Travel strategy

[whitegs]

We will be doing a 10 day trip with our new 2720 on its maiden voyage. We'll be staying only 1 night at two of our stops along the way. How much setup and tear down do people do when stopping for only one night. We could leave the bathroom folded down and use the campground facilities (though the female member of the team might prefer not walking around outside at night).

Also, can we leave the trailer hitched up? Will it be level? How much hassle is it to unfold while still hitched to the tow vehicle? When I first opened the TM in my driveway, it was not level front to back and I had a heck of a time pulling the front open.

Of course I'd have preferred to spend at least a full day at any stop but our schedule is simply not permitting it.

Thanks for any comments.

Doc

[ShrimpBurrito]

When we travelled cross-country, we sometimes stopped at a campground just to spend the night. We arrived at 7-8pm, and departed 12 hours later to get back on the road. When we did that, we often stayed at "RV Parks", the usually undesirable-to-us places with hookups, etc. because they were often close to the highway and had level campsites. The latter means there was minimal leveling and also gave us the ability to set up the TM without unhitching. We basically parked, put in the wheel chocks, lowered the jacks, popped the shells, and set up the bathroom. Done.

We don't do this often, so perhaps others will comment, but in our experience, if you do not unhitch, you will only be able to do minor leveling of the TM via the stabilized jacks (~1 inch in any direction), so that often eliminates all but the developed commercial campgrounds.

Although you certainly could, you probably won't want to leave the bathroom closed because with the bathroom wall down, a switch is opened that cuts power to all the lights on the front shell, the water heater (at least when operating on gas), and maybe some other places too.

Dave

[wmtire]

I would look at it as an opportunity to get more acquainted with the opening/closing of the trailer...even if just for one night. The more practice you get, the faster you will become. You'll get to the point where you can do it in under 10 minutes.

You are going to only save a minute or two, by not putting up the bathroom walls. That is one of the easiest steps in the process, actually. You don't have to charge the toilet, if you are going to use the campground facilities, which will save time when you leave since you won't need to dump.

Personally, I would always unhook it before attempting to open it up. Having it level, makes all the difference in the world. I know this is not something you may want to consider, but what if a medical emergency happens in the middle of the night. You sure don't want to be either trying to unhook the trailer from the vehicle, or close it down, if you are needing to get somewhere fast. You just need to get in your vehicle and go.

There are some good checklists on this site, that are very helpful to download and print out........that will help you in the steps of opening and closing the trailer. Practice makes perfect.

Enjoy your trip.

[ThePair]

I'd say for ~30 seconds of work, putting up the bathroom walls seems like a no-brainer to me. The wall switch cut-off would be the biggest reason--you don't need to necessarily use the bathroom or charge the toilet or anything like that. Just put up the walls, and drop them back down the next morning. Seeing as the propane and CO detectors won't run with the walls down, I'd put them up for that.

I'd think front to back leveling would be limited hitched (although a few inches may be possible). Side to side would be somewhat limited as well, although you'd think the hitch would pivot some and allow for side-to-side a bit, as long as you detach any WDH springbars.

Ironically, it would be easier to do this at a few of the campgrounds we've stayed (not the full service type, but still relatively level) than our own driveway, which has enough slope to make front to back leveling impossible while hitched.

[whitegs]

I've set it up and down several times in the driveway, and each time it's easier and faster. Just wondering if you charge the toilet, do you just drive to the next sites and not dump until it's full.

Doc

[PopBeavers]

I would charge the toilet with water but no chemicals. That small amount of water will not slosh out while towing. That way if you have a sudden need o use it in the middle of the night at least it is flushable. If you don't use it you wasted a bit of water. Add the chemicals after the first use. I would add a Potty Toddy table, just for a bit of odor control.

If you need to raise or lower the tongue to get it leave then you will have to unhitch. It is easier if the tongue is low, because then you can jack the tongue up and then in the morning you lower it back to where it was, as long as you did not move the TV. I would disconnect power, breakaway and safety cables so that if you did drive off you would not accidentally drag the trailer with you. You might have a sudden illness or, if you were in California, there might be a mandatory fire evacuation, depending on where you are camped.

We spent a week on the north cost of California a couple of years ago. We stayed two nights at each spot, using the full day for sight seeing. I will never do that again. I would stay a minimum of 3 nights. I got tired of setup/tear down, even though we only took 2 chairs to set outside. It was still annoying to clear off the counter tops.

If I was en route to a destination that would be different. I would just put up with it. But when the journey is the vacation, 3 night minimum for me.

I know the bathroom wall controls the rear shell lights on mine, not the front. Not sure about the water heater. I do not recall that. But the CO and LP detector is disabled with the bathroom wall down. I would not recommend that.

I normally set my wheel chocks very tightly, by pulling the TM into front chocks and then having my wife set the rear chocks and then use neutral to settle into the sweet spot. This is quite effective at reducing wiggle in the trailer. But for a single night for just the two of us I would get lazy and just kick the chocks in.

I would no need shore power. For the little usage I would have for lights in the evening I could put nearly all of that back while towing. But, I know that my truck puts out a decent amount of charge. More than enough to run the fridge on 12 volts. If I had been using the furnace then that would be different.

[bfezel]

It isn't unusual for us to only spend one night in a location while traveling. We always do a full set-up and as someone else has remarked it gets easier and faster the more you do it. Also, it isn't unusual to have interested neighbors who have never seen a TM and we invite them in. You want to have everything set-up and functioning for these curious guests.

There have been a few times that we were able to leave the TM hitched to the TV. This only works if there is minimum leveling required which can be achieved with leveling blocks side to side and with the tongue jack fore and aft. Opening the TM with it hitched is no problem if it is level. Sure saves a ton of time when preparing to leave the following morning.

The best to you on your maiden voyage.

Bill

[mtnguy]

I leveled my Trailmanor several times without unhitching for those 1 niters. Level side to side as you always do, and if you are tongue low, drive the rear wheels of your tow vehicle up on blocks, and if you are tongue high, just drive the Trailmanor up on additional blocks. If you really want to tweak your setup, then you put down the jacks and adjust with those.

Whether you can open your TM is another matter, depending on your tow vehicle. If you have a SUV, things can get tight, and you probably won't be able to raise the back glass. The front corners of my raised TM were really close to the high bed on my F150, so I towed using the front pin holes of the hitch shank, to give that little extra room just in case my truck and TM weren't in a straight line.

[PopBeavers]

Whether you can open your TM is another matter, depending on your tow vehicle. If you have a SUV, things can get tight, and you probably won't be able to raise the back glass. The front corners of my raised TM were really close to the high bed on my F150, so I towed using the front pin holes of the hitch shank, to give that little extra room just in case my truck and TM weren't in a straight line.

I do not understand this point. While towing a closed TM you should have plenty of clearance with the truck. I

[rumbleweed]

My $0.02. I think the little extra effort to unhook, level and set up is worth it. I am not a big fan of moving around in the TM with the jacks up and the shells not fully opened and latched. Doing so puts added strain on the shell alignment and can cause issues with the door closing properly. I have opened and closed mine inn the yard just to show a curious friend. If you don't move either TV or TM rehitching should be easy.

[mtnguy]

I do not understand this point. While towing a closed TM you should have plenty of clearance with the truck. I


Wayne, I was referring to the TM being in the open position while it is still attached to the TV.

[mtnguy]

My $0.02. I think the little extra effort to unhook, level and set up is worth it. I am not a big fan of moving around in the TM with the jacks up and the shells not fully opened and latched. Doing so puts added strain on the shell alignment and can cause issues with the door closing properly. I have opened and closed mine inn the yard just to show a curious friend. If you don't move either TV or TM rehitching should be easy.

Bob, I agree that the shells should be fully opened and latched into place, and I never camped in mine without that. But, I have used it, as well as my current camper with the jacks up with no problem. I wouldn't think the stress of walking in a camper without he jacks down causes any more stress than towing that puppy down the road.

And I agree if you don't move the TV, it ought to line up perfect when you are ready to reattach......unless you are bubble high in front, and need to lower the tongue below the ball......then you are still going to have to move the TV. The added time needed to jack up the tongue and remove the WDH bars, plus reattach them the next day probably won't add a total of 20 minutes or so.....but the OP was just wondering if it is feasible, and I was just giving him ideas. The times that I did not unhitch was convenient for me to setup without hassle, and get on the road quick the next morning.

[Joseph]

For what it’s worth;

When traveling cross country and doing the one night stand at the KOA’s the only leveling I do is side to side with the lego blocks if needed. Most of the time it is not needed. Most of the sites at camps of this sort are fairly level. That is enough for us. We are sleeping..;) I leave the TM connected to the truck but I do disconnect the TV power from the TM. I do set up the bathroom and toilet. Full water and chemicals. This is dumped the next morning. You never know what might end up in the toilet over night...:eek: and the chemicals are cheap. I do not drop the levelers. We do only what is needed to get to sleep.:new_sleep

[PopBeavers]

Wayne, I was referring to the TM being in the open position while it is still attached to the TV.

Now I get it. If you open the TM in camp and are not in a straight line then the high bed gets in the way of the front of the TM unless you are in a very nearly straight line.

My 2005 1500HD has enough clearance, but my 2008 2500HD has a taller tailgate and I can see that is getting tight.

I just always disconnect with the 2500HD I guess.

I can't keep my two trucks straight in my mind sometimes.

[PopBeavers]

Once, I was at home doing some cleaning and I (220 pounds) was as far back on the rear bed as I could go in my 2720 and it felt like the front end was going to pop a wheelie.

I always set at least the two rear jacks.

Without the rear stabilizers set, I wonder how much weight it takes on the rear bed to lift the front wheel at the tongue off of the ground?

[TexasCamper]

These are my "shortcuts" for a 1-nighter:

TV/TM setup:
- I'll still chock wheels & disconnect electric connection to TV
- I'll still take TM off hitch to allow my TV suspension to "relax" overnight
- pull car forward only a few inches, so I'm still pretty aligned
- drop the stabilizers but I won't be so picky on how level TM becomes (much to my wife's happiness!)
- warning: when leaving TV so close to TM, watch your head & back when pulling the TM's front shell up.
- I won't put up the front & rear window stone guards.

Bathroom
- I'll set up all internal walls (not so bad)
- I'll charge the toilet, but instead of using the standard Thetford chemical bottle, I'll use one of those $1.00 Thetford dry packs. Warning: the dry pack's powder is a strong irritant. Don't let the powder free-fall into the toilet, or pour it in while flushing. Turn the fan on too.
- I also charge the toilet with four gallons, so that I get a good flush action when dumping.....I won't drive with a charged toilet.

Appliances etc.
- I won't turn on the hot water heater, to save energy.
- Also won't use the shower so the curtain won't be wet next morning
- We'll use plastic-ware instead of washing our permanent dishes/cups/silverware.

John