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Old 02-14-2015, 10:15 AM   #1
jenkinlb
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Default Considering buying a 2417KB

I was wondering if anyone could give some recommendations or share their experience. I would like to look at one in person, but live in Houston, and would have to drive to Tyler to see it. We owned a coleman pop up for years, but grew tired of all the work in set up. I like the fact of storing in the garage and easy towing. I talked to the regional rep who said that he is trying to get a local dealer within 3-4 months. Also, can you really tow with a mini van? I have a 2014 odyssey rated at 3500 tow capacity. At some point, I may buy another tow vehicle.
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Old 02-14-2015, 11:48 AM   #2
MarkoPolo
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Having come from a Coleman Pop Up (2 actually), you will love the Trailmanor for the reasons you stated. As a general statement, I think most people are somewhat optimistic about their tow vehicle ratings and honestly, Trailmanor encourages that. You may well pull it off at the low altitude and flat terrain around Houston, but it'll be a really hard pull up I 70 to the Eisenhower tunnel
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Old 02-14-2015, 03:06 PM   #3
rvcycleguy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jenkinlb View Post
I was wondering if anyone could give some recommendations or share their experience. I would like to look at one in person, but live in Houston, and would have to drive to Tyler to see it. We owned a coleman pop up for years, but grew tired of all the work in set up. I like the fact of storing in the garage and easy towing. I talked to the regional rep who said that he is trying to get a local dealer within 3-4 months. Also, can you really tow with a mini van? I have a 2014 odyssey rated at 3500 tow capacity. At some point, I may buy another tow vehicle.
Welcome. I love in Houston. Sw side of town. I own a larger TM than what you are interested in but the basics are still the same in regards to opening, closing, bathroom walls, bed slides, etc. Happy to show you around mine if you are interested.

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Old 02-14-2015, 03:19 PM   #4
hillbillyhotel
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the hb tips his hat to rv on the kind offer that's nice of you man
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Old 02-16-2015, 07:26 PM   #5
LoveToCamp
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jenkinlb, welcome!

I have a 2417KD (dinette on front end). I had a Jayco popup, then got an original 2417 Sport (it was 6" narrower than the 2417 Classic lineup, and the Classic size was not available when I bought the Sport). So, I have had two 2417 models.

The 2417 of either line is going to max your towing safety, in my opinion. My 2417s weigh 3500 lbs + when loaded for a camping trip - propane, food, water, living items. So, you would be right at your max. Not a good idea. If you didn't load water for the trip, you would save 320 lbs (I have the 40 gal tank), but that is not enough to get back into the "comfortably-safe" zone.

When I got my 2417 Sport, I had a Grand Cherokee with the 4.7L V-8 engine. It would tow it, but when I went up into the mountains, or up steep hills along I-25 in Colorado, it bogged-down. The wife's 5.7L Hemi Grand Cherokee did much better, at the expense of about 4 mpg between no trailer, and towing. I currently have a 2014 diesel Grand Cherokee which does much better than the Hemi. All this is to say that I would not tow it with a Caravan, regardless of what TrailManor says. As MarkoPolo says, maybe you can tow in flat areas, but forget about going into hill country or mountains!

I'll share anything you want to know about the 2417 models, if you have more questions. We love ours (we got rid of the Sport as we didn't need the second bed. Thus the 2417KD).
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Old 02-16-2015, 08:05 PM   #6
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Just an observation but in my yout I took a single port VW Westphalia through the Rockies and the Cascades (easier). Being an easterner, have been over Monteagle a number of times, often pulling a car on a trailer. My TM is about 2/3 the weight of a Judge on a tandem axle car trailer.

Just need patience and gears more than a big engine (I really like sixes). Even the steepest grades are just a small part of a 500 mile day.

Just went down and back to South Florida on a long weekend. Put the cruise on at 65ish and sits on 2,000 rpm & trans running at 165F. Did downshift to fourth on the Thomas B. Manuel bridge but didn't even need 3rd & 65 MPH is at the torque peak in 2nd.

Modern engines are quite different than an iron engine of the 20th century & we are just beginning to see a few direct injection turbo engines but 125hp/liter on 87 PON is already a reality. What is funny is that at the same time we are seeing incredibly broad torque bands (e.g.90% of torque peak from 1800-6400) the number of gears is increasing to 7-8-9 speeds.

Know this is getting way off topic but you just do not need a big V8 any more (and I never have).
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Old 02-16-2015, 09:19 PM   #7
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Yep, way off topic😜
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Old 02-16-2015, 09:22 PM   #8
LoveToCamp
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We weren't discussing power (okay, I got into the weeds with comparisons), but are primarily addressing total weight, and the tow rating of the OP's van. They are rated where they are for a reason, and capabilities of the engines, per the engineers, may be part of that rating.

Plus, while some people are okay with slogging along on inclines, others aren't. Better to be aware that one may not be able to hold a desired speed, than to get a trailer and find out the TV is not capable of maintaining speed on an incline.
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