Escape Durability and Off-Road Capability

[freespirit]

Originally Posted by Rtar

You guys are doing a really good job of selling me on the Escape Trailers. It will be a nice upgrade over the roof top tent...

nice looking rig..just curious...how do those elevated tents workout in a rainstorm with lightning?

[Rtar]

Originally Posted by freespirit

nice looking rig..just curious...how do those elevated tents workout in a rainstorm with lightning?

I wouldn't recommend it...
Being from California and traveling mostly to UT/AZ/CO, it has never been an issue.
I can say that in a wind storm it is so loud that you can't sleep because of it.

[caddoster]

we have a similar roof top tent on our current trailer. for the most part it does alright, when everything is calm the only complaint I have is I can't stand up inside... when it's really windy and/or rainy it's very interesting inside.. but it does hold up to high wind and stay dry, whether or not you can sleep is a different story...

[rubicon327]

I really like this thread. Shows the capability and durability of Escape trailers and some of the great places people have been off the beaten path. Not hardcore as trailer was on only a few unpaved roads but handled it well. I think these trailers can go down any reasonable road if provisions for securing gear is made and speed is reduced accordingly. The ability to tow the trailer with a 4X4 SUV and also carry canoes/kayaks creates great flexibility. Set up your basecamp and then unhitch and explore. We had an amazing time this past summer on a lakefront site and explored some of the 1.1 million acres of the Pinelands National Reserve. Most people don't realize this unique and beautiful area covers 22% of NJ.

[float5]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

I really like this thread. Shows the capability and durability of Escape trailers and some of the great places people have been off the beaten path. Not hardcore as trailer was on only a few unpaved roads but handled it well. I think these trailers can go down any reasonable road if provisions for securing gear is made and speed is reduced accordingly. The ability to tow the trailer with a 4X4 SUV and also carry canoes/kayaks creates great flexibility. Set up your basecamp and then unhitch and explore. We had an amazing time this past summer on a lakefront site and explored some of the 1.1 million acres of the Pinelands National Reserve. Most people don't realize this unique and beautiful area covers 22% of NJ.

No, I did no know that there was anything like that in NJ! Will have to make a visit some time.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by float5

No, I did no know that there was anything like that in NJ! Will have to make a visit some time.

About 570,000 acres are protected. It really is a special place with a rich history and diverse array of plants and animals.
New Jersey Pinelands Commission | The Pinelands National Reserve

[Greg A]

Several years back I did quite a bit of washboard getting to remote camps with my Escape 17b. It handled it pretty well with two necessary mods. I definitely had to have a bungee refrigerator door solution to keep the door shut. Second, several of the cabinet doors fell off and I had to do a stronger mount on the hinge screws. I just reinforced pulling all the base cabinet hinge screws and then putting wood glue in the holes and remounting the hinges. Never had any more issues, but if I were going to do a ton of off road I'd probably put a through cabinet mounting with a backing plate/washer.

[thoer]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

About 570,000 acres are protected. It really is a special place with a rich history and diverse array of plants and animals.
New Jersey Pinelands Commission | The Pinelands National Reserve

That is very interesting to learn after all these years of New Jersey being the butt of apparently very unfair jokes about being ugly. Thanks for the enlightenment!

[Jim Bennett]

I just don't think you can beat the construction of a moulded fibreglass trailer for toughness while towing, and still keep it of a reasonable weight.

Originally Posted by gbaglo

In eight years, I've not had to tighten a single screw.

We neither have the time, or qualifications to discuss you and your "loose screw" on this forum.

[thoer]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

We neither have the time, or qualifications to discuss you and your "loose screw" on this forum.

Maybe it's plural...

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by thoer

That is very interesting to learn after all these years of New Jersey being the butt of apparently very unfair jokes about being ugly. Thanks for the enlightenment!

Don't get me wrong I know where some of the jokes come from. There are areas of NJ that are nothing to write home about. Northeast up towards NYC is developed very dense and is rough around the edges. I could never live there.

Somewhat surprising even to me is that the Pinelands Reserve or "Pine Barrens" as locals call it is the largest undeveloped area on the mid-Atlantic seaboard between Richmond and Boston.

[blhvet]

I'm hoping ETI is much smarter with where they run the propane line than Aliner was. On my Aliner, it runs under the frame, and because I drive on (and live on) gravel roads, the rocks kicking up actually flattened it and pinched it off so the fridge didn't work. It had to be replaced, and I've since covered it with a rubber hose, but it still feels a little bent. As I said, hopefully ETI is smarter, but this was my "complication" with rough/gravel roads.

[MyronL]

U-Haul's mock Burro design ran solid pipe propane lines under the floor.

"Rough around the edges" is putting it nicely. But it wasn't always like that in Essex County, where I grew up, within sight of the Hoffman, then the Pabst Brewery bottle. Then all the chestnut trees died, they built the 6-lane GSP which cut my block in half lengthwise, the fifties ended, people moved away, neighborhoods changed.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by blhvet

I'm hoping ETI is much smarter with where they run the propane line than Aliner was. On my Aliner, it runs under the frame, and because I drive on (and live on) gravel roads, the rocks kicking up actually flattened it and pinched it off so the fridge didn't work. It had to be replaced, and I've since covered it with a rubber hose, but it still feels a little bent. As I said, hopefully ETI is smarter, but this was my "complication" with rough/gravel roads.

There are code rules that state where gas piping , joints and gas fittings can be installed . The piping has to be accessible for inspection and repair. Normally gas piping is not concealed in walls or structures .
Both my Scamp and Casita had / have their gas piping run under the trailer and clamped to the frame.
Having a propane leak on the exterior of a trailer is far less dangerous than a propane leak in a concealed area inside the trailet where gas vapors can build up .

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by MyronL

"Rough around the edges" is putting it nicely. But it wasn't always like that in Essex County, where I grew up, within sight of the Hoffman, then the Pabst Brewery bottle. Then all the chestnut trees died, they built the 6-lane GSP which cut my block in half lengthwise, the fifties ended, people moved away, neighborhoods changed.

Maybe "rough except for the edges" is more appropriate.

[hotfishtacos]

Here are some pictures of us camping off-road in our 19' in the Anza Borrego Desert...no one for miles...what we like!! The dual tires tend to stay up on top of the soft sand and we take it easy.





The most difficult, treacherous journey we ever made was over Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains while heavily loaded down. The pass grade is at 7% to 26%, the steepest grade in the Sierra Nevada and is 24 miles of continuous switchbacks, down into the high desert. We barely made it over going as slow as 1 mph near the top. My heart is still recovering and that was few years back!!

[markh]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

I really like this thread. Shows the capability and durability of Escape trailers and some of the great places people have been off the beaten path. Not hardcore as trailer was on only a few unpaved roads but handled it well. I think these trailers can go down any reasonable road if provisions for securing gear is made and speed is reduced accordingly. The ability to tow the trailer with a 4X4 SUV and also carry canoes/kayaks creates great flexibility. Set up your basecamp and then unhitch and explore. We had an amazing time this past summer on a lakefront site and explored some of the 1.1 million acres of the Pinelands National Reserve. Most people don't realize this unique and beautiful area covers 22% of NJ.

What campground did you stay in?

[MyronL]

I stayed in a similar campground once, the Horny Toad RV Center. Isolated except for an occasional drug mule, no pool, no hookups, one site only, surrounded by goatheads and needleberries.

[azjack]

In 1972 we left Sonora, CA in a 1970 Ford Ranchero towing a 23' Traveleze trailer that was loaded. We started out over Sonora Pass heading for Colorado, Nancy could smell the trans oil very soon so we turned around and went around the hills to Vegas and I installed a additional trans cooler while parked behind a RV shop. That got us to Colorado. All part of having fun I guess.
Jack














rv

[hotfishtacos]

Originally Posted by azjack

In 1972 we left Sonora, CA in a 1970 Ford Ranchero towing a 23' Traveleze trailer that was loaded. We started out over Sonora Pass heading for Colorado, Nancy could smell the trans oil very soon so we turned around and went around the hills to Vegas and I installed a additional trans cooler while parked behind a RV shop. That got us to Colorado. All part of having fun I guess.
Jackrv

It's good you turned around. I should have heeded the many signs we passed that stated, "RVs and Travel Trailer not Advised"!!! It was so bad I purchased the book of mountain passes in the US so it never happens again.