Moving while open?

[boater454]

Is it safe to move my TM 50'-100' while it's open. I'd like to open it up after a trip to unload and clean it out and then back it into my barn and leave it open. Do you think I would need to close it first to back it a short distance. There is a bit of a lateral grade not much though. Also a small up then down grade over the threshold of the barn door.

Thanks

 

[Wavery]

Is it safe to move my TM 50'-100' while it's open. I'd like to open it up after a trip to unload and clean it out and then back it into my barn and leave it open. Do you think I would need to close it first to back it a short distance. There is a bit of a lateral grade not much though. Also a small up then down grade over the threshold of the barn door.

Thanks

I moved mine all the way across the CG one time (to get a better site). No issues.

Have you ever been in a strong wind storm with yours? I have.....that was a lot more stress on the TM then towing it 1/4 mile.

 

[wbmiller3]

This has been discussed a few times. A lot depends on the tow vehicle. I could pull mine in a straight line, but if I turned, the TM would collide with my Expedition.

 

[boater454]

I'm just backing straight up so no worries about it hitting the TV. I searched but couldn't find it under "towing when open" or "moving when open".

 

[ThePair]

Mine was moved at a dealer lot during a warantee service, open, with no repercussions. Seems as long as it's relatively smooth and level I wouldn't foresee any issues.

 

[Wavery]

I just remembered........the one thing that I did do is take the galley cabinet off the wall. My wife walked along side to be sure that the roof latches stayed in place. We even had to go up & down a couple of hills inside the CG and it was on a dirt road part of the way...

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I once thought about a trip to the dump station leaving the TM set up. But standing next to the TM and wiggling the shells, I could see ways things might move around bumping and stressing each other. So I figured the extra 10 minutes to drop the shells was worth it. A short easy trip on a smooth surface would probably be fine.

 

[B_and_D]

We've moved ours from one campsite to the next; we put things on the floor so they wouldn't fall off the counters. I watched DH pull it out of the first campsite and start backing it into the next one, and I had to stop him because we had to push in the front bed. The pickup bed would have hit the front bed if he had kept going. The truck bed fit under the shell OK, but this was in a very level parking lot and it was a matter of a few inches. Our truck has a few inches of lift installed so without that, it may not have been a problem.

 

[camp2canoe]

I occasionally will tow our extended 2619 to the dump site but only if I have first checked that there are no sharp turns. The suggested procedure to have someone walk along side to monitor the distance between the TM and TV is a necessity. Violating this procedure was harder on my TV than TM - I have a small nonfunctional dent in the leading edge of my TM but had to have the back corner of my cap on the pickup repainted. - camp2canoe

 

[Bill]

To me, it is a risk-reward tradeoff.

The reward is that you save the couple minutes that it takes to do a partial closedown. Obviously you don't have to do a complete closeup just to lower the shells, so it is quick and easy.

The risk is that you hurt your tow vehicle or trailer by backing the tow vehicle into the trailer, or that you bend the trailer's shell suspension arms or pocket stops or something else on the trailer, by towing it with the weight of the shells up high, swaying, and only partly supported in the direction of the various stresses.

Your choice, of course.

Bill

 

[Shrimpburrito]

I'm with Bill. Much of the time setting up and taking down has to do with hitching up, leveling, chocking the wheels, i.e. stuff you're going to have to do anyway if you move it while setup. So maybe you'll save 10-15 minutes, if you are normally slow setting up. And the original posted isn't even going to save that much time because he's doesn't have all kinds of stuff setup inside -- he just unloaded and dumped, and simply wants to go back to his barn. (sidebar: I wish I had a barn.) It's going to take you at least an extra 5-10 minutes to get to where you are going because you are going to have to be watching for stuff going wrong everywhere. As as Bill mentioned, you're going to risk damaging the TM and TV at the same time, which undoubtedly will take more than 10 minutes to fix, even if you don't fix it yourself. camp2canoe has already experienced real damage doing this practice....damage that I presume he wouldn't have traded for the time he saved.

Kinda reminds me of people driving to the gym......

Dave

 

[JapChinLvr]

Only you know what your path looks like that you are towing on. I know a lady with a 2619 a little older than my TM who tows to the dump all the time from her spot in the CG. That includes a no perfectly level road and a curve. But she has a small pickup with no cap.

I have a cap on my truck so I'll never take the risk of doing it. I'd be afraid to do it with a van as well. I'm too chicken to risk damage to $20K TM or $30K TV!

 

[PopBeavers]

When camping, I spend at least twice as much time positioning the TM and leveling it than I do popping it open. In a campground situation, moving rom one site to another I would close it.

If just moving it around the yard, where there is no reason to park it exactly where you want it and there is no reason to level it, then I would consider keeping it open, but probably not. Just a little damage to the upper shells could become very expensive.

When I had it in a local shop for repairs, they moved it around while open. But, they have insurance for that. I'm not sure my insurance would cover the replacement cost if I broke it.

 

[Wavery]

When I had it in a local shop for repairs, they moved it around while open. But, they have insurance for that. I'm not sure my insurance would cover the replacement cost if I broke it.

What's to break????? (other than hitting the TV while backing) It's not like anyone would get on the freeway with it.

The OP says he's backing straight up. Even in my wildest imagination, I can't see the harm (other than hitting the TV while maneuvering:new_bdays).

 

[PopBeavers]

What's to break????? (other than hitting the TV while backing) It's not like anyone would get on the freeway with it.

The OP says he's backing straight up. Even in my wildest imagination, I can't see the harm (other than hitting the TV while maneuvering:new_bdays).

When he said backing it straight into the barn, I was visualizing a path that was not paved. All the barns I know about are in pastures.

I have never seen a barn that was paved, along with the access path to it.

But, I certainly have not been to every farm in the US.

Perhaps my interpretation of barn is incorrect.

A few web searches for the definition of barn yields things like:

- an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals

- an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment. Barns are most commonly found on a farm or former farm.

- an agricultural building with large, usually sliding doors, prominent roofs, and predominantly open spaces on the interior, primarily used as storage buildings for hay, grains, and farm equipment and shelters for livestock.

I can not imagine a barn that was originally housing cattle having a smooth surface. In the winter, the dirt road to the barn might be a little slimy.

 

[boater454]

Just to clarify: my barn's drive and floor are gravel. But it is just a storage barn. No cows for now! (Used to raise some goats) I was mainly curious as to if I would damage the top supports by moving it. I know that I can't turn it very sharply. Sounds like I'd be OK as long as I don't hit anything.

Thanks

 

[Bob&Joyce]

Hey Bill, in your post made on 9/22 you referred to a partial closedown, and said you did not have to do a complete closeup just to lower the shells. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how you do that. In order to close the rear shell, you have to slide in the bed - which means lowering the bathroom walls and wardrobe and you have to take down the cabinets; then raise the weather seals and bring in the slide to lower the front shell.

I just can't figure a shorter, more partial way to do it. Would you mind sharing? Thanks

 

[Bill]

I wasn't very clear, was I? My apologies. By "partial closedown", I meant that if you are in a campground, and you are simply going 50 yards to a dump station and back, you don't have to get everything in full travelling order. If there are dishes in the sink, books on the couch, chairs on the lawn - that's OK. Disconnect one end of the water hose, but don't disconnect the other end, or drain it, or coil it. Same with the TV cable if you have one deployed. No need to hook up the WDH, or the safety chains, etc. No need to mount the extended mirrors. Of course if you are simply going in and out of the barn, some of these may not apply.

A full closedown and hookup take a certain amount of time, but if you don't have to do the full deal, it is quicker.

Bill

 

[RogerR]

Even for a short move make sure you latch down the shells, I didn't because I was only moving 2 sites over. Needless to say the front shell popped up and popped my car a nifty dent.

 

[Wavery]

HMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! I think that the answer to the OP's original question depends on what his TV is.

It seems the biggest risk in moving the TM open is a collision between the TM front shell and the TV.