Purchasing New TM

[Carol Hagy]

Hi - I'm very close to purchasing a 2619 TM but I'm concerned about what I'm hearing regarding putting up and taking down the TM - that sometimes the torsion bars do not work well. Can someone enlighten me?

Carol :)

[BobRederick]

The torsion bars are guranteed for life. I think the problems are rare, but some folks have had to get them adjusted. I would suggest you become as familiar as possible with how a properly adjusted TM opens, then open & close the prospective unit a couple of times to see if it behaves normally.

Basically, the torsion bars open the TM a couple of inches as soon as the latches are released, so when closing, you have to push against that spring action to close them. A "bounce" can help here. Press down with your foot in the stirrup, let it recover up, then press down hard to get it to lock. That also gives you an idea if anything is in the way inside before any possible damage.

That reminds me of another good idea: stick your head in each end of the TM before letting a shell down. You might find something like "Whoops, I forgot to take down the hanging cabinet". Don't ask why I suggest that. :o

Another issue is to not open it on a slope. The TM should be level to open or close it. The torsion bars are adjusted for level conditions. If not level, you can have side-to-side friction or if front to back, one will open real easily and the other takes a lot of grunt.

[Carol Hagy]

Thanks Bob for the tips. I just picture myself out camping and not able to get the top up or down. What a way to ruin a camping trip. I figure with any trailer the first thing you're going to do is level it. From then everything should work as expected - just trying to reassure myself. I just sold my Scamp 16 foot last night and am just a little stressed about going into something that needs setting up. The campers on the Scamp website are giving me a hard time. :new_Eyecr

Carol

[Bill & Lisa]

Carol. Don't worry. My wife can set it up with ease. We did have to get some slight adjustments on the front shell as it was a little difficult for her to do alone. Tim, our dealer adjusted the bars until she was comfortable with it. The only thing now is we have to be prepared to manually brake the shell once it gets past the halfway point because it opens the rest of the way all on it's own! So the only advice is make sure you are comfortable with it before you leave the dealer (especially if it is not close to your home!)

Read the post below about interior set up to get an idea of how much "extra work" is involved in setting up a TM - not much at all above what you already are used to doing.
Bill

[Carol Hagy]

Hi and Thanks.

At the Scamp website a couple of people said there could possibly be trouble with setting up TM because if trailer isn't level shells won't go up or down into place. Well - like I said before with any trailer you should be sure it's level before you do anything else. I just wanted to be assured that no one was experiencing major problems with them. I just don't want to be in the middle of no where and not be able to set up. I love the space in the TM and really like hearing others' experiences with their TM. I'll probably be picking up my TM (after 2 hours of instructions) the end of November.

Carol :)

[Carol Hagy]

Thanks. My camping buddy and my brother are going with me to pick it up. We'll defintely take notes and put our heads together. Thanks so much for the encouragement. ;) I plan to be a regular here getting all the info I can and sharing my experiences. Can't wait 'til Spring. Thanks all and Happy Thanksgiving.
Carol :rolleyes:

[Bill & Lisa]

I agree, why wait! I couldn't when we pick up ours less than 2 months ago. We have been out three times already. If you go where there is electric hook up a $20 ceramic heater from Walmart (many shapes, sizes and colors) along with the insulation afforded by the tm wall can do most of the work heat wise. It got down to 39F at night this last trip and I did have the gas furnace thermostat set to kick in if the electric couldn't handle the load. It did kick in once or twice during the night but for the most part we heated with campground electricity vice our propane tanks :) That said, electric blanket on the bed was nice too, although we kept havinb to turn it down because it was toasty in our TM!

Bottom line, you can camp in most weather in a TM. If you live or camp where there is a chance of snow from what I read in this forum make sure you have a broom handy incase you need to brush the snow off the lower shell as you close everything up!

Bill

[Leslie & Nick]

Carol.

We bought a used 2619 about 6 months ago. We've been out with it about 5 times thus far on 3 and 4 day trips, and we really like it. We had been tent campers for many years, and there is no comparison. We had previously rented several RV including Class A's, C's, and folding pop-ups. The TrailManor seemed like the best choice for us since we must store it in a garage due to HOA covenants. I know some people store their trailers at storage lots, but I like having mine close at hand an indoors. We live in a temperate climate so we can pick up and go most any time of the year.

Anyway, to allay some of your concerns, we have found the TrailManor quite easy to set up and take down. In fact my wife an I recently timed ourselves setting it up - we kind of make a game out of it. I think we opened and locked it, and set up the interior walls in something like 5-6 minutes. You will, of course, get better at setting up the more you do it. We've never tried it, but I think one person could set up the TM pretty easily. As others mentioned, we've found it takes more time to level the trailer than actually set it up. The torsion bars have thus far not been a problem for us.

Here's an idea you might consider. If you have a video camera, take it with you when you pickup your TM. As the dealer, or current owner demonstrates the set up/take down procedures use your camera to film the process. If you don't have a video camera, use a still camera to record the various steps. You'll only have to refer back to these for a short while, but the video/pix might help.

Hope you enjoy your TrailManor as much as we have. As you no doubt realize by now, this board is an excellent source of information- well worth the minimal annual fee.

Nick




:) :) :)

[Carol Hagy]

Yes - there are a few more good weekends 'til really cold weather sets in but so much to do at home.

I did decide to purchase the 2619 and plan to pick it up this weekend (12/3). I'm excited! :) I'll have to think of something original to name her.

Thanks for everyone's input. You've been a great help. ;)

Carol

[Speckul8r]

Took the TM to DC the weekend of Thanksgiving so we could take the grandkids to the Smithsonian. The oldest is 8 and loves dinosaurs. 29 degrees the first night and 27 the second. Was a bit of a weenie worried about the heat for a 9 month old so I topped off the propane and took along the 1500 watt oil filled electric radiant heater. Snaked a 12 gauge extension cord thru the pnemonia hole at the door joint, placed the heater in the "Hallway" and went to sleep. With the 2 kids, there Mom and the 2 of us, the furnace came on a max of 4 times on the cold night. Go camping.

[Carol Hagy]

All sounds great. What about water in the lines when you camp in cold weather? Where in DC did you camp? I'm in Baltimore.

Carol
:)

[Carol Hagy]

Thanks. So there's no need to use RV anti-freeze at any time as long as you're not filling the water holding tank and running water thru the lines? :confused: The dealer is saying there's no need to winterize at all.(?)
Carol

[Queeniereads]

I would prefer to be on the safe side -- we do winterize. It did not take too much time to disconnect the battery, and a few other things (which hubby did and would have to describe) and throw pink stuff down the proper drains, etc. Queeniereads aka Judi

[Bill]

Just to clarify about winterizing. For long-term winter storage:

1. As Judi said, disconnecting the battery is necessary unless you keep a good 3- or 4-stage charger on it.

2. Open all four drain valves under the road side of the trailer, and leave them open. Turn on the hot and cold faucets in the kitchen sink, to aid in draining.

3. Unscrew the outdoor shower head from the end of the hose. Don't lose the little washer! Shake the water out of it, and set it aside for the winter. Pull the hose out and drop it on the ground to drain. Open the hot and cold valves for the shower. You can push the hose back into the opening.

4. Put the inside shower head on the floor of the tub, and allow it to drain.

5. Pink stuff in the drains is not necessary, but as Judi says, it can't hurt. If you don't use pink stuff, the water in the traps will freeze - but won't hurt anything.

That's about it! The tough parts of winterizing are not needed! I bet your Scamp friends have to install a water heater bypass kit, drain the water heater, pump antifreeze through the lines, etc, etc, etc. The TM designers have made all this unnecessary! Thanks, TM!

Bill

[Carol Hagy]

Thanks for the information. I'll pass it onto my brother. He understands these things and can teach me after he does it the first time. I'm hoping to store my TM in the garage. It still gets cold in there but may cut down on some icing. I'll take the battery out and store in the basement. Thanks for all your help. I'm excited. Can't wait to take it out. :cool: I still need to know what TM owners do when camping in really cold weather. What do you do about water (or do you now use the water lines)? :confused:

Carol :)

[Bill]

Carol -

No need to remove the battery - they are heavy! And batteries actually store better when the temperature is cold. Just make sure it is fully charged, and then either pull the battery fuse (located right at the battery in a holder in the positive cable) or disconnect one of the cables from the battery.

As for using the camper's water system in cold weather, I think Texas_Camper answered the question pretty well in post #16 in this thread. I have camped out at zero using his approach, and it worked well. Is there another question beyond what he answered?

Bill

[Speckul8r]

Carol, We camped in the Prince Wiliam Travel Trailer Village in Dumfries, VA. You can see my comments on the place in the "Campground" section if interested. Used the water tank and water from home. No outside connections.

I can't imagine not doing the little bit of winterizing to the TM in MD. Get's fair cold there.

Page 19, #6, of my TM manual says "Disconnect both lines to the water pump." Any comments on that?? :confused: This is a 2006 model. I had done all the draining and even put the pink stuff in the drains b4 going on this last jaunt. I noticed while filling the TM at home that the pump started rather slow and took a few seconds to come up to speed while charging the hot water tank.

[amp17408]

Took the TM to DC the weekend of Thanksgiving so we could take the grandkids to the Smithsonian.

I've been wanting to try some cold weather camping but wasn't expecting it to be quite this cold. We took our TM to the mountains of Huntingdon County (PA) that same weekend. Loaded up the dogs and the granddaughter, packed our warm clothes and down comforter and off we went. We had some snow on Wednesday night and Thursday. Our nighttime temps were slightly colder than what the weatherman said they were to be, 15 and 10 degrees, and we ran out of gas the 2nd night (at 5am) Thank goodness for the down comforter and small heater we carry along. The water line to the trailer was frozen solid and hubby had to go outside at 5am and drain the water heater but we survived the trip and all is well. Our TM is now sitting in the driveway, cleaned and winterized and bundled up for the long winter.

Happy Holidays! :)

[Carol Hagy]

Thanks very much. No further questions at this time. I'm eagerly looking forward to picking up my new TM tomorrow. Have a nice weekend and Merry Christmas.

Carol :)

[Bill]

Wendy -

I'm not sure if there was a reason to drain the water heater. If you had hookups, of course, it would have stayed warm from the electric heating element inside it. If you didn't have hookups, the water heater is indoors (under the sink) and so it won't get any colder than the inside of the TM gets. Even then, it is very well insulated, and will hold its heat for a long time. Eventually, of course, it must be drained before you put the TM up for the winter. But draining at 5AM? Brrr!

Bill

[Carol Hagy]

Hi everyone. I picked up my new 2619 TM last Saturday 12/3 and it fits in the garage. I'm so excited. :biggrinbo Going camping in cold weather just doesn't excite me so I'll have to wait until Spring. Hope I see some of you on my outings.

Carol

[Bill & Lisa]

Congrats and welcome to the club