Will a 5.0 fit under a 9' or 10' garage door?

[Donna D.]

The only time the water fill was a problem on my Scamp, it was caused by my young daughter. Scamps have a flip-up water fill on the back corner of the trailer for filling the fresh water tank. My child thought it was a great place for tiny pebbles and dirt to disappear. Kept her entertainment for quite some time. And folks question why deck plates are a good idea for cleaning out fresh water tanks.

[daveandsandyclink]

Of coase I know the little plastic door & common CH751 lock are of no real security. I have something else for that. ETI must of thought it was worth something to install a locking door in production. From what was just posted, if your door gets broke off or the check valve fails now, we're going to have to search for some kind of replacement that fits the hole cut in the trailer. The classic first fiberglass trailers used open connections and fills. I don't care for retro or antiques. I was attracted to the 5.0 because it is sleek, innovative, and lightweight.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I would be more than a little nervous about the rectangular flat steel feet sitting well in dollies like that, and I (personally) would be much more confident about a properly fastened wheel, which would also be a much larger wheel than the little casters on those dollies.

I wouldn't worry in the least using the wheel dollies. Yes, they're made for tires, but you put the front end of the 5er down on those and the jacks aren't going to slide off of them, too much weight. The nice part is they barely skim the floor surface they way they're built. And the OP needs the front end low. Because they're casters, if you need to turn them at all, you can either aim the wheels in the direction you want to go before you put the lading gear down or even after. I've used them to turn a 1967 Mustang 90 degrees on an asphalt pad by myself. They work as designed.

[Brian B-P]

It's good that the dollies work as designed for car tires, and should work here, but a jack wheel is actually designed for exactly this application. I guess there are a few options.

[Donna D.]

I think if ETI thought folks would use the landing gear on a 5er to move the trailer around, they'd either offer wheels as an option or not. I haven't seen wheels on the landing gear as an option. Most of the tubes on all jacks (seem to me) really lack in strength. The shorter the landing gear tube to wheel, the stronger it is. But, OMG... don't plan to extend the landing gear to its full length, put a wheel on the end and expect it to hold up while you shove the 5er around. That's a lot of weight. BUT, it's not my 5er. I know what I'm gonna do. Do you?

[daveandsandyclink]

That's the point I was trying to make Donna. ETI moves 5.0s around the factory during production with wheels on the landing gear. But they don't have near the weight during that time. I purchased these wheels from ETI. They just slip on without any pins and that's why I welded longer, heaver pipe on them. When talking to Reace about this, he cautioned me about not being to rough or traveling to fast while moving it on the landing gear. That's not their intended use. Their just not that rigid and strong. As I stated...I go low and slow while pushing it about 30' on smooth, level concrete. I might add that you cannot see where your going and must have another person to guide you. It takes some effort to turn. If your reading this and planning to try it, be very carefull.

[cpaharley2008]

The other issue is the floor. I'm sure the interior cement floors inside ETI are a lot smoother and slicker than exterior concrete floors. They use a special machine for making those floors inside large warehouses smooth for ease of movement.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by daveandsandyclink

I might add that you cannot see where your going and must have another person to guide you. It takes some effort to turn. If your reading this and planning to try it, be very carefull.

Thanks for the warning. But no. I'm not going to do it. My 5er will be under a carport where the Scamp currently resides. It's 18'x25' I have to back in at a bit of an angle, but the tug is up to the task.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I haven't seen wheels on the landing gear as an option.

Escape did offer wheels to another owner, as reported in the other linked thread and just discussed again. It is not a normal option, perhaps because it would not normally be of interest. There are lots of things which could be offered and are not; that does not in itself mean they would be unsuitable.

Originally Posted by Donna D.

OMG... don't plan to extend the landing gear to its full length, put a wheel on the end and expect it to hold up while you shove the 5er around.

Perhaps more importantly, the other linked thread was about moving the trailer around in general; the proposal in this one is to kneel the trailer and push it straight into the garage, so if the jacks are used for this purpose the legs would not be extended. I agree that the the lateral strength of the jack would be much more of a concern if extended.

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Most of the tubes on all jacks (seem to me) really lack in strength.
...
That's a lot of weight.

The load on each jack is not high compared to the single tongue jack on a heavy conventional trailer, so even extended the idea does not seem unreasonable to me. While kneeling, a tandem axle 5.0 will have even less load on the jacks than it would while level (in contrast, a single-axle classic 5.0 would have somewhat more load kneeled than level).

Finally, I note that various trailer owners in other forums have reported unfortunate incidents in which the trailer was accidentally towed with the jack partially extended, or over humps with it retracted, and it dragged on the ground. This could produce far higher lateral forces than hand-pushing the trailer, and yet the usual result seems to be bending the mounting plate of the jack, or grinding the foot or jack leg end off, rather than any damage to the extension mechanism. Mine was apparently dragged by the previous owner, so the leg end is damaged; however, the jack (the 1979 original) still works fine (lacking a foot, I put in on a block). These jacks are not very stable laterally (they wiggle), but they're pretty strong.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by daveandsandyclink

I purchased these wheels from ETI. They just slip on without any pins...

Do you know if the jack leg ends are the common type which would accept a normal pinned-on wheel? The stock foot appears to be pinned on, and online descriptions consistently of feet and wheels describe all common brands as being 2" diameter (presumably the outside diameter of the jack leg end).

[daveandsandyclink]

Brian the wheels I purchased from ETI are common and can be purchased at most RV supply businesses. Mine fit loose and did not exhibit the strength and stability that I was comfortable with. Once again...for those interested in hand moving your 5.0, do not discount the risk. This is real world advice.

[Brian B-P]

David, your wheels apparently don't pin on. I had never seen a jack wheel offered for sale which didn't attach with a pin, so I'm not familiar with this style... but I don't buy jack wheels (when I move my conventional trailer by hand I use a dolly). Searching today, I did find that Atwood has some of these, and advises that they are only for light-duty use - obviously not the best choice for the purpose we're discussing, but the wheels needs to work with the jacks if they are attached there. This is why I was asking if common - and obviously more secure - wheels were an option with the jacks used on the Escape; in the ETI website photo, it looks like the wheels are attached with pins, so if the jack model is the same then a caster wheel could be pinned, too.

In the current Coast Distribution catalog, the Atwood light-duty wheel (and corresponding foot) are shown at the bottom of page 538; normal pinned wheels and feet are shown on following two pages for other brands. Coast is one of the biggest wholesale distributors of RV equipment in North America; their catalog corresponds to what is commonly found in RV stores.

Any 5.0 owners willing to open the access door to one of their jacks and tell use the make and model, so we can see if good caster wheels are available for it?

Shared experience is always appreciated!

[daveandsandyclink]

Brian my landing gear is Atwood Mobile. The motor is MPD 71119 12vdc.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by daveandsandyclink

Brian my landing gear is Atwood Mobile. The motor is MPD 71119 12vdc.

Thanks.

This explains the use of the Atwood style caster wheel by Escape. Specifications and specific equipment changes during production, of course, which might explain why I'm seeing what looks like a different brand (or at least a different model) in the website photo... I don't remember what was on the one I saw at the factory.

I can't find the jack by the motor assembly number, but I see Atwood jacks in their catalog for which the only feet and wheels offered are the twist-locks... for 1-7/8" diameter legs. For the 2" legs, both twist-lock and pinned are offered. For other models from Atwood, there are only pinned feet and caster wheels.

Usability of the landing gear jacks for hand-moving will obviously depend on the specific jack model.