Let the fun begin!

[Seef]

Originally Posted by escape artist

Here's a pic of our latest rig!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

Alf,

you are just making us more "hungry" for our trailer. Thanks for the reminder.

Have Fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[gbaglo]

I've been watching World Cup soccer and haven't really had a team to cheer for.
Go Netherlands!
They are still in it aren't they?

[Seef]

Originally Posted by Tonny LR

Hi Seef,
Thanks for the feedback.
My son lives in France and my wife is from England. One day we may consider shipping our trailer to Europe. You never know. There are lots of electrical alterations that you have to do, but I am confident that you can find the right people to make the changes. Please continue to have fun.
Tonny LR

I would say, go for IT!

In fact the electrical alterations are not that many and i'm not scared by them, i can manage that myself. 12V is the same overhere.

It is just the fridge, the battery charger and the circuitbrakers.

The cabling you guys use is more then sufficient since by doubling the voltage, the amps drop more or less by half.

1 thing is worth considering:

The 120V outlets are different then our 240V outlets. Change the outlets? Or just buy a bunch of these: http://www.amazon.com/Generic-Round-.../dp/B002TZBW74

I think the latter will be the cheapest option.

I'm still hoping the fridge is actually a 120-240V model since we canb buy the exact same model fridge overhere on 240V. If not, a not to expensive tranformator will do.

The biggest investment will be the battery charger i guess. I understnad all the lighting is 12V.

As i said, i can manage the electrical part myself.

HAve fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[Seef]

Originally Posted by J Mac

Apart from the electrical issues are all these changes needed only if the trailer is going to stay in the European countries. I wonder, what if the trailer and passengers were on a 6 month visitors visa?

I'm guessing not, it's your trailer and you won't be importing it, it will have it's original license plate. The one thing you should consider is the TV. Bring your own, that saves a lot of trouble with the hitch etc.

All you need is 1 bigger transformator for the whole system, i do not know how much power draw the whole trailer will have but it will be doable. Oh yeah, bring an extra shorepower cord. So you can replace the shoreside plug for a EU type, that's it.

I know you can bring your own trailer and tug to the EU without to much trouble.

Make sure to drop a line when you decide to come over to Europe. Beertime!

Have fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[Seef]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

That I do not know anything about, I'm merely referring to the electrical. Also wondering about the door issue, remember most European models have the door on the opposite side.

Hmm, we never thought of that, just a quick check.......

Escape 5.0 has the door on the left side so have most of the European trailers. Maybe you're referring to England trailers??

Remember on the mainland in Europe we drive on the right side of the road just as you guys do. Only England (In Europe) is driving on the wrong side of the road.

Have fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[Seef]

Originally Posted by hotfishtacos

It is really great watching your trailer travel around the world. You must be very excited! I was a little worried when the freighter was near the hurricane in the Pacific near Baja...worried it would bang around in the container. Hopefully it will be perfect when the container is eventually opened. We're watching!

Oops, we never thought of that one.

Let's hope it is still in good nick when it arrives.

Thanks for your concern.

Have fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[Seef]

Originally Posted by Sandra L

This has been most enjoyable. I can only imagine how much Severinus and Yvonne are enjoying this as well.

Hi Snadra,

at this point in time we're loosing sleep over it.

Have fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Seef

The "problem" with the axle is that the brakes are not EU certified, we will be changing the axle for the same type/brand with EU certified brakes.

The axle swap itself should be fairly easy i guess.

Interesting... it seems that AL-KO Kober and BPW are the big trailer chassis suppliers in Europe; I didn't know Dexter even operated there. They do: the distributor appears to be Boopark BV.

If it really is the same brand with exactly the same brackets, the swap will be easy. If not, some grinding and welding will be required, but it should still not be a problem.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Seef

The hitch is a different story by itself. Although we can get conventional Kingpin hitches we are leaning towards a different option, there's a company overhere that makes 5th wheel hitches the dutch way. The hitch is EU certified but is way different than the kingpin hitch. It's more like a goosneck coupler (Fifth Wheel Europe - Welkom)
Advantage: It uses a bowl in the truck bed. that means when you're not using the hitch you will have a completely flat truck bed.
Downside: The kingpin coupler on the Escape needs to be converted to this type of coupler.

As the kingpin needs to be replaced anyhow (EU certifications again). This is a option worth to explore. It will be more expensive then just replace the kingpin but the flat truckbed is appealing to us since we're not retired yet and will be using the trailer just 4-6 weeks a year for the next 10 years.

Thanks - that's an interesting system.

The English version (obtained by clicking the UK flag on the main page): Fifth Wheel Europe - Welcome

The coupling itself is shown on this page: Fifth Wheel Europe - Product - Kogelkoppeling (EG goedgekeurd) It is a ball (on the trailer) and socket (in the truck), which is inverted from the North American practice (of a ball on the tug and coupler on the trailer); it is not really a fifth-wheel. Yes, here it is common to refer to this as a "gooseneck" hitch - "gooseneck" really describes a type of trailer, not of hitch, but gooseneck trailers commonly (but certainly not always) use a ball-and-socket style of hitch. Many people here (although still a small minority) convert their large fifth-wheel RV trailers to ball-and-socket systems (using our coupler-on-the-trailer arrangement), for similar reasons.

This reasoning makes perfect sense to me. If the trailer side of the hardware bolts into the existing upper portion of the pinbox, it could be easily converted back, or to another hitch system. A custom bracket would need to be built to transition from the Escape's upper pinbox portion to the new hitch's ball mounting plate. I suggest checking with Reace at ETI to be sure that the Escape's structure will be okay with the extension to reach down to the truck bed level.

One of the rotating photos on this company's main page shows the ball in detail, above the socket in the bed (ready to be lowered) and with the locking collar on top of the ball (which looks like it rotates to latch into the top of the socket. I grabbed that photo and will include it here...

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Seef

I'm still hoping the fridge is actually a 120-240V model since we can buy the exact same model fridge overhere on 240V.

That could be, but it seems unlikely to me. Equipment that runs on a wide range of voltages is usually using an electronic power supply to convert to a lower voltage. The refrigerator feeds the 120 volt (or 240 volt) AC power to a simple heating element, without a variable controller. I suspect that they just put different heating elements in depending on the destination.

[Cypherian]

Severinus and Yvonne ,

I bet the coolness factor once it is there and your out camping is going to be worth the work. Here is a thought , perhaps you can trade out or get some money on a swap for the axle seems someone here said they are there too and check with the refrigerator manufacturer there perhaps they will take the original and take money off same goes for the other parts if they have a dealer there. I spent some time in many countries never made the Netherlands though have handled some of the Malinois dogs from there lol. You might be able to sell the items removed to someone going to the US with a trailer

Cypher

[Seef]

Hi Cypher,

The coolness factor will be below sub zero. That's for sure.! Lucky for us the 5.0 comes with a very big fridge, we will be needing it for the handout beers for all the evening strollers on the campsite stopping over at the Escape for some smalltalk.

After we receive the 5.0 we will explore the options you just mentioned, thanks for that!

Have fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[Seef]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I've been watching World Cup soccer and haven't really had a team to cheer for.
Go Netherlands!
They are still in it aren't they?

Thanks GBaglo,

yep the're still in.

We kicked Spanish butt 5-1
We won from the Aussies 3-2

next on the list Chili (tomorrow).

Have fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[Seef]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Thanks - that's an interesting system.

Hi Brian,

Yesterday we went for a testdrive in a ISUZU truck, to see if this one matches our wishes.

Well in the truck there was a 5th wheel Europe coupler installed already so we were able to see that system in real life.

We could not test the system since there was no trailer available at the garage. But when there's no trailer hookup you do have a complete flat and empty truckbed. The coupler company will supply a small plate which can be put over the "bowl" part of the coupler in the truckbed.

This could be a winner, it all depends on the coupler builder beeing comfortable enough with the existing steelwork on the Escape.

Since the trailer will need to be certified and overhere, if you changed something on a trailer and it needs to be certified you will be hold liable if something fails over the years.

Ahh well, we'll see after the 5.0 hits the Netherlands. At this point in time everything is speculation.

Have fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[Seef]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I suspect that they just put different heating elements in depending on the destination.

Hi Brian,

That would be a bummer.

We will have to see when the Escape hits the Netherlands i guess.

Have fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[Seef]

Well a new day a new destination to travel to.

Our Escape has just left the Domican Republic and is on it's way to Lisbon, Portugal.

If all goes well it will arrive in Lisbon on July 1st.

Will keep you guys posted.

Have fun!

Severinus and Yvonne

[cpaharley2008]

What happens to the container? Is it owned by someone who then leased it to you or ETI?

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

What happens to the container? Is it owned by someone who then leased it to you or ETI?

It's filled with Edam and shipped back.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

The refrigerator feeds the 120 volt (or 240 volt) AC power to a simple heating element, without a variable controller. I suspect that they just put different heating elements in depending on the destination.

Originally Posted by Seef

That would be a bummer.

Maybe not so bad, since the heating element is replaceable. Perhaps the refrigerator can be readily converted to 240 volt operation.

[rbryan4]

Very cool, and thanks for the photos. Man, those loading crews really know what they're doing. You are going to turn so many heads with that thing in Europe.