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grillsgt23235
Richmond, VA
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Joined: 09/12/2004
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Thank you to everyone who responded to my question.
Towing a trailer of less height, definitely appeals to us. I think my wife will be more apt to share the driving chores if she can see more than the front of our trailer in her rear view mirror. Not to mention the increased gas mileage, lower center of gravity and less wind resistance.
We will be attending the local RV show in Feb, which may help us make a decision.
BigPackFan. Thanks for the links. There was almost the identical question, submitted at almost the same time as I did on the Yahoo HiLo owners group. It was from a nice lady, I feel sorry for her since her mind seems to work like mine!
Thank again friends.
Carroll
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yosemitejoann
California
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Joined: 03/22/2005
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I have a 2005 Hi Lo. LOVE IT! Fits in my garage along with my large SUV. I am a single woman and I can easily tow it and park it and push the button to set it up. That's all you do - - just push the button. Of course, packing it before a trip is not as easy as a TT, but I never raise it. I looked at Trailmanors but was not nearly as impressed with them as with the Hi Lo. A Hi Lo does cost a bit more than a TT but I save lots on storage -- the rates are about $100 a month in my area. Over a five year period, that's $6,000 in storage alone! I would heartily recommend a Hi Lo.
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houtrz
Lake Jackson Texas
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Joined: 05/15/2005
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I'm not sure of the Trailmanor but I remember looking at HiLo's about ten years ago and they were very heavy compared to a TT. They may have lightened
them up some but if your really worried about size I"d rather go with a pop up. If you want a short trailer, go with a hybrid but if size and weigth isn't
a problem then go with this guy http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1998-45-T........9095QQcategoryZ50062QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/biggrin.gif "biggrin")
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BigPackFan
Endicott, NY USA
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Joined: 07/01/2004
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Carroll - glad you found the links helpful. These are both unique trailers so it's good to hear from more than a handful of owners (or previous owners).
One word of caution - even though these are low profile trailers, I cannot see over the top of my TowLite with the rear view mirror. Don't know how tall the TM is so it may or may not be a problem.
BPF
Searching for the right RV
2007 GMC Envoy
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stev in niagara
Niagara Falls
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Joined: 03/19/2005
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We have a full size TT made by Coachmen. It's only 19-1/2ft long. It's weight is about that of the TM units. However, Coachmen no longer makes these smaller sizes. ![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/frown.gif "frown")
Our neighbor behind us has a TM. He just folds it down and parks it in the double wide driveway during the summer when it's home. In the winter, he just uses his lawn tractor and moves it into the garage for the winter. The Hi-Lo would be tooooo long to park in his garage.
He pulls the TM with a Chevy Lumina mini-van with a towing package. He hates his van though.
Yes, he gets great gas mileage with his Chevy Lumina and towing the TM. The TM is very low profile to the heigh of the mini-van. A good plus these days.
As for the quality of the TM, I can't really say. He's had his for many years. It does show it's age. They have seven children, so that could expain the extra wear-n-tear.
He has a bike rack that sits onto the top of the TM. It doesn't screw or bolt into the roof. It holds and locks onto the outer side edges with two bars holding the racks.
Hope this helps some.
Stev
2000 Dodge B1500 V6 3.9L 3.55 tow 4500 RoadMaster MKII-XF
2001 Dodge B2500 V8 5.2L 3.92 tow 8000 RoadMaster MKII-XXF
Reese AccuPower Pilot Digital Brake Controller
1982 Coachmen Cadet 19-1/2 3000-lbs
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Quick Calico
Bay Area, CA
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Joined: 05/22/2003
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Nimshew4 wrote:Had a Trail Manor 3124 for about a year a few years ago. It was the worst trailer I have ever owned. Everything about it broke twice. The latches that hold it closed had to be replaced every six months. Could not control its sway no matter what I tried. Finally it rolled over and was totaled. As I was towing with a full sized pickup both the truck and I were ok.
I agree. I had a 2001 2720 and I wound up hating it. At first I loved it because it was my first move up from a tent. Quickly thereafter though I changed my mind. Water doesn't get in, but dirt does. Road dirt. It cannot be kept clean. It is so fragile too. THere are lots of latches and they all break. The one axle made it sway and hard to back-up. The guy who said to take two of everything into the shower is right. There are no soap shelves and once you drop the soap, it's too tight to pick up.
Quite frequently we would find screws rolling around on the floor and we couldn't figure out where they came from. The air conditioner front fell off. The stove front fell off. Lots of money for lots of work. Yech!
2004 Starcraft Aruba 28RLS
2003 Tundra 4x4 V8 towing package
Stop The Litters - Spay Those Critters
No More Homeless Pets
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MKAH
Redding, CA
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Joined: 11/12/2005
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Hello,
I looked at the hi-lows and they seemed a little heavy to me compared to a hard side light or super light trailers. We ended up purchasing a Coleman Santa Fe CP tent trailer as I had a 2003 Toyota truck with 3.2 L V6.
The tent trailer was a big step up from tent camping, however it was way more work than I thought. Everything had to be packed onto the floor and in the back of the truck. The refrigerator was very small and the forced air heater was noisy and constantly cycled on and off due to the poor insulating properties of a tent trailer. The interior workmanship was thin and weak. The exterior was very nice and modern. We ended up putting a AC unit on it ($800.00 bucks). It had a toilet, although in order to use it the trailer would have to be popped up. Something we never did. Even though the trailer was fairly light, we purchased a new Toyota Tacoma double cab with a bigger V6 which pulled the trailer very well. After two more seasons, we out grew the tent trailer and purchased a 20 foot Pioneer (which is not really a light weight trailer, about 5000 lbs empty). Our truck was just not up to the task for anything other than local trips.
So we sold the Tacoma and just purchased a 2006 Chevy four door Duramax to pull the trailer. We decided on this option so that when we decide upgrade to a 5th wheel or larger pull trailer, we will not have to go buy another truck and compromise on the trailer due to a two vehicle consideration.
So if I had it to do over again, I would have first made sure I had a truck capable of pulling at least two generations of trailers prior to buying my first trailer. Then I would purchase my first trailer and that trailer would not include anything that had to be erected, popped up or anything like that. It just turned out to be a lot of work, when my goal was to relax and enjoy my family.
In the long run, if I had followed my own advice, I would have saved a ton of time and money. However, when I purchased my tent trailer (which I insisted I pay cash for), I did not foresee any real problems with setup and simply did not have the money to do buy a new truck and new hard side trailer.
I think as long as you go into this hobby with an understanding of the pros and cons, you can and will enjoy yourself as much as anyone else.
Good Luck,
Mark Nicholson
2006 Fleetwood Pioneer 180CK (6,000 lbs GVWR)
2006 Chevy 250HD 6600 Duramax LBZ Crew Cab
6 speed Allison, 360HP, 650FT-LBS Torque (bone stock)
Prodigy Brake Control
Husky WD Hitch
Husky friction sway bar
N-Fab six step nerf bars
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Debian Dog
Chester, VA
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Joined: 05/25/2005
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The Hi-Lo was to heavy for us. We not have any "dirt" problems. As a matter of fact, the thing travels so bound up on the road I cannot imagine how dirt gets in there (shrug). The latches are the same one Fleetwood uses. Exactly the same. I have not had to replace any latches (yet) but they do seem on the flimsy side.
We have not found a "maintenance free" RV yet... Still looking ![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/wink.gif "wink") The only screw that came loose on the trip this weekend was the ground on the brake controller (van side). That was annoying.
27 foot TrailManor 2720 pulled by a Toyota Tundra (381 HP 401 TQ) - Dual EU2000i Honda Generators
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Booty2015
Dover, NH
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Joined: 01/29/2006
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We had a 2004 Trailmanor Model 2619. We both liked it and it was easy to set up and tow. No sway problems. The only real problem that I had with it was having to jump up into bed. Never did get used to that. We got rid of it the following year and bought our current trailer. Other than jumping up into bed our Trailmanor fit us well.
Stacy and Lori Boutwell
2007 Four Winds Hurricane 30Q
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