Durability of Escape if towing on gravel & dirt.

[kstock11]

Originally Posted by land’SCAPE

kstick11 When you did your Alaska run, did you consider those hugh (& ugly) rear mud flaps/brushes to keep the rock chips to a minimum?

I tow with a Toyota Highlander and did not have a problem with dings and paint chips. Luckily, the worst roads were wet when traversing them and the built up mud on the Escape somewhat protected the fiberglass. That plus taking my time. Also, covered headlights with bubble wrap.

[Doug2000]

I would be less worried about the Escape Jody and frame but more worried about the components like fridge, furnace, converter and MaxFan. All having wiring and circuits that are less than reliable. These are common to all RV’s so your better off with the Escape. My pick is the 17B for getting off the beaten path.

[Ron in BC]

Between Alaska and some quaint roads in Baja I've driven on a few gravel roads.

Just a fact of life that the front facing edges of the axle and front frame parts as well as the front of the axles will get sand blasted. But a little bit of time wire brushing and a couple of coats of Tremclad and it's good until next year.

Interesting that my rigid foam under trailer insulation is slightly marked but remarkably untouched by gravel damage. OTOH I've been surprised how unaffected the unprotected wheel wells are. Minor marks but no big chips.

Ron

[skiman]

Originally Posted by Bea

Last year we did a 9000+ mile trip to Alaska and back from CA. The roads in Alaska and the Yukon were especially memorable, (the views were great but the roads, not so much) but our Escape performed beautifully. As they say, there are only 2 seasons in Alaska, Winter season and Construction season and boy is that ever true.

By the time we got to Anchorage, we noticed a couple tiny scratches from rocks on the very bottom front corners but frankly we're impressed the fiberglass held up so well. Only we can see them if we look super close. However, knowing we would have to travel back on many many miles of dirt, gravel washboard roads again we decided to purchase a rock guard at the Cabelas in Anchorage, just to be safe. https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/rock...ud-flap-system. Some may think rock guards are ugly, but to us, anything that protects our dear trailer is beautiful. In Alaska and in the Yukon, rock guards are very common. We saw them on tow vehicles with Ollies, Airstreams and all sorts of RVs.

As others have already mentioned, we too, had to tighten screws inside periodically. We had a cabinet hinge break, but those are easy to replace. (The Ace Hardware store in Tok, Alaska is great.) The paint on the back bumper also got chipped but the frame and bumper's strength and integrity is what's important and that is rock solid. Super easy to touch up with a can of paint.

Bottom line, after our Alaska trip our trailer still looks and functions like new. Highly recommend you keep this very 'durable' trailer on your short list. -Bea

We visited that same hardware in Tok to get screw eyes and bungees for the oven door and wood strips for the bottom cabinet doors. It was a good one. Visited a local laundry and installed while washing clothes. Good campground there too.

[Mike G]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

Mike G: "The alternative is an aluminum frame, I suppose. But they're not perfect, either."

Many boat trailers are galvanized and they hold up very well to corrosion and dings. But they are not typically needed on a travel trailer frame, as it hopefully doesn't get dunked in sea water frequently. Dings of the paint and the like are
easily enough touched up, and any corrosion would need decades before structurally affecting the frame......unless you live near the ocean.

As I well know. My ten year old Hauley's frame is galvanized. The part that's underneath the trailer body is plenty rusty looking. So, are you saying that once the galvanizing is gone from the surface, the corrosion is still inhibited somehow?

[HABBERDABBER]

Just saying that a 20 year old sailboat trailer I had, galvanized, had no apparent visible corrosion. When the zinc is gone, it's back to base steel, with corrosion possible. No voodoo involved with galvanized metal; it's a surface coating, electrochemically deposited, that doesn't corrode and protects and covers the base metal....as far as I know. A "plating", if you will.

[Mike G]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

Just saying that a 20 year old sailboat trailer I had, galvanized, had no apparent visible corrosion. When the zinc is gone, it's back to base steel, with corrosion possible. No voodoo involved with galvanized metal; it's a surface coating, electrochemically deposited, that doesn't corrode and protects and covers the base metal....as far as I know. A "plating", if you will.

The difference might be in level of usage. How many miles do you think you put on that sailboat trailer? My Lil Hauley has probably seen 150k+. Plenty of stones kicked up and whatnot in that many miles.

[Dave Walter]

There was a fellow on this forum who posted pictures a few years back of fairly extensive damage his new Escape incurred to the fiberglass on the front of his trailer from driving too fast on gravel roads. I personally try to avoid towing much on gravel and when I do, I keep the speed sufficiently low to minimize rocks being thrown onto the trailer from my tow vehicle.

[skiman]

Originally Posted by Dave Walter

There was a fellow on this forum who posted pictures a few years back of fairly extensive damage his new Escape incurred to the fiberglass on the front of his trailer from driving too fast on gravel roads. I personally try to avoid towing much on gravel and when I do, I keep the speed sufficiently low to minimize rocks being thrown onto the trailer from my tow vehicle.

On the Alaska highway there was plenty of gravel in areas as well as on the Cassiar highway. Construction I guess. I had tried some of that spray on rubber stuff, but it didn't adhere to the fiberglass well enough to leave on. Anyway the fiberglass took very little damage. Lost some frame paint and leading edge underneath foam. We slowed way down and l think made all the difference. We do have mud shields (rigid flaps) on the truck but they were nothing special. I had entertained buying rock tamers but glad I didn't spend the money.

[Bea]

Great advice Carl and Dave. Slowing down on those gravel roads is totally the way to go. Occasionally, however, in Alaska and in the Yukon we found ourselves in construction zones in a long line of vehicles, behind a pilot truck (usually an F150 work truck) with a driver who had a lead foot. Sometimes these lines went on for 10-20 mile stretches. If you don't keep up you can lose track on where to go and how to navigate around tractors that are the size of your house! Yikes!

Ok, rabbit trail story. One time 3 large motorcycles were right behind us as we followed a pilot car in a construction zone. This was one of the worst roads on our trip between Dawson City and Whitehorse. After 10 or so miles, the pilot truck stopped and we just waited and waited. Then I noticed that the motorcycles were not behind us anymore. Then it dawned on me that those poor guys must've fallen because that road was not only gravel with many large pits, it was very muddy in places. Even we could feel us (and our trailer!) sliding in the mud. Eventually, those poor motorcyclists slowly appeared in my rear view mirror all covered in mud. Felt so bad for those guys. But glad they were ok and that the pilot car (eventually) stopped for them.

Ok, back to this thread. Slow down on gravel roads and one quick thought on the Rock Tamers. Again, I would stay they are not necessary because ETI makes rock solid fiberglass trailers. However, our tow vehicle is a Ford Expedition SUV (the shorter version) and has a shorter distance behind the back wheels and the bumper than other tow vehicles (like F150s). Perhaps that's why I saw so many rocks and pebbles flying up and hitting the trailer, on gravel roads even with our mud guards. After getting the rock tamers, can't tell you how satisfying it was to see the rocks and pebbles fly off the Rock Tamers and not the trailer, AND it kept the trailer much cleaner. So your tow vehicle (SUV vs Truck) might help you decide if you want them or not for those rough roads. My 2 cents. - Bea

[TGK]

I appreciate the great input from everyone.

[mike o]

I’ve driven hundreds of kilometres in northern B.C and there is the tightening of loose screws. To two things I considered an issue was the burners on the stove falling apart and the grey water connection at the tank breaking. It’s become general maintenance to check the burners as this has happened multiple times. I tried locktite which didn’t work because of the heat. I put new screws in that were to long and I cut them off with pliers. The cutting motion flares the end of the screw which cuts in better. I haven’t had a problem since.
The piping for the discharge piping has no flex so it breaks the threads off at the grey tank. Escape supplied me with a repair kit with rubber joint under warranty. This solved the problem as things can now twist a little.

[Connie and John]

It’s all about speed!

We use our 5.0 almost exclusively on back roads. We have even taken it on some jeep trails. The worse the road, the slower you go. Can’t emphasize that enough.

By the way, our 2017 still looks brand new, and we use it a lot.

Happy Trails!

[csmith541]

I'm glad you asked this question because I've been meaning to post about our experience. We took our 21C on a spring break road trip through eastern Oregon. Most of the drive was on pavement but we did drive a fair amount on some dirt/gravel roads. The issues we discovered during and after our trip (some dirt road related, others maybe not) included:

- broken ignitor knob on the oven (it stripped and fell off)

- the entire cook top came loose and detached from the oven. We found the attachment screws rattling around in the oven and also discovered 2 rubber bumpers on the floor. We reattached the cooktop with the screws but the oven door wouldn't close properly.

- the maxx fan started beeping intermittently in the middle of the night. It was turned off at the time. When we tried to turn it on it would not start. 5 minutes later it randomly turned on at full speed and could not be shut off. The beeping persisted, until we had to open the cover and unplug it.

- the end cap on the dometic awning fell off.

- we have the lifted off-road package and the mud flaps are not long enough to stop the road gravel from peppering the underside and rear bumper. The paint is now worn from the steel bumper. (We suggest a mud flap extension.)

- black water dump valve cracked and was slowly leaking. We are not certain how it happened but we did encounter snow and cold temps.

- after a long day on the road we entered the trailer to find the kitchen thermal frameless window open. We are certain that we never opened the window. We found the steel arms bent and the window would not close properly. We bent the arms straight again, and managed to get the window to close. We found this situation 2 more times on the trip.

We contacted Escape and received this response: "It is important to understand that Escape Trailers are not 4x4 rated and Escape can not be responsible for damage caused due to travelling unpaved roads." This was a surprise to us. We went back through the manual and warranty information and couldn't find a single statement about this. As you know, there's a difference between driving on an unpaved road and 4x4-ing. Many of the state campgrounds are only accessible via dirt road. And why offer a lift kit for "logging roads and parks" if it's not meant to be taken on unpaved roads? https://vimeo.com/524514687

We pushed back HARD and "as a gesture of good will" Escape sent us a replacement awning cap and window arm but directed us to contact Dometic directly (expected) and provided a website where we could purchase a new dump valve. We were very disappointed. We would have expected this from a cheaper, poorly built trailer but we spent more for what we perceived to be a higher quality and the after purchase customer service didn't match what we experienced during our build. Just be careful and know that if you do experience any damage, you likely won't get any help from Escape.

[chesaka]

Traveling now to the lower 48 from Alaska. Can’t complain. Trailer and tires so gar doing fine. Need stronger cabinet latches. No other complaints.

[Barb]

Originally Posted by SageRpod

We were wondering this same thing as we plan on camping for several days at Snow Lake in the Gila National Forest. You have to really want to go to Snow Lake. There are a couple of routes, all washboard gravel with the shortest being around 60 miles. We took the Rpod there. Once. Spent several days putting it back together afterwards.

I towed our 2019 Escape 21 to snow lake last summer when my husband through hiked the CDT. Drive in from Apache Creek as reccomended by Forest Service Rangers. Completely doable, fun & no issues. We do have our cabinet hinges replaced with stronger ones & double latching magnets.

[NoSOD]

We've had a bad experience with gravel roads. Took Alberta 501 to get from Writing on Stone PP to Cypress Hills. Lots of that is gravel, well graded without potholes and a 80kmh speed limit. Arrived to find trailer missing the egress window, inside full of dust, and a good layer of the foam underneath scoured away. You live and learn. Paved route was available, but quite a bit further, but would have been well worth it.

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by TGK

Interested in getting feedback from owners who have experience taking their Escapes off the pavement. I’m talking about the typical road conditions found in western Canada & the US. Think miles of washboard/dirt roads one sees on National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands. Not talking about Jeep trails. I know they are not off-road trailers. I’m interested in the type of problems people have encountered and how they’ve dealt with them.

I have 25 years of experience with RV’s including a heavy duty truck with pop up truck camper for backroads and a vintage Airstream. Not an expert, but not a newbie. The truck//camper is gone. Still have the Airstream, but considering a change. Over the 18 years of ownership we have taken it off pavement, but usually not far. Over the years I have seen Escapes a bit further off the beaten path, so they are on a short list for our next rig.

After picking up our Escape 19 at Sumas we stopped at Glacier National Park. The GPS routed us up a awful washboard dirt road to the west entrance rather than paved roads to south entrance. It vibrated a bunch of sawdust out of the walls. The other issue we had was two bolts in that hold the squirrel cage in the Dometic Penguin II air conditioner came out. I don't put that on Escape, but, on Dometic as it was a stupid penny pincher design move. The bolts were threaded into rubber bushings with no nuts. I replaced the bolts and added nylock nuts as well as some Loctite for good measure. No issues since than, and I feel the A/C is actually quieter now.

The tandem axles of the Escape are what lead me to them in the first place. A single axle trailer going over a deep pothole will rock significantly side to side. With tandem axles in many cases the one tire will support the trailer as the over transitions over the pothole, significantly reducing the amount of movement experienced by the trailer. We've been back and forth across the US multiple times with our Escape, do the majority of camping at Forest Service Campgrounds which are often down unpaved Forest Service roads.

[Escape_19]

Originally Posted by Barb

I towed our 2019 Escape 21 to snow lake last summer when my husband through hiked the CDT. Drive in from Apache Creek as reccomended by Forest Service Rangers. Completely doable, fun & no issues. We do have our cabinet hinges replaced with stronger ones & double latching magnets.

What hinged and magnetic catches do you have? I have some Point beer that needs to stay in a cabinet.

[Barb]

Originally Posted by Escape_19

What hinged and magnetic catches do you have? I have some Point beer that needs to stay in a cabinet.

Lowes had the exact shaped hinges, except they were heavier & stronger than the original. There are different strengths of magnets to add. We added a second one of the same size as the original & haven't had issues with open cabinets. On my, keep that Point beer safe & secure!