1999 TM sl 2720

Looking at a pre owned unit. Any insights into the 1999 vintage. Did they have any problems in those years. The floorplan still looks identical to the new ones. This one has a wall air conditioner. Was that stock for the year or would it be an aftermarket. How about sealing of walls and lift mechanisms. Have they been the same all along. Any input greatly appreciated to help me make a decision.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Flugelboneman

Looking at a pre owned unit. Any insights into the 1999 vintage. Did they have any problems in those years. The floorplan still looks identical to the new ones. This one has a wall air conditioner. Was that stock for the year or would it be an aftermarket. How about sealing of walls and lift mechanisms. Have they been the same all along. Any input greatly appreciated to help me make a decision.

We have a '98 2720 (traveled 2200 miles to get it). We've only had it for a few months so I don't profess to be any kind of expert. However, there are a few things that I can help you with.

The basic structure hasn't changed much. The torque arms and most materials used on the shells and body are basically the same, except the later ones don't use wood in the outer framing of the shell. I haven't heard or seen any problems with that but I am sure that it has the potential for wood-rot in the event of a water leak. Mine seems to be fine. Of course, it's pretty hard to tell if there is a problem or not. The shell could have tremendous wood-rot without showing any sign until the shell suddenly buckles but (again), I'm not aware of that happening.

The factory AC on the '99 2720 was in the side, right next to the stove. The factory unit is pretty pathetic. It seems that they came with a 7 or 8,000BTU AC that is not adequate to cool the trailer on hot or humid days. I installed a 10,000BTU AC in our TM when we first bought the trailer. It works great!!!. You can see the installation here. I used the same space that the factory did because it was all set-up for it.
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...itioner&page=2

Having said all that, we love our camper but we are still looking for the right deal on a local 2003-2006 2720SD. Not that there is anything wrong with this one. We just thought that we might like to move up to our "Last" camper soon. We are in our 60's and I don't want to have to be looking to buy in another 3-5 years and having to give this one away (then being 15 years-old). We will retire in a few years and we plan to travel for a year before settling down in our new home in Fallbrook California.

I hope that you find a unit that you like. They are truly a great camper for some. They're not for everybody though.

Wayne

[Bill]

I'm pretty much with Wayne. There have been many changes in the TM since 1999, but most of them have been evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. I can think of only a few that I would consider important. You can use the Search tool to find discussions on all of them.

1. The change from Carlisle to Goodyear tires.
2. The change from the Magnetek/Parallax converter to something newerr - TM used several.
3. The change from square to round wheel wells.
4. The change from wood framing to aluminum framing in the upper shells, which Wayne mentioned.

The only one that is really important is number 4, since, if you end up on the wrong side of the problem, it is really hard to fix. All the others are quite manageable.

Come back if there is any question about these.

Bill

[B_and_D]

I can see three different metal tubes in my upper shells (1997 TM) meeting at the front corners of the front shells. One tube goes up towards the top of the shell. Another runs along the bottom of the front, and the other along the bottoms of the sides. So I know that there is metal tubing in there, but I don't know how far it goes up into the roof of the top shell. It is definitely all along the bottom of the upper shells. I'm not about to tear apart my TM to see whether or not there is metal tubing in the top roof corners, but I believe that there is.

One way to tell if there is a problem with wood rot is to loosen up a few screws along the corners and see what happens. If they're not "biting" into anything, you may have a problem.

We love our older TM, feel that it is very well made and that it will last us for at least 10 more years. We did the wheel-well retrofit (to make them rounded) and it did seem to help when we had a blowout.

Our side A/C did die on us so we just removed it. We put a microwave into the empty space. I've only wanted an AC once in the 5 years we've had our TM, but we survived without it in 90+ degree temps. The RV park had a pool and our relatives had AC.

Thank you all for the detailed information on the 1999 TM. You have been a great help. My concern was the vintage of this particular trailer. We currently have a 2001 Aliner, and did not want to go older than the one we have. I would prefer to have the aluminum frame frankly. I will continue to "keep and eye out" for a 2720 that might appear on the west side of the continent. When they do, they do not last long, I have found. Thank you again.

Ian Parsons

[Bill]

Ian -

Let me repeat that older TMs had wood framing in the shells, and later switched to aluminum. I don't know (and I'm not sure anyone does) when the switchover occurred, but we have had indications on this board that the switch happened in different years on different models. Since B&D have aluminum in their 2720, you might very well find it in the 2720SL you are looking at (the presence or absence of a slideout would not change the shell construction). As they have said, the easiest way to tell is to pull out some screws in the lower edge of the shell. Look at the screws, and see if there are wood crumbs in the threads. Get a flashlight and peer up into the holes - you should be able to see either wood or aluminum where the threads would bite in.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with wood as long as it is solid. So don't be discouraged by the answers above - just be willing to check it out.

Bill

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Bill

By the way, there is nothing wrong with wood as long as it is solid. So don't be discouraged by the answers above - just be willing to check it out.

Bill

Bill is right about that. In fact wood, in many ways, is a better medium for framing. Ask any wood boat builder.

I bought a 1980 45' Passport sailboat in 1983. I planned to sail that boat around the World (eventually sailed it around the World twice). It had wood masts and I wanted to replace them with aluminum masts. I ran into a shipwright (master boat builder) and he explained the pros and cons of wood over aluminum. I stuck with the wood masts and I was very glad that I did.

In a nut shell, wood is slightly heavier than aluminum when you use enough aluminum to achieve the same tensile strength as wood.

The big advantage to wood over aluminum (for masts and camper frames) is that it is very forgiving. Wood will flex to around 25 degrees and resume it's previous shape with no damage. If you bend aluminum, it's bent. There is no straightening it without a tremendous loss in shape and strength. It must be cut out and a new piece welded in.

With wood, in most cases, no repair is needed. If the wood is bent far enough to crack it, it is an easy repair.

The down-side to wood is that, if you have a water leak, you'd better get it fixed right away. If the wood is allowed to sit, wet it may rot over time, This will happen with certainty with repeated soaking. The good news is, the process that TM uses for laminating the sides of the shell together seal the wood quite well. I think that it would take a water leak plus some damaged wood to achieve wood-rot in one of the frame pieces.

The biggest weakness using wood for framing is the joints. Welded aluminum is far superior there and the shell will withstand a lot more vibration and jarring, over time, with no joint separation.

After a trip to the factory this year, I saw where Trailmanor still uses wood as the frame on the open side of the upper shells, right where the seals are located that join the roof sections. The flexibility limitations of tubular aluminum are probably the reason this is still done.

Chap

Again, thank you all for the great insight and info into 1999 TM. I still think I will limit my search for slightly newer pre owned models, as hard as they are to locate on the west coast. All of your posts are informative and helpful to a prospective owner.

Ian Parsons

I think the consensus was roughly in 2003 the wood was reduced. Most other trailers are made entirely of wood framing. The Aliner might not be though. The Chalets don't seem to be either.