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Old 10-28-2007, 11:06 PM   #11
B_and_D
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Originally Posted by P and B View Post
Chap,

BTW are there any tricks for keeping the tires in good shape while the thing is just sitting there? I know that sometimes tires go out of round or develop a flat spot. Of course I'm afraid of the answer...hitch it up and move it occasionally ;-)

Phil
For the past 2 years or so, we haven't been able to go camping as much as we'd like to. Sometimes the TM sits unused for 5 or 6 months at a time . During these times, we make it a point to jack it up (one side at a time) every month or so and turn the wheels about 1/3 so that they don't develop a flat spot. Once we figured out how to do this (4 x 4 board on one side, plus the bottle jack, 4 x 4 plus another 2 x 6, or another, depending on where it ends up in the driveway, on the other side) it isn't that big of a deal. Seems to be working so far.
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Old 10-29-2007, 06:13 AM   #12
P and B
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BTW P&B.....great avatar!!! If y'all could get the TM down that winding road (driveway?), y'all shoudn't ever have a problem backing.

Chap
Chap,

That winding road IS our driveway, and the first backing job Phil ever did with the TM. It wasn't pretty.

At the very top, it drops off steeply, as does the driver's view of everything behind the car, even when not towing. So the advice to have the spotter stay in the driver's view, shut up and point did not work out very well for us. And it was unsatisfying for the spotter.

We've moved up to walkie-talkies, but it still makes for a very grim hour (hour and a half?) getting the TM to the bottom while keeping it off the rocks and out of the bushes.


Beth
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Old 10-29-2007, 07:50 AM   #13
camp2canoe
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Phil - your driveway sounds familiar... a lot like ours! You might consider a front hitch on the Suburban. Advantages include tighter turning and being able to see what you are doing. It also makes a great place to hang a bike rack. I scrape briefly every time I pull in or out of the drive - I think TMs are built for this. Enjoy!
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Old 10-29-2007, 10:20 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by P and B View Post
Chap,

That winding road IS our driveway, and the first backing job Phil ever did with the TM. It wasn't pretty.

Beth
I wondered if that was the driveway y'all had talked about earlier. On the positive side, you shouldn't have any trouble at all backing into campsites.

And with that pretty area and lake behind, I believe I would just camp out right there.

Chap
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Old 10-29-2007, 04:18 PM   #15
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wmtire....suggestions????
Chap

Well, I said that I wasn't going to use the full amount of air pressure in my new 10 ply rated 15 inch tires, when hauling it. Storing is really another matter. I put in an email to Hankook Tires Research and Development Center they opened up in Akron, OHIO. I'll share their engineers response here in the forums when I receive it. They're usually pretty good about answering their dealers questions.
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Old 10-29-2007, 07:34 PM   #16
P and B
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Thanks all. I like the idea of jacking the TM up and rotating the tires. I'm thinking a couple of jackstands and just lift the whole thing off the ground a little bit. That way you don't have to turn them. Bobby- I'll await the tire experts advice here.

C2S- I'd love to try a front hitch and I just might. I ordered a little camera that I plan to mount on the bumper. If it doesn't work then the extra hitch might take all the mystery out of the whole affair.

Chap- that's "lake Atlantic" in the background and I'm hoping the TM and I don't end up in there by accident ;-)

Phil
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Old 11-04-2007, 08:38 PM   #17
TIHNOW
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Default 2008 picked up on 10/26 2720 SD

We picked ours up in Colorado Springs on 10/26. So far , so good. We love it. A minor problem but David (dealer -owner) was great in working through it. Stopped at Trinidad Lake State Park for two days before heading to Flagstaff.
Anyone towing with a Honda Ridgeline? It worked fine traveling on hwy 25 & hwy 40. I was wondering how it would do on hwy 160 over Wolf Pass. 11000 feet. Anyhow we love it so far....
Thanks every one for suggestions on this site!!

DeMil & Diana
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Old 11-17-2007, 08:07 PM   #18
mike-rm-cd
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P & B: if our driveway looked like yours, I'd drive down and forward, just once - and then stay there and bronze everything! Never to move again, only to camp right there.

Or - rent some space (annually) in a neighbor's "normal" driveway.

On a serious note - my wife and I use walkie-talkies. She talks, directs me easy left, more left, straight. OK, stop, pull forward, now to the right, more right, straight back, etc. I NEVER talk into my walkie-talkie - I just listen and do as told. The more we do this, the better it works. It DOES help, sometimes, if I get out and look to see what she sees and is trying to have me do. It also helps when she realizes that the wheels of the TM determine where the front end (or back end) will bounce off of something, as in where does this thing pivot?

A career as a carrier pilot, watching tow tug drivers position airplanes was very educational. The VERY good drivers could look over their shoulder - the OK good did VERY well with a tow hitch on the front - so that they could position the aircraft, all the time looking and driving forward.

Both methods had a spotter directing the driver, however.

In life, humility comes in really large doses. Practice is key! Mike
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Old 12-21-2007, 06:05 PM   #19
Pat Stafford
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Default Maiden Voyage

Welcome to the club. I was just 13 years old in 1961 when an old and dear family friend took me camping and fishing on some wonderful Arkansas lakes. He had a 58 Chevy pickup with a 14 foot aluminum boat on an overhead rack, a 25HP motor with fishing gear and all the accoutrement's in the truck bed and, the infamous 25 foot trailer in back.

We were exactly 10 miles out of town when he pulled off to the side of the road and said you drive from now on. GULP! Needless to say, just about everything you experienced we all learned at some point in out towing lives. That was my first and only lesson and I have never looked back since even in tight places.

Good luck and welcome to the TM owners. You might try some extended side mirrors. The older I get, the more they help. Wish you many years of enjoyment.
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Old 12-29-2007, 08:12 AM   #20
rjohn60
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Extended mirrors are a must for backing. Remember for backing, turn your steering wheel left when you want your tm to go right; turn it right when you want your tm to go left.
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