My "Escape to Margaritaville" Alterations & Mods

[jack sparrow]

Hi All,


Be on the look out for modifications and alterations that I have made to my 2023 21NE that I call " Escape to Margaritaville" . Some of these additions that I've done have been inspired by the fine folks here and some are my own creations. I'm new at this here so I'll do my best to add photos as well. Suggestions and tips are always welcome.


So this will be my first to share and it deals with the wheel options. I bought my Escape with the steel wheels to save money from purchasing the aluminum wheels.


Here is what I came up with and it looks great as well, not to mention the difference in price. I bought a set of four (4) simulators at a cost of $180.00 and they look great. I use these same ones on two other trailers that I own.


Just wanted to share with folks here that may want to go this route.


Now let me see if I can upload a photo of these.... Cross your fingers....
Well it looks like I did something right, and knowing how to this I'll be sharing more with you.


Cheers to ya.... and Happy Trails........

[Ron in BC]

Thanks for sharing. They do add a nice look.

Is that a standard lift that you have? It looks higher.

Ron

[jack sparrow]

Hi Ron,


That's the extra lift that ETI offered on the build form. Wanted the extra height as it gives you extra clearance for your tanks underneath and I got the double steps as well. (2 step)



Never know where your travels will take you.


Cheers to ya.... and Happy Trails.......... Jack

[jack sparrow]

I had ordered " Escape to Margaritavville" with the Springfield table post as I thought it would be the steadiest mounting system ETI had.


It's a nice system but for me it did take up some leg-room. If you needed to really get into your work in the benches it was tight to say the least. The Table itself was a little to large as well and had to slide over to one side or the other to get in and out and around in that area.


So I opted to make a change and order a Laguna Table Leg System from Luguna USA and I bought an extra mounting bracket as well to be able to mount one center of the back bench and the other a little off center on the right bench. This gave me a lot of versatility to move the table to many different locations and opened up a lot of room for movement in the area and in and out of the bench storage areas as well. I also made another table, only difference was the length, it made a big difference as well.


So........ see what you think , comments are always welcome as we all try to help each other to make our lives even better as we travel the life highway of adventure.


Here are some photos to share...... enjoy.


Cheers to ya..... and Happy Trails...... Jack

[jack sparrow]

Here are a few more Luguna photos of mine with the leg assembly mounted to the right bench to show it's locations of movements from that point.


Enjoy.....


Cheers to ya.... and Happy Trails.......Jack

[jack sparrow]

Hi All,


In the next few photos you'll be seeing how I add pull out shelves / drawers in the wardrobe of My 21NE. I found that this space would be better utilized as a pantry instead of a wardrobe..



Each shelf / drawer is 24" deep with soft close slide and oak fronts.
The slides are full extensions, so they come all the way out.


Comments are always welcome..... Enjoy.


Cheers to ya......... and Happy Trails........ Jack

[Chamberman]

Jack,

I really like your pull-out drawers. Very nice work! I've been planning on modifying my wardrobe in a similar manner for more storage. I was thinking about building a single large vertical slide out pantry similar to what the Bigfoot comes with but I like the multiple sliding drawer system like yours as well.

Our trailer doesn't have the optional drawer under the wardrobe so I'll have to do something there also.

I have a question for you,
How many vertical studs were in the side walls inside of the wardrobe? I'm hoping that there's at least 3 vertical studs in each wall to screw into.

[jack sparrow]

Hi Chamberman,

I assume there are three looking at my build photo of the frig/bedside wall.


To investigate this you could go outside your trailer and open the frig door and look at the wall that way to get an idea.

When I did my build I knew that I would be wanting to add some things to the walls (tv, coat rack, so on) so I opted to have all my walls reinforced. Doing this gives me lots of flexibility in placement of screws and such.
They use 3/4" plywood to reinforce the walls between all the studded areas.

For sure there will be the studs in the corners.
The sides you'll have to spacer out. The left side didn't have to come out much, but the right side had to have a 2"inch or so . I just ripped down a 2x4 and planed it some. Counter sunk the screws. I would not let the screws protrude further than 3/4" inch into the walls.

I used 24" full extension soft close slides. Got these at the Orange big box store.

Hope this is of some help and if you have more questions, feel free to ask.
I see you are in the Dallas area. I took delivery of my 21NE in Lewisville this past September. Really on 9/11/2023

Cheers to ya...... and Happy Trails...... Jack

[jack sparrow]

Hi All,


To aid in looking behind and in the walls of my 21NE to see how and where I can add wiring or whatever.
I bought one of these inspection cameras that have a 50ft cable that is ridged as well as being flexible too. The camera produces good video and has lighting as well that you can control. I have used this to snake along the wall from my dinette area back behind the shower, under the heater and frig section to the rear of the trailer. This route is pretty much the one
ETI takes to run most of the wiring in my 21NE and this has been a helpful aid for me to add more electrical to my system.


Here is the link to this camera on Amazon if you'd like to check it out. There are assorted lengths as well. But I got the 50ft so I could check the sewer line at my home for roots and cracks in the piping. It has its uses.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CL4KT182...roduct_details


Cheers to ya....... and Happy Trails...... Jack

[jack sparrow]

Hi All,


Here is a type of lock that I use on My "Escape to Margaritaville" and sure locks are for honest people, but I do what I can to keep what is mine.


I have one of these on each of my stabilizer jacks and each has a different key. (Why make it easy??) I also made a modification to my front tongue jack and added one of these to it as well. I'll be showing photos of that jack soon.


I find these on Ebay and Amazon, can be a little pricey, but hey, how much is your trailer worth to you. I've bought a half dozen of these to outfit my trailer.


Let me know what you think, your comments are always welcome.



Cheers to ya....... and Happy Trails...... jack

[jack sparrow]

Hi All,


Since I'm the one to sleep next to the back wall in our 21Ne, I found myself needing a place for my cell phone, glasses and so on.


I came across this idea from Mr Ed and his Eggscape.
Eggscape message numbers 127 and 128.



He made his shelves and covered them with the same material as his cushions and window valances I on the other hand made mine with 1/8th inch birch plywood and covered each side with the same color and style of Formica that is the rest of our trailer.


You can see a sample of his pattern that he made up, but do note that each trailer and it's corners will vary in shape and size. Once you have one template made, you can flip it over and see how much you'll have to alter that shape to fit this side. Mine was different but not by to much. Take your template and draw out another for the other side and make the changes to it that will be needed.


See Mr Ed's description for more detailed information.
When these are installed, you almost don't notice them, but they are very functional.


On mine that would be above my head, I put a few switches there. They are connected to my outside trailer lights, my rear flood lights, and cameras. Case you hear something that goes bump in the night, you have controls at your finger tips.


Well as always, your comments are welcome, let me know what you think or even if you may have questions.


Cheers to ya........ and Happy Trails ........ Jack

[HABBERDABBER]

And especially the drawers in the wardrobe space.
But I'm worried. You're canking through the mods.
What will you do when you run out of mods?
It does happen to us all, sooner or later.

[jack sparrow]

Thank you HABBERDABBER...


Words well spoken and full of truth. We do tend to run hard for our new found love in these trailers and I too at some point will run into a mods block like a writer and his writers block. But thanks be to all the fine Escapees here, near, and far we will move forward inspired by each other lending thoughts and ideas as long as there is imagination, adventure, the great outdoors and a will to learn from one another.


As stated before, some mods I have done on my own and others inspired by our family here.



Here to lend a hand, I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but there are many here that are. Working together for one cause. (ADVENTURE)


Thanks again....... more to come.


Cheers to ya....... and Happy Trails.......... Jack

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

What will you do when you run out of mods?
It does happen to us all, sooner or later.

In my case with the 19 it was easy. Sold it and bought a 21 and started all over.

But since I'm not moving to a 23 I guess I'm all modded out. Of course if I did move to a 23 and got the bunks with the cabinet in the center the first mod that I'd do is rip out the upper center stack and install a front window.

Ron

[jack sparrow]

See HabberDabber, there is a loop hole for use if we run out of things to do.
I've just started on my 21NE, so like Ron I could get the 23 and start over..... Thanks Ron for the input............


Cheers to ya...... and Happy Trails....... Jack

[HABBERDABBER]

In boats, the 2 footits leads to the old saw of "the bigger the boat, the less you use it."
It's just a generality.

YMMV.

[jack sparrow]

Hello All,


Been working on the 21NE with another mod/alteration/ect.



It came to me that securing our investment during travels and camping alike, we do what we can.


We drop out stabilizer jacks down as one form and we secure our tongue jack and chains.


In a earlier post I shared with you the Stabilizer Jack Locks and I use them on all my stabilizer jack, the front tongue jack, and now since all Escapes have a receiver on the rear, I bought a tongue jack from Harbor Freight and made some mods to it. I modded it to slide into the rear receiver and added my mod to add a Stabilizer Jack Lock to it and now I have another stabilizer on the rear, but mainly another layer of security to my 21NE.


When traveling, just pull it out of the receiver and turn it 90 degrees and lock it back in place and your ready to go. Easy...


Here are some photos.


Your comments are always welcome.


Cheers to ya........ and Happy Trails....... Jack



P.s. I added a photo of how the lock looks on the stabilizer jack as well.

[scubarx]

Originally Posted by jack sparrow

Hi All,


Be on the look out for modifications and alterations that I have made to my 2023 21NE that I call " Escape to Margaritaville" . Some of these additions that I've done have been inspired by the fine folks here and some are my own creations. I'm new at this here so I'll do my best to add photos as well. Suggestions and tips are always welcome.


So this will be my first to share and it deals with the wheel options. I bought my Escape with the steel wheels to save money from purchasing the aluminum wheels.


Here is what I came up with and it looks great as well, not to mention the difference in price. I bought a set of four (4) simulators at a cost of $180.00 and they look great. I use these same ones on two other trailers that I own.


Just wanted to share with folks here that may want to go this route.


Now let me see if I can upload a photo of these.... Cross your fingers....
Well it looks like I did something right, and knowing how to this I'll be sharing more with you.


Cheers to ya.... and Happy Trails........

Your HF Chocks are upside down.

[Steve Clark]

Your HF Chocks are upside down.


Maybe one of the moderators can rotate the picture!

[jack sparrow]

Thanks Steve,


Will correct and re-take the picture to correct.


Good eye.


Cheers to ya...... and Happy Trails........ Jack