TM3023

HELP! We are within mere days of purchasing a 3023 and, suddenly, I realize we still have a few unanswered questions. (We followed both of the former TM boards with great interest, and have learned so much useful information from all the old hands/experienced TM owners. And thanks again, Chris for providing a really great board and for being such a fine moderator.)

Some time ago, we had a popup with 13 foot box and dragged it all over the place without much thought for where we were headed--mostly into fairly remote primative/dry camp situations with few if any facilities. (My DH is a dedicated trout fisherman, needless to say.) We still want to camp those kinds of places, BLM lands, state forests, national forests,etc. But we are concerned that this 23 foot long tow length might restrict us from continuing this kind of camping with our new trailer. We would be grateful for any thoughts/advice/experiences members would be willing to share with us about this.

Dear Firefly,
You will only be limited in where you can go by "length limitations" at various campgrounds.  You are correct, there are many campgrounds that publicly post they will not accept a trailer over a certain length.

If you continue to visit places you've previously been, you should be able to figure out which ones may not have a camp space large enough for your new "portable home."

As for the integrity of the TM, you should be able to pull it over the same roads, including dusty gravel, into the back country that you did with your tent trailer.

Enjoy it!

 When I ordered my TM this spring, an option the dealer, and TM, offered was a two and a half inch lift. Wasn't much, under fifty dollars. (I'm thinking it was under thirty, but not sure). Anyway, if you are getting a new trailer, you might want to think about that option. It would give you that much more ground clearance. Granted, not much, but some, for very little money. Most hitch ball mounts, (for egualizing hitchs), are adjustable, so you could raise it to match the trailer and still tow level.

Hope that helps

[Chris]

My M26 (3023) had a 17 foot box.  I measured it.  I would think that it wouldn't be much longer than yours, and in fact, should be able to go every place the other did.  Figure that it's 26 foot long when opened, but we fit into a couple of spaces designed for 16 foot long trailers. and fit okay.
Ct..

These replies have been very reassuring, and we dont feel so concerned about the length as we did earlier. Chris, I actually have the interior pics of your old TM in my bookmarks--it is our "pin-up girl" of camp vehicles I read your journal of your trips to New Mexico camp sites and figured you must have been on some "unimproved" roads somewhere along the way. Paul, unfortunately it has been over 15 years since we have been camping/fishing in our old Western haunts and our memories of the places are a bit fuzzy and they may have made changes, but we are going to try them again anyhow And Mack, I think for the resonable price, we may well try the lift system you mentioned.
Thanks, everyone for filling us in, I will be back with more questions in about a month when we take ownership.

I would echo Macks suggestion of getting the TM raised. That extra few inches of clearance can make a big difference in what kind of ground you can cover off road. Enjoy!

The lift sounds like something I should have . Can it be added on? Do you need factory parts or can something be fabricated? Two and 1/2 inches would help a lot on the back roads.

Hey guys. The two and a half inch lift I mentioned earlier seems to have sparked some interest, so I dug out my option sheet from my TM dealer.

The lift is as I remembered,,, two and a half inches. And the price is, (was?), $26.00  Seems well worth the money. About wheather or not it can be added on, or has to be built that way,,, sorry,,,, don't have a clue. I am sure the good folks at TrailManor would be happy to answer that one for you tho. They are really nice people.

Hope that helps

Mack