Looking to buy a TM and have some questions

My wife and I are looking to buy a lightweight trailer and are seriously considering a Trailmanor but I have a
few reservations that I'm looking for help with.  

1.  Since the roof is sectional, I can't help but wonder if  anyone out there has had problems with leakage.
    I also wonder, if it's raining when you need to set up the TM, how does the interior stay dry during the
    setup process.

2.  When I look at the aluminum and polystyrene sandwich for the floor, walls and roof, I can't help but
     wonder if anyone has ever had any delamination problems?  The reason I ask is that they offer a lifetime
     warranty on the lift system but only 12 months on the rest.  

3.  Did anyone compare the TM to a Hi-Lo and if so what were the primary reasons you chose TM over
    Hi-Lo?

4.  I know there are pieces of insluated vinyl flap to create a seal between the top and  bottom sections
    but does that really keep bugs, dust, etc out?

5.  The Woodall's RV Buyer's Guide 2003 lists the TM's Roof/wall/floor framing as being Aluminum/wood &
    Aluminum/wood.  Does anyone know how much wood is used and what size (eg. 2x3) is used?  The
    TM brochure makes no mention of wood being used in the framing/structure.

I want to thank everyone in advance for any help they will provide.    

In my experiences:

1. No, never leaks, in fact I've heard of some dealers putting a water hose in the 7 inch gap between the two seals that seal the roof and running it with no leaks. As far as setting it up, it'd have to be one heck of a rainfall to get any water in your trailer as the main box is protected by the rear section still as the front section is put up, and when raising the rear section up, it's closing the gap not allowing rain water to get in the trailer.

2. Nope, the process they use is extremely durable, Mine's almost 17 years old now, and it's got none of those problems.

3. Don't know, never saw a Hi-Lo up close before, but as the two beds, or bed and slide go out, it creates more living area than you would get with a Hi-Lo.

4. Yup, they sure do. I've not heard of anyone with problems with them before. Matter of fact on an extremely windy day, you don't even get a draft from that either.

5. Chuckle.........(Many on this board know how much I know about all that) But simply put, no, they don't use a lot of wood in them anymore, most of the framing structure is aluminum tubing 1"x1", but mostly it's styrofoam sandwiched in between aluminum sheeting. The advantage of this is simple, stuff doesn't rot, and it provides EXCELLENT insulation. Basically, the framing is around the windows, vents, and outter edges, but that's about it. If you're curious and want to see what I've been through with mine, you can click the link below:

http://members.aol.com/br768

Hope this helps!

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails.......[/glow]

Hello Wannabe! Welcome to this bulletin board. I will affirm what Happytrails said. Let me add:

1. We've been through some significant thunderstorms with ours, setting up and taking down. The only thing wet on the inside of the trailer, when we finished setting up, was us coming in out of the storm.

3. We shopped the Hi-Lo before we decided on the TM. Size-for-size, the Hi-Lo is about 60% heavier than the TM, so you may need a larger tow vehicle to pull it. As Happytrails said, you get more living space in the TM. Hi-Lo has larger bathrooms (something we needed) and dual axles (which make towing more secure in the event of a blowout). If dual axles are important to you, the TM 3326King has them. All others are single axle. We had one blowout on on the interstate with our 2619 and it was not a big deal.

Your questions are all good questions, and have been asked by all TM owners before they bought one. Have fun once you make your decision.

To answer the question on the vinyl flaps on the inside, I looked at a newer model (Mine is a 1990) and they look alot more secure than mine. The flap actually folded around the lip with velcro the entire lenght of the flap. Mine lays up to the lip and has several velcro flaps along the length. I measured the gap when it was set up and cut several pieces of sturdy styrofoam and place them in the gap after it is set up-takes about 1 minute to do both sides. Haven't had a problem since then

[BOB_STRONG]

Dear Trailmanorwannabee,
We too looked at the Hi-lo trailer, but in order to get the size we wanted, the trailer got to be quite heavy. The thing that I did not like was the tongue weight on the largest model that we were looking at. We have a 3326 King and it is still larger than the largest Hi-lo that they make because the Trailmanor has the rear bed that pulls out beyond the box, and also the front has the slide out living room that goes out over the tongue. Still, the 3326 King was a lot lighter than the Hi-lo. Price wise, they are about the same.

Never had any problems setting up in the rain or even taking down. The only thing that got wet was me!

We have owned a 1993, 1994 amd a 2002 Trailmanor. We never had any delamination problems. The glue that they use for the lamination process is something special and holds really well. My friend's brother in law still has the 1993 Trailmanor that we owned,and it is still fine.

Did you go into the Trailmanor site at www.Trailmanor.com to check out the frequently asked questions about the Trailmanor? The questions there should answer most of your questions regarding the Trailmanor. If you can't find them there, then I'm sure you will get a response on the forum!!

Having owned Trailmanors since Sept of 1992, I can vouch for their reliability. If they were not, I would have never purchased another one if there were a lot of construction issues.

Bob Strong

Ditto on most of the answers mentioned above.  We have never gotten wet opening or closing the unit, and have opened it in a drizzle -- I hope we never have to open it in the rain because I don't feel like  getting wet!

The Hi-Lo we looked at had less floor space, and I wasn't too confident about the bunk option they had.  In our case, the vinyl has been great at keeping out air and critters, though when you open and close the unit, you may get stuff blown in like dust or leaves.  That hasn't been a real problem for us though.

To add some objectivity here, here's a list of things you may expect when your TM gets a few years on it:

(1) during a deluge, my sidewall did leak on the inside
(2) wear marks on the ceiling, roof, & sides where the seals
     make contact while stowed
(3) velcro holding the flaps to the wall comes loose
(4) molding that secures the seals on the bottom I.D.
     around the entire circumference of the walls will crack
(5) front bedroom light sconces  flimsy & crooked
(6) vent light lens on ceiling discolors due to rubbing of seals
     against it while being towed
(7) excessive clearance between door & jam
(8) fastener security (screws) minimal; (randomly try to check
     the tightness of the screws inside & out & you'll see what I
     mean)
(9) compartment cover attached to rear bumper loose &
     becomes caught in rear half while closing
(10) antenna had small leak & coax badly weathered & have to
      manually deploy & stow
 
Some personal observations:


(1) beds firmer than I like
(2) bathroom small
(3) island beds not available (ingess & egress cumbersome for
     2 people)
(4) lite weight materials (plastic faucets, trim)  
(5) floor plans offered need to be updated (bigger bathroom &
     kitchen for example) to be competitive in this price range
(6) longterm durability & appearance questionable IMO

Likes:

(1) tows like a dream
(2) compared to a canvas popup, the TM wins easily
(3) all appliances work fine still
(4) the opening & closing mechanism has never failed

Repairs made so far:

(1) recaulked & replaced weather stripping trim on roof
(2) cleaned a/c filter & behind all grillwork
(3) replaced tanks, regulator & hoses with opd compliant type
(4) tightened or replaced 'hold down lever clamp hardware'
(5) installed new velcro (still in work)
(6) installed new agm battery
(7) new tires last year
(8) retaped exposed electrical harness
(9) installed electric tongue jack
(10) replaced some weather stripping around door

As you can see I have a ways to go to get it where it needs to be!  Bottom line for me @ least, for what I paid, my only other option was a canvas popup so I consider my TM a good purchase.  This being my first RV, unless I knew the previous owner was meticulous, I would not buy another travel trailer that was over a couple years old again.  It seems in my not so expert opinion, that after 5 years deterioriation begins & unless regular maint. is performed defects will accumulate rapidly.  Not knowing nearly as much what to look for when I bought mine a year ago has probably helped me if & when I buy another RV.  Having any 'folding' trailer has maint. issues that are inherant in the design IMO.

Don M
(grouchy66)
97, 2518