Design changes and when they happened?

[Meteor]

Hi all,

New to the forum, considering a TM and full of questions.

I've done a little reading here before registering, so I have read that the design of the TM has changed over the years. For example, I've read that 2619 and/or 2720 (the models I'm looking at) went from a 14" tire to a 15", with a lift kit, as a standard in 2006. When did the walls go from having wood in them to not having wood, and what replaced the wood?

Thanks for all the info, and I look forward to learning more!

Meteor

[Sterman]

Howdy, my '09 2619 (built in Jul08) has 14" wheels.
From what I have read, most of the wood went away with the 2002 or 2003 models.

[Padgett]

I just changed my April '06 2720 to 15s (came with 14s) and do not have a lift kit. It seems to be mostly aluminum & foam.

[tentcamper]

The big change year was 2003. Since then there has been small changes.

Not sure when they changed the wheel size. Also at some point in the current year a few years ago. They stop putting on the left kit and change the angle of the axle. I think there was some year's starting around 2006 where they put the lift kit on but wheels were still 14". I'm thinking it was 2009 or mid 2009 that they started putting on 15" on the 2720's as standard equipment???

The roof was changed in 2003 to aluminum frame, with the exception of the one end support where the bag seal is stapled into the wood. The wall are still wood frame constructions. I was at the factory a month ago and they are still wood frame for the walls. They have a very innovative header plate that makes it almost impossible for water to leak in where the walls meet the roof.

[Padgett]

I was wondering how to tell where the up stop on the axle is. I imagine there is a fixed distance from no-load (jacked with wheel off the ground) to max up. Dexter also indicates that they can clock the axle over a broad range so by increasing the clocking say from 22 down to 32 degrees down would raise the trailer by about an inch.

I have also seen some indications that TM modified the plastic inner wheel well which is the easiest way to add tire clearance. Dexter does recommend 3" clearance from a loaded tire to the top but that may include an allowance for mud/snow. More when I can take more measurements.

As you can see from the enclosed exerpt from the Dexter catalog for a #10 series (3500 lb) Torflex axle, using the 32 deg value, the drop (measured at the spindle) for a low profile bracket with no load is 4.67". With rated load, 2.48", and shock (max) 1.31". To me the keys are the deltas.

If we consider that a 2720SL is already overloading a 3500 lb axle then the additional movement when you hit a bump should be no more than 1.17" Be interesting to see how this compares to reality.

[B_and_D]

We have a 1997, and there is very little wood in the upper frame. All of the problems I've had with it hasn't had anything to do with wood rot. It would have been better if there was wood in the structure instead of metal tubing for some of our repairs . I believe that the factory started getting rid of the wood framing around 1995 and it has progressively kept going.

[Bill]

Meteor -

Let's go to your overall question. Your mental picture is built around "model years", and feature changes that happen on model year boundaries. This is a good mental picture for automobiles, but it does not work at all for Trail Manors. You are looking for well-defined cutover dates - you won't find them.

At Trail Manor, changes were made whenever they were ready, at various times on various models. Some changes were initially phased in on a few trailers, and in fact some were phased right back out after being included on a few trailers. Presumably this was done to accomodate parts stock on hand, parts availability, ongoing design issues, or any number of other reasons. Many changes were gradually phased in on some models over the course of a year - some trailers got it, some didn't - but were not included in other models until later.

There are any number of examples. For example, my very early build 2002 2720SL (delivered to me in October 2001) had the air conditioner mounted on the front roof (as opposed to the rear roof or the cabinet), and the spare tire mounted under the frame instead of the back bumper. Both of these were a surprise to the dealer when the trailer arrived on his lot, and many later-build 2720SLs had neither of these. Similarly, lift kits and increased-angle axles were phased in over at least two years, maybe more. The switch to 15-inch tires was even more spread out, with the biggest single-axle trailer (3124) getting them first, and other models getting them later. In this case, I bet (I don't know) it was a matter of inventory control - they had a lot of 14-inch wheels and tires in stock, and began the changeover to 15-inch where it was needed most, while phasing in the same change in smaller models as 14-inch stock on hand was used up. Again, this would have happened at various times of the year on various models, and was in no way driven by a "model year".

So people here can give you answers about their specific trailer, but you should not interpret those answers as a definitive rule. As was noted above, a lot of changes happened in the 2003-2004 time frame, but by no means all.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but there is no proper answer that matches your mental picture.

Bill

[Padgett]

That is called "slipstreaming" changes and common with short runs. Looks like most years TM produced less than 500 units.

Must admit having a 2nd sticker on the side of my 2720SL saying to overinflate the stock tires by 5 psi (55 psi on a 50 psi max tire) is disturbing, part of the reason I changed the size and increased the load range

[Meteor]

Thanks for the replies, it's very helpful.

Bill, I wasn't thinking in terms of a given date when things changed over, but more along the lines of significant changes happening in a model year, as in 'They started changing x in model year '05, and by the '06 model year they all had the new setup'. I was focused on the 2619 & 2720 models, as those are the ones I'm looking for.

Thanks to all who replied.

Meteor

I don't disagree with Bill's point, but another " change" year was late 2009. That is when all 2720's went to 15 inch wheels according to the factory rep I talked to at the time. This was also the time they incorporated a number of options from the 25 th anniversary edition (2009) like a new paint scheme, tinted windows and aluminum mag wheels. Those changes convinced me it was time to buy a TM....
Now there are new owners who seem to be making more changes, more often.

Good luck and hope you join the forum.