Took our first trip with our T@B...great experience!

Kats

Took our T@B out for her maiden voyage, down to Cape Cod. We had a wedding to attend down there, and figured this would be the perfect time to try out the trailer (or, as we call her, "Miss Pettigrew"). At first we were confused by the heating system, as we didn't know that the Alde is a radiant heat system. We turned on the heat and didn't hear anything but a click. We had 2 hours before we had to be at the wedding, and the forecast was calling for rain and temps in the 40s that night. On top of all that, both of us were sick with some kind of head cold. We tried calling Little Guy, but it was a Saturday and nobody was available. We tried calling our dealer, and he was closed. Finally, we did a web search and found a T@B dealer in CA and called their customer service line. That is when we learned about the radiant heat situation, and the person walked us through navigating the system. "Don't worry", she said, "By the time you get home from the wedding, the trailer will be toasty warm." And of course, it was. The trailer was great! Warm, the bed was comfortable, every feature was easy to use. We got back from the wedding, changed into our pi's and snuggled down for the night. It was so cozy in that little trailer, that when we finally got back home, unhooked her, vacuumed her out (we were near the ocean, so naturally we had a lot of sand in there) and got her all cleaned up, I was actually a little wistful that we wouldn't be sleeping in there that night. 

Everywhere we went people were staring at our T@B and smiling. One man was at the gas pump next to ours, and he started giggling. "That is the cutest little rig I have ever seen!", he said. The fact that it was not much bigger than our CRV was also helpful, as anyone who has ever driven over the Bourne or Sagamore bridges will attest--those lanes are kind of narrow.

Many thanks for the information that you folks provided to me--I printed out the little checklist cards and they are taped to the inside of the trailer, and we followed them for setting up and breaking down. Very helpful to have those! Can't wait for our next trip.

Jimbo

Now that is amazing and is a real statement about the community of T@B dealers. To call CA form the east coast to get help with your adel system (thank goodness for the time difference). Very impressive thinking on your part and an experience you will always remember. I am pretty new to this forum but I have no doubt that probably everyone here,whether a T@B or Little Guy owner, relates to your story and the emotions expressed. No doubt many more memorable excursions are in store. 

Wanderoo

I agree that's pretty phenomenal that a CA dealer would even bother to talk you through a problem!!!  What great customer service.  Wish all businesses were that way, huh?

Kats, I'm glad you had a great time!!!  More will follow, I'm sure.  I love my Alde, too.  I wish dealers would help new owners acclimate to the Alde system, because it's really an efficient cabin and water heating system, and people should not have to fear it.  I'm glad that LG/Pleasant Valley Trailers has opted to put this system in its T@B models.

Happy Travels. 

:x

Nomad

The Alde system is what clinched it for me. I lived with radiant heat for 30 years and have a hard time sleeping anywhere that has a noisy forced air system. 

mawebb

Kats, you mentioned that your T@B was not much bigger than your CRV. So is your tow vehicle a Honda CRV? The reason I ask is we had a 2011 CRV that we just loved but when we decided to purchase a trailer, we upgraded to a Honda Pilot. I am now curious if the 1,500 lb tow capacity of the CRV would have been enough, although the T@B comes in close to 1,700 lb dry weight.

Kats

mawebb--We had wondered about that. We took our CRV to a mechanic and had him look it all over completely--ours is a 6 cylinder 2006 CRV with a manual transmission. We explained what we were going to be towing and he said we would do just fine. The only place where we notice anything is when we are on a steep hill, then we have a little less power. 

mawebb

Thanks for the response Kats. I don't think a 6 cylinder option has been available on the CRV in Canada. I am guessing that you will have sufficicient power but I would look at adding a transmission and oil cooler to help preserve the drive train of your TV. I have heard that the CRV is rated for 3,000 lbs in Europe but have no confirmation of such. The word on the street is that Honda in North America takes a conservative approach to avoid legal liability. The Honda Pilot is rated at 4,500 lbs and comes with the oil and transmission cooler installed. The Pilot 4 wheel drive is also different in that it alwys starts in 4 WD and switches to front wheel drive once up to speed.

Jimbo

I have a 2006 Honda Ridgeline, essentially the same engine as the Pilot but it is rated to tow 5,000 lbs probably due to the gearing in the rear end. Nice to have a bit more power for the climbs. It has an automatic transmission with a button on the shift arm that takes it out of overdrive and works really well for downhill. It increases the RPMs and holds back the vehicles decent speed and minimises the necessity to apply the breaks. I even use it when not towing to save the breaks especially on long decents. This also stops the transmission from shifting out of overdrive then back to a lower gear then back to overdrive etc..This is hard on a transmission. You can use overdrive on flat ground with no head wind and the mileage is of course better. 

Nomad

My Jeep was rated 5,000 when I bought it but every buddy and their brother I've talked to (mechanics, Jeep forum) says it's really 3,500 - or at least never try to go over that. So, I'm not sure I'd trust car dealers or stated specs.

Jimbo

This rating on my HRL is a factory rating but a very good point PXLated. The factory does not state the driving/ terrain conditions of their rating. It's all a compromise. One would hope that a higher factory rating would possibly insure a sufficient but lower actual safe towing ability. 

jkjenn

FYI, if you turn the Alde on to both propane and shore power (if you are hooked up somewhere) it will arm up faster. The propane seems to provide a lot more power, so I would recommend using propane on really cold nights.