prospective buyer questions on used unit

My wife and I 1st saw the Trailmanor at a recent RV show here at Rockford, IL's, Metro Center. We were very impressed with its function and features. Haven't seen a king bed unit with the extra expanded storage under the rear bed. We're most interested in 3124KB or 3023 with the twin couches and the slide out front bed.

Haven't decided how soon we'd move into a Trailmanor, but I definitely plan on locating a good used one for our future traveling plans. I've made some preliminary inquiries on a '98 3124 King with the full front slide-out instead of the 48" bed and double couches.

Please bear with me for a few more Trailmanor questions (relating to a '98 3124 King). (1) How do you rate the effectiveness of the AC in cooling the front area of the trailer with the unit mounted on the rear roof section? From a similar perspective, how effectively does the heater/furnace warm the rear sleeping berth and bath space on colder nights? I'm assuming the heater is of the convection style vs. forced-air/ ducted in design. (2) Is the "winterizing" procedure as simple as Trailmanor literature describes it? (3) Is there space for bedding storage under the front couch (in a 3124 King), or is that space used up by the propane tank space and the two front outside-accessed storage compartments? (4) Is the Frig a 3-way (ac/dc/gas)? Does it still keep things cooled and is it functionally vented while the trailer is closed for travel? (5) Does a '98 3124 King unit have the extra wardrobe space under the kingbed? How practical have you found these two larger storage spaces to be in your traveling with the Trailmanor? Would you order this feature were you to buy another Trailmanor, or would the rear queen bed with less storage below be adequate for most travel needs?

As much as you feel comfortable to share with a prospective Trailmanor owner, give me a feeling for your overall satisfaction/dissatisfaction in traveling/camping with a similar unit unit? What drew you to the purchase of a TM?

Thanks for your input and info on your Trailmanor experience.

Dan Erickson

Leon, I appreciate your willingness to share your TM experience with us as prospective future TM owners. We've gone the full gammit of travel/camper vehicles too. Believe it or not we started out on our Honeymoon with a home-built PM fold-up cartop sleeper designed for the top of a station wagon, but all we had was a '65 VW Bug, so that's where the 4' x 8' roof-top camper went. We had a section of windmill ladder to climb in from the rear bumper. We got lots of smiles in that one! We went to tents, Starcraft fold-downs (3), a 20' travel trailer, conversion van camping, and now with 4 kids raised and on their own, we were seriously considering a Class B camper van like Pleasureway, Roadtrek, Great West, or Sportsmobile. Right now we have a 2000 Chevy Explorer hi-top conversion van with a complete towing package (2" receiver, 6-way plug, brake control, extra cooling, etc. and after seeing the TM at the RV Show, we've decided to keep the van (instead of trading it for a Class B) and look for a good used TM to tow. We'd like the extra sleeping capacity of the 3023 or 3124KB so we could take our married kids and grandkids camping and traveling from time to time, but then also have more inside space when the two of us would go on longer trips by ourselves.

I appreciated the detailed winterizing steps you shared. That will be particularly handy for us living in Northern Illinois if we travel South in mid-winter and return home while we're still experiencing sub-freezing temps.

Is your AC on the front roof section? I think I'd like to locate one set-up that way so the AC unit is directly above the day-time living area. Do you know what model year the roof AC was moved to the front roof section? The '98 I was inquiring into still had the AC on the rear roof.

As to sleeping comfort, the rear bed area seems to have very adequate ventilation with opening windows on 3 walls. I was also considering an additional Fantastic ceiling vent/fan at the rear portion of the rear roof to help pull/push air through the sleeping area on very still/calm nights.

Do you have either/or or both an oven and microwave. With our travel trailer I appreciated being able to use the propane oven (even while towing in some cases) when we weren't plugged in to AC power. It was nice to sit down to a pot roast or baked chicken and baked potatoes at the end of a day on the road. I realize I'll need to give up that ability with a fold-down TM though.

Again, thanks for your previous reply to my inquiries and thanks in advance for any additional input and insights you bring our way.

Dan Erickson

Just a humorous thought here. I've been trying to visualize your pop-up camper with the porta-potty that really shook and rattled in "high winds". SOMEBODY must have had TOO MANY BEANS that day! HA!

[BOB_STRONG]

TrailManor started installing the air conditioners on the front shell roof in 2002.

[BobWilson]

Frig: Just a thought about the refrig. It is small. Using it on the road on 12 v and the dc fan left our battery system running very low and the cooling was not as good as with electric or propane. So we use two ice chests for on the road until we get to the destination.

Size: For us, we like to use government park campgrounds, often without hook-ups. But I am glad we have the 2720 and not any longer. Many of these campgrounds have limited length parking. The longer the trailer, the fewer campsites you can fit into. On popular weekends, that is important. If all you do is go to commercial RV parks, then it is not a concern.

Bob W.