Doug B

[outwiththedogs]

Originally Posted by CAK

Catherine
What is the difference in towing your 19 vs the 17B? Was the 17B easier to make turns, backup, park, travel thru city traffic, or do you find the 19 easier to tow and maneuver. We find ourselves in some small campgrounds and thought the 17B would be a better choice for that reason along with lower maintenance costs. We are both on the small side so interior height and bed size are not a concern. I appreciate your feedback.

We got the 19 in 2020, a wash for camping to say the least, so we are minimally experienced. Having said that we like the 19 a LOT and sold the 17 to be able to have more room. We are not very large either, 5'6 and 5'2 so it wasn't height or bed size as much as overall comfort--yeah hard to quantify that. If we had toured the 19 before buying the 17 we would have started with the 19. It tows easily. There has been maybe one campsite that we put the 17 in that would have been slightly harder with a 19. It was at one of the Utah national parks where they had just shortened the pads to cut down on the behemoth rigs. It was short with a drop off but we could have done it and parked the tow at more of an angle. I agree with Greg and Glenn that the 19 is nice to tow and for us nice to live in while camping. We also have two biggish dogs (55 and 60#) and it is nice to be able to get to the bathroom at night without stepping over dog feet.
Best,
Catherine

[George Johnson]

There are a couple of things not previously mentioned when agonizing over whether to choose a 17B or a 19. To whit: 1) If you already have the tow vehicle you intend to use; and 2) If you are intending to buy a new or "new to you" Escape. These two are related...

If you already have your intended tow vehicle, is it a compact, mid-sized or full sized vehicle? There are significant differences in towing capability between vehicles, and the 17B is quite a bit lighter than the 19 once fully outfitted and loaded for a trip. If you don't yet have a tow vehicle, get the trailer you want, then get the tow suited to the trailer.
Regarding new or used trailers, what are generally referred to on this forum as first generation Escapes are quite a bit lighter than the second generation models. Knowledgeable people looking for used Escapes seem to have preferences based on their intended tow vehicle due to the weight differences, not due to livability or quality issues. Of course the fly in the ointment here is the scarcity and cost of used Escapes due to the currently hot seller's market.. There are not a lot of choices available out there.

My wife and I were looking before the pandemic started, and saw a couple of 17Bs we thought we liked , and knew they would be great behind our Nissan Frontier. Then we stumbled upon a first gen 19, and I was given the ultimatum--we would buy a 19. Turned out that the 19 towed behind the Frontier just fine, and I didn't get a new tow vehicle.