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Old 04-08-2021, 05:56 PM   #141
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Name: John
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Sold it! Thanks for sharing.
Sold what?
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Old 11-28-2021, 11:10 PM   #142
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Name: richard
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Kentucky
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Still Have that link to the manual for the
intertek/KS2 Corp model KS3K110.01 3000w?
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Old 03-01-2022, 09:07 AM   #143
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Name: jerry
Trailer: in market
Iowa
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Hymer

Wanting information on tongue extension
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Old 03-01-2022, 09:44 AM   #144
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Name: Doug
Trailer: Escape 19
Oregon
Posts: 20
Tongue extension

There is a very good photo description on this list by Johan Thawley (sp?) who added 2' to the tongue of his trailer. He had access to some machine shop assets and welding equipment. Basically he fabbed a square steel piece that fit snugly inside the tongue box structure; cut the tongue, added the length desired and used the fabbed piece inside for reinforcement. It was a successful mod. I didn't have access to welding equipment, and didn't want to make a permanent mod in case I wanted to restore the frame to original configuration, so sought a bolt on solution. I used a hitch like this:

https://www.etrailer.com/Brake-Actua...le/DX29FR.html

which bolted on without much alteration, and it added about 1' of length to the tongue. The hitch mechanism is much better than the stock Hymer hitch as well. I was able to extend the wiring and hydraulic line without too much difficulty by eliminating slack. Additionally, I added a 2nd propane tank, and 2nd battery to the tongue, thus adding a bit more weight bias to the front of the axle. This solved any sway issues we were experiencing. You could also add a folding hinge piece to the tongue which would add about another 1' length, as well as giving the option of folding it when parked to fit in a shorter space. This would be another bolt-on option if you can't or don't want to cut and weld. I could find the link to that part but if you search for a folding hitch/tongue extension I believe you will find it.

I hope this explanation helps. I have since sold the trailer, so don't have access for pictures.

Best regards,
Doug VP
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Old 03-01-2022, 10:41 AM   #145
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Name: Doug
Trailer: Escape 19
Oregon
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Tongue extension - photo

OK, I don't do posting picture very well. Let's try this again. Tongue extension w/ Dexter hitch:Click image for larger version

Name:	Hymer hitch extension.JPG
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ID:	145076
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Old 03-01-2022, 11:59 AM   #146
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Name: jerry
Trailer: in market
Iowa
Posts: 26
Hymer

Thanks, pondering buying, the only hesitation is the sway. From what you said and did it seems to be a non worry anymore.
If you would relate other opinions about trailer that would be appreciated.
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Old 03-01-2022, 12:50 PM   #147
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Name: Doug
Trailer: Escape 19
Oregon
Posts: 20
Impressions

I take it that you are considering buying a Hymer, right?
If so, I'll do my best to cover the bases. There's also a pretty active Facebook group on Hymer GT's and they seem to post a lot more often than here. Some really good discussions and problem solving on there.



We bought ours from a couple who bought it new, and never used it due to health problems. So, it was a year old, but pretty much unused. It's my opinion that all of the Hymers had some kinks straight out of the plant. Maybe it was caused by the morale of a company that was being ran into the ground and/or mismanaged. That said, there's a lot to love about them, and there's a faithful following of owners.


We noticed a sway issue on the drive home after purchasing it (about 100 miles from home). We were towing it with a Toyota RAV4 with a towing package. Plenty of power, good brakes, all that, but it's a bit short wheelbase, which doesn't help on the stability end of things. I was probably trying to go too fast, the tires weren't equally inflated, and it turns out there was a bolt missing where the cabin attaches to the tongue, which I didn't find for a while. That surely allowed it to wiggle a bit. Also, it's imperative to not put a lot of weight in the copious storage compartment beneath the bed. A design oddity that adds to the sway tendency is the location of the axle being about a foot forward than it should be, IMHO. Extra weight behind the axle amplifies this trait.

We put on a Blue OX anti - sway/ weight distribution hitch (it's necessary to find a setup that works for surge brakes) and it worked quite well, but it reduced the already low ground clearance too much. So, I sought a different option. This is how I ended up w/ the hitch described and shown. That, and the weight changes on the tongue solved the problem completely. No sway, but keep it under 65 - which is really good practice anyway when towing. We are on our 4th trailer, and 60 seems to be the sweet spot for all of them.



As for the rest of the trailer: we were smitten with the design, and still think of it very fondly. Good windows, lots of light and ventilation, the swingout windows w/ integrated blinds/screens are just great.

The Truma furnace/water heater unit is nothing short of amazing. Very effective, and quiet.

The little control panel is pretty keen.

There is lots more storage than first meets the eye. More storage on the 17' Hymer than on our 19' Escape, for sure.

We added an awning, there's a tutorial or two on the FB pages.

I added a solar panel on the roof (again you can find information on doing this) and a second battery (AGM). The inverter is a quality item like the furnace, and is Lithium battery capable, which is a big plus. If you are into boondocking you'll probably want to go Lithium at some point, and charging is different than standard batteries, and a compatible system is needed. The Hymer has this already - a big plus IMHO.


There were some things about it that made me shake my head, some brilliant things and some 'what were they thinking?' things. This is not unique at all to Hymers, BTW.



I guess the biggest drawback was the lack of ground clearance (it's about 4 1/2" in places, and the tires can rub the wheelwells when bounced). This I solved by installing an OEM axle beneath the stock axle. Again, there's some tutorials on the FB page about this.

Because of the fact that the trailer cabin and mechanicals are sort of built around the stock axle, it would require partial disassembly of the entire trailer to remove it and lift it on the frame. The simplest fix is to cut off the swingarm ends of the stock axle and weld on a new one underneath it. I know, it seems crazy and elaborate, but I got a good deal on an axle, and with a friend who's a good welder/fab fellow, we both worked on it for about 5-6 hours and got it done. Raised the trailer about 5". Once the hitch height was readjusted, it tows even better than it did when new. It was worth the challenge and the cost. This is a pretty common and well liked solution when to study the owner chatter on the 'net.

Once I'd ironed out the kinks and upped the energy storage capacity, it was a very comfortable and enjoyable trailer. In lots of ways we liked it more than our Escape, but we wanted a bit more room and a few other aspects that the Escape offered.

The Hymer wins on style, panache, and systems like the heater, inverter, etc.

Iyou buy one, it would help to be a bit handy, willing to tinker, and maybe put up with some idiosyncrasies. I did all my own work.

The Hymer was the trailer equivalent of a BMW or Rover, while the Escape is more of a Toyota or Ford. Lots to be said for either one. The Hymer was more evocative, and you can't stop for gas w/o drawing a crowd. "Cool trailer" was heard often.

We loved it and once the kinks were worked out it was a very enjoyable trailer that fit in smaller campsites and boondocked well, too. A mid-sized SUV or pickup (we later used a Nissan Frontier, and it was perfect) can tow one handily.

That's probably more than you bargained for, but if you have specific questions I'd be happy to address them.
Cheers,

DVP
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Old 03-01-2022, 01:17 PM   #148
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Name: jerry
Trailer: in market
Iowa
Posts: 26
Thank you, thank you. Great info and perspective. This will help greatly in purchase decision.
We wish to stay with a small trailer.

Did you have any reservations about the material used for pop up sides?
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Old 03-01-2022, 01:37 PM   #149
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Name: Jennifer
Trailer: Casita
Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 19
Hymer GT pop top

The canvas material is fairly waterproof. The more challenging problem is the structural design of the top. Unfortunately, the design of the top does not allow for sufficient drainage of water. In a significant downpour, there is a high possibility that you can get drenched (i.e, leaking into cabinets or worse). I have heard of this downside discussed by many owners. We would always close our top during a downpour, so I do not know whether we would have had leaks or not.

We did ultimately beef up our top by adding drainage channels that divert water away from the center and down the sides. I wish that I took a photo....this was right before we sold our GT.

Overall, it is a great trailer with great storage (far better than Escape or Casita) in my opinion. It is definitely a buy for someone who doesn't mind a little tinkering. If you are lucky, you can find one that has had all of work done for you.

Jenny Ferris
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Old 03-01-2022, 01:42 PM   #150
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Name: Doug
Trailer: Escape 19
Oregon
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No, the material seemed to be up for the job. The way the top pops up shelters the sides pretty well, and the material stays pretty dry. I think it's hypalon or something like that, almost Zodiac boat stuff. Leaks and/or mildew etc was never a problem for us, and we are in Oregon which means it was rain tested.

dvp
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Old 03-01-2022, 01:44 PM   #151
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Name: jerry
Trailer: in market
Iowa
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Could you describe how and with what you made drainage channels, please.
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Old 03-01-2022, 01:54 PM   #152
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Name: Doug
Trailer: Escape 19
Oregon
Posts: 20
RE: drainage -- I'll turn that over to the person that mentioned it. I had heard of this issue and solution, but we never seemed to need it.

The roof below the pop-up has a sill about 1/2 -1" high before the fabric is attached so there'd have to be that much water accumulate before it would reach the first seam. I could see the potential.

Closing the roof in a storm isn't a bad idea anyway. I'm 5'10" and could stand in it easily w/ the top down. Also, when it was really chilly we'd leave the top down, as it held the heat in much better.

Because of our local and camping habits, we never used the A/C except to prove that it worked. People in hot places have mentioned the need to improve the venting on the A/C, and there's info on how to do that. IMHO it got pretty cool pretty fast and I saw no problem there.

Good luck with the hunt. They are liked enough to sell very quickly (as are any fiberglass trailers, actually).

DVP
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Old 03-01-2022, 07:33 PM   #153
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Name: jerry
Trailer: in market
Iowa
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Thanks once more for the candid replies.
One last question. The Hymer I am considering has a sway bar set up to the curb side. Owner says this solved sway. This is as far as I know a Curt product.
Any opinions? Not an engineer so don’t know about forces put on a pole tongue by sway bar .
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Old 03-01-2022, 08:14 PM   #154
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Name: Doug
Trailer: Escape 19
Oregon
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I used a Curt friction slide sway control on our vintage trailer. Easy to use, worked very well (although this trailer didn't want to sway, it was just for good measure. Not hard to use. Need to unfasten it when backing, which is pretty easy and common.

To use pretty much any sort of anti-sway device on a pole-tongue trailer, a Tee or Crossbar device must be added. It bolts/clamps on, no welding required. Can be found on eTrailer. We added one for the Blue Ox device, and it worked well.

There are lots of contributing factors to sway. Load bias (front/rear) of the trailer, loading of the tow vehicle, wheel base of the tow vehicle, spring capacity/load rating etc. We started out on the wrong side of all of those things, and ended up on the positive side, and then had it well under control.

It is not a party-stopper, but must be addressed.


Best regards, and good luck once more.
DVP
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Old 03-01-2022, 08:38 PM   #155
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Name: jerry
Trailer: in market
Iowa
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Thank you, Doug you have been a great resource. Now to talk with owner.
Again thanks,
JerryB
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Old 03-11-2022, 10:25 PM   #156
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Name: John
Trailer: Hymer
California
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Originally Posted by baldy View Post
Wanting information on tongue extension
https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/...-gt-91269.html
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Old 07-08-2024, 09:01 AM   #157
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Name: Scott
Trailer: Clipper 12.0 Max
Ontario
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Replacement windows

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Originally Posted by OCJohn View Post
The cabinetry issues are not uncommon. There's a more active group of GT owners over on the Facebook group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/427850547980510/

All the manuals we've found are posted over there. Including the Inverter/Charger manual. (I tried attaching it here, but the file is too large.) And there's been some recent discussion about the electrical system, but mostly about how it works. I'm not aware of any common problems.
I know they are out of business now, but is anyone aware if you can buy replacement windows? I’m looking at buying a Used model and one of the windows is cracked. Do they use the same windows as the European version? Could I have to have it shipped. Or do I need to find someone who has leftover replacement parts?
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Old 07-08-2024, 04:30 PM   #158
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Originally Posted by Ryckscottman View Post
I know they are out of business now, but is anyone aware if you can buy replacement windows? I’m looking at buying a Used model and one of the windows is cracked. Do they use the same windows as the European version? Could I have to have it shipped. Or do I need to find someone who has leftover replacement parts?
The north American Hymer GT is a totally different animal than the Euro built versions. Though it's possible they share OEM windows, I wouldn't bet on it.

Best bet is to join the Facebook group and do a search for "windows" within that group. There were a number of RV parts and salvage businesses who bought up the remaining OEM components at the liquidation auction. Most in Canada, I think.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HymerGT
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