First, and sadly, Final Trailmanor Camping Trip

We wanted to be Trailmanor people - really wanted to be. We searched over a year before finding a used 2001 31KS that we eagerly purchased last December. September came and we started off on a month long vacation.

Yes, we've been camping most of our lives, and recently sold our small HiLo trailer. We are also used to backpacking, tents and minor inconvienences of camping.

The Journey: It started off with greatly missing the ability to pull over, set up within 15 seconds (HiLo setup), and use both the fridge and the bathroom. Annoying, but we hoped to make do. Then came the wrestling with the shells, slideouts, and bathroom setup. None of which are major, but combined are VERY annoying after the 4th time. Wrenched my back pulling the shells out one night.

The bed. How to describe having to climb over each other to get into or out of bed, and then cracking a knee getting back into the bed. Perhaps we're getting too old?

Did I mention the several small concussions I received after cracking my head on the bathroom door frame at night? Did I mention the several small concussions I received after cracking my head on the bathroom door frame at night? Did I mention.... Ooops - I see that I did.

The toilet. OK, it works as advertised. Yep, I COULD get used to it. But gee, it sure smells worse than a 'normal' Thetford - you know, the one with the sliding valve seal that traps odors? Yep, had a full bottle of 'blue', along with odor tablets in it. I managed to 'explain' the toilet's characteristics to the DW. Barely. She wasn't buying it.

Advantage: Easy to tow.

Honestly, we tried. We're not sissies. I've slept outdoors, in snow caves, buried in pumic (to keep warm when mountainclimbing), graduated from survival school many eons ago. Just did not click. The HiLo did - immediately.

Bless those that do better than us. And forgive us for not making it into the TM club.

Oh, after we definitely decided to sell the TM and get another HiLo or 'regular' trailer (five days into vacation), our tow vehicle transmission started going out. After - had nothing to do with our TM opinion, and nothing to do with the TM towing - just an old tranny. Perhaps a message from the lesser gods? Anyway, here we are spending a week+ in Seattle waiting on a new tranny. However - we have been RV shopping!! Look for a TM trade in near you.

By the way - many thanks to the year+ advice and online manuals, tips and all. I sure appreciated it, and it helped greatly.

Best of luck to all of you!

T

[commodor47]

Sorry to hear things didn't work out . . . but glad to see such a positive attitude. I am sure you will find the right RV soon and will continue with your adventure. Do drop by every now and then and let us know what you get to replace your TM.

Good luck and safe travels

[Bill]

Yup, as Leon used to say (fairly often), TMs are not for everyone. Still, I'm saddened when it doesn't work out for someone. Enjoy your next rig, whatever it may be.

Bill

Traveler, Sorry to hear that you're leaving us. I hope that the Hi-Lo provides more of what you are looking for as an RV. I would only add that there is a learning curve that must be negotiated before one becomes really comfortable in a TM or any other trailer for that matter. The TM learning curve may be somewhat greater than a Hi-Lo but I can say with all sincerity that our setup and takedown times have dramatically decreased with each adventure and that we could probably accomplish both "eyes closed".

But my wife reminded me that I, myself, managed to smack my head on the bathroom door frame numerous times on our first few outings. Now, I automatically duck without thinking.

And as for the bed --- well, I still like to wrestle with my wife and this gives me a perfect excuse. Thank you, Trailmanor.

Take care, Traveler. If you see any of us on the road or in the camps --- please say hello. Eric

We love our TM for 2 and 3 day weekends, which is what we bought it for.

We tried a week long trip once and it was not what I expected. Our plan was to stay two nights at each stop. That was not long enough. I, too, grew tired of set up and tear down. In the future, I will not move camp more often than once a week.

For me it isn't so much the popping and unpopping. It is the stuff I carry on the floor of the TM, chairs, outdoor table, free standing canopy.

The truck is also full of stuff. Well, all that stuff has to go back in.

Fortunately, when I have a lot of stuff the kids (DD-27 and DS-25) are with us, which is why I have so much stuff.

My older brother has a Montana fifth wheel. I tease him that he can not go where I can go and I do not want to go where he can go. But, the one thing I am jealous of is he has enough storage space that there is no stuff piled on the floor and no stuff in the truck. It all fits in the storage bays. This means that when he gets up in the morning he does not have to do much packing.

I'm 55 and can set up the TM with my weak arm, but not forever. When we retire in another 10 years or so we will likely have something different.

I don't intend to be a copy cat, but I just posted a thread that we are going to sell our Trailmanor and get a coventional travel trailer. But unlike Traveler, our Trailmanor experience has been very pleasant.

Yes, I still hit my head on the bathroom door sometimes. Yes, I have to crawl over my wife to get in and out of the bed, but like Eric Lawson, that is not necessarily a bad thing. But I think you are going to have some kind of disadvantages to any kind of camper that you get. I will not be able to get the trailer that we are buying into some of the places that we take our Trailmanor......case in point is the picture in my avatar.....I did a bunch of measuring on our trip there a couple of weeks ago, and it just won't work. And those big monster RVs have plenty of storage and options, but they get lousy gas mileage, are hard to maneuver, and are limited to the campsites that can be occupied.

RVers just have to shop around and see what wiil work for them, as far as budget, TV (if applicable), camping style, family size, etc. The Trailmanor worked great for us except the low fridge and cabinets were hard on my wife's bad back. So, we are going to try something different, and see if it works better for us.

We will miss the great towing, maneuverability, and decent gas mileage of our Trailmanor. I have never pulled a full sized camper before, but get my 1st experience this week. I don't expect it to be near the pleasure of towing the Trailmanor, but I will see soon enough.

Good Luck, Traveler.

Chap

This post just emphasized that whatever kind of trailer/rv we have is a compromise on some level. The TM has huge advantages in the size and ease of towing departments. But you do have setup and space issues. In a non-popup you have towing/mileage/storage problems. And there are major differences between a motorhome and a trailer. Nothing is perfect in all categories. If I wasn't a poor retired school teacher living on a pension and needing to store a trailer in the garage, I'm sure my choice would have been different! While we love our TM/Tacoma combo and recommend the TM to anyone who will listen (and some who don't want to!), it sure would be nice sometimes to have a full-sized referigerator, walk-around bed and minor setup afforded by a larger unit. Compromise, compromise, compromise!

My older brother is retired and tows a 32 foot Montana fifth wheel with a truck similar to mine.

He can not go where I can go. I do not like to go where he can go.

He goes to RV parks with full hookups. I go to forest service campgrounds with narrow twisting roads and to state parks.

When I retire in another 10 years or so we will likely get something else, either a TT or a FW, and give the TM to the kids. It will be 13 years old by then and worth more to the kids than it will be to sell.

[B_and_D]

Chap and Traveler -

Whatever rig you end up with and wherever you go, I hope you enjoy your travels and have lots of good times.

Do check in once in a while and let us know what you're up to.

Dee

"Tow's easy" is a huge difference; with my truck, it is the difference between 18mpg (measured) and ~8mpg (estimated based on friends trailer towing experience) on the road. With $4+ gasoline (which we will soon consider to be cheap in the future), the cost savings is a huge difference, possibly the difference between going or staying.

You might also consider that towing the much heavier HL did your tranny in over time.

Other problems: As for crawling over the the wife at night, just move to the front bunk.... To solve your ducking problem, replacing the chunk of wood over the bathroom door with a flat/thin metal strap might improve your head interference.