New Owner Repair & Tire Advice

Hello, we are the new owners of a 2000 3124KB and are doing that "driveway work" trying to get her ready to go out. I have several new owner questions that I hope you can help me with, or point me to another thread that I might have missed. Okay:

1) The left dinnette sofa has a bed that slides out on a metal track. That track runs over top of the furnace and near the fresh water tank. Our left side track is not secured to the wall of the TM and just kind of moves up and down - seems kind of flimsy. On the right side, the track is screwed to a wood post and is solid. Has anyone run into this, and if so, found a way to resecure it? I'm a little nervous about doing too much work near the furnace unit but if this thing is supposed to be fastened to the wall, I'm looking for ideas.

2) Our trailer front door seems to suffer from "separation" issues, and it could be that it just isn't level, but I'm looking for an easy latch of some sort to hold the top and bottom together when camping. I'm thinking others must have some good ideas on this one.

3) I've read many of the discussions on the tire wells, square vs round, and the tire size, 15" vs 14". What I'm trying to find out is the frequency with which the 15" tires have blown out vs the "14". I know with bigger tires, there are less rotations, less heat, etc., so I'm thinking that the risk of the bigger tires failing is less and maybe I don't need to modify the wells. Just looking for data here.

4) Regarding the 4 clips on the outside corners of the trailer that keep the unit "tight" when folded (as opposed to the stronger latches that you release and unrelease), one of my reciving clips that is mounted on the tailer is missing and I need to replace. Has anyone found a good source for this piece of metal, other than TM, and a better way to remount as the holes are stripped out.

Thanks!

Items 2. The TM needs to be leveled up and the front and back sections fully extended tohave the door line up properly.

Item 3. The biggest difference here is he load rating on the 15" tires. The 14" that come standard on the TM are just about at or just above their limit on a fully loaded TM

Item #4 I had stripped out holes on the right front clip and what I did was cut a square piece of 1/8" alum and glued over the old holes with 5 min epoxy. Then just re-drilled and mounted the clip I purchased from the factory.

[Wavery]

If you're thinking of the 15" tires, you might want to check the clearance between the rear of the tire and the frame on the door side.

It may not be an issue on your model but my '98 2720 has about 1/4" clearance with the 14" tires. If I had more clearance, I would have most certainly went with 15" tires when I replaced them a few months ago.

Few things can be worse than a blow-out when you're out trying to relax, camping..... Especially if it messes up your cabinetry or rips out your plumbing....

[Keith Wire]

RE: #2 Rumbleweed is right the door allignment is dependant on a level trailer. Also, I seem to remember that TrailManor changed the latch that connects the top and bottom part of the door a few years back. They are now using something like this. It actully pulls the two parts of the door together.

I see yours is a 2000, so it may still have the old latch. You can "upgrade" to the new latch very easily...

Keith

Thanks for the input.

I also found that TM sells the new door latch for $12.70 and the corner brackets/clips for $.33. I'm also going to pick up some of their plastic sillwood ($1.20 ft) for replacing some of mine that has rotted (where you staple the vinyl into near the beds).

I appreciate the other info so far.

good news about that latch... I may want to upgrade mine too... but so far it's working fine.

Regarding the weaker 4 clips on the outside of the trailmanor, 1 or 2 of mine pulled out a few years ago and I had my local dealer replace them when I had it in for a check up on other things. They installed a replacement somewhat differently than you'd expect. They put a larger metal plate underneath it, apparently so that it had different screw holes to mount into than the ones that pulled thru. Below is a pic.

[irenepl]

Originally Posted by harveyrv

If you're thinking of the 15" tires, you might want to check the clearance between the rear of the tire and the frame on the door side.

It may not be an issue on your model but my '98 2720 has about 1/4" clearance with the 14" tires. If I had more clearance, I would have most certainly went with 15" tires when I replaced them a few months ago.

Few things can be worse than a blow-out when you're out trying to relax, camping..... Especially if it messes up your cabinetry or rips out your plumbing....

I had this same issue on my 99 2720SL. I actually moved the axel forward ~2" by making longer lift spacers to give me the clearnce for 15" tires and wheels.
Good luck