Hopeful Future Escapees!!

Sabres · 10-28-2018, 08:27 PM

Hi, we have been researching RV’s for a while and decided on fiberglass RV’s. We live close to Oliver and did a factory tour and were very impressed; however, the layout would not work as well as the Escape 5.0 for us, not to mention the price difference. After visiting a few Escapes, we are pretty sure the 5.0 is the way we are going to go. This forum has been a great help in terms of everyone helping people decide on options and modification. Right now, we are a number of years away from retirement, but like a lot of people have pointed out recently on the forum, you never know and may as well enjoy it while you can. While we couldn’t use it as much as we would like for 4-5 years, we really enjoy going to parks and would enjoy traveling with our dogs.

We spend a lot of time out West in various National Parks and hope to expand out to state parks with occasional stays at places with facilities. As a result, we think solar and an inverter is the way to go for charging of electronics and possible instapot use— although I am thinking it may be too much of a drain on the solar. We are split on the stove—I would like it, but my wife thinks it would be unnecessary. Have people still had issues with the frameless windows? I know that Escape really seems to take care of issues—we were very impressed when they drove to customers’ houses to make fixes. Also, I have done a lot of research and it looks like Escape is really willing to work with you to do modifications—I am liking the larger bench seat and possible rotation of the burners—but are trying to find a list of other options. Does anyone have any other suggestions for mods? Things they like or things they find they wouldn’t order again. We really want a composting toilet and read about some people who added their own. Any chance Escape will offer one soon?

We do not have a tow vehicle yet—I noticed on the build sheet that they ask what type of truck you have. Are you able to change later? I know everyone has their favorite—and we have some relatives trying to win us over to different trucks—but has anyone had any towing issues with any of the major ones? (We will go for a full size ½ ton when the time comes.)

Thanks in advance for all of your help and we are hopeful about joining this great community.

emers382 · 10-28-2018, 08:44 PM

Welcome Michael to the forum and our community.

We were just down your way, having left our daughter and family at Fort Benning Wednesday and now at our son's near Lake Superior.

I just wanted to comment on your wondering about solar and inverter. We too bought an Instapot and have taken it in our former trailer but not in our current one. It has an oven and found we are finding it worthwhile as it can be used whether we have power or not. We cooked two meals over the four days traveling here in the oven. We have the solar and six volt batteries but no inverter and find it very handy for running a CPAP machine and the furnace (Friday night at a Walmart) and finding the batteries not depleted much by the morning. So we're happy that we don't have the inverter. Friday we even watched TV for a few hours using a 140 watt inverter.

For towing we have the F150 with 2.7 Ecoboost and find it great for towing, lots of power, perhaps not the best mileage when towing but when not it's really good. With our lighter single axle 5.0 we did get better mileage. Just before this trip we got rid of our car so will be relying on the truck for all our non-towing needs.

gbaglo · 10-28-2018, 09:18 PM

"We are split on the stove—I would like it, but my wife thinks it would be unnecessary".

I don't understand this sentence. Perhaps you can expand.

Mark&Elaine · 10-28-2018, 11:33 PM

Welcome! Elaine and I picked up our 5.0 TA in April of 2017 and have camped two seasons now. We have mostly camped with full hookups so I'm not the one to give advice on boondocking! But, I can tell you which options I like and which ones I haven't used or could live without. I opted for the U shaped dinette and like it. I did not have a table installed and I installed a Lagun table mount and a folding teak table. We love this table set up. We didn't have a sink installed in the bathroom. We don't miss it an have a bit more room in an already small bathroom. We got the LED strip light under the awning. Never use it! I'd skip it. We got the tank heaters... have yet to use them. We got the inverter for all plugs. Haven't used yet, but might in the future. I have the back up camera. I never use it to back up! It's good to see traffic behind the trailer while traveling, but I could live without it. I tow with a Tundra and ordered and installed the OEM tow mirrors and love them. Other options I like; AC, outside shower, frameless windows, added insulation, underside foam insulation, pigtail that disconnects, passenger side full closet, the drop down counter beside the sink, aluminum wheels, external exterior hatch, dual water heater, electric awning, and the side propane outlet. I wanted more storage space and did not get the oven. If I had a do over, I'd get the oven! You'll need to select a hitch. I chose the Andersen ultimate aluminum hitch mounted with a B&W turnover gooseneck ball. Love this set up too. At the time, ETI installed a larger, deeper sink which I provided. I don't think they will now. Their sink was too small for my liking. I'm going to add no skid strips on the stair steps going up to the bed as well as small grab hand holds. Elaine had a mishap coming down the stairs. We love the trailer and it's quite comfortable for the two of us! It's very maneuverable, easy to get into gas stations, campsites and parking lots. Have fun with all the decisions! Mark

lesliebooth · 10-29-2018, 01:19 AM

Welcome! I just finished my build options for my 2019 19' trailer. Feel free to contact Escape trailers with any questions you have, even before placing an order. Also, there are unwritten options available that ETI with do. Just ask. I didn't want the oven, so I asked about a microwave/convection oven. It was not on the options list, but they are going to special build an opening for it. I have to buy a specific model and then install it myself though.

cpaharley2008 · 10-29-2018, 04:38 AM

With a stove you can do anything you could with an insta-pot. In fact, if you plan it right, anything other than air conditioning can be done with solar and 12v and propane.

Chris & Patricia · 10-29-2018, 09:16 AM

We are with Jim Norman on the issue of needing an inverter. The trailer comes standard with a 12V receptacle which includes two USBs for charging phones. We added an extra 12V receptacle at the other end of our trailer so we could charge phones as well as a couple of other electronics including our camera and run our satellite radio which also has a USB input. We also have a 12V TV. If you need 110V we already had a couple of inexpensive inverters. I know that there are lots of Escapees out there with all sorts of extra solar panels, power inverters, and that's fair enough, but if you are budget conscious, 12V and propane can work well, especially if you want to boondock most of the time.

We also liked the frameless windows, had no issues with them on our first trailer, and in fact ordered them on our new trailer as well.

cpaharley2008 · 10-29-2018, 11:12 AM

We also liked the frameless windows, had no issues with them on our first trailer, and in fact ordered them on our new trailer as well.
same here

Sabres · 10-29-2018, 08:53 PM

sorry, I probably should of said over versus stove.

Sabres · 10-29-2018, 09:18 PM

We would really like to thank everyone for their prompt replies and all of the great information they have provided. The information on the solar, inverter stove and windows was great and we really appreciate gettign real world feedback from people who are out there. This is why I have spent so much time on the forum-- getting great advise from people who are friendly and want to share their exertise.

We are grateful and everyone's information is helping us as we (hopefully) move towards a build!

Thanks!

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