New TM Owner Check-In

[rtcassel]

Originally Posted by Bill

Tim, I'm impressed. This the second time recently that you've been able to delve into the old OLD stuff and pull up something that I thought was long gone. I should hire you,and split the salary budget 50-50 with you.

Bill

[rickst29]

Originally Posted by TnP-2027

Thanks Bill!
And it sounds like you want to source a WDH so that you are using ~2/3 capacity? So for 400 # tongue weight, a WDH for 600#?

IMO, that's not "big enough". You'll be adjusting too close to the maximum torque all the time, and the bars will tend to become "worn out" and even bent over time. The problems occurs when you're at extremely high torque (compared to the design limit), and then hit a pothole. The bars go "whack!", kinda hard.

I agree with Rocky Mtn Ray's post. Go with 800 lbs as the lowest "design limit" for the possible 400-550 lb range of "heavily loaded" TM tongue weights. "1000 lb" designs also work pretty well, even though they're a bit harder to lift up and (theoretically) have a bit less flexibility for keeping things smooth over really rough roads.

I own "1000 lb" bars, and have never had an issue with actual performance.

[TnP-2027]

Originally Posted by Bill

You are tickling a memory here. Long ago when the Forum was just getting organized, one of the original members (the original RockyMtnRay) bought a 600-pound WDH. I think he found it to be a bit light (his word). At about the same time, I got a 1200-pound unit, and found it to be way too stiff. So let those numbers bracket your choice - probably best to stay on the light side of the span.

I can't find Ray's original post. I think it disappeared when the Forum was re-organized early in its existence. We lost a lot of good info then.

Bill

Originally Posted by rtcassel

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...IMHO#post14936

Originally Posted by rickst29

IMO, that's not "big enough". You'll be adjusting too close to the maximum torque all the time, and the bars will tend to become "worn out" and even bent over time. The problems occurs when you're at extremely high torque (compared to the design limit), and then hit a pothole. The bars go "whack!", kinda hard.

I agree with Rocky Mtn Ray's post. Go with 800 lbs as the lowest "design limit" for the possible 400-550 lb range of "heavily loaded" TM tongue weights. "1000 lb" designs also work pretty well, even though they're a bit harder to lift up and (theoretically) have a bit less flexibility for keeping things smooth over really rough roads.

I own "1000 lb" bars, and have never had an issue with actual performance.

You guys are great!
Getting closer. I need to figure out how much drop I need. The current owner will measure height of the TM hitch later today.
Unless one of y'all can tell me the height off the ground of a level 2720?

[Larryjb]

Welcome to the TM family!

And now a page from my history book...

We have a 2002 Tahoe with a tow rating of 8700 lbs, a good 2000 lbs more than your Lexus. Now, the story:
There is more storage room in the TM than what was in your pop-up, so it will be very easy to load it up, combined with loading up your LX-470. On our first bigish trip, we ended up going over the rear axle weight limit of our 2002 Tahoe. I was surprised we did it, but we did. Part of the reason was that we had 3 adults + 2 kids, my wife packed a ton of water and canned foods. We were underweight overall as far as the GCWR was concerned. This is probably the number you need to worry about most, and is not usually advertised. The second number you want to find out is the GAWR for each axle. A lot of people forget or ignore this number.

Bill has a good explanation of these terms here:
https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...ead.php?t=9655

Lesson learned, weight adds up very quickly.

[TnP-2027]

We got our 2720 home - Yay!

Quick question - is it possible to run the fridge off the 12v battery in the camper by itself as long as battery is topped off and solar panel is charging?

Probably a rookie question. I turned the fridge power selector to 12v DC and temp setting to 3 but I do not think it turned on...

[TnP-2027]

Quick follow up to that question, I would rather start the fridge on AC 110 "shore power", but I do not have an adapter for the unique cord on the TM.

[Kidkraz]

You can run the fridge off of the battery, but I doubt it will run very long and you’ll drain the battery pretty quickly.
Before I had a 30 amp outlet added to the side of my garage for the trailer, I would open the camper and if I wanted to run the fridge, I figured out that I could plug the fridge directly with an extension cord to an outlet in my garage. If you remove the lower access panel for the fridge, you should find a 110 outlet the fridge is plugged into. I ran a short extension cord about 6-10” long and in the picture you’ll see orange short cord. I plug the garage extension into that and the fridge to the short cord. It works, I don’t use it at the camp ground. Now that I have a 30 amp plug, I no longer need the short extension, but I’ll have it as a backup.

[Larryjb]

I, too, tried running the fridge on battery while travelling. That always drained the battery very quickly.

Now, I leave ice packs in the freezer for our lunches, but also to place in the fridge compartment while travelling. This worked very well and I have never felt the need to put the fridge on battery.

I bought an adapter to adapt the TM plug to a 120 outlet. They aren't that expensive, and work very well. You may have trouble running the AC plugged into 120, but the fridge will cool well.

[TnP-2027]

Originally Posted by Kidkraz

You can run the fridge off of the battery, but I doubt it will run very long and you’ll drain the battery pretty quickly.
Before I had a 30 amp outlet added to the side of my garage for the trailer, I would open the camper and if I wanted to run the fridge, I figured out that I could plug the fridge directly with an extension cord to an outlet in my garage. If you remove the lower access panel for the fridge, you should find a 110 outlet the fridge is plugged into. I ran a short extension cord about 6-10” long and in the picture you’ll see orange short cord. I plug the garage extension into that and the fridge to the short cord. It works, I don’t use it at the camp ground. Now that I have a 30 amp plug, I no longer need the short extension, but I’ll have it as a backup.

Thank you!
My fridge looks hard wired.
Guessing yours is newer than '09? Or someone retro-fit? That would be useful for sure!

[TnP-2027]

Originally Posted by Larryjb

I, too, tried running the fridge on battery while travelling. That always drained the battery very quickly.

Now, I leave ice packs in the freezer for our lunches, but also to place in the fridge compartment while travelling. This worked very well and I have never felt the need to put the fridge on battery.

I bought an adapter to adapt the TM plug to a 120 outlet. They aren't that expensive, and work very well. You may have trouble running the AC plugged into 120, but the fridge will cool well.

Does your trailer plug provide power?
It looks like you have an '01 - is there a solar panel for charging the battery?
We will just put the fridge back in the truck for now.
Thanks!