Swing away tongue retrofit?

Hi Everyone!
We have a 2004 2720SL that we love. At our present home, we keep it in the backyard. In about 2 years, we intend to move south and will need to fit the camper into a garage in our new home. Since our 2027SL measures exactly 20 ft. from bumper to the hitch, and the garage measures 18' 8", we will need to make the garage longer. Since we plan to build a new home, that is something that we can do easily, but not inexpensively.

Does anyone know if we could retrofit a swing away tongue on our TM. Is that possible to do at the factory?

Thanks for any ideas on this subject.

Check with your dealer... seems to me I've read other posts that have had the dealer make this modification. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, this modification was first done by a dealer and then picked up as a factory mod.

It seems to me that adding 4' to the length of your garage, since you are building it new would not add significantly to the overall cost, and when you consider the additional benefits of added storage space, including your TM the cost benefit would be worth it. JMHO

However you plan to resolve your storage problem, enjoy both your new TM and your new home.

[Bill]

My memory is the same as Paul's. I think it was the big California dealer that is mentioned quite often on this board. Can't remember the name, and I still can't get reasonable results from the search engine. Grr!

Beyond that, my memory also says that the factory can do the retrofit. If you're going to be in the south, I imagine you'd rather go to the factory in Tennessee than to California.

Bill

Thanks Paul and Bill! I will check with the factory to see if they can install the swing away tongue. Since the steel frame is such an integral part of the unit, I wondered if it could be done at all, after market. The extension to the garage costs $45 a square foot on the house we want to build. That adds up to a chunk of change. Once I see the price of retrofitting the hitch, I will do whichever is more reasonable. Something tells me that the swing away tongue will "win".

[G-V_Driver]

Look at it this way, Smook

People have dog doors and cat doors and all kind of specialized doors, so there's no reason you shouldn't have a tongue door. You've worked hard and you deserve it.

Very funny!! I wonder if there is a clause in the homeowner association regarding a "tongue door" on one side of my brand new garage door? Imagine seeing the hitch sticking out a couple feet with a special bumpout in the door to go over it? What a conversation piece! Kind of like a door with a hernia....

Custom RV in Anaheim CA was the dealer who originally developed the swing-away hitch which was adopted by TM. At least that is what Custom RV told me.

[Bill]

That's the one! Thanks, O.K.

Bill

[kdrickard]

[quote author=OrangeKid link=board=19;threadid=1648;start=msg11673#msg1167 3 date=1075782034]
Custom RV in Anaheim CA was the dealer who originally developed the swing-away hitch which was adopted by TM. At least that is what Custom RV told me.
[/quote]

Yes Custom RV, Matt and Scott, at least when we bought ours. Scott is the TM mod engineer at Custom RV and the creator of both the swing and the detach hitches (per Matt at Custom RV). We got the opportunity to see a prototype of a "Hex-cab" pickup Scott did -- a quad-cab pickup that Scott had cut in half and added a third row of seats and doors. I remember Matt saying something about flip down LCD's, and that Scott did it on this used pickup before attempting it on a new one. I don't remember the make and model.

I'd guess that any qualified TM dealer (i.e. can do the required cutting and welding) could do this mod.

Kevin

[Bill]

Smookie -

Just a couple thoughts about your new house and garage.

First, make sure that when the door to your new garage is open, you will have plenty of vertical clearance to get the trailer through. Remember, the usable height is often less than the height of the framed opening, because the door itself protrudes down into the opening. We bought our TM after the house was built, and it fits through the garage door with less than 1/2" to spare. If we had been forced to rebuild the opening, it would have been VERY expensive - not to mention the problems with the HOA. And because of the lack of clearance, I can't even contemplate a lift kit, or bigger tires, or a bigger trailer in the future. I sure wish that I had had enough foresight to get the door height extended by 6 inches or a foot when the house was built.

[quote author=smookie link=board=19;threadid=1648;start=msg11664#msg1166 4 date=1075769461]
The extension to the garage costs $45 a square foot on the house we want to build. That adds up to a chunk of change. Once I see the price of retrofitting the hitch, I will do whichever is more reasonable.[/quote]

I don't know your situation, so consider this an observation, rather than a recommendation. It appears that you would need to extend the garage by about 2 feet. If it is 20 feet wide, that's 40 square feet, which would cost $1800. You're right, this is probably more than it will cost to retrofit the swing tongue on the TM, but you can add the $1800 to your mortgage, which will add less than $10 a month to your mortgage payment. If you're like me, a bigger garage is ALWAYS welcome, and it adds to the value of the house. On the other hand, if you retrofit the hitch, you've got to come up with the cash right up front, and it's gone when you sell the trailer.

Just a thought ...

Bill