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Old 04-22-2013, 03:22 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Floating Cloud View Post
Don't know if you had hook-ups but people have been known to use a hair dryer on the valves. Then again maybe you didn't have a hair dryer.

I was thinking before about you having that fabric around. I spent hours looking at fabric only to find that the ones we liked best were "earth-friendly" which means they were $150 per yard. I do have very old fabric in the attic though...

Enjoy your Escape!
No, we didn't have hookups. We could have had electrical connection, but we figured that with our setup we didn't need it. Also didn't have a hair dryer handy. It seems that as I get older, the need for a hair dryer diminishes (also brushes, combs and shampoo).

On our way out of the campground after a night close to -10°C we noted about 6 hardy souls who had slept in tents, that were huddled around their picnic tables cooking their breakfasts and looking very chilly. Although we came from the same tenting background, we were very happy to have spent the night in a toasty FG trailer with furnace blasting.
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Old 04-22-2013, 04:07 PM   #22
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Very nice, glad to hear every thing went well. Those pictures in the mountains are making me itchy to get out.
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Old 04-22-2013, 04:08 PM   #23
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love the tug and trailer graphics match, now you need a set of these
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IMG_0117.jpg   IMG_0118 copy.jpg  
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Old 04-22-2013, 07:13 PM   #24
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Looking Good!! Now you need to go onto the blue forum & post some of those pics under the camping equipment section! (We need more Escapes on there!). Enjoy
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Old 05-04-2013, 07:17 PM   #25
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I mentioned earlier that we had purchased a Tekonsha Prodigy RF wireless brake controller to use with this trailer. The reason for doing this was that my FJ does not come prewired from the factory for plug and play installation of a brake controller. I had made a couple of calls to hitch shops to ask about cost for brake controller plus installation, and two quotes I got were for $500 each (including controller). When I saw that I could get the wireless controller for $300, it seemed like an easy decision to go that way and save $200.

The Escape people were kind enough to mount the brake controller main unit on the trailer frame when we picked up our 19. We had some difficulties getting the unit to pair with my FJ, but I thought it was just a communication glitch. We paired the controller with one of the Escape employee's trucks and then hooked up the FJ. Everything seemed to work fine, including the trailer brakes, so we set off for home. Brakes worked fine for entire first day, but when getting ready to leave the campground on day 2, the hand held device in the truck told me the controller was no longer paired, and no working trailer brakes. Left the campground without trailer brakes and immediately went down a long steep hill on way into Kamloops. FJ never even needed to use the brakes on the downhill section, so we decided to continue rest of way home and address brake issues later.

Turns out that our 7-pin connector on the FJ was never wired with the 12v wire from the car battery to allow charging of trailer battery. The prodigy rf manual does state that the power wire is needed for proper operation of the controller. I should have checked the power wire to the 7-pin before leaving for chilliwack. After spending a day wiring power to the connector (using 40 amp fuse and relay) the wireless controller was able to easily pair with the FJ and the trailer brakes now work. A bit of a learning experience but everything worked out in the end.

Other than this initial difficulty, the wireless controller works great.
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Old 05-04-2013, 07:27 PM   #26
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That is why I have one of these with me all the time. Particularly when purchasing a new tow vehicle that has had the trailer hitch installed, either factory or after market.7 Way Trailer Connector Vehicle Tester Tow Ready Wiring TR20117
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Old 05-04-2013, 09:02 PM   #27
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That is why I have one of these with me all the time. Particularly when purchasing a new tow vehicle that has had the trailer hitch installed, either factory or after market.7 Way Trailer Connector Vehicle Tester Tow Ready Wiring TR20117
Yes that would have prevented a bit of stress. Maybe next time will pick one up.
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Old 05-06-2013, 10:58 AM   #28
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Just be carefull with that tester. I have one and it is very handy but it takes next to no current to turn on the little light in the tester. If you have a voltage drop accross on a circuit, like a partially corroded wire or connection you can get fooled as it will light up the tester but not work the trailer brakes. this happened to my with my other truck. very handy tool for a quick verifification that the tow veihicle is wired properly
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Old 05-06-2013, 11:22 AM   #29
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etrailer, I never could tell what was in stock or backordered.
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Old 10-21-2013, 03:05 PM   #30
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Originally Posted by ice-breaker View Post
Just got back from picking up our new 19' on the weekend. Was a very long trip, about 2400 km total. The trailer was everything we expected. People at Escape were great. Special thanks to Dave for the super orientation and to Dennis for his help installing the wireless break controller and setting up the WD hitch.

The FJ performed quite well and appears to be well suited for towing the 19'. Of course the gas mileage was awful, about 24 IMPG on way to Chilliwack and about 15 IMPG on return trip, but that was expected and there was a lot of high mountain passes to go through both ways. On way home we stayed at Paul Lake Prov Park near Kamloops on first night (we were the only people in the park), and we stayed the second night at Wapiti campground in Jasper. Rained most of the way home, and got some unexpectedly cold weather (-10° C) in Jasper. In hindsight we should have asked the Escape crew to not fill the freshwater tank prior to us leaving, as we ended up having the black tank valve freeze up in Jasper, so we could not dump prior to leaving town. It was thawed out when we got back home so we were able to dump it then. We ended up draining and winterizing the trailer on Sunday since it was supposed to get cold again that night.

Also had a few problems with the Tekonsha Prodigy wireless brake controller, but will save that discussion for a bit later.

cheers
dave

Following are a few pictures we took of the trailer/tug and interior.
Hi, I'm looking at ice breaker's awesome pictures and a question pops up. Regarding the picture showing the sink and stove/oven on page 2, there seems to be a lot of space to the left of the sink. Is there any reason why the sink could not be moved to the left to increase space between sink and oven? (of course, there would need to be some space on the left, for aesthetics if nothing else). j
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Old 10-21-2013, 03:17 PM   #31
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Escape factory locates the sink where they deem it needs to be for structural reasons, you can always flip flop the sink and stove but there are hidden supports underneath that needs to be considered for either installation location.
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Old 10-21-2013, 03:18 PM   #32
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Originally Posted by jamie beers View Post
... Regarding the picture showing the sink and stove/oven on page 2, there seems to be a lot of space to the left of the sink. Is there any reason why the sink could not be moved to the left to increase space between sink and oven? (of course, there would need to be some space on the left, for aesthetics if nothing else). j
It probably appears from the photo that there is more space to the left of the sink than there actually is. However, it may be possible to move the sink a small amount. My guess is that the sink could possibly be moved over about 1" to 2". However, you should ask Reace about this as there may be limitations due to access to bolts for fastening down the sink, or other reasons.
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Old 10-21-2013, 03:52 PM   #33
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Thanks a lot for the feedback, Dave W and Jim. j
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