Split from For Sale, discussion about other builds

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Escape_19

I dont know why Escape did not use a similar floor plan ...walk around

I've had island queens in both large RVs and sailboats. They're not all they're cracked up to be. Everything's a compromise. Instead of having to scoot or crawl over with that setup in a 23 it'd be shuffle your way up the side.

Seeing is believing and I really believe if folks got to go inside the two types the majority would love the spaciousness and extra storage that comes with the twin beds.

Ron

[brroberts]

This is a double, knot queen in the Taylor.

[sherminator]

Look at the Taylor Coach videos. They show that Taylor really doesn't have set floor plans - they appear to have flexibility that goes far beyond what even Escape is willing to do. I looked at them when I was searching for small trailers, but I was really sold on the molded fiberglass construction when I saw how many 40 year old Bolers showed up on the Fiberglass RV forum.

[Escape_19]

Originally Posted by brroberts

This is a double, knot queen in the Taylor.

Are you sure a 60" is a double ...... https://taylorcoach.com/product/24/

[Donna D.]

Walk around queen. LOL! The bed is 60 inches... 5 feet. The trailer is 7 feet wide measured at the EXTERIOR. That would leave less than a foot as a 'walk around.' I know some peoples feet are bigger than that. What it would make it easier to do is make the dang bed.

It's really easy to create all kinds of fun layouts when you don't have to worry about actual sizes, where the door is and the wheel wells too.

I wanted so badly for Reace to take the layout of the 5.0TA and squash it down to a bumper pull. He gave me about a dozen reasons why that wasn't possible.... but it sure looked good on a paper napkin!

[Escape_19]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Walk around queen. LOL! The bed is 60 inches... 5 feet. The trailer is 7 feet wide measured at the EXTERIOR. That would leave less than a foot as a 'walk around.' I know some peoples feet are bigger than that. What it would make it easier to do is make the dang bed.

Ah...Donna.....you forget this is in Canada eh....it's a Canadian Queen layout

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Escape_19

Ah...Donna.....you forget this is in Canada eh....it's a Canadian Queen layout

Hi: Escape_19... Our 5.0TA has a "Tiptoe" around Queen. If you lay face down you can stick your toe tips out the sides!!! Only in Canada you say? Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

That would leave less than a foot as a 'walk around.' I know some peoples feet are bigger than that.

I wanted so badly for Reace to take the layout of the 5.0TA and squash it down to a bumper pull. He gave me about a dozen reasons why that wasn't possible.... but it sure looked good on a paper napkin!

That's where my "shuffle down the side" comment came from.

Never heard the "make a 5.0 layout into a bumper pull" before. Interesting concept.

Ron

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Never heard the "make a 5.0 layout into a bumper pull" before. Interesting concept.

Isn't that what the E23 essentially is....albeit reversed and slightly longer/wider?

[brroberts]

Originally Posted by Escape_19

Are you sure a 60" is a double ...... https://taylorcoach.com/product/24/

The website said 54”.

[Escape_19]

Originally Posted by brroberts

The website said 54”.

Randy...the website says Queen walk around 60x80. See the screen shot

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by MrLynn

Many brands use fiberglass as sheathing on exterior walls and roofs, and they all have seams. Only true molded-fiberglass bodies avoid them.

Yes, moulded construction means fewer seams, but even a moulded fiberglass trailer body has at least one seam. In an Escape, it is around the belly and is sealed by a layer of more fiberglass across the inside of the seam; other brands have used other methods, with varying degrees of success. Escape's method was Reace's primary advance in his design over the Trillium/Surfside on which his first model (the 17') was based.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by MrLynn

...
Yes, molded-fiberglass trailers have many openings in the hull (doors, windows, vents, ACs and fans, etc.) but they are far less likely to have walls delaminating from leaky roof/wall seams. Perhaps the aluminum-clad Taylor trailers have a way of preventing this—certainly Airstreams do—which is what I was gently asking about.

Airstreams leak, but they do not have laminated walls so they don't delaminate.

I went to the Taylor Coach website to see how they are constructed. The site doesn't provide a description, but the FAQ says to watch the "frame to road" video. I watched one of those (there are at least two, for different models); it is a time-lapse of the crew building a trailer, basically in a garage. Like other conventional RVs, they start with a frame, add a floor, build the interior on top of the floor, and then wrap it with an exterior. If you ever wondered why it is so difficult to change major components of a conventional RV, consider that when they were installed there were no walls! ETI installs the shower stall before joining the shell halves, but other than that if you need to get it out the factory had put it in through the same door (or window) openings that you have available.

The Taylor Coach factory installs wood-framed wood interior walls and ceiling, fills the cavities with batt insulation, then covers the walls with aluminum siding and the roof with a single aluminum sheet... with no sheathing! The siding is corrugated for stiffness, because there is no supporting panel. Required openings for windows and equipment are then cut in. There's no delamination because there are no layers bonded to each other - any water getting into the walls just soaks the insulation, wood framing, and plywood interior was panel, but doesn't cause layers to separate. In contrast, a typical modern non-moulded RV has a layer of rigid foam insulation with panels bonded to each side, or in some cases a framework filled with insulation (like the Taylor Coach) but covered externally with a lamination of external weather layer and underlying structural sheet (typically of plywood but sometimes of polymer or composites).

If nothing else, I now know not to buy a Taylor Coach, but then RV manufacturing is a lot like sausage making... if you use the end product, you probably don't want to see how it is made.

[brroberts]

Originally Posted by Escape_19

Randy...the website says Queen walk around 60x80. See the screen shot

So we found different info on the website following the same link for the same model.

[MrLynn]

Brian, thanks for the detailed description of Taylor Coach construction. I watched one of their time-lapse videos, but I didn't see how they managed the junction of wall and roof aluminum siding. Did you? From outside, it looked like there was some kind of rail that covered it.

They may not have wall layers to delaminate, but I wouldn't want soggy foam insulation either!

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi All,

We are molded fiberglass egg camper fans as indicated by our ‘05 Casita that we have camped in since 2017 and still love it. However, we talk about a “bigger” camper at some point, including the Escape 23, Escape 21, and Oliver Legacy Elite II. However, there are two “non-egg” camper brands that have intrigued me for years: Safari Condo Altos (21’ or 24’) and Taylor Coaches. I have watched dozens of Brad’s (Taylor) videos. He offers all kinds of flexibility in terms of length, width, and floor plans. My wife is not a huge fan of the aesthetic, but I think Taylor makes among the best stickies available. There is a long waiting list and a relatively high price, but very impressed with the quality of construction and the customer service flexibility offered by Taylor.

Take care,

Dean

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by DeanCHS1980

Hi All,

We are molded fiberglass egg camper fans as indicated by our ‘05 Casita that we have camped in since 2017 and still love it. However, we talk about a “bigger” camper at some point, including the Escape 23, Escape 21, and Oliver Legacy Elite II. However, there are two “non-egg” camper brands that have intrigued me for years: Safari Condo Altos (21’ or 24’) and Taylor Coaches.

I don't know much about the Taylor Coaches, but the Altos trailers are sweet. Had the opportunity to see one up close last Thanksgiving. The workmanship was very good.

[escape artist]

Hi: All... Listening to someone who uses a Moho like the "Oracle of Edmonton", Taylor Coach is the only other brand of trailer I'd buy. Only problem is their waiting list for a build date. It's years long and they're less than 2hrs. away!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

ETI installs the shower stall before joining the shell halves, but other than that if you need to get it out the factory had put it in through the same door (or window) openings that you have available.

I'm not so sure about that anymore. At one time, yes, they definitely did it that way.

When I got my 21, being curious about things, I wondered what was accessed by the panel behind the toilet. Even though he had left Reace kindly told me that the cover plate wasn't to access anything, that it was a notch that allowed for them to put the shower stall in place after the two shell pieces were bonded together.

I can only assume that the ramping up of production etc. necessitated a different way of assembly. And I can see that putting the shower enclosure into the molded pieces and then having to work around them might be a bit of an obstacle.

Ron

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by SageRpod

I don't know much about the Taylor Coaches, but the Altos trailers are sweet. Had the opportunity to see one up close last Thanksgiving. The workmanship was very good.

The Safari Condo Alto F2114 was very high on the "short list" of trailers that I was considering. I think their lightweight design/construction is quite innovative, and a couple of owners I chatted with locally were very happy with their units. Pricing and wait lists (at the time) were similar to ETI. They also are Canadian-made, which is important to me.

A potential drawback is their hail resistance (a big factor why I didn't consider any traditional stick-built trailers) and questionable ease-of-repair of the unique aluminum-composite paneling.