim you don't know who it belongs to should someone ask)

[MikeD]

Windbreaker,

Thanks - that about what I got also. The break in the grade will occur before the TV rear wheels are on the grade. I'll see if I still have time for the factory to put the lift kit on the trailer - it seems that it could be really useful for national forest camping - it appears that the ground clearance is a little low without the lift kit.

thanks, mike

[Happytrails]

As Ray pointed out to me, a picture is worth a thousand words, here is my TM parked in my rather steep driveway. I have no lift on it at all, and it doesn't scrape. Hope this helps......

Happytrails............

[Happytrails]

Another view?

Happytrails.........

[Moonshot]

My driveway is steeper than Happy's. My tongue jack scrapped the first time up the driveway with my 1999 3023. I cut about 2" off the jack. This helped, but it would still scrape if I didn't place 2" lumber under my TV's rear wheels as they go from street to driveway. The fix, of course, is beefing up my concrete drive where it meets the street but I have procrastinated.

Be real careful and be prepared to abort the mission!

Scott

[Windbreaker]

There is a difference in the photos and his problem. His grade is level, down slope, level. Makes a difference.

[Bill]

The only problem is that his driveway is on a downhill slope (I would back the Trailmanor in). The slope is about 2 feet down in 10-12 feet (about 10-11 degrees). After about 15 feet it flattens out again.Aha! Like Happy, I had the wrong mental picture. You will be backing down a slope, and then onto a level section. Somehow I had pictured the "downhill slope" as starting from the house, so you would be backing uphill ...

Moonshot's idea - laying some 2x6's in the bend, parallel to the direction of travel - and maybe two or even three of them on each side - would get you way more height than a lift kit. Ought to ease the transition over the bend just fine.

And note that if the tongue jack scrapes, it is easy to remove - just unscrew the three bolts. You wouldn't want to do it on a daily basis, but for a once-only application, it is quite reasonable.

Is this sketch what we are talking about?

Bill

[MikeD]

Bill,

That's the sketch. I was also worried about scrapping the bottom between the TM tires and the TV. as I said, since I don't have the TM yet, I'm just guessing about the ground clearance (8-10 inches with 14 inch wheels ?), and the distance from the TM wheels to the TV hitch (about 15 feet ?). In either case, laying the boards on the slope should also work to lift the TM enough to avoid the scrape.

Thanks for all of the help - Mike

p.s. cool picture - what did you use to draw it ?

[Bill]

p.s. cool picture - what did you use to draw it ?Mike -

In another life, I did a ton of customer presentations on highly technical electronics systems. Had to do all my own artwork, so I got pretty good with PowerPoint. I don't recommend it as a general drawing tool, since there is a pretty steep learning curve, but the end result can be very nice. Here, although the original drawings look pretty good, shrinking them to a small file size (~5K) in a web-friendly file format (.gif) leaves something to be desired. But it's enough to get the point across.

Bill

[Happytrails]

Yes, good sketch Bill.....and I see now. BTW, I'm curious what you used to draw it as well.......

Happytrails...........