New Trailmanor Owners

We picked a campsite for the weekend after we pickup our new trailmanor. We are going about an hour away from home, so if all goes wrong home is not too far away. We have gone down to the trailmanor dealer about 4 times to open/close and setup, and we are studying the full setup for the pickup walk through. We read that people advise video taping the initial walk thru. When you get to a site how long is it to setup, including setting up water, refridge, all that? How about break down?

susanspark,

A lot of good suggestions, especially the checklist. You'll find a lot of things you can just leave in the trailer. If you have kids, the checklist is doubly important as all the distraction of packing with kids should be obvious.

We still don't have it down, yet. Though we've only taken about four or five weekends out.

So while this is fresh in my mind...

1) Study all the gadgets. Knowing how they work will help when something doesn't seem right. Fuses are important. So would be a basic tool kit. If you blow two fuses on the same appliance, you really need to figure out what is wrong before you proceed. We bought our trailer used, and the front left lamp kept blew two fuses. Turns out these lights take a different bulb than the rest of the overhead lights. (1076 vs 1176? if memory serves me, and it usually doesn't).

2) Don't forget basic things, like charging the battery, filling the propane tanks (they seem to last forever), and checking tire pressures.

3) You didn't say where you were heading, but I'd suggest you take your first trip to a site with hookups. This lets you get used to the "space" and not have to worry about water conservation, battery power, or holding tank capacity. Personally, I much prefer boondocking after spending a short weekend in an RV park, but I was happy to just figure things out without having to deal with conservation.

4) If you're new to trailering, practice backing up. Find a parking lot and take a good, tolerant friend, then back into empty spaces with plenty of room. Towing mirrors will help. ;Some folks may not like this, but I think you might want to try a panic stop or two (with plenty of space). If your brakes are set properly, you should have no surprises and stopping distances should be what you expect without the trailer!


Oh, to answer your setup / take down time, I think about 15 to 30 minutes for setup, depending on the level of the site. ;It takes longer to crack the jacks than to set up the walls.

Have fun! We'll look forward to hearing about your first outing!

Susan,

First of all, be smug -- we have great trailers and we ought to flaunt them! To echo some other thoughts, having a checklist, while it may make you feel amateurish, is good because all of us can forget things. ;Brian gave the example of the water heater, which can be really easy to forget to do. The same goes for watching as you close the trailer, as it is possible for the corner latches to flip up and get bent/ smashed as the two halves of the body close.

We also leveled our trailer in the driveway then attached levels on the hitch and body so we can level without opening the trailer. We might also suggest getting out of the trailer and surveying your site before deciding on a spot to look out for low lying branches, select the most level area of the site, etc.

If you are new to RVs, we also suggest going over backing up the trailer and the instructions you are going to use (we still haven’t mastered that one!)

Do purchase extra fuses and light bulbs for the inside lights, as well as a water filter, a pressure regulator for the hose, extra filter screens and rubber gaskets for the hose and normal tools -- we bought one of those ready made sets of 40 tools in a plastic carrying case.

One of my suggestions one or two discussion boards ago was to videotape the entire walk through with the dealer. That way, you are not relying on your memory alone. Our dealer also suggested that we were going to make mistakes and forget stuff -- like failing to close a window or curtains, or pulling out the toilet valve, etc -- and to just take them in stride.

Good luck and enjoy!

F. J. and Ellen

Congrats on your new TM. No doubt you will love it as much as the rest of us.

Everyone has their own system for setting up and you will learn to develop your own as you gain experience. We use the buddy system and we each have our own things to do during setup. First, we open the TM like in the video, one on each end. Then, one begins setting up the inside (flaps, bathroom walls, curtains, etc) while the other works on the outside, cranking jacks (w/ cordless drill, this is a must if you don't have electric jacks), connecting the water, electric, sewage hose, etc. In just a few minutes the TM is set up and cooling down (hot Texas weather). Set up is as quick as with any other trailer as they all need their connections and gadgets. Don't get stuck in a rut. Trade off once in a while as you never know when you may have to set up alone.

Be sure to carry lots of brochures as everyone watches in amazement as we setup. No one needs to tell you what a great purchase you have made but there is nothing else like it on the market, easy towing, light weight, great fuel economy, no big rig for towing, etc. I think it is really a great way to enjoy the outdoors in comfort without taking such a big toll on the environment. Enjoy what you see and leave it that way for the next person.

congratulations on your new TM. we have had ours since Feb. of this year. we took two week ends of camping. to learn all about the set up. We can do it fairly fast now. Our big trip was to Myrtle beach. We did just fine. I printed out a checklist off of the weblsite : http://www.rvbasics.com/techtips/checklist.html This checklist was a tremendous help to us. Also to keep it cool in the TM I did all the cooking outside in an electric skillet and crock pot and we have a small portable grill that I wrap food in foil or use aluminum pie plates to cook in. (even soup). The Tm stays cool, you save gas, and when the park is full, you dont have to worry about the AC kicking a breaker from being over worked. we spent 5 days at the site but left early after hearing of the disaster in N.Y. We wanted to be at home if anything else was to come of this. I am taking time each day to say a prayer for everyone. God love and Bless each and everyone . Betty

We picked up our trail manor in July (2720). Absolutely outstanding! We have been making adjustments and equipping it ever since.

So far we have had pretty good luck in finding a place for everything. We like to cook outdoors and have a two burner gas stove (coleman) and a coleman griddle for steaks and pancakes etc. works great!

You will find the drawers (plastic) will droop when you open them. I took care of that this weekend by replacing them with oak drawers and full extension ball bearing slides. Now when we open the drawer we don't have to hold it up to take utensils out.

If you have not camped before you will find a lot of stuff comes in very helpful. For example Camping World has 10&" square blocks that help in leveling your trailer. They come in their own bag and are a lot lighter that carrying 2X4s or 2X6s. they also interlock and make leveling really easy.

Camping chairs increase comfort when sitting in front of the nightly fire. We found aluminum framed Coleman chairs at Sams Club they are very light and they fit perfectly in the rear storage compartment. We have also added a small table aluminum table (REI) that also folds and fits in the rear compartment.

One hint as well, start your fridge up at least 24 hours before filling it. Even longer if possible. It takes a long time to cool down. There have been suggestions on this site to put some Blue Ice in to help, but still takes a while. LP setting works the best, AC then DC. We set ours up in our garage a couple of days before leaving. We switch to DC. turn on the ref fan on the monitor panel and fold it down. (If you are going to camp when you leave the dealer, ask them to turn the fridge on for you a couple of days before yo pick it up.

The list goes on, I know you will love your TM!

Susan (and others) you should join the Trailblazers organization if you have not done so already. We just got back from our first rally and had a great time! We also learned a lot from other TM owners. Folks were more than willing to share tips and tricks, also warnings about how to avoid trouble. Plus, the pot luck and friendly atmosphere were wonderful! Dues are cheap. Check out the link on the TM website.