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Old 01-14-2011, 01:56 PM   #21
ShrimpBurrito
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15" tires are better than 14" tires because they typically are rated to carry more weight. More weight carrying capacity usually means the tires run cooler, and since heat is a major contributing factor to tire failure, that's a good thing. The is little to no weight margin on most 14" tires once the TM is loaded ready to camp.

Tons of info on tires and 15" wheels in the Tires section of the forum:
http:
//www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=9


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Old 01-14-2011, 02:57 PM   #22
Barb&Tim
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Take it one step at a time. First try to get past the driveway access problem.

Although getting a lift kit installed and putting on 15inch tires is a good thing to do, you (I assume the HOA forces you to put it inside the garage) should first make sure that doing that is not going to keep you from being able to get the TM inside your garage. If the added height(of the lift kit & 15inch tires) is not a problem then consider doing it for sure.

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Old 01-14-2011, 07:02 PM   #23
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We have victory! We tried first without the WDH but scraped (see picture 1). We then added a small series of 2x12's and the TM got up without problems. Then we scraped the bottom of the tow hook from the minivan (oops). We reinstalled the WDH (halfway up the driveway - that was fun) and succeeded in getting it all the way up! Now we can work on it I believe we will do the 15" wheels but first we can fix it & clean it up. And you all are right - it won't fit in the garage if we make it any taller but the wheels will be worth it if it means safer travels. I suspect we are pushing the limits of our van's towing capacity.

Thank you all! I'm sure I'll be posting again in the near future as we prepare for our first trip We made a shopping list for our trip to Camping World tomorrow. We hope to camp in the driveway tomorrow evening. Right now we can't even unfold it (too close to the fence) so we first need to get the caster so we can move it around!

-Amy
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Old 01-14-2011, 07:46 PM   #24
Mr. Adventure
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TMMiniVan View Post
We have victory! We tried first without the WDH but scraped (see picture 1). We then added a small series of 2x12's and the TM got up without problems. Then we scraped the bottom of the tow hook from the minivan (oops). We reinstalled the WDH (halfway up the driveway - that was fun) and succeeded in getting it all the way up! Now we can work on it I believe we will do the 15" wheels but first we can fix it & clean it up. And you all are right - it won't fit in the garage if we make it any taller but the wheels will be worth it if it means safer travels. I suspect we are pushing the limits of our van's towing capacity.

Thank you all! I'm sure I'll be posting again in the near future as we prepare for our first trip We made a shopping list for our trip to Camping World tomorrow. We hope to camp in the driveway tomorrow evening. Right now we can't even unfold it (too close to the fence) so we first need to get the caster so we can move it around!

-Amy
With a steep driveway, I'd leave it either hitched or blocked, and not try to move it around with a wheel on the tongue jack. Use the TV to horse it around because the TM is too big to stop by hand if it decides to go somewhere by itself.

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Old 01-14-2011, 08:38 PM   #25
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The driveway is flat at the top. The problem was getting there We intend to only move it on the flat part. Unfortunately there isn't enough room at the top to use the TV.

-Amy
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Old 01-14-2011, 10:05 PM   #26
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Great work! In your last picture, if that's where it's currently parked, it looks like you might have enough room to open up. The shell only extends maybe 3-feet beyond the bumper, and it looks like you have way more room than that till you hit the fence. Easy enough to try!

And of course, a little fence trim wouldn't be out of the question in my book.

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Old 01-15-2011, 10:43 AM   #27
Scott O
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Should you get to the point where it is needed, there are commercial electric dollies which attach to the trailer via the hitch which are excellent in tight spaces and would probably be powerful enough to push the trailer up the driveway. An archive search will give some results.

Also, except for the dip, your driveway looks really good. We had or have a member (maybe others will help me remember) who had an amazingly scary driveway... very step downhill with a sharp curve! His avatar was epic!
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Old 01-15-2011, 11:37 AM   #28
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That was Phil of "P and B". Sad to say, he has let his Sponsorship lapse, so apparently his avatar is not showing up with his posts. But he is still out there.

I have taken the liberty of posting his avatar picture here. Now that may be a 10% grade. Since he lives in snow country, I don't know how he manages winter.

Phil, if you would like me to delete your pic, just say so.

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Old 01-15-2011, 10:15 PM   #29
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Congrats TMMiniVan on your new-to-you TM. We bought our new-to-us TM before we considered how it would work in our driveway. We've had our share of scrapes the first few times we took it out before we figured out when and where to put boards in our gutter when backing into the drive. My dh also made some awesome ramps to help level out the TM since our drive way slopes down quite a bit at the end.
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Old 01-31-2011, 07:15 PM   #30
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Dave, I finally got a good look at the tires today (we had to fold it all up again for the impending snowstorm) and I can't find any set of 4 numbers on them anywhere. I did confirm that they are 14" tires, which is good. They said 75R14 on them. My husband wants to replace them with 15" wheels and tires before our first trip in a few weeks but we were trying to at least figure out how old they are!

-Amy
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