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Old 04-19-2012, 06:43 AM   #2
brulaz
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1) Tow rating of 5-6K should be fine. I would be more concerned about the vehicles payload. Most SUV's and small trucks are around 1000#. If you guys are 600-700# and the tongue weight is 500-600#, you will be over. I would look for a vehicle that can handle 1500# payload. Or more, but then you'll probably have to go to a pickup.

2) The Elkmont bed is pretty strong. It's a laminate made just like the walls and roof. If unsure, it would be fairly easy to run an extra support beam down the middle (front to back). Dunno about the others.

3) The main problem we had with our Elkmont in cold weather is condensation on the interior walls. Also the furnace wasn't properly installed but that's been fixed. It's still noisy though. With electricity, a small, quiet electric heater is what we prefer. If the temp drops below 0C, we wrap all the outside spigots and valves in plastic bags and open some of the cupboards to keep the pipes warm. So far no problem. Others have winter camped w/o problems in the folding trailers with a little care.

4) dunno

5) This is why we got the Elkmont. We get about 12 mpgUS with our current TV and with our earlier Tacoma. That's traveling through your part of the world and back and forth to Florida as well. Typical mileage for the folding trailmanors is ~16 mpgUS. If you can find/afford a diesel SUV, you can do better with both.

6) My Ekmont's FW tank is actually 30gal, though I know they advertised it as 20gal. I also upgraded my black water tank to 30gal so we last longer w/o dumping. With care (no flushing at night, use outside facilities when possible, and so on), we use about 2 gal per day flushing. Other's can do much better. And the folding trailers have a re-circulating toilet that uses little or no water. We use more water for washing (grey) than flushing (black), even when we "Navy" wash. So I carry a few 15gal containers to refill if necessary.

Propane is rarely a problem, even with the Elkmont's big propane frig/freezer (another plus for the Elkmont). We only change a tank once a year or so.

7) We bought ours in Texas. The dealer had a form for us to sign so no state tax was paid, and gave us a temporary 30 day license to get it up to Canada. Only a few states will do this. The same applies to TVs. Getting it across the border was simple as long as you have all the paperwork and a credit card ready. After that, in Ontario at least, was a Canadian Tire inspection and provincial licensing.

8) One big guy with an Elkmont complained that the bathroom was too cramped. You might realistically look at bigger trailers?

The early Elkmont's had lots of issues. Our 2010 had roof leaks and poor installation of the furnace, sink and other problems. But they were fixed under warranty. Unless these items have been taken care of ...
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