High lift axle option

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by blhvet

Is the back bumper the lowest point on the trailer?

All Escapes share some basic design features, most of which originated with pioneering small moulded fiberglass trailers of the five decades ago:

1. the main part of the frame consists of parallel rectangular tubes (currently 2" wide and 4" high, but earlier Escape 17s had 1.5" x 3")
2. the rear part of the frame consists of parallel rectangular tubes (rails) which overlap the rear end of the main tubes, so the bottom of the rear frame is higher than the rest of the frame by the height of the main frame (so in a current Escape the bottom of the rear frame section is 4" higher than the bottom of the main section of frame)
3. the bumper is a rectangular tube flat across the ends of the rear frame tubes, so it is the same height as the rear part of the frame (so the bottom of the bumper is 4" higher than the bottom of the main section of frame)
4. the fresh water tank is under the floor between the frame rails in the range of the raised rear part, but is more than 3" deep so it hangs down below the rear frame rails (it is much closer to the axle, so it won't drag to limit the departure angle)
5. the grey waste tank is between the frame rails in the main section, and is more than 4" deep so it hangs down below any part of the frame (it is much closer to the axle, so it won't drag to limit the departure angle, but if you go over large rocks or stumps it could be the lowest large component)
6. as with any normal gravity-drained waste system, the sewer outlet is a bit lower than the bottom of any waste tank (the blank tank is on top of the floor, so this means the outlet is lower than the bottom of the grey waste tank)

gbaglo's photos show these features:

• post #11 shows the freshwater tank well below the rear part of the frame
• post #17 shows the grey waste tank well below the main part of the frame, and the valve leading to the outlet
• post #20 shows the bumper from one end (just left of centre) with the receiver under it, a rack and storage box on the right plugged into it