TM Elkmont -- Towing w/Honda Pilot

Just curious if anyone has any experience with the Elkmont and towing with a Honda Pilot or something similar. Towing capacity is 3500. Love the trailer and want to make sure my TV can handle it.

[Bill]

You are going to be awfully close on weight, especially after you add factory options and your own "stuff" in both the trailer and the Pilot. As old-timers on this board know, I'm very leery of 3500 pound vehicles. But despite my reservations, people do it, many of them successfully.

As I always try to point out, a single-number tow rating on any vehicle isn't as helpful as you might think, until you answer the question - WHERE do you plan to tow?

Bill

That 3500lbs generally assumes one average adult and very little more in the TV. I don't know anyone who meets these criteria when camping. If you have ahitch on your pilot ask the dealer if you can tow it around the block.

Bob

I've scoured the boards on this site and everything is very helpful and defeinitely gives me a heads up on TT and how to deal with towing, etc. As for my traveling, it will be long weekends and maybe 1 week during the summer. While I like the idea of the fold up Trailmanors, I don't think I like the idea of all that set up and tear down -- takes away from the very short time I will have while traveling. Also, I'm not at a place to trade the TV in for something bigger. I was hoping that the Pilot would be able to handle the Elkmont. I've never towed anything -- only drived motorhomes. I guess I can take a trip to Custom RV and see about hooking the Elkmont up to my hitch and seeing how it looks and feels. Thank you for the help. I'll keep scouring the boards for me help and info.

As far as set up and take down, after 2 or 3 times, it will be about 15-20 max more than a TT, You still have to level ans set jacks. Lifting the ends and pulling out the beds and setting up bathroom walls is 10-15 mins after the first few times.

[Bill]

I think Rumbeleweed is giving you a conservative estimate. My wife and I, admittedly TM long-timers, can set up in less than 10 minutes, from pulling into our campsite to enjoying a martini. This generally includes levelling, if the site is nearly level to start with. Of course if the site is severely non-level, it takes longer, but that is the same as any other trailer.

Once levelled, the first step is to raise the shells and pull out the bed (or bed and slider in an SL model). This takes maybe 2 minutes. If you have an upright camper, you don't have to do this, so you save two minutes.

The next part of setup includes connecting the utilities - the electric cable, water hose, sewer hose, and cable TV if available at the campsite. Of course, any camper or RV, whether collapsible or not, has to spend the same amount of time for this. So, no advantage or disadvantage to the TM.

At the same time, the interior of the TM has to be set up. This involves lifting the bathroom walls, lifting the wardrobe into place, and making my martini. In my case, my wife does these things while I am hooking up the utilities. Love that lady!

So for us, the difference in setup time is about 2 minutes. YMMV, of course. But this should not be the reason to buy, or not buy, a TM.

Bill

I agree with Bill...setup is not a consideration unless it is physically difficult. To us, the ease of towing and the low profile while towing offsets any additional setup effort.

[MudDog]

And for us, not having to go to/from the storage yard before and after a trip was an additional plus.

The additional setup time is nothing compared to not being able to store it at home. My city has pretty tough RV restrictions and my side yard is not big enough. The TM fits in the garage, right next to the TV.

CustomRV is a great dealer and I'm sure they will work with you. I'd look at both the Elkmont and the foldable TM's and compare the towing capacity/experience and have them show you the setup/takedown procedures on the TM - and then do it a few times on their lot.

Once you get a routine down, it really is not that big of a deal and as others mentioned is only a couple of extra steps over traditional trailers.

Setup isn't the slow part. Tear down is because you have to put away all the things the kids pulled out to play with before it will close down. Darn kids...

Someone here tows an Elkmont with an MDX. Probably the same platform as the Pilot.

I agree, tear down takes longer. All the items come out one at a time all weekend long. Then they go back in a hurry.

For a weekend trip, I try to preload as much as possible. I will not put stuff in the back of the truck and park it outside, so I put a lot of stuff on the floor of the TM before I close it. This means that I need to haul it all out when we pop open. This contributes to the time delay.

I spend more time leveling than anything else. I want the stove level enough to fry an egg without it running to the edge. But since we got the trailer in March 2005, I don't recall ever frying an egg. I could save some time by being less picky about level. It's an OCD thing.