Inspecting older TM

Hmmm....as to the value, I saw a 2001 2720 for sale here for $8500. I thought that was a very good deal. We paid $8900 for our 1997 5 years ago (it was pretty much immaculate), and the TM's have gone up in pricing, not down. The 3023's are worth a bit more than the 2720's, and from the pictures, that one looks pretty clean. Plus, it's fairly difficult to find a clean used TM close by (no matter where you are). That makes them worth more money: the scarcity, the demand, it's just economics. I think the NADA guides, especially lately, are way off. Just try to find a good clean used TM at the values they indicate. It's just about impossible.

You can live with the 14" tires, but check the date code. We're going to try to switch to a load range D tire.

If there was damage from the blowout, you can easily see it. Our first one took a chunk of sheetmetal and foam out from behind the passenger (door) side, but we fixed it with a spray foam patch and some more sheetmetal. The one we had about a month ago took out that sheetmetal, but not much else. If it's on the plumbing side, you'll really need to check to see if anything leaks, and you may not know that without filling up the tanks somewhat. If they've had one blowout, it might be that the tires are older than what is ideal for towing. If you're not sure about the age of the tire, it helps to keep you speed down and the weight light (but this is no guarantee).

Does anyone know if the 2000 models had the rounded wheelwells? From the square shape of the "skirts", the thingeys that cover the wheels, I don't think this one has rounded wheelwells, and you may want to do the retrofit. It helps to prevent damage to the interior when you have a blowout. I just searched for the instructions, but the previous links to them have been removed. Does anyone have the instructions that they can provide?

I just found them on another thread:
http://trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5432&highlight=wheel+modification&page=2

They are also in the reference library, along with some pictures (thanks Bill!)

http://trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5439
 
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Checking out the roof air conditioner may be a bit dicey, since the seller's house probably doesn't have a 30-amp RV outlet. I have managed a couple times to start mine on a 20-amp (not 15-amp) circuit, but sometimes it pops the breaker, either immediately or after a minute or two. This does not mean that the air conditioner is bad.

Bill
 
Worse yet he's not viewing it at tthe seller's. I think he said it was a third party in between who may not even be an RV person so he's on his own a bit; except for us helping.
 
First off, sounds like there are more to tires than just looking at them. I'd better review the tire section on the forum! And, yeah, we are sorta on our own looking at the trailer. The friend that the sellers left it with does have an RV -- a regular TT, and he is an electrician, so has some knowledge of RVs. The seller is about ready to have a baby - due next week, I believe - so doesn't want to be too far from home. We offered to wait until after they have the baby, but they want to get this done now. :eek: Their friend is going to have them on the cell phone while we go through the 3023 and Mr. Seller is going to walk us through it. We are very grateful for all your help and suggestions. We are compiling a list of checks from the replies you have given us and from the technical section of the forum!!
 
If you can talk to them on the phone they should be able to help you through everything (unless the DW is in labor at that point ;)).

If the friend has an RV and is an electrician he should be able to help you out too.

Everything on ours worked when we bought it, and is still working now (except the side A/C that we ditched and put in a microwave instead).

Bring along a digital camera and a laptop, and if you have TM questions, maybe you can use the friend's DSL or whatever to connect to the board. No matter when I check the board, there are always people signed in.

GOOD LUCK! I hope you find a good TM. We were so excited when we first saw ours, it was a dream come true.
 
We got it!

WOO HOO!
We had a great inspection! The friend of the seller had it set up and charged with water, hooked up to electric...everything went great. We had the list complied from your suggestions, and after all was done our new (to us) TM came home with us last night.
I have no doubt that there will be bugs to iron out, but we are just so excited to actually have our very own TM. Thanks to all of you for your help and advice. We will be online to work out all the kinks and will look forward to visiting with you more.
Thanks, thanks! :new_uklia
 
Propane Tanks

Don't let this impact your decision, but check the propane tanks expiration date. Usually stamped on the top collar. Once certification expires, you need to have them retested, but usually less expensive to replace them. Most places will not fill expired tanks.
 
Ah, yes. Back down to earth. Guess I'd better get over the initial excitement and focus on matters at hand. Good advice. I will check the tanks before I fill them. Especially before we plan a trip and then are unable to fill our tanks. That one goes on the list!
 
Also, check the date code on the battery and tires. If either are original, being 9-10 years old, just replace them, especially the tires, even if they look fine. In fact, if the tires are more than 4-5 years old, the group wisdom here (including myself) says to replace them. Otherwise, a blow-out is only a matter of time -- I've had one, and they always seem to happen at the worst possible time....dark, rain, freeway, everyone is hungry, etc.....you get the idea.

Details on how to check the date code of the tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

Dave
 
You guys will have a blast. Every time we go out in the TM, we both always say how much we love it and how happy we are that we pulled the trigger. Every time, and usually more than once per trip. What makes it especially nice is it enables you to camp comfortably during the winter, which is when most other folks stay at home. While staying at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon this winter, we had virtually the entire 90-some site place to ourselves. THE GRAND CANYON!

Dave
 
Congrats! If the tanks need inspection, just take them to the local drugstore or Home Depot that has a Blue Rhino Propane cage and swap them for full ones. They take care of all that.

This assuming you don't have an SL model TM that has horizontal tanks.
 
You and your family will have so much fun with your TM. I wish that we'd had ours when the kids were smaller, but we had other rigs that were cool too (but definitely not as cool as the TM ;)).

To me the most fun was when we first brought it home and we got to "make it ours". All the pots and pans, the bins, figuring where you can store stuff, what you need to camp with; and it changes constantly as the kids get older. I look back at our first TM pictures when my son was 12, he was so much smaller, and now he's this big 17 (soon to be 18) year old. They grow up so fast.

I hope you have lots of wonderful family camping trips in your TM and that it serves you well.

If your tires are old, get new ones. This has been our biggest problem so far. And do the wheelwell retrofit. My DH thought I was being a pain in the kazoo when I asked him to help me do ours, but after our first blowout, he was thankful that we did it.

Happy TM trails to you!
 
B_and_D said:
And do the wheelwell retrofit. My DH thought I was being a pain in the kazoo when I asked him to help me do ours, but after our first blowout, he was thankful that we did it.
Click to expand...

Just to sidetrack a moment, did you have a blow-out on a retro-fitted wheel? I'm not aware of this happening to anyone here yet, so if so, how did the retrofit do?

Dave
 
We've had two on that retrofitted wheelwell, and it helped a lot. On the first blowout, the inside of the sheetmetal on the new rounded wheelwell got banged up quite a bit, but there was so much foam and sheetmetal around the wheelwell that there was no damage at all to the interior. There was a bit of damage to the immediate area behind the wheelwell, underneath the trailer. To imagine what I'm talking about, think about your square wheelwell, with no protection around, and then having them banged up by a tire losing it's tread, constantly banging up against the wheelwell. There is virtually nothing between the wheelwells and the cabinetry on either side or on top (on the passenger side). When you do the retrofit, you add another layer of sheetmetal and a lot of foam. It takes the "hit" when you have a blowout. If it happens on the driver's side, damage to the plumbing is another possibility that we, luckily, haven't had to deal with. I've added a sheetmetal cage around the plumbing, in the hope that it would deflect the shredding tire from hitting the pipes and outlet. I've posted pictures in my photo album: http://trailmanorowners.com/forum/album.php?albumid=42

I sincerely hope that we never have to test this, but it would be interesting.

Life is an adventure. Towing the TM is always an adventure.
 
Glad to hear the retrofit appeared to have helped. That is very encouraging!

I have been meaning to add some sort of shield around that plumbing also.....

Dave
 
Thanks to all of you well wishers! We are so excited to start taking our first trips. I have mentioned the wheel well modifications to the DH and he also thinks I am being a pain and a bit of a worry-wart. How much time and work are involved in the retrofit? I will have to talk him into it! :rolleyes: He is replacing the tires right away, as he does with any used vehicle we have purchased. I have researched the tire section of this forum, and it gets a little murky, doesn't it?
When the sellers had their blowout (not a violent one - caused no damage) when they towed it down to meet us, they got a Marathon B tire, which right now is on the spare rack. We want to replace both tires on the ground now, but what I understand from reading the forum is that the Marathon B is not that great. Hmm. How to get decent tires without mortgaging the house...Any further thoughts about best basic tires?
 
There is a plethora of tire info elsewhere on the forum....check those out...but I have had great luck with the Kumhos. They can be a bit hard to find, but you can order them online and have them shipped to a garage of your choosing to install them. I think I paid $350 for tires, balancing, and metal stems on three 205/R14 tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?make=Kumho&model=Radial+857

Dave
 
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When you say "Marathon B", I'm thinking you mean a Marathon tire in Load Range B. Not a good choice - they will be overloaded. You should get a Load Range C tire at a minimum - that is what TM ships on their trailers these day. As you saw in the Tire forum, some of our members have moved to a Load Range D, just to get some extra capacity.

Check out the Goodyear web site for some detailed info.

Bill
 
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