Moving while open?

09-21-2010, 03:29 PM

Is it safe to move my TM 50'-100' while it's open. I'd like to open it up after a trip to unload and clean it out and then back it into my barn and leave it open. Do you think I would need to close it first to back it a short distance. There is a bit of a lateral grade not much though. Also a small up then down grade over the threshold of the barn door.

Thanks

Wavery · 09-21-2010, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boater454

Is it safe to move my TM 50'-100' while it's open. I'd like to open it up after a trip to unload and clean it out and then back it into my barn and leave it open. Do you think I would need to close it first to back it a short distance. There is a bit of a lateral grade not much though. Also a small up then down grade over the threshold of the barn door.

Thanks

I moved mine all the way across the CG one time (to get a better site). No issues.

Have you ever been in a strong wind storm with yours? I have.....that was a lot more stress on the TM then towing it 1/4 mile.

**wbmiller3** · 09-21-2010, 04:07 PM

This has been discussed a few times. A lot depends on the tow vehicle. I could pull mine in a straight line, but if I turned, the TM would collide with my Expedition.

09-21-2010, 04:14 PM

I'm just backing straight up so no worries about it hitting the TV. I searched but couldn't find it under "towing when open" or "moving when open".

ThePair · 09-21-2010, 07:02 PM

Mine was moved at a dealer lot during a warantee service, open, with no repercussions. Seems as long as it's relatively smooth and level I wouldn't foresee any issues.

Wavery · 09-21-2010, 07:16 PM

I just remembered........the one thing that I did do is take the galley cabinet off the wall. My wife walked along side to be sure that the roof latches stayed in place. We even had to go up & down a couple of hills inside the CG and it was on a dirt road part of the way...

Mr. Adventure · 09-21-2010, 07:44 PM

I once thought about a trip to the dump station leaving the TM set up. But standing next to the TM and wiggling the shells, I could see ways things might move around bumping and stressing each other. So I figured the extra 10 minutes to drop the shells was worth it. A short easy trip on a smooth surface would probably be fine.

**B_and_D** · 09-21-2010, 08:08 PM

We've moved ours from one campsite to the next; we put things on the floor so they wouldn't fall off the counters. I watched DH pull it out of the first campsite and start backing it into the next one, and I had to stop him because we had to push in the front bed. The pickup bed would have hit the front bed if he had kept going. The truck bed fit under the shell OK, but this was in a very level parking lot and it was a matter of a few inches. Our truck has a few inches of lift installed so without that, it may not have been a problem.

09-22-2010, 07:19 AM

I occasionally will tow our extended 2619 to the dump site but only if I have first checked that there are no sharp turns. The suggested procedure to have someone walk along side to monitor the distance between the TM and TV is a necessity. Violating this procedure was harder on my TV than TM - I have a small nonfunctional dent in the leading edge of my TM but had to have the back corner of my cap on the pickup repainted. - camp2canoe

**Bill** · 09-22-2010, 09:10 AM

To me, it is a risk-reward tradeoff.

The reward is that you save the couple minutes that it takes to do a partial closedown. Obviously you don't have to do a complete closeup just to lower the shells, so it is quick and easy.

The risk is that you hurt your tow vehicle or trailer by backing the tow vehicle into the trailer, or that you bend the trailer's shell suspension arms or pocket stops or something else on the trailer, by towing it with the weight of the shells up high, swaying, and only partly supported in the direction of the various stresses.

Your choice, of course.

Bill