We bought our E19 used last year. We got a nice price on the trailer but it was missing a few options that I really wanted. The front storage box was at the top of that list. I’ve seen a few threads here on the Escape forum of the custom front storage boxes others have installed. Those are very nice but I wanted something more turn-key.
This off season I began looking at manufactured tongue boxes. I stumbled across the inexpensive
Harbor Freight 2.31 Cu Ft tongue box. Its not a huge amount of storage space, but it’ll hold most of my wheel chocks, levelers, stacking blocks and a few other items that were being stored under the bed or in the back of the truck.
The size is just about perfect for the front of the Escape. Sure, it could've been a few inches taller or wider, but for the price its hard to complain. I included several pictures of the install. Due to the fact that the bottom of the HF 2.31 box is a thin gauge steel I was worried about it distorting easily. I decided to replace the original 1.5” angle iron brackets that ETI installed with some 2” X 3” angle iron. I also went with a slightly thicker steel in case I decide to move my spare tire up front under the box. I wanted something substantial for the spare tire to hang off of. The 3” portions of the angle iron support the box floor so only about 5.5” of the center of the box is open and unsupported. I also had an issue with the box lid opening too far and slapping the trailer. To correct this I machined a custom aluminum bracket to relocated the stock lift piston attachment point upward approx. 1” above its original connection point. Now the lid stops about 2” from the trailer.
Another thing I modified on the tongue box was the lock. I didn’t like the cheap key lock that came on the box. I bought a pair of black painted 4.5” double hinge hasps and mounted them on the outer edges of the front of the box. I plan to put mirror image locks on them when in storage. The reason for the pair of hasps is that the lid is fairly thin steel and would be easily bent upward if someone wanted to take a peek inside. Having a hasp on both sides makes this a much tougher task. Not impossible by any means, but you’ll need a crowbar now to bend it upward where before with a single lock you could’ve bent it upward by hand. One other thing that I decided to add was a Z-amp port on the DS exterior of the tongue box. This allows me to eventually connect a portable solar panel and keeps me from having to cut into the trailer to add the port. I’m going to use the original battery cables to connect to this Z-amp port and connect it up to an MPPT solar controller inside of the trailer.
Because the tongue box eliminated my single 12V battery box I am also in the process of installing a Li Time 12V 100AH LiFePo4 battery under the DS dinette seat. I’m still gathering parts for this installation, so its in progress…
Linear Mode
