2011 Trailmanor 2720SL and Nissan Frontier

I have 2010 Nissan Frontier CC rated for 6500 tow capacity and 650 tongue weight capacity. Is the 2720 SL too much? Have the V-6. Also looking at Gulfsream Visa and Jayco Skylark. What advantages of trailmanor over these trailer....besides price? Thanks

[scrubjaysnest]

IMO the truck will be marginal in flat towing and you can forget towing in mountains. It has the ratings but not the power. Others here seem to be very successful with your size tow vehicle. The 2720SL is low profile so less subject to cross winds. I can turn mine around in a Waffle House parking lot so the short length is another big advantage for us. This means you can fit the camper in many national park campsites where the Gulf Stream might not fit. This gives you a larger selection of campsites to choose from.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Nismo66

I have 2010 Nissan Frontier CC rated for 6500 tow capacity and 650 tongue weight capacity. Is the 2720 SL too much? Have the V-6. Also looking at Gulfsream Visa and Jayco Skylark. What advantages of trailmanor over these trailer....besides price? Thanks

My daughter has a 2010 Frontier. It pulls the TM OK with the WDH. As stated, it's not a powerful truck. I personally think that it's over-rated @ 6500# but OK for a 4,000# TM and a moderate amount of gear. Remember, every # that you add to the TV takes away from the tow rating. Watch the rear axle rating on that truck. You wouldn't want to put a shell on it and a lot of gear in the back like I do with my Sierra 1500.

All-in-all, the Frontier is just a little light to handle heavy loads.

The comments above are kinda amazing to me. Although I do NOT have a Frontier I tow my TM with a Toyota Tacoma, with basically the same ratings, and it is virtually the same size.
Before I moved to Oregon I lived in the Sierras, and pulled that trailer up and down I80 over Donner pass many times, and as to power and capability it was more than adequate. Yes, I had to downshift (6 spd manual) to 4th but never did I have any problem getting up to standard towing speeds. By the way, I run that TM at around 4K pounds and a ton of stuff in the back of the truck.

I really cannot figure out how the two vehicles could be so different. I could be wrong about the Frontier, but quite frankly I doubt it.

Mike

[T and C]

Originally Posted by Nismo66

I have 2010 Nissan Frontier CC rated for 6500 tow capacity and 650 tongue weight capacity. Is the 2720 SL too much? Have the V-6. Also looking at Gulfsream Visa and Jayco Skylark. What advantages of trailmanor over these trailer....besides price? Thanks

Nismo66,

As you can see, there are a range of opinions on this board about tow vehicles. However, your question was about the advantages of the TM over the two TT's you named. Here are my thoughts:

1. The Skylark specs say that the cargo capacity of the trailer is 545 lbs. That is pretty skimpy. For example, if you fill up that 28 gallon water tank there goes about 230 lbs, leaving only 215 lbs! If you had some grey and black water in those tanks...no other cargo at all! Many of us carry at least 1000 pounds in our TM's. Some even more.

2. The TM has a very roomy look and feel to it. Remember, the Visa and the Skylark are about 21 feet long...all the time. A 2720 TM is 27 feet of living space when open, and only 20 feet, counting the tongue, when closed. My 3023 is 30 feet when open, and is still shorter than the trailers you named when towing. That gives me a queen bed, a double bed, and two sofas, one of which makes a double bed if needed.

3. The TM has it over just about any other TT when towing. First of all TM's are light. Second, they are only abouy 5'8" high when closed. That makes them lower than the roof line on full sized pickup trucks. So there is virtually no "frontal area" sticking up to drag through the air at insterstate speeds. This provides a considerable savings on gas. You also don't have the feeling that your garage is following you.

I tow behind a 2010 F150 V8. Yet on a trip a couple of weeks ago I got gas miliage such as: 1. Kingman AZ to Barstow 18.2 mpg. 2. Barstow to home in Orange County, CA 20.4 mpg! This was over the Cajon Pass. Those are the average mpg read off the truck's computer. On long uphill pulls I have always gotten at least 14.5 mpg. 3. OC to Tucson, AZ, 16.8 mpg. Part of this is the truck's modern technology...six speeds, engine computer, camshaft timing. But a big part of it is the low air drag factor of the TM. Most trailer owners talk about 10 mpg as being good miliage. At 12 mpg. one begins to suspect a "fish story".

4. Safety. I do not know if you are new to towing trailers. If so, one of the main concerns is trailer sway. Wind really effects slab sided trailers. Sometimes, here in the southwest, they close the insterstates to trucks and trailers for this reason. Some folks tow at the maximum speeds allowable, 65-70 mph, (75 in AZ). I tend to tow at 55-60 mph for both economy and safety reasons. As I do this, big 18 wheelers blow by me regularly. Their "bow wave" of air can really send a trailer into wild gyrations. There are various hitches and sway control devices to alleviate this. TM owners hardly have to concern themselves. The TM has the advantage of their low height, and their axles are also set back farther towards the rear than in most trailers. I can feel the pressure on the steering wheel as trucks pass, but never a hint of any real trouble. I once got into a really dicey situation towing a 12 foot tent trailer behind a Ford station wagon when a truck passed.

5. The principle down side I know of for the TM is that you can't just pull over to use the toilet or access the fridge. When you arrive late at a campground, you have to set up before retiring. My DW and I do it in about 15 minutes.

6. For some folks, the Thetford recirculating toilet is a problem. So far, I have no complaints about mine. There are several threads that discuss it.

Good luck to you,

Tom

i own a 2008 frontier crew cab (4 door) and a 2008 2720sl and it tows just fine. i live in florida and have towed to disney on flat ground, and have towed to gatlinburg over the smokies a couple of times and have felt just fine, as well through virginia. i have never felt that the truck was struggling, and also have never had a problem with sway. the frontier has more hp and torque than the tacoma which is why i bought it. tow rating is 5500 without wd hitch, 6500 with it. great truck, great trailer. can't speak for the other trailers you mentioned, but i love my trailmanor and my frontier.

261 horsepower and 281 ft/lb of torque is plenty of power to pull the trailmanor easily.

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by NICELEY76

261 horsepower and 281 ft/lb of torque is plenty of power to pull the trailmanor easily.

That sounds right to me, as well. The WDH is mandatory for almost everybody, of course.

I agree with ragmopp, I don't think you will have a problem at all. I pull my 2720 with much less of a tow vehicle and have not had any problems. And I've loaded my TV with a generator, freezer/fridge, kids etc.

When TM says it tows more easily than a "poptop" it's true as it is a very well balanced unit.

Go for it.

The two biggest problems with the TM is folding and price.

The cost of the materials contributes heavily to the overall price of the TM. Even used their prices are far higher than their competitors. Buying any RV used is a great way to save cost.

Though folding is one of the TMs great selling points, especially since it looks like we are heading into protracted high fuel prices, you still need to decide if this is a problem for you.

Many people do not think this feature/problem through. In order to fold the trailer down, everything must be off the counters and likewise after the TM is up you have to put thing back on the counters and walls. You cannot just hookup the TM and drive home.

Also, this means that the refrigerator (refer) has to be small too as you cannot have a unit taller than the counter.

The other negative is the small onboard storage. There are no ceiling to floor cabinets or lockers. Until you get to the 3124 there is not any large onboard storage bays; one of the reasons why I think the 3124 is TM's best models.

If you can live with that the TM has so much to offer by being light and low profile. They can be towed by almost anything and handling is great. With oil at about $100/bbl today and little to push that price down, having a trailer that sips fuel may be the difference between going on an adventure or staying close to home.

One other advantage of the TMs’ are their windows. Due to its construction it has a real feeling of openness with the TMs’ windows as TM generally have windows on every wall. You really do not appreciate this until you check other campers that have one or more walls without windows.

My pardette and I would like to get a small 5th wheel. Again it seems that world events have conspired again to remind us that the TM allows us to continue with life’s adventures…