TM at 24 below

We had hoped for an early spring when we drove down to the Seattle area from Alaska to pick up our new 3124ks, it never came. The last three days of the trip home it never got above freezing, two nights of dry camping at single digits and down to 24 below zero the last night. The first cold night I had the bath door closed and the water line to the shower froze. The rest of the trip I left the bath and under sink cabinet doors open, no more freezing problems, lesson learned. We used our TM water supply for hot and cold water but used a dishpan and not the gray water tank. No easy way to keep that from freezing that I know of. We were fortunate enough to find a roadhouse with a 30 amp hookup out back for that last night so we had the addition of a small electric heater to help keep warm. The fact that there was no wind and DW was farsighted enough to bring along a thick comforter we kept nice and cozy. I wouldn't recommend the TM for much sub freezing temps but when necessary it can be made to work quite well. Thanks to all the good advice I picked up through this forum we were well prepared. One of the suggestions that really helped was using antifreeze in the toilet. I used 2 gal of windshield wash rate at –20, half the price of RV antifreeze, to prime and it worked great. A problem I had read about here is no place to stow things in the sleeping area, wall-to-wall mattress. We had no need for a king size bed so I ordered the TM with a queen size mattress and when placed length wise we have about a 9” space on either side to place things and as long as they aren’t higher than the mattress, no need to remove when closing up. The only surprise was the refrig. We picked up the TM a day early so the dealer had no time to pre cool. The DW stocked it, turned it on the coldest setting and off we went. 24 hrs later every thing was frozen solid, pop cans expanded and split open, two dozen eggs frozen and cracked open, but the gods were with me, the batteries were still fully charged and the beer survived. The outside temp at the time was in the low 50s so I’m sure that was a factor. All in all it was a fun trip of 6000 miles in two weeks. I get a chuckle out of some of the posts saying “it’s almost 200 miles or so to the nearest dealer” Our nearest dealer was over 2600 miles one-way. Life is an adventure. Enjoy every mile of it. Thanks again for every ones input on this forum. Ed

[countrygirl]

Hey Digger....they (TM) should feature you in an ad!!!

Thanks for sharing. This is important information to know, but I hope I never have the *NEED* to know it.

[wbmiller3]

Did you tow the TM home over the Alaska Highway? How did that go?

Thanks,

Bill,

Yes, we did tow the TM home over the Alaska Highway. No problems with the highway, the Canadians do a good job of keeping it open and well maintained year round. Several hundred miles of it had a snow packed surface but our 05 Dakota has 4 wheel drive and studded tires so handled it well. Actually a smoother ride than some of the potholes you may find in the spring. Biggest problem was driving down. Two day’s of blowing snow and whenever we met a semi coming from the opposite direction I’d have to come to almost a complete stop because of the snow whirled up behind it causing a whiteout but, that only took a couple of seconds to clear. With a factory installed tow package and WDH the only problem towing the TM home was forgetting it was back there. We never found one campground or RV park that was open that time of year. We spent our nights parked at rest areas or truck stops. The owners of the truck stops were very friendly and helpful, can’t say enough good about them. One even offering use of free shower and 20 amp plug in for the night. Fuel stops can be few and far between so a couple of extra gas cans can save the day. It is a beautiful and worthwhile trip to make in summer if you ever have the time. Our Alaska summers are so beautiful but short that we made the trip in March so we wouldn’t miss a day enjoying any of it in our new TM.

[wbmiller3]

Wow, thanks for the info. I hope to do that trip some day.