trailmanors worth the $ and are there problems?

After doing quite a bit of reserach into different trailers I have basically come to the decision that the trailmanors would fit our lifestyle the best but I'm starting to have some second thoughts. Noticed that many owners sell theirs after a few years yet there are others on this forum who seem to keep them for years. The web address below has some interesting reading from expereinced trailer owners who are providing some advice to one who is wondering to buy hi-low or trailmanor.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...g/16499413.cfm

They trashed the quality of trailmanor and also weren't too high on the h-low either. Are there realy so many problems with b roken latches, door problems etc with the trailmanors? Are the newer models less prone to problems with latches etc? I've read several threads here and other places talking about door and latch problems along with other repair issues but thought they were isolated. As an ex fifth wheel owner I'm aware fo the minor day to day upkeep required by trailers but these other trailer owners really seem to think that trailmanor has more than their fair share of systemic repair issues. omments such as "Worst trailer they have ever owned" is pretty strong. Also in my continuual search for a good used trailmanor I often read many ads where 2-3 year old units have had to have many things replaced such as water pumps, airconditioners, etc. Seems strange to me.

Also since I live in the wonderful west and we have many dirt roadsthat I'll be traveling on to get to the out-of-the-way places that we want to buy the trailer for.... is the road dirt/dust an issue with trailmanors? Never occurred to me that this would be an issue with a hardsided pop-up but I guess it seems plausable since there must be openings to allow the trailer to be setup and down.

Any thoughts and guidance from any of you out there. When you answer can you tell me how many years you have owned your trailmanor and experience compared to toher types of trailers you have owned. It would be much appreciated!
Irealy like the idea of ha ing a low profile trailer so we don't have to fith the wind and I don't think we will care about the extra effort and little inconveniences that come with a pop-up. Better than using our tent for base camps for our Rocky Mountian hikes.... but I would not be please if we found many quality issues with the trailmanors that required continuos and periodic repairs.

I too am a potential TM buyer. Looked at the thread. Negative TM comments came primarily from non TM owners who really didn't seem to know what they were talking about ... ie heavy trailer. Former TM owners have valid points, but then again the guy with a sway problem I would probably take with a grain of salt. I also noticed that the original poster was not turned off TM by the posts and in fact was headed to a show to look at them.

I've been scouring the threads in this forum for awhile now. At first it seems that there must be many problems with the TM. However, this is such a wonderful forum that TM owners seem to discuss anything and everything. My take, for what it's worth, is that the problems are isolated incidents. However, that being said, I would also say that it appears that there more issues with the older units either due to age or quality of construction. Haven't figured out which yet.

I'll let the TM owners come to the brand rescue ... but rest assured .. you will get straight answers from this crowd!

I agree that you need to take the negative comments with a grain of salt. One poster suggested that it was difficult to back up because it only had one axle. That doesn't make any sense.

We have had ours for one year. We have taken 9 trips for 3000 miles total. 3 to 5 days each.

I took it back to the dealer in December (off season) for about 8 items to be repaired, mostly small cosmetic issues. The dealer turned it around as fast as they could get the parts for the Fridge (service bulletin issue).

The bathroom is small. However DW is accustomed to backpacking so this is a significant step up. She really appreciates it in the middle of the night. We are rarely inside the TM during the day, we are out and about exploring.

My brother just bought a new 32 foot Montana 5th wheel. It is a gorgeous trailer. Very elegant and spacious. I don't anticipate that we will go camping together very often as he can't go where I go (too big) and I won't go where he can go (too crowded).

I save around 6000 dollars per year in NOT paying for storage. I park the TM in the garage. That is the only space I have access to. If you have a side yard or a motorhome sized garage then you don't have the same problem to solve.

The first thing you need to do is understand the problem that you are trying to solve. For us the issues were:

1. We wanted a bed with a matress.
2. We wanted a toilet for night time use.
3. We wanted a sink for dishes instead of a bucket.
4. We wanted a fridge instead of a box of ice.
5. We wanted a heater to extend the season.
6. Most important, it had to fit in the garage.

Angler

{Also since I live in the wonderful west and we have many dirt roadsthat I'll be traveling on to get to the out-of-the-way places that we want to buy the trailer for.... is the road dirt/dust an issue with trailmanors? Never occurred to me that this would be an issue with a hardsided pop-up but I guess it seems plausable since there must be openings to allow the trailer to be setup and down.}

I'll comment on this part of your question. Although I am very happy with my TM, I believe it is not very robust in this area. My Coleman was much more at home in of-road and rough road situations. When I drive the TM on gravel, I go very slow to avoid getting the shells bouncing. There are a lot of examples on the forum of corner latches pulling out and much worse, the middle latches pulling the square tubing out of the shell. And you are right about dust. A layer will be found all over counters of the front half if you go very far in dusty conditions. It has been hypothesized that the shells bouncing actually suck dust in along with displaced air.

That being said, my son has a Weekend Warrior Toy Hauler and we drive about the same speed when off the pavement. Its just not a good idea to bounce these big boxes around. You will find screws on the floor as well as appliances and other things moving around. You will find all campers have limitations and they are not built like autos or off road vehicles.

So you search around and select a unit that provides the ammentities you consider required and that you can afford. Personally, I find the fuel ecomomy, small TV, no-sway safe towing, and easy storage to be very attractive and I am putting up with the detrimental factors that come with this set of features. I have seen full size trailers and trucks inverted along the freeway with big swerve marks leading to the pile-up and I don't find the consequences of such a mishap very appealing at all. Even if you survive such a mishap unharmed, it will negatively affect your desire to pull a trailer again for a lifetime.

All that being said, I find the TM to be an excellent compromise.

I have owned both the TM and the HiLo. If you e-mail me privately, I'll give you my opinion.
John
[email protected]

Everyone wants something different.

I have owned ..
1 Tent trailer, 2 trailers, 1 gas motorhome, 1 Diesel motorhome, 5 5th wheels and 2 Trailmanors.
I just purchased a new 3124KS, I had a 2720SD, I certainly would not have purchased another if there were any major problems. There a draw backs with any RV you purchase. At this point in my life the Trailmanor is working out perfectly. I love it.
I really hate to hear people put down the TM when they have NO real experiance with them.

Good Luck and enjoy what ever you buy.

Jack

Thanks for all the info so far. We're pretty sure that the configuration and trailer type is right for us. We're back packers and tenters and also have owned full size fifth wheels, and lived in class A rvs for several weeks... so we've experienced the full spectrum of camping. We've looked over TMS very closely at dealers etc. I think we've basically decided that the TM has all the features we want weighing gas mileage and ease of towing, really don't know any other that would fit the bill. We want some thing more than tents to set up now that we're older and don't need something very fancy nor one thatprovides the most modern conveniences. Want something light for our liberty jeep diesel to pull with good gas mileage. We'd get a regular pop up except for two things..... we camp in some chilly weather and in places that require hard sided campers for bears. As a bear attack victim... this is a major concern of mine. Guess we're just getting some cold feet about putting this much money down. So... mainly interested in whether the TM has some systemic problems related to maintenance and break down. Since they hold value so well and I read so many good things from owners, I doubt this but seem to come across the door and latch problems pretty frequently on the web.
On the hi-low verses trailmanor, I'll drop you and email as I'm curious and want to talk to as many epxereinced owners as possible but we have discounted the hi-low due to the weight. We have some friends who have a hi-low and are very pleased with it but don't think it's for us (they pull it with a full size truck.)

Thanks for all your words of wisdom. so far.. . keep it coming. This forum really has a lot of good info!

Originally Posted by Senorsedona

Everyone wants something different.

I have owned ..
1 Tent trailer, 2 trailers, 1 gas motorhome, 1 Diesel motorhome, 5 5th wheels and 2 Trailmanors.
I just purchased a new 3124KS, I had a 2720SD, I certainly would not have purchased another if there were any major problems. There a draw backs with any RV you purchase. At this point in my life the Trailmanor is working out perfectly. I love it.
I really hate to hear people put down the TM when they have NO real experiance with them.

Good Luck and enjoy what ever you buy.

Jack

Thanks Jack. Your past experince with such a wide spectrum of campers and your decision to go wiht your 2nd TM alleviates much of my concern about the quality and potential maintenance/system flaws.
Much appreciated.
Clarke

It's coming to one year soon....we own our Camper. It's a TM. The reason we paid three times more for this model is this. Our van can pull it. If I had a larger TV I would have looked at other campers. It's lite wieght. It's not tough. But it is weather resistant. Rain, 12 degree and snow .....passed. This summer I look forward to 100 degree weather. I'll be reporting on her grades the fall.
I instaled an add on transmission cooler coil on the van this weekend. I found it at a pawn shop. My son and I progressed through this project with excellent results. Seems to work O.K.
We will go over the Blue Ridge this summer as we visit Washington D.C.
We will go to California in 2007. I'm sure the van will do fine. I haven't read anyone busting down trying long trips through the country. I drive slow and stop alot.
All my repairs to the TM have been normal material degradation.
I had a Great Uncle once told me a man will find a hole to through his money.
Uncle Paul went on to say a boat would be a bad hole. He said a wife and kids would be the most pleasent hole to find. I wonder what he would say of this RV the TM.
What I really want to talk about is manly things like Bears and Thunder Storms. Say what is the inside shoup on bears trying to get in side of TM's? Is there a group going to Alaska?
What about spell check?

Angler,

We, too, wrestled with the decision to buy a TM, but finally ordered a 3023 on the following grounds:

The safety of towing v. interior space. While other products offered more interior space, none offered more per pound or more with less "winded" surface area. The fact is a lighter weight unit with a lower center of gravity, with less lateral surface area to be affected by wind, is safer to tow (given proper hitch weights). Period. Anyone who disputes that should re-take high school physics.

While many owners seem pleased with the performance of "smaller" TVs on flat land, the ability to tow the TM under ideal conditions was of little concern to us. Having towed something as small as an old pop-up, to a large (25 ft, 8000 lb) sailboat, what matters to me is the ability to control the rig during accident-avoidance steering, braking and accelerating. Again, the TM's lower CG and compact size during towing provides me with the best chance of keeping the pointy-end facing front should I have to swerve or break in order to avoid an accident.

Safety of towing issues aside, I, too, can store the unit in our garage. Despite the TM's high resale values, it, (and most other RV's) is still a depreciating asset and the idea of spending $300 or more a month for a large storage unit for an RV that is going down in value makes no sense to us.

Good luck!

Flycaster