New Owner seeks advice for pick up of 2720

KN

kncparks

New Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2019
Posts
7
Hi new friends!

My husband and I have purchased a 2005 2720 that we will pick up next Wednesday. Our tow vehicle is a 2003 Ford F150 Supercrew shortbed. My question is: do you think we should get a sway bar right away? I read the thread about the TM accident and it's a little intimidating. We have driven a Coleman popup (15') for years, but this is a new to us trailer and I don't want to take chances.

I believe that there are sway bars with distribution hitches. Is that recommended? I'm confident in the F150 to tow, but living in the PNW with all of the rain we get and the curvy roads on the coast, I am wondering about these things. I know tires are of UTMOST importance and we will be sure that our tires are in excellent condition.

Thanks in advance for your input! We are so excited to be a part of this community and hope we can join a TM gathering at some point.
 
We opted for the Anderson Weight Distribution system, I installed it myself using a Harbor Freight torque wrench, and a larger size socket set. It was not difficult to install. I haven't had it on the road yet, but it did level and line everything up nicely. The primary reason I chose the Anderson WDH was that it only adds 60lbs to the tongue weight, other brands are considerably heavier. From previous trailer towing experience and the advice of most here on the forum, WDH devices are an important safety feature. My tow vehicle is a 1998 Ford F150, 4x4 Supercrew with the 6.5" Bed. I will update how the performance of the Anderson is for us once we head out in early September for a 1000 mile trip.
 
While WDH's are widely used by folks here, I get the impression that, in contrast, anti-sway bars are not. The TM axle is further back on the trailer than many travel trailers. That increases the tongue weight, which helps to reduce sway. The distance between the TM axle and the hitch ball may also be a factor, I don't know.

I've towed our TM many 10s of thousands of miles over 12 years of ownership, including 3 trips across the U.S., and despite my not having an anti-sway bar, or similar functionality on my WDH, I have never had a problem with sway.

Others here, like Bill our esteemed moderator, have even more towing miles under their belt.

Dave
 
If this is the post that concerns you:

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92&highlight=Trailmanor+accident

there is a lot of good information here.

The other TM accident I came across was this one:

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2713&highlight=Trailmanor+accident

In both cases, there were mistakes made by the driver. (I'm not trying to be critical about the drivers here... when things happen, we act by instinct and sometimes instinct is the wrong reaction). In the first case, post #8 has a lot of good information, and suggested it wasn't the vehicle trailer combination, but perhaps how the trailer was loaded, or perhaps a tire problem. In the second case, the driver encountered poor road base (grass, gravel, concrete).

When we travelled to CA last year, I noticed a lot of people pulling trailers would travel over 60 mph. Exceeding 60 mph is not a good idea. If you keep your speed at or below 60 mph, it gives you some room to accelerate slightly if you begin to get some sway for any reason. A slight acceleration will recover from sway, but drivers may panic when they experience some sway, try to brake, or correct with the steering wheel. These will make the sway worse.

I think you should be fine as long as you account for road conditions, and keep the speed down. We pulled our TM from Tacoma to Canada 2 years ago. I didn't have a WDH yet, the height of the hitch ball wasn't right, and the rear shocks on my Tahoe were shot. I also later discovered that the trailer brakes were not working. Not a good combination. We pulled the trailer home at night when there was less traffic, and I kept the speed down. I never encountered any sway at all.
 
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We've towed our TM 10s of thousands of miles in 18 years all over the US with three different tow vehicles.

Never any issue with sway.

I do use a WDH though.
 
Thanks so much everyone! It sounds like a WDH is the best choice. We will check into that. And thanks for the tips like watching speed and sub terrain. Those are quite helpful! I love this group already. I wish you all happy travels and I'll let you know how it goes. :)
 
The TM has electric brakes

Carole and Kevin,

Welcome to TM owners. I agree with the others that our TM's don't suffer
much from sway. Only time I've felt sway is when I'm in the center lane and
two 18 wheelers are passing on either side at the same time. Argh.
In your opening statements, you didn't mention anything about whether the
truck has a 7 pin connector and a brake controller. I'm no expert on the
Coleman popup but the TM has electric brakes and your tow vehicle really
needs to be wired with a brake controller through a 7 pin connector to match
the connector on the TM. The TM weighs around 3,000 lbs and could cause
a safety problem on a wet downhill with no brake controller.

Good luck.
 
7pin and trailer brakes

Hi Bob and Sue (dab1950),
Yes we are wired with a 7 pin connector and have a brake controller. We were supposed to pick up the TM tomorrow, but our AC installation has been delayed because they needed an install kit from the company. It's going to be the end of next week at the earliest. I think we will take it really easy coming home and see how it handles. If we feel any sway at all we have a Les Schwab here that could probably install it. Thanks for the welcome. We're so happy to be here and cannot wait to pick up our trailer!
 
I think you will be surprised how easy it is to tow a Trailmanor. As long as you don't get overconfident you should be fine. Have fun and enjoy!
 
Not even an issue

I have towed my 2720SL with a 2002 super crew cab for thousands of miles with no WDH or sway bar. Never felt unsafe or unstable. My new 2019 Traverse actually senses sway and apples the trailer brakes to counteract the swaying motion. Some new vehicles offer this function with a towing package.
 
We have towed our 05 2619 with a 02 F 150 Supercrew short bed for thousands of miles and never had a problem , we do not use a sway bar or WDH . Hope this helps.
 
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