Durability for towing on bumpy roads?

chopperdave

New Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2020
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2
Hi, I'm considering purchasing a 2006 2619 from a friend, and one of the places I like to camp requires driving about 15 miles along a gravel road that is pretty bumpy. There are grooves perpendicular to the road - not sure what that's called, but it does shake you up when you drive along it, even at 10-15 mph.

Is a trailmanor suitable for that kind of driving?
 
It can be done, but be prepared after the first several runs to do some repairs to beef up various things so that they can handle the shaking on the wash boarding (that’s the term you’re looking for). TM’s aren’t really designed or rough roads, but if you take them, they will follow!

Here’s a intro to what you might encounter:
https://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8100

That being said, I’d say the same likely holds true for any other mainstream RV. You’ll need to buy a trailer specifically designed for off-road use to improve on that, which significantly adds to cost and weight.

Dave
 
ChopperDave -

I really suggest that you absorb everything in the thread that Dave linked. As he pointed out, mainstream trailers are just not designed for washboarded roads. A couple years ago, my wife and I went to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. It is quite remote, access involves several miles of road such as you describe. There is a back-country campground at the Canyon, but the NP website suggested in strongest possible words that the road is incredibly rough, often impassable, and the campground was meant only for tenting. So we got a campsite in the town of Grants, NM, set the TM up there, and drove in with no trailer. When we got to the Canyon, you can imagine what we found. The campground was nearly full of macho trailer- and motor-home guys. And they all had piles of tools out, working on their trailers. Lesson? Don't do that!

If you expect to go rough-roading a lot, browse around for a real rough-road or off-road trailer, as Dave suggests. They are out there, but they tend to be small, rather primitive, and expensive - and Australian.

Returning to your question, I can suggest only a couple things that will help. Make sure that your well-equipped toolbox includes #1 and #2 square drive (Robertson) screwdrivers. It is easy to mistake the heads on all the TM screws for Phillips heads, but they are not. And if you use a Phillips screwdriver on them too many times, you will not be pleased. Also as suggested in Dave's linked thread, TMs don't have shock absorbers, so it helps if you reduce air pressure a bit in the tires. Of course, this reduces their load capacity, so you need to pack light for this to work. And of course, a compressor is mandatory for when you are done. And drive really slow.

One other hint. In Dave's linked thread, post #7 was made by a guy named Lars Dennert. Lars is no longer part of the forum, but he was an outstanding off-roader, took his TM to some unbelievable places, mostly in Utah, and somehow made it work. You would do well to find and read all of his posts. Sadly, his dramatic pictures are missing because he insisted on using a photo hosting site that promptly disappeared - instead of attaching his pictures to his posts, right here on the Forum.

Good luck, let us know how it works and what we can learn, and take lots of pictures.

Bill
 
Thank you Dave and Bill!

Plenty of good reading at the linked thread. I haven't found the offroad resources by larsdennert yet, but I'll keep searching.

If I get the TM I'll be sure to use the forum's built-in photo hosting :)
 
Searching his username in the username field doesn't yield any search results, I guess because he's no longer a "registered user". But searching his username in the text field turns up some results, but clearly not all of them because it only pulls up 24 threads. Not sure if anything of use in there, but obviously it wouldn't take long to go through them.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/search.php?searchid=227482

Dave
 
Dave -

You've hit the jackpot - sort of. I couldn't make your link work, so I went to the Search box and just entered "Lars". It came back with 127 hits. I followed a few of them. No TM adventures - that stuff disappeared with his old Pacbell picture hosting account. I found some of his vimeo stuff, still up. Check post #7 in this thread.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8733

Bill
 
Hi

Yea I'm not a member anymore and my account got closed, but I still have my TM. I think the pix being referred to are these. Probably more floating around.
 

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Really you have to air down the trailer to about half to prevent all the screws from rattling out, especially on wash board roads. I ended up cracking the gray tank, replacing it and putting a brace under it to keep it from breaking the weight of the water bouncing underneath.
 

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Lars -

Welcome back! And thanks for getting back to us. I was hoping I found the right guy - but how many Lars Dennerts can there be, especially with pictures like these! The second one in your first series still gives me the creeps. I've bounced around Moab a bit, but nowhere near like that - and nowhere with a TM behind.

Thanks again for coming back with this stuff. We'd be glad to have you hang around more if you have any interest.

Bill
 
I have owned several trailers over the years both pull trailers and 5th wheel most have been toy haulers. Two had shocks and were supposedly for a smooth ride on rough roads. You still have to go slow on washboard roads and they ALL shake loose all of their parts. My friends and I all take the screws that loosen up and put a dab of wood glue on them and put it back in. My 2619 is no worse than any of the other trailers except because of the independent suspension and light weight you have to make sure not to drive too fast because it is so smooth.
 
We'd go to Pismo quite a bit as well. Could pretty much tow it all over the dunes if you air down the truck and the trailer.
 

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