Towing vs. Hauling Trailmanor Across Country

[Robert's TM]

Road trip....

You will get good experience pulling it and setup and tear down.

You will be a pro by the time u get home.

And like the others said. This way u get to see it in person!

[Padgett]

All I can say is that only once in my life have I bought a car remote, a 66 Corvair convertible. And then I flew up to inspect it in person. Paid the gentleman & drove 40 miles to Lorton VA. Took the Amtrak Autotrain to Sanford, and drove the 40 miles home.

Bought my TM in Ocala and made two trips (60 miles), first to inspect cosmetics and second when they could pull it to power and water & I could check the rest.

I strongly suggest that if you are patient you will find something much closer.

[OCfamily]

Thanks again everyone, we decided to spend a little more to have the TM hauled. Been busy going back and forth with different auto transport brokers and found someone to haul it for $2,400. Fingers crossed everything will go smoothly. It's a bit more than what we were originally quoted, but we're tired of waiting around. Basically, the entire unit will cost a bit less than $11,000 shipped.

As for someone posting a 2009 TM 2619 at the Ontario CA location. I called within the day and someone had already put down the deposit for it already at around $17-$18k.

[br2_wdc]

Originally Posted by OCfamily

Thanks again everyone, we decided to spend a little more to have the TM hauled. Been busy going back and forth with different auto transport brokers and found someone to haul it for $2,400. Fingers crossed everything will go smoothly. It's a bit more than what we were originally quoted, but we're tired of waiting around. Basically, the entire unit will cost a bit less than $11,000 shipped.

As for someone posting a 2009 TM 2619 at the Ontario CA location. I called within the day and someone had already put down the deposit for it already at around $17-$18k.

Good Evening OCFamily:
I was hoping you had abandoned ship on this one, but I understand completely your decision to roll the dice sight unseen given the numbers.

Good luck on the delivery and I truly hope this one works out for you and your family.

[[email protected]]

I'd go get it myself. First I would make sure that this dealer will fix anything to your satisfaction before laying out nine grand. Then take the money you would spend on delivery and go get it yourself. A shakedown vacation of sorts. This way you get the feel of your TM and how it tows...which is a dream. Before I would start towing it I would do a couple of things. Buy and have installed a weight distribution hitch with built in sway control. I bought the Blue Ox Sway-Pro and it saved my trailer when we had a blowout! Next buy new tires because you don't know how long these have set up or how old they are. Maxxis tires are the best, they cost a bit more but hey, it's worth paying a bit extra and not having tire trouble. I would get a tire monitor so that way you will know what your tires are doing. If you need to read more on this
, go see my website http://www.trickmytrailmano.com (no R ). So if you do decide to go and fetch it, get yourself a campground directory like the one from Good Sham. This way you can look up campgrounds and call ahead to make reservations. Nothing worse having to camp out at wally world with out a generator of sewer hook up.
It's a long way from Maryland to California....the land of the 55MPH speed limit!

[digditches]

Just wanted to let you know we also live in southern CA and just returned from driving to Nebraska to purchase a 2009 2720SL. We had a refundable deposit on it so we could back-out if we didn't like what we saw when we arrived. We also considered an auto transport, but in the end decided to use our vacation days and make the drive.

On the whole it was as represented by the pictures, video, and salesman. There were no "deal breakers" that we saw. Unfortunately, it was winterized and since we were going to drive thru cold weather, we didn't want unwinterize it. So, that meant, we weren't able to check that everything actually worked.

Our only downside so far is the tires, we had asked if they were good enough to make the drive back to CA and were told they were in good shape. So, when we were there, we just took a quick look at them before we left. They looked OK. But, once we got home, we realized they're in not that great shape and are planning to have new ones installed before we take our first trip.

It's very clean and looks well maintained. We're looking forward to our first outing after we give it our own cleaning, unwinterize it and put on new tires.

I hope your "cross country" purchase turns out as good as ours.

[LoveToCamp]

digditches, just an FYI - TrailManors are built so that they don't need "winterized". The low-point drains remove the water from the vital lines, so that the only freezing would be in sink traps and the bottom of the water tank and water heater. There is enough expansion room in all to not harm the systems.

That said, the proper way to drain the lines and tanks is to:
1) turn off water pump
2) open hot and cold faucets in sink, bathroom, and outdoor shower (if so-equipped).
3) open low-point drains under TM. Mine have two on the curb side, just aft of the water heater, and one on the street side, even with the fresh water tank. Yours may be in different locations. But, you want the faucets all open so when you open the low-point drains, all water siphons out of the lines.

That leaves the toilet. Mine is a cassette, so my water lines may be different than yours. But, what I do (and others will correct if I am wrong) is to drain the fresh tank, and when it is empty, I turn on the pump for a few seconds while I hold my flush button. This puts some water into the toilet bowl, and mostly empties that line. I have been told the pump can run like this, and I am not doing any harm.

I let my low-points drain while I drive, as I am in the middle of the National Forests, and a drizzle of fresh water on the trail is not a problem. When I get home, I open the TM, take out the toilet cassette, and close all faucets, including the outside shower. I don't want to turn the pump on the next trip, and find that I have an open faucet.

Enjoy your TM! Glad it was close to what you expected. Now, you will make it comfortable for you, however you want.

[OCfamily]

Thanks Digditches, our TM is set to arrive this Thursday. The dealership also winterized our unit so it is being delivered as such. Overall, were you satisfied with your route?

Also, we plan on taking our TM to the Ontario dealership to have them service it before taking it out. That way if anything is wrong with it, I can go back to Maryland dealership for reimbursement of repairs.

Good luck and enjoy!!!!

[Bill]

Originally Posted by OCfamily

Been busy going back and forth with different auto transport brokers and found someone to haul it for $2,400.

That is about a dollar per loaded mile, which is actually not a bad price. I'm surprised to see that it hasn't gone up much since I shipped a car almost 20 years ago (of course, that was an enclosed 18-wheel car-hauler). I seem to recall that the old TM factory charged $1.45 per loaded mile to move TMs from Tennessee to their dealers, on an open 4-unit trailer. I have no idea what the new TM company charges to deliver trailers from Nebraska, but I would expect something similar.

Bill

[ArkyDoodle]

I was talking to the TM folks in Nebraska about getting some warranty work done and they quoted me $1/mile to pickup / deliver my unit......