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Jim and Nancy's TrailManor Travel
Trailer
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UPDATE: On January
7, 2005, we traded our TrailManor in for a 5th wheel trailer. It served us
well our first year of camping and we learned alot about what we really like and
need. Thank you TrailManor! Check-out
the new camping rig here.
On Saturday, November 8, 2003, we placed a factory order
for a 2004 model 3023 TrailManor
travel trailer. Here's the floor plan of the 3023 as well as some interior
pictures:
What's ?:
-
08/25/04
- I am "about" to replace my Battery On/Off Switch with a 4-way
Switch. Details
- 06/25/04
- I added the TrailManor Screen Door to my
3023 TrailManor
- 06/24/04
- I added a battery on/off switch to my
TrailManor's battery case
- 05/27/04 -
Added Ed Felker's Trailmanor
checklist. If you haven't created your
own checklist yet, start out with a great one from Ed, and fine-tune for
your own situation.
- 04/23/04 -
Added a TrailManor Mods page to this site - see
pictures of the stuff I've done or am planning to do to our TrailManor.
- 04/21/04 -
Due to the angle of my drive way, each time I bring my TrailManor home (from
storage or from camping), I spend a lot of time and energy cranking those
stabilizer jacks on the front. I noticed a thread on the TrailManor
Owners Forum about a couple of home-brew items that could be chucked in
a cordless drill and used to actuate the jacks. Sounded good to
me. I spoke to a buddy of mine about making me one. Before we
got serious about it, I Googled a few terms online and found the Socket
Jenie by Custom Cylinders. I ordered the LVSG-437
model ($17.82 + s/h on 15-Apr-2004). Got it a few days later. It
works great! If you've always wanted to raise/lower your stabilizer
jacks faster, easier or semi-electrically and you don't want to make your
own tool, this item may be what you need. For owners of trailers with
different jack types, Custom Cylinders makes 7 styles of sockets.
Before I ordered, I spoke to their Engineer, Grover Taylor Sr.
(800-779-5544). He was very knowledgeable and very helpful. If
you have technical questions or a custom application, give him a call.
- 04/20/04 - I
have added an AM/FM/CD in-dash stereo to my TrailManor, using the factory
wiring, antenna and speakers.
I added a Power
Cut-off Switch so the unit draws no power when not in use
(picture coming soon). I purchased the RV-style switch at Camping World. I
selected it vs. something from Radio Shack as I wanted a good RV-style
match.
I added an External
Input Jack in order to route the audio from an MP3
player, laptop, TV etc, into the AUX input of the stereo unit. I
mounted the power cut-off switch and the AUX input jack next to the 110 VAC
duplex outlet on the side of the refrigerator.
I added an Outdoor
Thermometer in order to measure the temperature inside my
Norcold refrigerator. Since the refrigerator's temperature setting
control is not an absolute setting, but relative to ambient, it's important
to know what the refrigerator temperature is so you may adjust it if
needed. On my first day of camping, the refrigerator temperature went
down to 21 degrees. I felt that was a bit too cold and adjusted
it. It worked out well - even made ice cubes in the freezer! I
mounted the temperature display unit above the refrigerator and to the right
of the stereo unit.
Using a 25 foot extension, I removed one of my rear vision cameras from my
Jeep and relocated it to the bike rack at the back of the trailer.
I fished the video/power combo wire through the right-side frame rail.
One end is tie-wrapped to other wiring on the tongue and the other end is
fished into the storage bumper. The jumper on the camera itself is
long enough to reach inside the storage bumper to connect up with the
extension cable. In the tow vehicle, I have 2 cables running from a
5" LCD screen to the back of the truck. The camera that remains
mounted to the truck has a jumper on it that is long enough to make it
inside the truck and connect up with the inside truck cable. The other
inside truck cable has enough length to be pulled outside of the truck and
onto the tongue to connect up with the extension cable coming from the
rear of the trailer. By moving one of the cameras to the rear of the
trailer, I should get a very good view of what's behind me and depending on
the rotation angle, what's slightly to one side of me as well.
- 03/17/04 - I created a rear vision system for my tow
vehicle so I could more effectively see behind it when towing my TrailManor. See the details at this link
Purchased from:
Danny's Campers
N 1174 5th Rd
PO Box 230
Coloma WI 54930
(715) 228-3611
colomarv@uniontel.net
We spent 3 hours in, on, under and around a model 2720
with Dan Lange and Michelle, the dealer. We learned a lot from taking this
kind of time and it really helped us make up our mind to place an order.
We felt that Dan gave us a fair deal.
We've since taken delivery our 3023 and can now recommend
Danny's Campers to anyone in this
area.
Options purchased:
- Air Conditioning
- Awning
- Amplified TV Antenna
- Upper Cabinet
- Rear Bumper 2" Receiver Hitch (for bike rack)
- Stove Cover
Other items added:
-
Equal-i-zer
1216B Sway Control Hitch
- Masterlock
377DAT Universal Trailer Coupler Lock
-
Tekonsha Voyager Electronic Brake Controller
-
Travasak Queen 164B Sleep System
-
Adco SFS Aqua-shed
12252 "Hi-Lo" Style
RV Cover (here's a picture of
it on my TrailManor)
-
Adco Wheel Covers
- Rear vision system for tow vehicle
-
McKesh
Mirrors from Hensley Manufacturing for tow vehicle
-
Panasonic
AM/FM/CD in-dash stereo (and power switch and externial input jacks)
-
Oregon
Scientific Clock/Thermometer (used to measure refrigerator temperature)
More Information:
Travel Trailer and Tow Vehicle Equipment Links:
-
RV Cams.com
This is a great site for buying equipment needed to install your own rear
camera system for your RV or tow vehicle. Tim, the owner is super to
work with. I purchased my rear vision equipment from him.
- CampingWorld.com
This is a great site for trailer, tow vehicle, camping items and
accessories. I bought an Adco pop-up style cover for my TrailManor 3023 and a few other smaller items from them
- eTrailer.com
Hitches, racks, carriers and more. Good pictures of all the
products. I have not used this vendor but I like their website
- I
Love Jeeps website (my TV is a 2003 Jeep Liberty
Limited)
-
ADCO
Covers
for RVs and more
- Thetford
My TM 3023 has a Thetford 12-Volt Re-circulating toilet
- Norcold (a division of Thetford)
My TM 3023 has a Norcold N300.3, 3-way refrigerator
- More links to come, as soon as I have time to find
them, check them out and add them
RETURN to Travel page
Updated:
06/06/2005 10:29:09 AM
© Copyright 2004 James D. Beletti
