Getting A Used Traimanor Home

[SCBillandJane]

I have a 2007 Tundra 4by4 with a 10,000 tow rating and have installed a Prodigy brake controller. We will have to travel to pick up the Trailmanor when we find one, and the owner will probably have a WDH hitch. I have never had one because I have only pulled boat trailers and have no clue as to properly hooking up a WDH. I also don't know what height the ball should be to make the trailmanor level in advance of pulling into the driveway. If we buy directly from an owner who may or may not be know what they are doing, what should I know to get home safely.

Originally Posted by SCBillandJane

I have a 2007 Tundra 4by4 with a 10,000 tow rating and have installed a Prodigy brake controller. We will have to travel to pick up the Trailmanor when we find one, and the owner will probably have a WDH hitch. I have never had one because I have only pulled boat trailers and have no clue as to properly hooking up a WDH. I also don't know what height the ball should be to make the trailmanor level in advance of pulling into the driveway. If we buy directly from an owner who may or may not be know what they are doing, what should I know to get home safely.

Unless your truck hitch is pretty close to the hitch height from the person you are buying from, you might have to make some adjustments at the sellers place before travel. There are some figures on this forum (which I don't remember right off) on the TM coupler height, with and without the lift kit. You can ask the seller ahead of time what his TV hitch height is. I would think within a inch or so there shouldn't be a problem, as most ball platforms only adjust in 2" or so increments.

As far as the WDH, check out this tutorial: http://www.reese-hitches.com/learnin...stribution-faq for some ideas on how a WDH works. The seller should be knowledgeable on the operation of his particular system.

Chap

Chap is "right on" with his comments and the Reese link. I was in a similar situation except my Tundra is a 2002. I bought my unit in S.C. and went there to tow it back to TN. Bought the WDH (Reese) before going to pick it up and read all the Reese material pertaining to hook up and adjustments. Everything went very well with a little advance planning.

Bill

Our dealer set us up with the top of the ball 21" above the ground. This keeps the TM level. You should probably familiarize yourself with adjustments to the WDH so you can adjust it before the trip home. However, with your Tundra I would think the use of a WDH is not mandatory and you could probably make the trip home easily without one, particularily since everything will be unloaded. Better to not use it that have it adjusted incorrectly. The Tundra should be an excellent TV. Best of luck to you and please keep us posted as to your progress.

You should be able to tow your TM home safely without a WDH if you drive a little slower and remember to allow more time for coming to a stop when braking. This means keeping a greater distance behind vehicles that you're following also. Without a WDH, most of your truck's weight may be carried on its rear tires, and, your front brakes may be less effective than normal.

A few years ago we drove from Central California to the Seattle, Washington, area to pick up a used 3124KS. Arriving in Seattle in our Ford F-150 I discovered that the ball of my WDH was set too high to safely connect to our newly acquired TM (the WDH hitch was built for a Ford station wagon we owned). We therefore purchased from an RV dealer an offset, 2" square hitch bar that put the ball at about the right height. Even though we towed the TM over 800 miles to our home with this less than ideal hitching arrangement, the TM followed behind our F-150 like a meek lamb.

At home I made modifications to our WDH to lower its ball by about 3". This worked well until last year when I purchased a Dodge Ram 1500 with large, 20" tires. Since the Ram sits 4" higher than our old F-150, I had to modify the WDH a second time by lowering its ball another 4". You can be sure that the hitch ball's height will be a consideration, though small one, the next time I purchase another truck.

[SCBillandJane]

Thank you all. We hope to get a Trailmanor soon. We have tent camped across the country, but a camping trailer is all new. I am continually impressed with the caring, patient, and expert advice so freely given. Even the disagreements give helpful information. My DW is a faithful reader of this site also. With the two of us maybe our learning curve will be a little steeper. At least that is what she says, and it is not wise to argue with the boss. I look forward to seeing some of you at a campground someday soon.