Upgrade - which Elkmont? [moved]

[hjbourge]

Hi Shandysplace,

I noticed in your early post that you had a 3326 TM and now a Elkmont 26 TM. We have a 2720 TM 2010 for the past two camping seasons and have been thinking of upgrading to the Elkmont. We thought of the 26 footer but last week we were at the dealer and saw a 24 that had a soffa bed instead of the permanent bed, which give you a lot more walking room in the trailer. But my main question is how do you like the Elkmont and is it really worth upgrading to. We pull our TM with a 2008 Honda Ridgeline and have had no wind problems or sway, but we are both in our late 60's and putting up and taking down of the TM is getting tougher. We had taken a crosscountry trip last year with the TM and made 29 campgrounds some for only one night, by the end of the trip we were getting better at the set up and take down, but still it took a toll. Do you get any sway when towing and is set up quicker?

Originally Posted by hjbourge

Hi Shandysplace,

I noticed in your early post that you had a 3326 TM and now a Elkmont 26 TM. We have a 2720 TM 2010 for the past two camping seasons and have been thinking of upgrading to the Elkmont. We thought of the 26 footer but last week we were at the dealer and saw a 24 that had a soffa bed instead of the permanent bed, which give you a lot more walking room in the trailer. But my main question is how do you like the Elkmont and is it really worth upgrading to. We pull our TM with a 2008 Honda Ridgeline and have had no wind problems or sway, but we are both in our late 60's and putting up and taking down of the TM is getting tougher. We had taken a crosscountry trip last year with the TM and made 29 campgrounds some for only one night, by the end of the trip we were getting better at the set up and take down, but still it took a toll. Do you get any sway when towing and is set up quicker?

may i offer an opinion. the uniqueness of the trailmanor is the folding low profile and no sway. its still a pop up but a unique one.

the elkmonts although they are a quality trailer are still uprights.

mileage will be terrible beacause of wind friction on more exposed area not weight.(and sway greatly increased)

your ridgeline will go from 17 to 8 miles a gallon(guess based on experience).
owned a travel trailer and now own soft sided pop up.( am going to buy trailmanor)

I have also learned not to force using pop up.

if your traveling cross country-use motels for one night stands. don't feel you ha
ve to use your trailer saves a lot of grief.


example. if have 1000 miles to cover use motels first 2 days. drive longer(easier with pop up) then set up for several days stop


gerry

Originally Posted by gerrym51

may i offer an opinion. the uniqueness of the trailmanor is the folding low profile and no sway. its still a pop up but a unique one.

the elkmonts although they are a quality trailer are still uprights.

mileage will be terrible beacause of wind friction on more exposed area not weight.(and sway greatly increased)

your ridgeline will go from 17 to 8 miles a gallon(guess based on experience).
owned a travel trailer and now own soft sided pop up.( am going to buy trailmanor)

I have also learned not to force using pop up.

if your traveling cross country-use motels for one night stands. don't feel you ha
ve to use your trailer saves a lot of grief.


example. if have 1000 miles to cover use motels first 2 days. drive longer(easier with pop up) then set up for several days stop


gerry

While I agree that MPG will be worse with the Elkmont due to increased wind resistance, our mileage has been nowhere near as bad as the 8 MPG suggested in the above post. Worst case we've done is 10.5 MPG fighting a head wind for the entire trip. More typically, our gas mileage ranges from 12 to 13.5 when towing with our Buick Enclave with 3.6L V6 engine. By itself, the Enclave gets about 17 in the city and up to 24 MPG highway (my personal experience, which closely mirrors the vehicle's touted MPG).

I've never owned a fold-down Trailmanor, so I can't speak for its ease of set-up, but the Elkmont is a breeze to set-up. I would recommend a WDH to reduce sway, and dealing with this is the hardest part of the set-up / take-down process. The hitch is heavy and the spring bars do take a bit of effort. That second part can be made much easier by opting for the electric tongue jack option. You use the jack to "lift" the trailer / TV slightly (not literally) which makes tensioning the spring bars a snap.

[cochise]

Originally Posted by Bigbit

While I agree that MPG will be worse with the Elkmont due to increased wind resistance, our mileage has been nowhere near as bad as the 8 MPG suggested in the above post. Worst case we've done is 10.5 MPG fighting a head wind for the entire trip. More typically, our gas mileage ranges from 12 to 13.5 when towing with our Buick Enclave with 3.6L V6 engine. By itself, the Enclave gets about 17 in the city and up to 24 MPG highway (my personal experience, which closely mirrors the vehicle's touted MPG).

I've never owned a fold-down Trailmanor, so I can't speak for its ease of set-up, but the Elkmont is a breeze to set-up. I would recommend a WDH to reduce sway, and dealing with this is the hardest part of the set-up / take-down process. The hitch is heavy and the spring bars do take a bit of effort. That second part can be made much easier by opting for the electric tongue jack option. You use the jack to "lift" the trailer / TV slightly (not literally) which makes tensioning the spring bars a snap.

I totally agree with this. We pull our Elkmont 24 with a 2003 Silverado 4.3 L 6 cyl engine, and we get around 13 mpg pullinng and about 18-20 mpg alone. And the WDH is a MUST with the Elkmont. You have about 660 Lb on the tongue, place about 5' behind the rear axle (in my case), so that is a lot of fulcrum effect to deal with. And yes we have gotten up to 15 mpg with a slight tail wind helping us along.

I new i should not have used specific numbers. the point is mileage and sway
will be different. the number i used was specifically for the honda ridgeline.

if you go to hondaridgelineowners forum you will see the ridgeline gets very poor milerage for its size then others in its class and encourages premium fuel
while towing.(which is why i did not buy one0.

as for other statements i made. it was based on what the poster said about traveling cross coun try and one night stands.

the elkmont is still a standard trailer and will have greater sway issues

how much sway issues a person can take is strictly a personal issue

gerry

[cochise]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

I new i should not have used specific numbers. the point is mileage and sway
will be different. the number i used was specifically for the honda ridgeline.

if you go to hondaridgelineowners forum you will see the ridgeline gets very poor milerage for its size then others in its class and encourages premium fuel
while towing.(which is why i did not buy one0.

as for other statements i made. it was based on what the poster said about traveling cross coun try and one night stands.

the elkmont is still a standard trailer and will have greater sway issues

how much sway issues a person can take is strictly a personal issue

gerry

We have never had any noticeable sway in our Elkmont/Silverado combo. And as far as comfort is concerned, we love that on a trip we can just pull over and enter the trailer to eat luch or just have a cup of coffee, or even use the bathroom between camp sites. And you don't have to stabilize the trailer for that, just unlock the door and enter.

And often when we travel longer distances we pull into a parking lot or whereever we can after about 300 miles and spend the night in pure comfort, again without having to do a lot of set-up. The Elkmont 24 is perfect for that scenario. Next morning we just get back in the truck and take off for the next 300 or so miles.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

may i offer an opinion. the uniqueness of the trailmanor is the folding low profile and no sway. its still a pop up but a unique one.

the elkmonts although they are a quality trailer are still uprights.

mileage will be terrible beacause of wind friction on more exposed area not weight.(and sway greatly increased)

your ridgeline will go from 17 to 8 miles a gallon(guess based on experience).
owned a travel trailer and now own soft sided pop up.( am going to buy trailmanor)

I have also learned not to force using pop up.

if your traveling cross country-use motels for one night stands. don't feel you ha
ve to use your trailer saves a lot of grief.


example. if have 1000 miles to cover use motels first 2 days. drive longer(easier with pop up) then set up for several days stop


gerry

gerry,

I had the same PU thinking that you do before we purchased our 1st TM.....Our PU (2002 Coleman Tacoma), although very nice was a PITA to set up and I agree, long trips would require motel breaks.

I hope that you will discover what so many of us have. IMO, long trips, no longer require motel breaks because the TM is SOOOOOO much easier to set-up than a traditional, canvas sided PU. The length of time is truly a lot less but more than that, the back breaking struggle of setting up the bunks, cranking the roof and all the rest of it is far less in a TM. I find setting up more "Fun" than work. We came to the point that is was "Painful" and "Stressful" to set-up camp. Not any more (except for the people that want to stand around, watch and ask questions.....that's starting to get old)......

I would now consider moving our "Stuff" from the camper to a motel more work and PITA than setting up the TM.....besides, I love my own bed......

Originally Posted by hjbourge

Hi Shandysplace,

I noticed in your early post that you had a 3326 TM and now a Elkmont 26 TM. We have a 2720 TM 2010 for the past two camping seasons and have been thinking of upgrading to the Elkmont. We thought of the 26 footer but last week we were at the dealer and saw a 24 that had a soffa bed instead of the permanent bed, which give you a lot more walking room in the trailer. But my main question is how do you like the Elkmont and is it really worth upgrading to. We pull our TM with a 2008 Honda Ridgeline and have had no wind problems or sway, but we are both in our late 60's and putting up and taking down of the TM is getting tougher. We had taken a crosscountry trip last year with the TM and made 29 campgrounds some for only one night, by the end of the trip we were getting better at the set up and take down, but still it took a toll. Do you get any sway when towing and is set up quicker?

Hi, its me again.

I guess what I;m saying is if your not going to use a pop-up trailmanor then all manufacturer light trailers are in play. the travel trailer market is the largest rv product so it stands to reason trailamor would sell regular trailers and get some added sales.

their hard sided pop-up has no competitor. the trailer does-so i think you should look at them all. my personal favcorite if i was going to buy are hard sided light trailer is the Heartland EDGE. look at new model m17 gerry

Originally Posted by gerrym51

Hi, its me again.

I guess what I;m saying is if your not going to use a pop-up trailmanor then all manufacturer light trailers are in play. the travel trailer market is the largest rv product so it stands to reason trailamor would sell regular trailers and get some added sales.

their hard sided pop-up has no competitor. the trailer does-so i think you should look at them all. my personal favcorite if i was going to buy are hard sided light trailer is the Heartland EDGE. look at new model m17 gerry

You should look at the Keystone Bullet series also.

Originally Posted by [email protected]

You should look at the Keystone Bullet series also.

i looked at the bullets. they are nice but too heavy.when i researched



the honda ridgeline it has a max 5000 pound tow rating

because it has a unique all wheel drive system honda discourages the use of a wdh(notice i said discourages not flat out says no)

the low sided trail manor pop-up is a good match for this truck.

a light regular sided trailer especialy with wind resistance at higher speeds is not. but can be done if total loaded weight kept below
4500 pounds. i suspect a loaded elkmont would be too heavy . i suggest you look for true elkmont weights with options before you decide

gerry