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Old 04-02-2011, 05:56 PM   #11
Barb&Tim
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Moving Avatar discussion here:

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...63&postcount=1
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Previous owners of a great 2010 [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] TM2720SL.
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Old 04-03-2011, 11:52 AM   #12
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Is there a way to tell if you need a lift kit? I have a 2007 2619, and have read some discussions that the 2007 may have it built in. It would be great to know for the future when I decide to upgrade to 15 inch tires.
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Old 04-03-2011, 12:23 PM   #13
ELM-JLM
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Thumbs up No Lift Kit Needed

My 2619 was manufactured in April of 2007 and I installed 15" wheels & Tires without changing anything!
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08 2619 TM W/The Works, 15" wheels X 4 (2 spares),
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Sold to someone that loves travel and camping as much as we do!

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Old 04-03-2011, 04:57 PM   #14
Philip
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Default Why I Need A Lift Kit - Thank You All For The Help

Hi Folks,

Once again I want to thank everyone for the help. OneMoBear, your reference was a big help.

As noted by another poster, I am sure I need a lift kit as I explained on another thread. I will repeat my post on that thread so others will be able to check for themselves whether they need a lift kit or not. It seems to vary from TM to TM. Here is how I determined I need a lift kit:

I thought I would let the forum know that my 2008 2720TM will require a lift kit in order to increase wheel size to 15" from the 14" wheels supplied. After recently purchasing 15" wheels(including steel clamp on valve stems - TR 416 as recommended by Bobby) with new 8 ply rated Goodyear ST225-75-15 (D load rated) tires, I checked the wheel well clearances and suspension system on my TM. With the 14" wheels I have slightly less than the 3" wheel well clearance recommended by Dexter. I also made measurments of the Dexter Torflex suspension system mounting bracket to find exactly which Torflex system I have. If you go on the Dexter website you can find Torflex Application Information which shows the mounting bracket dimensions for various capacity systems and the high and low profile versions of the bracket for each system. My suspension system is the one rated at 2300 - 3500 LBS. capacity. I have the Low Profile bracket which is probably why I need the lift kit.

I mention all this since it appears from the forum discussions that some members 2008 2720 TM's have been shipped with High Profile brackets which may not require a lift kit. Just be aware that some 2008 2720 TM's do require a lift kit to go to 15" wheels.

I am also surprised(and a bit disappointed) that the suspension supplied with my TM is only rated for a max. load of 3500 LBS. I would think that most owners are running close to or slightly above this limit. I can only hope that as with most engineered systems there is a fairly large safety factor built into this suspension system. The next capacity up from the one I have is rated at 3600 - 6000LBS. Trailmanor was caught on the margin of the two capacity ranges and chose the lower one.

Again, I appreciate all the comments from forum members.

Happy trails,

Phil Friess
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Old 04-18-2011, 05:03 PM   #15
Philip
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Default Lift Kit & New 15" Tires Installed

Hello Again Folks,

Just thought I would let memebers know how the switch to 15" tires on my 2008 2720 went - I did the change myself; with a helpfull friend.

Installing the lift kit went smooth. It took more time since the factory had welded the suspension bracket to the frame and I had to grind the weld away. I jacked the TM up on the frame with jacks just forward of the axle on the frame(on both sides) to remove the tires. Using a square piece of board placed flat on the underside of the TM floor and just touching the axle, I marked with a magic marker the end of the board on the underside of the TM floor. I did this on four spots - forward and aft on both ends of the axle. These marks were used to assure I got the axle back in the same position after I installed the lift kit. I assumed the factory had the axle properly alligned initially. I then did what another forum member suggested - place a jack under the axle(in the middle) with a strong board between the axle and the jack to distribute the load. This jack was just snugged up to support the weight of the axle - no lifting was done with the axle. This jack allowed me to remove the bolts from both sides at once and install the new bolts and nuts. I then lowered the axle so the axle hung from the new longer bolts. I could then take one bolt at a time out, insert the lift tube and reinsert the bolts while the jack on the axle held the weight of the axle. After all the bolts were installed in the new tube spacers I just had to allign the axle to my marks and tighten the bolts and the job was finished.

Hindsight being 20-20 I thought I would mention something I wished I had done but didn't think of at the time. I should have put a bunch of washers on the four lift kit bolts to fill the gap between the bolts and the inside of the lift tubes. This would have allowed me to tighten these bolts much more without fear of crushing the tubes. This would further assure that the axle would not shift and get out of allignment anytime in the future. I still may go back and put these washers in but for now I am tired of working on the TM.

I also readjusted my WDH to the new TM height.

I also thought I would mention that the factory 14" tires were NOT BALANCED AT ALL. There were NO weights on any wheel. I say this because I have never seen a tire that didn't need some weight. The new tires having been dynamically balanced have taken the slight bit of pitching(front to back) I noticed in the TV at certain speeds. Perhaps the out of balance 14" tires caused the TM to pitch up and down slightly and the WDH transmitted this to the TV. In any event I have none of this with the new 15" balanced tires.

Well I have said too much again. Lets hope I accomplish my goal of preventing blowouts!

Happy trails to all,

Phil Friess
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Old 04-21-2011, 06:55 AM   #16
tgpmd1
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Thanks Phillip for taking us through on how you installed your lift kit. I got he lift kit the Friday before last and found the axle welded as well. I think I'm going some help from the DH! Also, I looked back and did not see this info, but can you let me know where you purchased your 15" tires and wheels? The discount tire.com guy did not return my calls regarding the bolt spacing. So not sure if they can send me the proper ones or not.

Thanks! Can't wait to upgrade my TM. We're headed out west later this summer and I'm going to use as an office at camp prior to our trip.
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2002 Tahoe 'Marge'
2015 Silverado
2006 2720SL 'Homer'
Prodigy Brake Controller
2.5" Factory Lift Kit
15" Dexstar Wheels
15" Karrier Loadstar Tires w/TR-416 Stems
Bill's Screen Door kit
And a host of other mods...

14 y.o. 'Sasha' (aka 'Miss Kitty), started fostering 12/24/10 and adopted 3/15/11

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Old 04-21-2011, 07:56 PM   #17
Philip
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Default Where I Got My 15" Rims & Tires

Quote:
Originally Posted by tgpmd1 View Post
Thanks Phillip for taking us through on how you installed your lift kit. I got he lift kit the Friday before last and found the axle welded as well. I think I'm going some help from the DH! Also, I looked back and did not see this info, but can you let me know where you purchased your 15" tires and wheels? The discount tire.com guy did not return my calls regarding the bolt spacing. So not sure if they can send me the proper ones or not.

Thanks! Can't wait to upgrade my TM. We're headed out west later this summer and I'm going to use as an office at camp prior to our trip.
Hello,

I got my new rims and tires at a local tire dealer. He actually had a better price than I could get on the internet. I could also check the age date before I purchased them The rims are 5 lug 4.5" lug spacing - a very common rim. I had the tires dynamically balanced.

I should also mention that today I checked the allignment of the axle. I was not comfortable just putting the axle back into the position that it came from the factory. Since the factory did not even bother to balance the tires I wondered how good of a job they did aligning the axle. I checked the alignment as the Dexter suspension system people recommend. I hung a plumb line from the front center of the hitch coupler and another plumb line from the end of the axle tube(where it meets the spindle arm) and measured the distance at each end of the axle. Dexter says the difference should be no more than a 1/16". Our difference was 5/16". We moved one axle end to make them equal and tightned up the bolts again.

I have decided to have the axle welded in place - welds on both ends of the spacer tube between the frame and axle bracket for a total of eight welds holding the axle in place. Since I am now sure the axle is properly aligned, I feel comfortable doing this welding. I also feel welding assures alignment better than if I put washers or a crush sleeve on the bolt so that I could really tighten them down hard. I feel no amount of bolt tension could be as positive(at holding alignment) as the welds.

You noted that you are going out west later this summer. Where are you going? We are also going out west later this summer - leave ~ July 8. We are planning an approx. 2.5 month trip through the northern parks then up through Glacier and into Canada - Jasper, Banff, etc.

Happy trails,

Phil & Susan Friess
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Old 04-22-2011, 06:40 AM   #18
tgpmd1
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We have reservations at Yellowstone July 6 to 10. We're also going to see Grand Tetons. We'll also be in Nebraska for a few days, passing through Wyoming and on the return trip, Utah and Colorado. We usually go out west every other year, but due to some issues with my DH's parents, we had to spend our vacation time going back and forth to Nebraska two and three years ago, so we haven't had a real vacation in three years (just hung around home in D.C. last summer). This will be our first non-tent camping long trip with the TM. We've camped at quite a few places, including Aches, Bryce Canyon, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone (18 or so years ago), and around New Mexico.
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2002 Tahoe 'Marge'
2015 Silverado
2006 2720SL 'Homer'
Prodigy Brake Controller
2.5" Factory Lift Kit
15" Dexstar Wheels
15" Karrier Loadstar Tires w/TR-416 Stems
Bill's Screen Door kit
And a host of other mods...

14 y.o. 'Sasha' (aka 'Miss Kitty), started fostering 12/24/10 and adopted 3/15/11

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