Prospective buyer with questions

[duerrs]

Hello!

I have been lurking around this site for a couple of months now. We are considering upgrading from our pop-up (Coleman Mesa) to a Trailmanor 2720 next spring. We love the way it tows, but are tired of the extensive and time consuming set-up & take down. (Can you belive we are already sick of the set-up & take down after only 2 seasons? :) )

Anyway, I have a couple of questions. First of all, I have heard some of you talk about an optional lift kit. What is this exactly? I didn't see anything about it on Trailmanor's web site.

Second, does Trailmanor offer a factory receiver hitch for the back of the Trailmanor so that we can install a bike rack? We will only be carrying 2 adult bikes. Currently, we have a roof mount system on our pop-up that works very well. Hauling the bikes is a big concern for us. Do any of you haul bikes, and if so, how do you carry them?

Finally, how easy is the set-up and take down of the Trailmanor, as this is our main reason for upgrading. For those of you who have had pop-up's in the past, is the Trailmanor much easier and quicker?

Thanks in advance for you thoughts!

[beach832]

Our '05 3124KB came with a rear receiver hitch attached. I'm not sure if it was added by our dealer or a factor option. The receiver is set up for either a bike rack or extended storage bin.

I haven't had any experience with a Pop-Up, but compared to tent camping set up is a breeze. The shells are fairly easy to open and close. One person can fairly easily open/close the unit in just a few minutes.

[Bill]

There has been quite a bit of discussion about carrying bikes. Please use the Search tool to search for bike carrier hitch. Among the returns will be

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...hread.php?t=419
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...read.php?t=1807

Bill

[wesslvm]

Hello!

Second, does Trailmanor offer a factory receiver hitch for the back of the Trailmanor so that we can install a bike rack? We will only be carrying 2 adult bikes. Currently, we have a roof mount system on our pop-up that works very well. Hauling the bikes is a big concern for us. Do any of you haul bikes, and if so, how do you carry them?

Thanks in advance for you thoughts!

Hello!

We have a 2004 2720SL which we ordered from the factory WITH the rear mounted receiver. We haul our two mountain bikes to our destination, then remove and setup the camper. I move the bike rack to the tow vehicle and I'm all set. Works like a champ, and I'd have no qualms about mounting 4 bikes (my rack only holds three though). I believe the receiver is good for up to 300 lbs. weight.

I never owned a popup but we had one as a kid (the really old type with the wooden tops that hinged on each end and opened to form the base for the beds with the rest being canvas and poles!).

I find the actual opening and closing of the camper to be pretty easy and quick. It's the rest of the work mentioned elsewhere that takes all my time such as leveling, connecting, disconnecting from the TV and W/D hitch. Most any towed camper is going to have those issues. The only drawback for me is not having accessible storage when the unit is closed up and not being able to quickly get inside for those quick stops on the road. :(

Take care and good luck!

Vince

[RockyMtnRay]

There has been quite a bit of discussion about carrying bikes. Please use the Search tool to search for bike carrier hitch. Among the returns will be

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...hread.php?t=419
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...read.php?t=1807

Bill
The links aren't working for me, so they may not for our guest either...plus they're mostly in parts of the board open only to members.

In any case, as a person who regularly carries a mountain bike on trips, I have a Swagman "Towing" Bike Rack that mounts on the hitch bar of my Weight Distributing Hitch. With this rack I can carry up to 3 bikes more-or-less directly over the trailer's tongue and truck hitch area...which is a good place for stability and ease of access. I'm very happy with this rack in terms of both quality and usablity. Got it at Camping World (http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?skunum=17222) for about $40 less than the local bike shop wanted...and the Camping World store in Denver actually had it in stock.

Bikes can be carried behind the trailer but additional weight in that location will reduce the inherent stability of a TrailManor and I personally don't recommend it.

[RockyMtnRay]

We have a 2004 2720SL which we ordered from the factory WITH the rear mounted receiver. We haul our two mountain bikes to our destination, then remove and setup the camper. I move the bike rack to the tow vehicle and I'm all set. Works like a champ, and I'd have no qualms about mounting 4 bikes (my rack only holds three though). I believe the receiver is good for up to 300 lbs. weight.


I would definitely not recommend going over about 2 bikes on a rear-mounted rack. As you add weight that far behind the trailer's axle, you are substantially reducing the inherent sway-resistance of your TM. Folks that have carried 4 bikes on a rear mounted rack have reported their TMs have tended to want to sway. :eek:

[wesslvm]

I would definitely not recommend going over about 2 bikes on a rear-mounted rack. As you add weight that far behind the trailer's axle, you are substantially reducing the inherent sway-resistance of your TM. Folks that have carried 4 bikes on a rear mounted rack have reported their TMs have tended to want to sway. :eek:

You are of course correct on the sway concern. The first time I installed the rack and two bikes on the back I noticed a bit less stability. To counter this, I moved a couple of items (namely my screen porch canvas and rug) to the couch to help off set the weight to the front of the trailer. I have not had any problems since.

I looked at the rack/tow bar combo but I have a WD hitch all setup and don't want to change any of my dimensions. Probably not a problem but...

Vince

[k_and_p_camping]

We had a variety of pop-up for almost 20 years before the TM. Most set-up time is the same no matter what type of trailer you have (levelling, unhitching, hookups, etc). We find it took up about 15 minutes to do all that on the pop-up and it takes about the same on the TM. The difference is the time it takes to jack up the top of the pop-up and pull out the beds as compared to extending the TM and pulling out the beds. We find it faster to put up the TM than our pop-up, and you stay a lot dryer too! Living in the rainy midwest this is a major advantage. Another advantage of the TM is that we have more storage spots so we don't have to move everything on the floor all the time. It seemed like everytime we put up the pop-up we spent most of our time moving things from one end to the other!

Pam (previous owner of a Palomino and 3 different Coleman pop-ups)

[RCaerobat]

Here is a link for someone that added a bike rack...
http://home.comcast.net/~trailmanor/

Click on TM modifications and then bike rack.

Good luck, Emory.

[Gwenzilla]

I have heard some of you talk about an optional lift kit. What is this exactly? I didn't see anything about it on Trailmanor's web site.

Check out this link for a previous discussion on the lift kit.

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?p=15383&posted=1#post15383