Does the 17B have enough cargo capacity?

[professorJ]

Hello, I'm a long time lurker, and the time when I can make a purchase is approaching. I'll be a single traveler and this will be my first RV. I thought I had decided on a 17B, but I've had second thoughts since I found out about ETI lowering the GVWR on their trailers. The 17B went from 4000lbs to 3500lbs. I've played around with the ETI online builder, and a well-optioned 17B is around 3000lbs dry weight. That's with some of the heavier options like dual batteries, an air conditioner, and spray foam. Add 200lbs for a full water and propane tanks and you've got about 300lbs left for cargo, and that's with maxing the the trailer out. Is that enough for one person? It seems like it would be, but I've never done this before so I'm not sure. I see other people posting about recently purchased 17B's so I thought maybe I was overthinking it.

[HABBERDABBER]

I'd say so. What are you carrying? There's only so much room in a rig.
I'd stick with a 17 if you're a solo wanderer. I've not weighed my load of food, clothes and gear, but I'd have a hard time imagining it's close to 300 lbs. in the trailer.

[professorJ]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

I'd say so. What are you carrying? There's only so much room in a rig.
I'd stick with a 17 if you're a solo wanderer. I've not weighed my load of food, clothes and gear, but I'd have a hard time imagining it's close to 300 lbs. in the trailer.

Just the normal stuff. Food for a few days, cooking supplies, clothing, and normal camping/trailer supplies. I was just trying to get a general idea of how much loading up a trailer adds. I realize that will be different for everyone. I've read posts on other forums were people suggested adding 500lbs or more for supplies. I just couldn't imagine how I'd need that much weight, but I don't have any experience with it.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by professorJ

That's with some of the heavier options like dual batteries,

That doesn't have to be the case. A single lithium battery is a lot lighter than dual 6V batteries.

My friend added a rear box to his 17B and carries a fairly heavy rubber boat in it as well as all the typical stuff for 2 people. No problems.

Ron

[Doug2000]

We had a 2007 Escape 17B and found it didn't have a lot of storage space. we were never short, we had a truck bed so didn't worry about places to put stuff. If you put a portion of your gear in your tow vehicle, you'll be fine.

[iamunique127]

Like most of us you will also likely carry some things besides clothing and food. Consider the weight of pots and pans, dishes, glasses, spices, condiments, dish washing supplies, soaps, paper products, etc. How about the odd tool like lug nut wrench and socket, water heater socket, screwdriver, ammeter, potable water hoses, water pressure regulator, water filter, sewer hose, disposable gloves, black tank odor treatment and anything else you like to typically carry. How about a lawn chair, outdoor camp stove, propane bottle(s), BBQ?

Some ppl don't like to drink water from their fresh tanks so the weight of other drinking water may be a factor. Depending on how you travel you may want to carry enough other drinks for your trips. We can't always find our preferred drinks where we go so tend to take them with us. They weigh a lot.

We are a couple but when we went to Chilliwack to pick up our trailer the whole box of our 1/2 ton was filled to the brim with supplies for outfitting the trailer and that did not include any food. I know I wouldn't be comfortable with being limited to 500 lbs cargo.

Everyone is different and it may work fine for you. I wouldn't want to be at maximum weight with no headroom. True, your tow vehicle may carry some of the items. Consider it's payload capacity as well.

Just some thoughts for you. Hope they help.

[Chamberman]

You could always buy a couple year old 17B that still has the 4000lb rating. As a bonus you'll save some money doing so. You don't get it customized the way that you want it, but if you have time and you're patient you can get close.

[Bobbie54]

Why was the weight rating lowered? Failures, or change in how it is figured, or what? I'd want to know before loading a 17b to 4000 lbs regardless of years. I rarely travel with full water tank though. And I figure about 300 is fine- but as someone mentioned, I keep a lot of stuff in the truck bed. As for storage- there is a lot but not a lot of convenient storage. Having easy access to underbench storage might help but mine is usually not readily accessible. An organized person would do better than I do for storage. No problems since I just use the truck for overflow.

[Chamberman]

Originally Posted by Bobbie54

Why was the weight rating lowered? Failures, or change in how it is figured, or what? I'd want to know before loading a 17b to 4000 lbs regardless of years. I rarely travel with full water tank though. And I figure about 300 is fine- but as someone mentioned, I keep a lot of stuff in the truck bed. As for storage- there is a lot but not a lot of convenient storage. Having easy access to underbench storage might help but mine is usually not readily accessible. An organized person would do better than I do for storage. No problems since I just use the truck for overflow.

Nothing changed in the construction of the trailers. Escape just decided to derate the GVWR.
There's been a lot of speculation as to why that happened, i.e. safety margin, marketing, etc. From the threads I've seen, I do not believe Escape has given a clear reason as to why. they instituted the change.

[dosby]

We (a family of 4) own 17B and I cannot imagine more than 300 lb in all our cabinets.
We do put some stuff in the aisle while traveling but I would not do that when full-timing.
Lithium batteries are light, BTW, my 300Ah is only 55 lb and not bigger than the stock 100Ah one.

[HABBERDABBER]

I've gone thru my rig and removed items that I thought would be useful, but have been dead weight. Not much weight saved, but something. I am heavy on tools for repairs and some materials, but the tools ride in my tug.

Duct tape. Don't leave home without it.

Before a trip, backpackers weigh everything, cut off handles on toothbrushes, remove unnecessary packaging, etc.
You could weigh the items of your kit to get an idea.

Go light, go fast, is the motto of some.
Me, I ain't in much of a hurry these days.

[professorJ]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I wish we could get a clear reason why the GVWR was lowered. Someone in one of the Facebook groups said that Samuel had replied that ETI changed their method of calculating GVWR to one used by Airstream. It seems strange that the 17B ever had a 4000lb rating if they were using a 3500 lb axle. Maybe older versions had a 4000 lb axle? I looked it up and Lippert makes one. In any case, I appreciate you all giving me your thoughts.

[Bobbie54]

Originally Posted by dosby

We (a family of 4) own 17B and I cannot imagine more than 300 lb in all our cabinets.
We do put some stuff in the aisle while traveling but I would not do that when full-timing.
Lithium batteries are light, BTW, my 300Ah is only 55 lb and not bigger than the stock 100Ah one.

When I was figuring out the weight of my 15A I wrote up a spreadsheet on everything I might take and looked up actual weights of things. It came to about 400 lbs if I included the Dutch Oven gear. When I weighed the trailer packed for camping shortly before selling I was just about right on. (This included propane tanks but not a water tank as I had none and no awning on the unit I had but I included a canopy in the weight.) It's more than you'd think. But you can definitely cut down- fewer pots and pans and dishes, lighter camp stove (if you cook outside), 1 extra pair of shoes for each, 1 jacket... etc. Limit food and shop more often. I still do not store the heavier stuff in the trailer so I can take it or leave it easily.

[dosby]

Originally Posted by professorJ

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I wish we could get a clear reason why the GVWR was lowered. Someone in one of the Facebook groups said that Samuel had replied that ETI changed their method of calculating GVWR to one used by Airstream. It seems strange that the 17B ever had a 4000lb rating if they were using a 3500 lb axle. Maybe older versions had a 4000 lb axle? I looked it up and Lippert makes one. In any case, I appreciate you all giving me your thoughts.

they may have been accounting for 500 lb tongue weight ?

[sumac.rhus]

Love my 17B!
More than enough space and storage for me and my dog. Easy to bring more than I am likely to use with any regularity, and enjoy having pleasures and entertainments, I would never have considered in my backpacking, tent camping days. Years later, still haven't felt motivated to weed out the redundancies and inefficiencies. Sorry - I don't know what the wight of my load is. I've been towing with a Highlander with 5000# rated payload, with no reason to believe I've been pushing the limits. The one time I was packed to the gills (cross-country trip during height of COVID precautions). I forget what load(s) (trailer/tongue/tow vehicle) weighed in at, beyond that it was still reasonable... though I DID have to take advantage of space in tow vehicle for extra groceries to avoid dealing with heated COVID issues, of the time.

I even invite one or another friend along, now and then. I DID find out the hard way about a friend's claustrophobia. They ended up basically staying outside, and getting their own lager trailer a month after we got back home. Now we caravan.

I AM also contented that I opted for the 4cu.ft fridge, gaucho bunkbed and front storage box. Additionally I switched to two 100Ah lithium batteries from the 6V lead acid.

Best wishes, with whatever you choose!

[HABBERDABBER]

from the post above:

"They ended up basically staying outside, and getting their own lager trailer a month after we got back home."

I'm a bit of an ale fellow myself.

[sumac.rhus]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

from the post above:

"They ended up basically staying outside, and getting their own lager trailer a month after we got back home."

I'm a bit of an ale fellow myself.

[Selkirk]

IMHO, the previous GVW ratings for the 17 and 19 were an important selling point. Not that you shouldn't make an effort to pack as light as possible, but the old ratings all-but-assured that overloading would never be a concern for 2nd gen owners.

What really burns my biscuits is the lack of transparency. As other have noted, ETI has stated that no changes were made in terms of either model's design/ construction. However, they've been very reluctant to offer any further clarification.

As someone who owns a 2nd gen 19 with the original 5000lb GVWR, I'd sure like to know if the decision was made in order to increase the margin of safety. If the reason was purely for the purpose of making these models more attractive for use with less capable TV's, then I feel bad for new owners who are now forced to be very weight conscious.

[professorJ]

Originally Posted by Selkirk

IMHO, the previous GVW ratings for the 17 and 19 were an important selling point. Not that you shouldn't make an effort to pack as light as possible, but the old ratings all-but-assured that overloading would never be a concern for 2nd gen owners.

What really burns my biscuits is the lack of transparency. As other have noted, ETI has stated that no changes were made in terms of either model's design/ construction. However, they've been very reluctant to offer any further clarification.

As someone who owns a 2nd gen 19 with the original 5000lb GVWR, I'd sure like to know if the decision was made in order to increase the margin of safety. If the reason was purely for the purpose of making these models more attractive for use with less capable TV's, then I feel bad for new owners who are now forced to be very weight conscious.

I agree they should be more transparent about it. According to a discussion of this on one of the Facebook groups, Samuel stated that there has been no change in the construction of the trailers, just a change in how they calculate GVWR. Since making my original post, I've looked into other makers. I can't find anything about the Scamp 16, but it does use a 3500 lb axle. The Casita 17's also use a 3500 lb axle, but they are setting the GVWR to 3000 pounds. They dry weight of the Casita is just under 2500, so it seems that around 500 lbs of cargo capacity may be typical for single-axle fiberglass trailers.