Down the road from Escape

[FMLNM]

Just finished a 1600+ mile drive from NM to Chilliwack! Spending the night just down the road from the Escape plant. Tried to spy our new to us 2008 5.0 through the chain link fence....
Picking it up at 8am tomorrow! WooHoo!
The border crossing had a 45 minute backlog at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon. Huge line of traffic headed into the US from Canada. Maybe it is end of weekend traffic....Hope it is not as bad tomorrow afternoon....
Fran & Dave

[Devil Dog]

It's most likley inside the shop being detailed. It will look new when you pick it up tomorrow.Try the border after dinner, usually a bit lighter then.
Congrats on the 05.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by FMLNM

Just finished a 1600+ mile drive from NM to Chilliwack! Spending the night just down the road from the Escape plant. Tried to spy our new to us 2008 5.0 through the chain link fence....
Picking it up at 8am tomorrow! WooHoo!

Fran & Dave

Wow - what a drive that would be. Some spectacular sights along the way on that dive I bet. It will no doubt be even more spectaular when you get to head back with your newly acquired 5.0 in tow.
I am always amazed at the distance a lot of owners drive to get their Escape. Testament to just how much people like the product I guess.

You were pretty brave trying to spy through the chain link fence. Those big dogs that patrol the inside are enough to frighten away most.

Congrats on your new rig and have a great time camping.

[FMLNM]

Hah! Didn't see any dogs :-) Maybe we didn't t get close enough! Yes, the drive up was really neat. From the drama of the Four Corners area, through Canyonlands and the whole length of Utah, across the corner of Idaho and then up through Orgeon...very cool. We then went up the east side of the Cascades and travelled across North Cascades NP on very scenic route 20. Gorgeous! And the mountains around Chilliwack are stunning! The trip was a real smorgasborg of North and South West scenery! Highly recommended.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by FMLNM

Hah! Didn't see any dogs :-) Maybe we didn't t get close enough! Yes, the drive up was really neat. From the drama of the Four Corners area, through Canyonlands and the whole length of Utah, across the corner of Idaho and then up through Orgeon...very cool. We then went up the east side of the Cascades and travelled across North Cascades NP on very scenic route 20. Gorgeous! And the mountains around Chilliwack are stunning! The trip was a real smorgasborg of North and South West scenery! Highly recommended.

Hi: FMLNM... Sure hope after all that trip that things come together well. Take lots of pic's. to share with us. I'm thinking today will be a long day too. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[FMLNM]

Indeed! We have a short bed frontier and installed the B&W Patriot hitch about 9 inches behind the axle. Actually puts it about the middle of the bed. Will certainly report back on how this works. We might be the first 5' bed with a 5.0!

[ajay]

Best wishes for your new Escape. Have a wonderful trip.
Arny

[Scuba55]

I sure hope that the short bed Frontier works well (I think it will) as I too have a short bed and really want to purchase the 5.0 next year. I look forward to your report, and wish you the best of luck.

Happy Travels,
Mike

[gabeck]

Very exciting day ..... enjoy !

[Jim Bennett]

I imagine you are now in the door, and going through things on your trailer.....nice!

We want to see lots of photos and hear stories of your return trip with it.

[FMLNM]

We just finished our first meal in our Escape! Got through the border without any problems. It took about 15 minutes once we got to the border agent. They had us pull over and they checked the paperwork and the vin number..stamped the form and sent us off. We stopped at a koa about an hour down the road and spent the afternoon giving the inside of the trailer a good cleaning. Then stowed the miscellaneous stuff we had brought. Of course the cleanup would not be necessary for those of you getting new trailers.
The short bed frontier seems to be working ok. We mounted the B&W patriot hitch 29 inches behind the cab...that put it 9 inches behind the axle. We can make a fairly tight turn but are still figuring that out. If necessary the hitch can be made to move the pivot point back 4 inches..not on the fly...the pivot arms have to be removed and reinstalled in the other position.
Tows fine...doesn't feel much different than towing the Scamp 5er that we used to have.
We'll have to empty the tanks in the morning...leftovers from previous owner. Then we'll have a better idea if the tank monitors are working. Got a tank wand from Tammy but somehow left it at the factory..darn! Maybe they will ship it us.
So that's the report from day one. Tomorrow we'll tow for about 300 miles.
Time for ice cream!
Fran & Dave

[Brian B-P]

Congratulations!

Have you run over a truck scale to determine the axle loads yet? It would be interesting to see how it works out with the pin further back than usual.

[gbaglo]

There is now a CAT scale at a truck stop just west of Hope. I haven't tried it yet for ease or expense.

[Brian B-P]

I'm just curious...

Originally Posted by FMLNM

If necessary the hitch can be made to move the pivot point back 4 inches..not on the fly...the pivot arms have to be removed and reinstalled in the other position.

Does the 5.0 have the usual adjustment range in its pinbox, and if so did you adjust that?

It looks like you have the hitch arms fully forward. Which vertical position (of the 4 available) did you need to match the 5.0?

Patriot arm adjustment diagram

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

There is now a CAT scale at a truck stop just west of Hope. I haven't tried it yet for ease or expense.

I've never found the need to pay for a CAT Scale; I just use the "free" (taxpayer-provided) highway weigh stations. The CAT scale might be more convenient, since they report all the axle readings, rather than the advance-stop-record-advance cycle of using the government single scales.

[dave macrae]

I don't mind doing the math to save a buck

[gbaglo]

The highway dept. scales at Hope almost always have a half dozen semi trucks lined up waiting. I wouldn't have the nerve to delay them by weighing.

[FMLNM]

Haven't done a weigh-in yet. Will wait until we get home.
As for the hitch...we started with the straight up (fully forward) position...figured we could move it back the 4 inches if we needed. We did have to adjust the height position...we had started with the lowest position and needed to raise it up one notch before hitching up the trailer. There is some adjustment available in the pin box but we didn't mess with that...left it where it was from the previous owner. That doesn't change the pivot point anyway.

Just finished a full day of towing...seems fine so far. Still playing with how tight a turn we can make....

[Scuba55]

Fran and Dave,

I really appreciate your updates, especially on the towing aspect. I too have a Frontier short bed, and really do not want to upgrade my truck, I really like it, not to mention the cost to change trucks-.

Thanks again, and look forward to future updates!
Mike