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Old 05-14-2009, 08:32 PM   #1
Road Dog
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Talking New member-Thinking About A TM!

Hi All! Not new to the RV scene. We have owned a pop up, a 21ft TT, and 3 motor homes. We are now thinking of going back to towing again and the TrailManor seems like a good fit for us. We have been camping for over 40 years and we are going to sell our 05 Four Winds 28A after this season. I have a couple of questions for now: 1)What are the outside shells(walls) made of, is it aluminum? 2) How about the roof is it also aluminum or is it rubber? 3)How long is the warrantee? 4) How is the quality of the build? I had many problems with my Winnebago and my Bounder and don't care to re-live door rattles and drawer guides breaking! Would appreciate any comments from group here! I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future. Thank You All for your responses!
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Old 05-14-2009, 09:00 PM   #2
viking
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We bought our unit used about 18 months ago. We had a Jayco pop-up for 15 years before this. We use the TM about once a month for short 100 mile or less trips. Plus we have pulled it up to the “mountains” of North Carolina from Florida. From all the trips we have not really had any troubles with build quality. I have had minor problems with some screws coming loose but they were easy to fix with stuffing toothpicks and glue into the holes (thanks Bill for the suggestion). The roof and sides are made of aluminum. The aluminum roof is loud in the rain. As has been discussed in this forum there is no one camper that does it all as there are trade-offs with any unit. I like the low profile while towing and light weight of the TM unit. Set up takes me 2 minutes longer than a hard side camper to set up, plus you have less internal storage. Another plus to this unit compared to a hard side is that I can keep it in my garage and save on storage and keep my neighbors happy. I’m sure I have left a lot off but others will fill in the holes with their insight. Good Luck with your search!
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Old 05-15-2009, 08:08 AM   #3
ng2951
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Road Dog View Post
Hi All! Not new to the RV scene...
1)What are the outside shells(walls) made of, is it aluminum?
It is composite construction, much like aircraft. That is to say it is a laminate of aluminum bonded to foam. In fact, much of the interior furniture use the same techniques. This leads to a very strong, light, though more expensive structure.

The tip is that on TM built before 2003 MAY have wood beams supporting the shell. That leads to the possibility of wood rot, but definitely not a guarentee of such a malady. Besides, many trailers use the same construction materials, and I would wager that TM is no more prone (and possibly less) to this type of rot than any other trailer would be.
Quote:
2) How about the roof is it also aluminum or is it rubber?
I am not real sure what the roof is made of, other than it does not seem to leak even on older units.

The brilliance of the design is that it does not rely on the gaskets to keep the rain out. The way the roof slopes, the huge distance between the interior and exterior gaskets keeps the water out. I inspected a 89-90 2720 and saw no idications of any water leaks.
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4) How is the quality of the build? I had many problems with my Winnebago and my Bounder and don't care to re-live door rattles and drawer guides breaking!
I bought my '06 3326 used. It had a few dings and the awning had caused a leak near the window, all these had been repaired by the previous owner.

The only major problem I have had is when a piece of cap molding came off (about $32) and I had to reseat it. That gave me an opportunity to see the construction underneath and it looked quite sound.

Interior wise, nothing is cheesey, but it is built to be light. Most of it is a lot tougher than it appears. Since I have inspected older units, it does seem to hold up better than you would expect. The interior velco strips will need tuning and reattacting, but that seems rather minor to me.

The power plugs do not appear to be as soundly mounted as I would like, but they work just fine. As long as treat them like they should be, they will last a long time.

The appliances are pretty nice. The HW tank runs on propane or a/c--makes for fast recovery when you are trailer park. The frige is 3 way. One thing to watch is that when the frige is battery it bypasses the thermostat and runs full cold. The thermostat on works when on a/c or propane.

The stove is good, but the broiler is definitely anemic. It is a nice stove, and the oven works quite well.

The biggest negative with the trailer has little to do with construction. The problem is that everything has to be stowed, or off the counter tops when moving the trailer. This, of course, is not a huge deal but if you are use to TT where it does not matter if everything is stowed or not when moving the trailer it can be a bit of a surprise. Stay organized and it is much less of a problem.

The other thing to be aware of is that on the larger trailers (like the 3326) it real important to level everything. When you lock down the front legs the back may be out of alignment a bit. More experienced TM owners I think are so familar with this that they have forgotten about it when newbie asks. The principle problem this causes is preventing the rear door jam lining up. I just carry a bullet level with me for the rear of the trailer and that has fixed the problem.

I am pretty sure the trailers like the Mini, 2619, 2720, and 3023 never have this problem. 3126 is probably borderline and the 3326 is much more likely to have this problem. A lot of times it just depends on where you set up.
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Old 05-16-2009, 09:37 AM   #4
Road Dog
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Default Thanks for Responding!

Thanks for responding to my questions. I appreciate your knowledge and experience with TM
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Old 05-21-2009, 11:06 AM   #5
rjohn60
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I have a 3124 King, 1998, which I got used. I know the original owner (my brother), so I know something about the unit. We've had it 2 years (this season is our 3d), towed it over 1,100 miles on one trip, been out in 100 plus degree heat, and slept through rain storms. It tows easily, doesn't leak, the AC works well, and the door lines up when the unit is level. I've been told the refrigerator has to be level to work correctly, so the best way to level the unit is to put your level on the refrigerator floor and go from there. When the refrigerator is level, the unit is level. I've also found that when the refrigerator is level, the door lines up very well.
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Old 05-25-2009, 06:12 AM   #6
Mr. Adventure
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We've followed a similar RV trajectory, beginning with popups in the 70's. The advantage of the motorhome is having it all set up (but you still have to stow everything for sea before you get underway). The disadvantages included the size of the rig on the road, the awful gas mileage (7.5 mpg at 60mph), the maintenance of all that machinery while it's spending most of it's days parked in the RV storage lot, and when there's something wrong, it's a pain to get it to someone to fix it (for example, most of the places you take your car to get an oil change don't have the space or facilities for a motorhome). And you're still always towing, because you really need a car to go where you want to go when you get "there" almost no matter where that is.

The TrailManor, on the other hand, uses the same power train I take to work every day. It's roomy inside and reasonably well behaved on the road. the setup is only a few minutes more than the motorhome, considering that the extra size and mass of a motorhome requires more care and time to get it positioned, and the hookups aren't much different once you do (and you're still hitching and unhitching a towed vehicle with a motorhome). TM's have an amazing life span, compared to other RV's, judging from what's posted here. And, ours has been the most reliably ready to go RV we've ever owned. We do travel lighter than we used to, but with the price of gas as high as it is, we'd probably be more careful about what we carry in any RV.
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Old 05-27-2009, 07:37 PM   #7
Aggiebob
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Our 2720sl was our first rv experience. Prior to that, it was all about tent camping. We are in our third year with our TM and, other then inexperience, on my part, ownership has been and continues to be a pleasure. I have looked at friends different type trailers and I (as well as most of them) are very impressed with the construction, ease of operation, and dependability of the TM. I would recommend TM over anything else similar, on the market!! See me!
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Old 05-27-2009, 07:45 PM   #8
rumbleweed
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We have several friends with large TT and 5th wheels with slide-outs and without exception they all have commented about how bright and airy our TM is. There is a lot of ventilation and window area which makes the inside much more livable.
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Old 05-27-2009, 10:30 PM   #9
freein05
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We have a 2008 TM 2619 and have been using it for a little over a year. Our longest trip so far was 1,600 miles. There have been many 800 miles trips. No problems. I like the view from the inside it is a lot better then many RVs. The large windows make a big difference. A friend who we go RVing with has a 27 foot 5th wheel and our set up and take down time is less than his.
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