Un-level ground and Trailmanors

Originally Posted by Bill

While this is good advice, you don't need to get carried away with it. In the old days - say the 1950s - precise levelling was important. But more recently, the manufacturers have figured out that this is a pain. In particular, the Norcold manual, or the Norcold web site FAQ, says that the refrig should be level within 6 degrees of level front-to-back. Since the refrig is mounted sideways in the TM, front-to-back on the refrig is side-to-side on the TM. The tires on the TM are about 90 inches apart. If you run the math out, 6 degrees on the refrig corresponds to the tires being about 9 inches out of level. It is hard to be that far out of level!

On the Dometic web site (Dometic and Norcold build very similar products, and TM has used them both), it says "When the recreational vehicle is stationary it must be leveled to be comfortable to live in... So once more, before you start the refrigerator, make sure the recreational vehicle is leveled to be comfortable to live in." In other words, if the trailer is level enough that you don't lurch as you walk down the hallway, then that is plenty level for the refrigerator.

Bill

This is very good information, I never knew that thanks Bill.

[tgpmd1]

I think that salesman was trying to steer you away from a TM. We have had our TM for over a year, camped in all sorts of circumstances and even camped in Walmart parking lots without leveling. If you have had a tent camper for 16 years, you know that you can camp when it's not perfectly level. We only had to level once to get the fridge to work properly and that's on a three week trip from D.C. to Yellowstone. If it's closer to level, you should be fine. We love our TM and wouldn't trade it for anything. We loved that we didn't have any sway even in the worst of storms. The fact that we could go into any fast food place or parking lot was great. We saw so many campers that were so huge that they were having problems navigating the parking lots that we looked at each other and said, "Glad we have our TM!" The low profile helps especially with crosswinds and you never have to worry about overhead clearance. Sure you have a few minutes of set up, but well worth it.

[TexasCamper]

I'll add my 2-cents to keep piling up the truth to this question.

I haven't even bothered to purchase leveling blocks. Sometimes we've gotten an uneven site where there is a visible delta between the one wheel and the other (that's when I want leveling blocks, because I'm nearly lifting the one tire off the ground with the stabilizers).

Before I open the TM, I level the front-to-back angle with the electric jack. I have two stick-on bubble-levels near the jack to help me (although those stick-ons are never perfect). My wife and I then open the two shells (although I could do it myself). Now if the wheel-to-wheel angle is visibly off, I can tell the shell leans to one side. There are two corner latches per shell that need to be set once the shell is lifted. If the shell is leaning to one side, you may need to lean on the shell with one hand while you engage the corner latch. If I drove one wheel up on a leveling block, this issue would go away.

Once both shells are up, we gain entry into the camper. My wife begins setting up inside the camper while I level the camper with the stabilizers. I have a portable bubble level that I position on the fridge counter to level the camper. Besides checking front-to-back and wheel-to-wheel angles, I'll also check frontright-to-backleft and frontleft-to-backright angles. But based on Bill's prior note I may be too much of a perfectionist in getting the fridge level. You learn something every day on this forum!

- John

Okay...you good folks have me convinced. Yes...I do think the salesman was trying to steer us away from TM since he didn't have one to sell. And...as far as "a few minutes setup," that's another reason we're interested in TM. After all these years camping with a pop-up, we still seem to be as slow as ever getting setup and breaking camp. We'd love to be able to do those chores faster!

Two more reasons you want to be close to level no matter what type of camper you use: 1) Try frying an egg, making pancakes or doing bacon on a griddle if you're not close to level. 2) It doesn't take much of a list to make you uncomfortable when sleeping. - camp2canoe

[Brittany Dogs]

Originally Posted by mrgoodwx

Thanks to all of you for your quick responses. You've all confirmed what seemed like common sense. We've somehow managed to get our rather large pop-up level enough for the last 16 years...so I would expect to do the same with a Trailmanor. By the way, Brittany Dogs...your new camper sounds great. We put the 2720SD at the top of our list as it's usually just my wife and I now that the kid is grown and we're retired. If we have company, they can use the dinette. We want our guests to be comfortable...but not TOO comfortable! Thank again...

As a side note, with no major regret that we went with the "SD" model, since it replicated what our Coleman had, we sort of wish we went with the "SL" model. We would not have room for the recliner chair (in the "SL") since our dogs need that spot but we would have figured out something we could do with that chair. The table in the "SD" just doesn't seem to work very good with the seats in that there is not enough room to get in and out of the seats very easily. Seems like the table needs to be 4" more narrow than it is now and if that happened, it almost becomes useless. But I blame myself being 255 pounds with a very well invested beer belly.

[Brittany Dogs]

I should also say that the average RV Salesman has his job split up like this:

25% of his time is spent on selling you makes and models he DOES sell.

75% of his time is spent on poo-poo'ing all makes and models he DOESN'T sell.

Camp2canoe...You're right. We do have a shower in our pop-up, and we really like it when it drains properly! Brittany Dogs...I guess the thing we didn't like about the SL was that it didn't seem as "social" with that table set-up. My wife and I like to sit and play cards or board games in the evening...and the SD seemed better for that. I see what you mean about the lack of room to maneuver around the table. It's a good thing my wife and I have been avid bicyclists for years as we're close to the same size as when we got married about 200 years ago.

[countrygirl]

Originally Posted by Brittany Dogs

As a side note, with no major regret that we went with the "SD" model, since it replicated what our Coleman had, we sort of wish we went with the "SL" model. We would not have room for the recliner chair (in the "SL") since our dogs need that spot but we would have figured out something we could do with that chair. The table in the "SD" just doesn't seem to work very good with the seats in that there is not enough room to get in and out of the seats very easily. Seems like the table needs to be 4" more narrow than it is now and if that happened, it almost becomes useless. But I blame myself being 255 pounds with a very well invested beer belly.

There are a lot of nice light weight tables that may fit in that same space and be narrower then the tm table. We have three folding aluminum tables that roll up and fit into bags for storage. They make a square model and a longer rectangle. Recently they have begun offering the table tops in wood or in wood look aluminum. If the width is the same as what you have perhaps you could slide the table closer to the other bench so you can enter the seat.

We have met people at rv shows who were only shopping for rvs with tables and chairs for the same reason.

Walmart also sells a nice white plastic table that folds in half that might work. It is usually in sporting goods near the camping area.