3" Frame Recall on 15', 17' & 19' Escape Trailers

[gbaglo]

Just curious where you found "some trailers" given they are so dear on the used market.

[Artlady]

Ahhhh so THAT's the question!
Why do you ask? Are you looking for one too?
As I said you can PM me for more specifics, but as this is very competitive, and I've lost some opportunities...
Suffice it to say it's been five days and there have been posts for trailers for sale in the interim. Also, I posted a want ad. Didn't it occur to you some people may have contacted me?
And yes, upon further dialogue, they knew about the recall. I think there are more people than you realize who scout out these forums as well as the other RV forums.

As the old saying goes, buyer beware. I just was trying to be helpful, and remind people of that fact. it's curious that my helpful statement incurred such loaded comments... I didn't intend or expect to be under such off-topic scrutiny as I shopped for my own used trailer! Welcome, indeed!

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Artlady

Wow! Such "curious" comments!

One has to wonder why...and the motive!
...
So, I'm confused as to the point of your comments ...are you asking a specific question with regard to my Escape buying pursuit and potential purchase?

Or, is it more pertaining to the topic of not so forth-coming sellers?

What exactly are you driving at, or wish to know? Or better yet, explain the tenor of your comments! Pm me, if you'd like...

The point of my comment is simple (and I thought it was quite explicit, but perhaps I was wrong): two sellers are implicitly accused of dishonestly concealing information about their trailers, and I am motivated (as usual) by the desire to understand: how could someone who may not have even heard about the issue hide it?

Yes, I was only dealing with the subject of expected information from sellers. I applaud the effort to learn about the product before such a significant purchase decision.

Cathy provided an excellent summary of the potential issues with owners being informed, catching more than one scenario that had not yet occurred to me.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Artlady

Ahhhh so THAT's the question!
Why do you ask? Are you looking for one too?

I was about ready to ask you too as your comment in this post: direct link

I came across some used trailers recently, and fortunately having learned about this through extensive forum searches and research, was able to inquire thus of the seller.

[Artlady]

Let me make it perfectly clear that I am not implicitly or explicitly pointing the finger at anyone. Suffice it to say I been in contact with several people selling trailers recently and was disappointed that this recall was not disclosed.
I was merely commenting for the benefit of other novice buyers who may be looking. It was innocent and hopefully helpful. Cheers !

[Artlady]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I was about ready to ask you too as your comment in this post: direct link

I came across some used trailers recently, and fortunately having learned about this through extensive forum searches and research, was able to inquire thus of the seller.

Well, I really didn't expect this firestorm.
Please refer to my comment in #122. You can also PM me. I am done discussing it in public. Thank you! Cheers.

[thoer]

Our trailer is part of the recall and I will get the welding done in the reasonably near future. I've looked at our welds and they appear to be in perfect shape. (And yes I know there can well be more to structural integrity than can be viewed externally)

My guess is that most of these welds would live safely for the life of the frame. My guess is that Reace has seen a joint that had started to crack and in his normal quality conscious mode decided to be overly cautious rather than take any chances.

In my opinion there is a sky is falling panic in some people about this recall that is probably blowing this matter far out of proportion. I could well be wrong and there could be many cracked ones out there but so far no one has reported that here.

[Ruthe]

Eric, I don't get the sense that people think the sky is falling -- it' just one more thing to think about and figure out how to get done. We don't know yet if we have the 3" -- we have a friend who can do the weld. Personally I was concerned because someone quoted a welder (who refused to do it) who said that s/he was afraid it was too close to the fiberglass. For some of us getting things "done" to the trailer is non trivial -- especially if it is stored off site.

[memobug]

Originally Posted by thoer

(Good stuff removed)
My guess is that most of these welds would live safely for the life of the frame. My guess is that Reace has seen a joint that had started to crack and in his normal quality conscious mode decided to be overly cautious rather than take any chances.

In my opinion there is a sky is falling panic in some people about this recall that is probably blowing this matter far out of proportion. I could well be wrong and there could be many cracked ones out there but so far no one has reported that here.

I agree. I bought my 2009 Escape 19 trailer as salvage with no title. It had jackknifed and flipped over onto the driver side, where it skidded down the highway on its rub rail.

The welds in question held fine! There was some fiberglass damage to the front, a bent front window, some crushed front overhead cabinets, and miscellaneous cosmetic issues, but consider the trailer stopped with such force that the fire extinguisher broke loose and nearly pierced the front shell, and you would probably agree these things are close to bulletproof. The only damage to the frame was a bent hitch coupler and a kink in the rear bumper, probably where it was used to pull the trailer back upright.

Anyway, here are my welds after six years.

Regards,

Matt

[SpokanEscape]

Wow! I think your trailer probably holds the record for the most exciting life history of any Escape ever! Did up you do the repair work? Must have been quite a project. Nice to know these eggs will hold up so well in an accident.
We were sick at heart this May as we travelled up I-5 near Tacoma and saw a Bigfoot that had just jackknifed heading south.
Love your avatar!

[Jim Bennett]

Just because the the weld looks fine, you can only see the surface, not throughout it or to to the other side. It may still have been compromised. Even if it hasn't been comprised, this fix will ensure nothing happens.

Although the 3" frame is more than adequate strength wise for the trailer, it still is a fair bit more flexible than the 4". Repeated flexing, even very small vibration like ones, can put stress on a weld. If there is any damage beginning to happen, chances are you will never be able to see it.

This fix will ensure that an further stress due to flexing is transferred to the areas on the outside of the mending plate, away from the weld.

Adding the additional two angles for bolting to the frame will also help to stiffen things too.

Do not even second guess not doing it. Sure something may never happen, but if it did.........

[escape artist]

Hi: My Bro-n-law has a welding shop in Arkona Ont. and would be willing to look at any affected trailer frames. His shop is big enough to get a trailer inside for a proper job. During the week he welds for Gen. Dynamics.
Send me a PM if Interested. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[thoer]

Jim just to be clear I am in no way advocating not doing the repair. That was never my point but I do want to clarify that

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by thoer

Jim just to be clear I am in no way advocating not doing the repair. That was never my point but I do want to clarify that

No worries, I never thought that, it was more just a general comment, as there seemed to be differing reasons to not do it, or put it off. Plus, some may not realize that a visual inspection could likely not show anything.

[skiman]

If you are having the fix done please make sure that the welder knows what he is doing. The correct wire or rod, amperage, etc must be used. I have seen welds that looked OK, when sectioned did not have integrity. Just because someone has a welder in his garage does not qualify him to be doing this fix.

[Zardoz]

We just returned from a week at Cultus Lake near Chilliwack. Got the recall notice the third day into our trip so had the work done at ETI. How lucky is that?

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

We just returned from a week at Cultus Lake near Chilliwack. Got the recall notice the third day into our trip so had the work done at ETI. How lucky is that?

Your timing is impeccable.

[smac2]

We our the second owners of an 2010 19 foot. Escape Industies contacted us directly by email.

First thing I did was crawl under our trailer to inspect to see if we had the three inch frame in question. My understanding when we bought our trailer was that it did have considerable mileage and even an Alaskan Trip. I assume that it has seen both good and bad roads.

I then read the posts looked at the pictures. I noticed that on the back of the mitre weld in question there is as an additional plate welded on the back that overlaps the weld. So in my option there is no chance of it separating even if the front weld cracks??

And it appears to me that the warranty repair is really to address torision forces that may occcur when on severe side slopes, backing sharply into sites, and possibly from WDHs

Secondly I thought that how nice it was that we were contacted directly, after all there is only 700 affected trailers In the end my trailer is still worth the same to us, and possibly even more as it will have more metal and added protection. I think of all the 40 year old Bolers being hauled up and down the highways.

We will have the work done as soon as feasible, glad to have been made aware of the problem. And happy that when we bought the trailer the "dealer" had no built in device designed to deceive.

Thanks

[Parker]

I finally had a look at our 19' 2013 model. The recall makes it sound like this joint is a simple miter joint held together with nothing but a weld bead, like in a picture frame, but in truth, it's a much better looking joint than that with a fair degree of overlap between the frame pieces. I'll go ahead and make arrangements to have the patches applied, but I'm really surprised that this is an issue, at least for our trailer. I'm also interested in the need to have two angle brackets welded to the frame so the body can be attached in two additional places. This seems to be just for the 19' model. I wonder what prompted that!

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Parker

but in truth, it's a much better looking joint than that with a fair degree of overlap between the frame pieces.

Just being naturally curious about all things mechanical I was wondering if there was any relationship between your comment and previous post. I can't quite visualize how one overlaps a mitered joint in rectangular stock unless a more elaborate cut than a plain miter is made.

Ron