Lift kit

[commodor47]

Originally Posted by Scott O

. . . Before purchasing (and we ordered it from the factory so that would not have affected the answer) we asked about a lift kit or larger wheels. I was told that these would affect the suspension of the trailer and make it very harsh, which would beat it to death over time. . . .

I think the reference to the very harsh ride is related to the larger wheels for that particular model. As to the lift kit for the newer TM models, check this post:

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...?t=5042&page=3

Your unit should have the newer Dexter axle which gives you more ground clearance than earlier models. We did add the lift to our unit as our axle is set at 22.5 down (that will make more sense once you read the linked post).

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Scott O

... we asked about a lift kit or larger wheels. I was told that these would affect the suspension of the trailer and make it very harsh, which would beat it to death over time.

The factory may very well be right about this. As part of the Great Tire Experiment, several of us are trying out different tires and tire sizes. It will be several months at best before we have answers, of course, but that is part of the experiment.

A harsh ride, and beating the TM to death, are among our major concerns (though not the only ones). I've just made the change to 15" tires, but will run them at 55 psi instead of the max-rated 65 psi. At this reduced pressure, they have more load-bearing capacity than the stock 14" tires, but are not as rock-hard as they would be at max. I have no results yet. My first big trip will be in mid-October - 2000 miles from Maine to Rocky Mountain National Park, followed by 1000 miles from RMNP to Scottsdale, AZ. That trip may or may not tell me something about the longevity of the larger tires - but it will certainly give me an answer to the "shake it and pound it" question. Look for a report about the third week in November.

Bill

Thank you mjlaupp. I understand what you are saying. Mine is the leaf spring type. I thought something was wrong looking at it because the tubing that came with the kit would not bolt to anything.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Another issue to keep in mind when considering the lift kit is that you will need additional height when lowering the stabilizers. Raising the frame 4" almost guarantees you'll be using blocks of some sort on each stabilizer every single time.

Dave

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Another issue to keep in mind when considering the lift kit is that you will need additional height when lowering the stabilizers. Raising the frame 4" almost guarantees you'll be using blocks of some sort on each stabilizer every single time.Dave

My 2005 TM 2720 is presently parked on the street outside my window. I have the lift kit. I estimate that the corner jacks are 3/4 extended. I am not presently using any boards or blocks.

However, I almost always camp in either state parks, national parks or forest service campgrounds, which are never level. So I have two bags of Leggo blocks plus a few boards.

[rickst29]

First a slightly OT:

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Another issue to keep in mind when considering the lift kit is that you will need additional height when lowering the stabilizers. Raising the frame 4" ....

IIRC, and I'm pretty sure that I do, the lift kit for my model year (2006) added about 2.5". 2006 is the current welded-on setup, I needed to order it at build time if I wanted it. The increase in height caused by upgrading from the "small axle" and 14" rims to the 3023/3124 "big axle" and 15" rims is about the same-- a bit of height in the tires, most of the difference comes from the height in the axle itself. ShrimpMan, maybe your 4" was a figure for both, combined? If so, it's closer to 5". My garage could handle one or the other, and I wanted the big axle and tires because I don't like the idea of running the small ones so close to their max rated capacity so often. But either one would have been a good match for my garage door height.

Now for the title subject. I've got the upgrade and quite a bit of experience driving it, and I think that the advice to Scott-O wasn't correct: You can have the big axle/wheels/tires and not shake a 2619/2720 to death. (My experience does include some not-so-good roads.) But you must lower the air pressure in the tires, by a LOT. Maybe the factory didn't think of this-- my TM owner's manual says to always pump them up to the maximum cold PSI shown on the sidewall of the tire-- 50 PSI for the 14", 65 PSI for the 15" Marathon tires. Goodyear disagrees, strongly, when the tires aren't fully loaded. Air Pressure helps the sidewalls resist flex, while the loading from the Trailer causes flex. Goodyear wants you to run with the correct sidewall flex characteristics, and in order to get that, you must TUNE your PSI up and down according to the tire's load.

I stay pretty close to Goodyear's Marathon loading chart, which has the "big" tires at about 45 PSI cold on my 2619 (even loaded really heavy, ABOVE the official load capacity of a 2619 without the axle/tire upgrade). My TPMS shows 48-49 PSI after warming up for a few miles. I add a few more PSI if driving non-California freeways and planning to drive at more than 50 MPH for an extended period. Just because they're capable of 65 PSI (and they allow even higher for fast freeway driving), doesn't mean that you should run them "rock-hard" when loaded so much less than capacity!

Coming home, without full water tanks and drinking water bottles (and wine, and beer, and food), I'm usually choosing about 42 PSI cold. The table actually recommends less than 40, but I haven't got the guts to leave 'em down that far. The not-over-inflated tires are an important component in making the suspension more "cushy", and they're also much safer being run this way. (Too much PSI in the tire, under "light" loads, causes too small a contact patch with the pavement. The tire is prone to bouncing off the road, and when your TM is flying with one or even both tires in the air, it isn't traveling safely.) Stuff in the TM enjoys a nice ride-- stuff doesn't fly around in the cupboards, the stove top doesn't fall off, and stuff set on the floor doesn't move around while towing.

So the factory is correct about shaking the trailer to bits-- but only if you follow their REALLY BAD advice, pumping the D-rated tires up to 65 PSI all the time, even when traveling lightly loaded. Follow Goodyear's instructions, they really do know more about it. Because my 42-45 cold PSI doesn't leave a lot of headroom if/when something bad happens, I've got a TPMS running all the time too.

I went with the 2 inch lift and it made just the difference I needed to get it where I wanted to go. It has also helped a couple times when I ran into an unforseen dip in a campground area. Can't say about the ride although everything is generally in the same place after a trip.

I have the factory lift kit in my 2005 TM 2720. In three seasons of camping, I finally scraped ground for the first time this month. The tray that holds the batteries in the front scraped when leaving a parking lot via the driveway.

Without the lift kit I have no doubt that I would have scraped several other times.