Tongue weight 2017 21' and info I learned today. - Page 4 - Escape Trailer Owners Community
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Old 03-23-2017, 07:40 PM   #61
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Los Angeles and fellow Californio
You are getting good counsel from responsive Forum members but strongly suggest you pair your excellent Shurline tongue scale weight with an actual truck scale weight so you know exactly without guessing, what the operational weight is for your rig loaded and ready for a trip.
We had the unfortunate experience of a fishtailing episode on the way to Chilliwack last May in our 2016 Escape 21' with a 2013 Toyota Tacoma as the tow vehicle.
The incident occurred south of Bend OR on a good 2-lane road in clear weather conditions. Speed was 60 mph.
Fortunately wife Judy who has years of driving horse trailers quickly got it under control safely.
We rearranged the load which we thought had been carefully loaded upon leaving Woodland CA (our home) and moving more gear forward.
We stopped by a commercial truck scale the next day and determined that our trip loaded weight with essentially empty tanks was 4,440 lbs. Quite a bit heavier than we would have thought. A calculation of installed options, AC, 2nd 6V battery, tool box, full propane tanks, plus a bit too much food for a 2 month trip, took us close to 4,500 lbs.
Another "Escaper" from Livermore had a trusty Shurline tongue scale the next day and my tongue weight was close to 600 lbs.
We adjusted the load and put some equipment in the truck to lighten the load and reduce the tongue weight.
Now we periodically check our scale weight and have our Shurline scale as part of the regular Escape kit. We also pack lighter and buy more groceries along the way.
We have had no fishtailing issues since May 2016 and have traveled close to 15,000 miles.
Sorry for the extended response but after our "character-building" adventure it is helpful for new Escape owners to deal with solid Shurline and commercial truck scale metrics to avoid unfortunate experiences.
Happy Trails
Jim Tischer
Woodland, CA


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Old 03-23-2017, 07:49 PM   #62
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Jim, were you using a WDH when the sway occurred?
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Old 03-23-2017, 08:05 PM   #63
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I always thought sway was a result of either misloading and/or too light tongue weight, not too heavy. BTW, my 21, loaded for 2 weeks was 500tongue/3800axle=4300 total
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Old 03-23-2017, 09:16 PM   #64
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Jim, were you using a WDH when the sway occurred?


Hi Rotate Clockwise
Yes, I was using an Anderson WDH installed by ETI when we picked up the trailer in February 2016. I regret failing to mention that in my earlier post.
Our assessment is that the WDH prevented the fishtailing episode from having more unfavorable outcome.
Again my regrets for not adding that detail.
Jim Tischer


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Old 03-23-2017, 09:34 PM   #65
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Jim, thank you for sharing your experience. Glad everything turned out ok. We'll be pulling a 21 with a Tacoma too, so your notes are helpful in setting expectations.
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Old 04-20-2017, 09:23 AM   #66
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After all our discussion I thought I should post the paperwork's listed shipping weight of our 21 as optioned - 3710#. My assumption is that shipping weight is the same a dry weight. We have A/C, solar, dual 6v, dual pane windows/extra insulation, underside insulation, front storage box, filled LP tanks, and E2 WDH as our main weight adding options. No walls are reinforced. Now I am anxiously awaiting our first pictures from Tammy!
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Old 04-20-2017, 10:13 AM   #67
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After all our discussion I thought I should post the paperwork's listed shipping weight of our 21 as optioned - 3710#. My assumption is that shipping weight is the same a dry weight. We have A/C, solar, dual 6v, dual pane windows/extra insulation, underside insulation, front storage box, filled LP tanks, and E2 WDH as our main weight adding options. No walls are reinforced. Now I am anxiously awaiting our first pictures from Tammy!
Ours was probably about fifty pounds less than yours and we have a reinforced wall. I don't think filled tanks come into it. Our options are the same other than there might be a slight difference in the hitch.
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Old 04-20-2017, 10:23 AM   #68
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Cathy, I'm thinking that it being listed as shipping weight that the LP tanks being filled might, but whether they do or not I am unsure. Don't know about them for dry weight either, would seem to make sense them to not count in dry weight. I'll have to compare the sticker with the paperwork when we pick Blue II up.
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Old 04-20-2017, 10:28 AM   #69
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How can they specify shipping weight when it has not been built yet? If you are waiting for your first pictures??
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Old 04-20-2017, 10:31 AM   #70
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Cathy, I'm thinking that it being listed as shipping weight that the LP tanks being filled might, but whether they do or not I am unsure. Don't know about them for dry weight either, would seem to make sense them to not count in dry weight. I'll have to compare the sticker with the paperwork when we pick Blue II up.
I think you are right above that shipping weight should be dry weight (not used for purposes of actually shipping across the country but for giving trailer weight with options). I thought the difference between classic and new was more. Seems it did not really affect you.

I don't think they weigh each trailer but simply use the base weight and add what they have for each option. They provide those weights to owners before the trailer is finished. Might be interesting to weigh before any loading.
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Old 04-20-2017, 10:32 AM   #71
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How can they specify shipping weight when it has not been built yet? If you are waiting for your first pictures??
Not only that, it's not being shipped, we're picking it up.

I assume they have a spreadsheet that adds known option weights to the base weight and comes up with a close approximate.
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Old 04-20-2017, 10:35 AM   #72
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I think you are right above that shipping weight should be dry weight (not used for purposes of actually shipping across the country but for giving trailer weight with options). I thought the difference between classic and new was more. Seems it did not really affect you.
Tammy told me that the weight change to the 21 was going to be minimal as it had few weight adding changes in the new model. She was right
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