If you could do it again, what would be different?

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

Entering one of our local gas stations from the South, you have to go down into a storm drainage depression then sharply up an incline. It's hard enough to get any vehicle in and out without scraping bottom somewhere, let alone when towing.

The road to my place goes under a railroad trestle built in 1922 with a 10ft 6 inch clearance right next to a neighborhood tavern/restaurant. I know the owners, and he said every summer they help pick up air conditioners and parts raked off the roof of half a dozen RVs. Gets really ugly when a tall box truck whacks the trestle and gets stuck under it - county has to bring in workers with power saws to cut the trucks loose. Lots of metal shrapnel stuck in the woodwork of the trestle year round.

[gbaglo]

Or, as my biology teacher in Tanzania said, "the root goes down due to gravity, the stem goes up due to opposing gravity".

[War Eagle]

I think it was in West Virginia where a town got tired of arguing with the railroad company to raise a similarly low trestle, and the final solution was to dig out and lower the road going underneath it. So I guess the gravity concept won out on that one.

[yardsale]

We like have all the insulation options and wouldn't change that. The water systems in the Escape are NOT useable much below freezing as there is no heat source for the terminal ends of the black and gray tanks and they will freeze even though insulated.

Would eliminate the propane quick connect funtion. Never used the generator as the solar system is so robust, and the connections to the BBQ are a PIA.
LOVE the equipment box up front.

[Brookfielder]

Originally Posted by MacMan

We would do the following different:
No side tables in the dinette; put a 12 volt (cigarette lighter) near the TV for easier access in the dinette area; should have traded the mattress out in the beginning and bought our memory foam from the get-go rather than trading it out later.........
Tom

Do I take it that the mattress ETI provides is pretty decent? Only one person mentions that they would delete it from a future order.
I have always been under the impression that RV beds aren't very good..

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Brookfielder

Do I take it that the mattress ETI provides is pretty decent? Only one person mentions that they would delete it from a future order.
I have always been under the impression that RV beds aren't very good..

The Escape mattress is quite comfortable compared to other rv beds I have slept in.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

Right on, War Eagle. I know I encounter these situations on forest service roads, but your comment brought to mind gas stations where I scraped my hitch, which BTW I would much rather do than the tanks and plumbing that hang down from the trailer.

On the foam insulation question, David H brought up a good point. The floor can let in a lot of cold when you camp in the cold, so why just insulate the walls and ceiling. And I'm not even talking freezing. I was surprised how cold it got as we camped in New Mexico in September. We camped at high elevation where it was refrigerator cold just 15 minutes from the old historic Santa Fe. I can only imagine how cold the floor would have been at night without it.

That was exactly my comment in #267, why everything but the basement?

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by yardsale

Would eliminate the propane quick connect funtion.

This goes to show how much preferences differ for user to user, just as with many other options. For me, the QC is one of my favourite options, I just love the plug and play with no extra tanks of propane needed.

Originally Posted by Brookfielder

Do I take it that the mattress ETI provides is pretty decent? Only one person mentions that they would delete it from a future order.
I have always been under the impression that RV beds aren't very good..

We swapped out the 5" foam mattress for a top quality foam with latex foam topper in our 2009 19 after it got too soft in 5 years. Loved the new mattress. We were of the mind to do something similar in our 5.0, but after laying on the mattress they provide and liking it, we decided that for the cost difference ($150 saving and around $1,000 for our supplied one), that we would definitely give the Escape supplied mattress a good try.

In our temp trailer this year, the mattress that came with it was a bit lacking, but we added a 2" convoluted foam mattress topper, and slept great on it. This could be added to the Escape mattress for around $100 (all costs quoted are CAD)

[Rossue]

Use the QC all the time for the Camp Chef oven or their MVP stove/BBQ which we alternate packing for trips.

While I agree that $150 credit for mattress is small my rating of the stock mattress is soft-to-medium for firmness. If you like a firmer mattress you likely will be replacing sooner than later if you use it a lot.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

I think it was in West Virginia where a town got tired of arguing with the railroad company to raise a similarly low trestle, and the final solution was to dig out and lower the road going underneath it. So I guess the gravity concept won out on that one.

They haven't dug this one out yet in NC. Instead they have put a steel beam across to protect the bridge and warning lights, but it still gets hit. Be prepared to laugh pretty hard...

www.youtube.com/yovo68

[Ruthe]

We like the bed -- it's firm enough but not too firm for us.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Brookfielder

Do I take it that the mattress ETI provides is pretty decent? Only one person mentions that they would delete it from a future order.
I have always been under the impression that RV beds aren't very good..

Hi we went with Escape's bed after member stated it was very comfortable , and ending up selling it . If you are used to Select Comfort or a latex bed , which we have both , the springs make pressure points and it is uncomfortable . The mattress is very nice though . It depends what you are use to sleeping on . Used to be able ,younger sleeping on anything including floor , not anymore . Sorry can't be more helpful then this . Pat

[rotateclockwise]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

They haven't dug this one out yet in NC. Instead they have put a steel beam across to protect the bridge and warning lights, but it still gets hit. Be prepared to laugh pretty hard...

www.youtube.com/yovo68

Unfortunately, they can't dig it out. There are water, sewer, and other utilities under the road.

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by tractors1

The road to my place goes under a railroad trestle built in 1922 with a 10ft 6 inch clearance right next to a neighborhood tavern/restaurant. I know the owners, and he said every summer they help pick up air conditioners and parts raked off the roof of half a dozen RVs. Gets really ugly when a tall box truck whacks the trestle and gets stuck under it - county has to bring in workers with power saws to cut the trucks loose. Lots of metal shrapnel stuck in the woodwork of the trestle year round.

Wow, Charlie.
If that's the one on Helvetia Rd, under the Portland & Western, (I looked it up on Google Maps & FRA Maps), I'm surprised the Google camera car made it through.
The Google street view looking north shows some pretty good dings!

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

Wow, Charlie.
If that's the one on Helvetia Rd, under the Portland & Western, (I looked it up on Google Maps & FRA Maps), I'm surprised the Google camera car made it through.
The Google street view looking north shows some pretty good dings!

Yup, lots of metal embedded in the overpass. The county actually dug out the road beneath it; now we have to ford a pond when it rains really hard. Like every winter in Oregon. I always have to let customers coming for an installation know that their Escape trailers can get under the trestle.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

Wow, Charlie.
If that's the one on Helvetia Rd, under the Portland & Western, (I looked it up on Google Maps & FRA Maps), I'm surprised the Google camera car made it through.
The Google street view looking north shows some pretty good dings!

Yeah, that's pretty tight!
10198 NW Helvetia Rd, Hillsboro, Oregon

As of 2012, the cameras were apparently at 8.2 ft (2.5 m) above the ground; assuming that's the optical centre, the top of the unit would be under that trestle, but not by a lot: A Glimpse of Google's Fleet of Camera-Equipped Street View Cars
This means that all current unmodified Escape models other than the 5.0TA have their top at about "eye level" for Street View without air conditioner, and will clear whatever the Street View car does even with an air conditioner. A 5.0TA is tall enough that if you're using Street View to check out a route, it would be worth looking up at low points to see if there's some room.

[mquirk]

Hi we have to complete our build sheet today and we keep going back and forth on the refrigerator option. We are getting an oven. If we get the 5 cubic foot refrigerator we have the nice user friendly storage space above the refrigerator. If we get the 6 cubic foot refrigerator we loose it.

What is the size of your refrigerator and do you have an oven. It doesn't seem that with large refrigerator and with oven that there is much usable storage space in the 19?

[mquirk]

What does the hinged table look like? Is it available in the 19?

[Kountrykamper]

Originally Posted by mquirk

Hi we have to complete our build sheet today and we keep going back and forth on the refrigerator option. We are getting an oven. If we get the 5 cubic foot refrigerator we have the nice user friendly storage space above the refrigerator. If we get the 6 cubic foot refrigerator we loose it.

What is the size of your refrigerator and do you have an oven. It doesn't seem that with large refrigerator and with oven that there is much usable storage space in the 19?

It was discussed here.
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f1...foot-9510.html

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Kountrykamper

It was discussed here.
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f1...foot-9510.html

Our opinion only . Small trailer , small refrigerator .Why a huge refrigerator in a small space ? Pat