What did you do for your Escape today.....

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

My F150 tailgate and the handle of my tongue jack were way too chummy for my liking. I could have extended the stinger but I like to keep it as short as possible.

ditto on my F250, the SuperDuty bed is extra deep, so the tailgate is extra tall. it landed right on top of the jack's main body with a 'standard' stinger, so I got a Curt 45260 that was 12.25" from hole center to hole center, about 17" long overall... the tailgate now clears the hitch tower, and with the Escape's jack handle hanging down, it doesn't touch. the handle. This towbar has a standard 2" drop, and with my 4x4, the Escape 21 rides just about dead level. the F250 sags less than an inch when I drop the ~500 lb tongue weight on this long bar, so it rides just fine. In 2002 Ford had added an overload leaf at the factory to the F250, these don't even touch with just the loaded trailer, however I might be on them if I've got a 1000 lbs in the truck bed. there's so little sag from the trailer that I doubt I could setup a WDH (Ford recommends a WDH above 650 lbs tongue weight).

[MikeS]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

For all you naysayers Glad you never experienced anything . But once and then twice your life had been in danger , you don’t assume anything and don’t take those kind of chances anymore to save a couple of bucks .must of being doing something right or had a angel watching out because it was about to end very badly . Good luck and hope it doesn’t happen to you . Pat

If someone was looking to hit some RVers, wouldn't a campground be considered a target rich environment? Some rest stops have security on site round the clock. Not all locations are equal and everyone has to do what they are comfortable with. I would NOT encourage anyone tired to keep on driving until they find a campground though.

[Eggscape]

Maybe it adds theft protection as well, Ron. No jack handle could slow some down.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

ditto on my F250, the SuperDuty bed is extra deep, so the tailgate is extra tall. it landed right on top of the jack's main body with a 'standard' stinger, so I got a Curt 45260 that was 12.25" from hole center to hole center, about 17" long overall... the tailgate now clears the hitch tower, and with the Escape's jack handle hanging down, it doesn't touch. the handle. This towbar has a standard 2" drop, and with my 4x4, the Escape 21 rides just about dead level. the F250 sags less than an inch when I drop the ~500 lb tongue weight on this long bar, so it rides just fine. In 2002 Ford had added an overload leaf at the factory to the F250, these don't even touch with just the loaded trailer, however I might be on them if I've got a 1000 lbs in the truck bed. there's so little sag from the trailer that I doubt I could setup a WDH (Ford recommends a WDH above 650 lbs tongue weight).

Having a F250 also , when I bought the stinger they just so happened to have a little bit longer one . So before I changed to a electric jack ( which I have found I love ) (kids kept telling me I would and they were right ) the manual jack never was a problem with the tail gate . But the electric jack head was going to interfere with tail gate . Solved that with turning jack head which actually can see and like better . Even with truck loaded up never see back end drop much . Never knew about what Ford recommends for a WDH with tongue weight , which we don’t use or have . That must explain truck not dropping then . Pat

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

Having a F250 also , when I bought the stinger they just so happened to have a little bit longer one . So before I changed to a electric jack ( which I have found I love ) (kids kept telling me I would and they were right ) the manual jack never was a problem with the tail gate . But the electric jack head was going to interfere with tail gate . Solved that with turning jack head which actually can see and like better . Even with truck loaded up never see back end drop much . Never knew about what Ford recommends for a WDH with tongue weight , which we don’t use or have . That must explain truck not dropping then . Pat

well, a two-fiddy is rated for like 2000 lbs in the bed. or even more if its a newer one. I'm amazed how solid a ride it is, going over potholes, railroad tracks, etc, there's absolutely no shudder in the chassis, unlike the majority of the one-fiddy's I've driven. I had a 2001 E150 van, which has the legacy 'twin-I beam' front suspension, you hit a bump or jolt in that thing and the whole chassis vibrated for a second, quite unnerving.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by MikeS

If someone was looking to hit some RVers, wouldn't a campground be considered a target rich environment? Some rest stops have security on site round the clock. Not all locations are equal and everyone has to do what they are comfortable with. I would NOT encourage anyone tired to keep on driving until they find a campground though.

You could be right about some campgrounds for sure . We won’t stay in any campgrounds that look sketchy either . Never have seen any security in rest stops . The couple of times we almost were in bad trouble we were in a car not towing . Have parked to get a little sleep at Camping World because it was very late and needed to stop. We were parked with a few other campers but would rather get off the road earlier now and get rested . Pat

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

We won’t stay in any campgrounds that look sketchy either . Never have seen any security in rest stops .Pat

It varies by state but it's often quite visible.

Ron

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

well, a two-fiddy is rated for like 2000 lbs in the bed. or even more if its a newer one. I'm amazed how solid a ride it is, going over potholes, railroad tracks, etc, there's absolutely no shudder in the chassis, unlike the majority of the one-fiddy's I've driven. I had a 2001 E150 van, which has the legacy 'twin-I beam' front suspension, you hit a bump or jolt in that thing and the whole chassis vibrated for a second, quite unnerving.

I know truck holds a lot and it doesn’t seem to phase it at all . We have cut down a lot of carrying stuff around anymore but no worries . Pat

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

It varies by state but it's often quite visible.

Ron

Good to know Ron but after what we experienced very hard to forget . Pat

[cpaharley2008]

I have always felt safe parking with the big rigs, most truck drivers are honest and some have their own protection with them. It is when you are by yourself alone in the rest area that would concern me. I know Florida rest areas are routinely patrolled and I have seen parked law enforcement vehicles in several states, the names escape me, but they are mainly in the auto section vs the trucks/trailers.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I have always felt safe parking with the big rigs, most truck drivers are honest and some have their own protection with them. It is when you are by yourself alone in the rest area that would concern me. I know Florida rest areas are routinely patrolled and I have seen parked law enforcement vehicles in several states, the names escape me, but they are mainly in the auto section vs the trucks/trailers.

Jim we have some family members that are truckers . Definitely feel safer with them . Just don’t take space from them they need to catch a little rest especially at truck stops . We do a lot of Casino parking especially if patrolled . Pat

[Donna D.]

Stopped by Ten Forward earlier today to check the health of the batteries, sweep leaves off the solar panel and generally check things out.


Found a full, unopened gallon of drinking water under the sink. DANG how did I miss that! Thankfully found it, otherwise it would have frozen, probably popped off the top and then maybe water in the cupboard. We're going to be brushed by a polar vortex of cold air the next couple of days. Anything that can freeze was removed!

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

I had a 2001 E150 van, which has the legacy 'twin-I beam' front suspension, you hit a bump or jolt in that thing and the whole chassis vibrated for a second, quite unnerving.

That's what a 4X2 F-250 or F-350 still has for front suspension, too.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

That's what a 4X2 F-250 or F-350 still has for front suspension, too.

Ours rides pretty nice . She just got some new Bilstein shocks . Pat

[MyronL]

I have the same tailgate problem, Ron. Went out, found a slightly longer stinger. My tailgate is now reduced to only a couple/three hairs too close, still touching the jack handle. I'd do the same thing you did, sounds like a practical solution killing 2 birds with one stone. But now got to keep a drill in the trailer dedicated to my tongue.

[Nindy]

Here’s what I did for my Escape today - short story, I broke the water heater.

Longer story, I never ever winterize since I store my trailer in limestone cave storage with over 1,000 other RVs, trailers, and boats from November through March. But around the first part of October we were going to have just one very cold night and I wanted to hold off taking it so I winterized it for the first time.

You know where this is going. I’m now on my Thanksgiving week trip where I’ll cook the whole meal outside in Dutch ovens. As usual, I filled the tank and ran water til it came out all the hot and cold routes and then turned on the heater. Thought it odd that I wasn’t getting any hot water after 5-10 minutes and suddenly remembered I was in bypass!

Doh! I know how to heat water on a stove.

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

My F150 tailgate and the handle of my tongue jack were way too chummy for my liking. I could have extended the stinger but I like to keep it as short as possible.

So I adapted the jack to take a removable handle. As others have, I've done this mod. before. I don't do it to be able to use my impact drill to raise and lower it, I don't think that the quality is good enough for that. However I might use it for fast up and down just not for the final tweaking. And don't chime in how much you love your power jack. I don't want one, now or ever.

I was happy to see one tiny increase in quality. Last time I did this mod. the rear end of the gear shaft used the thin sheet metal as the bushing. Pretty low quality. However now they've started putting in a rear bushing. However I don't see any evidence that they put a dab of grease on it.

So still have to make the crank. Maybe I'll keep it simple but the wood handle part might look nice in Tennessee Aromatic Cedar. As always for my mods. it depends on what I find in the scrap box.

Ron

I did the same thing with mine. I use my Ryobi 18V drill (not my impact drill) to raise & lower it. works great.

[advdave]

Today replaced the 14" tires and wheels with 15" aluminum rims/Carslisle tires. Looks good, ready for AZ in a couple of months. Modified the spare tire holder so I can lift the wheel and part of the bracket straight up, otherwise my rear storage box blocked the spare access. All this time I didn't know, until I tried to remove it to replace the 14" with a 15" tire. 2006 Escape 17B

[gbaglo]

I found I couldn't turn my wrench to remove the tire. It would hit the storage box. I made the box removable. Hopefully I'll never have to do that.

[Nindy]

Originally Posted by Nindy

Here’s what I did for my Escape today - short story, I broke the water heater.

Well, never mind! I read the instructions, found the reset button and all is right with my world today! I was hoping it hadn’t run too long empty.