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Old 01-13-2023, 03:31 PM   #41
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Originally Posted by Ron in BC View Post
Ron's Top 10 Mods: Under bed storage crates


I have countless mods and a lot of them were on a computer that was destroyed. Most of them are scattered over several other computers. Often when trying to answer a question and post a photo to illustrate the answer I have to go searching for photos. So I've decided to wade through things and put them all in one place.

So I also decided that I'd start with the ones that I consider well worth the effort to do. At least, they work for me.

I'm coming to the conclusion that many of the mods are a draw, hard to rate one above the other. But the under bed crate storage has to be the hands down #1.

There's different ways to do this mod. This is my way.

I looked at using both 3 and 4 crates. I came to the conclusion that I preferred 4 because the total length worked well and I'd rather have 4 separate bins.

The crates are held together with zap straps. At first I was leery of using them because I didn't think that they'd stay tight considering that the long crate assembly is lifted from only one end. They've been just fine.

I made a protective sill because the hot and cold water lines run along the wall and also because the crate drawer slides over the sill.

I put casters on the rear crate. The usage action is lift up slightly and slide the drawer out, either slightly rubbing on the sill or not.

I installed two guide rails. They are actually on a slight angle because if you pulled the drawer straight out all the way it'd hit the side of the closet area. This way you don't have to steer it, it automatically clears.

At the rear I installed a stop block. This positions the front so it has room to drop slightly behind the front sill. The result is that in transit no matter how rough the road the crates are effectively locked in and can't shift positions.

So we have shoe storage by the bathroom, a built-in electric heater on the diagonal, great multi-bin storage and a separate storage area accessed from the exterior hatch.

All-in-all I think it's a pretty good use of the area.

Ron
I love this and am hoping it can be done with minimal tools. I found some 1 5/8" casters and hope that will work and all will still fit through the door. How did you attach the casters? Will heavy duty gorilla tape or something similar work? Do you think the ramp part can be done with a wood threshhold or molding that can be cut to size with a hand saw? Thank you so much for sharing!
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Old 01-13-2023, 05:28 PM   #42
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Yes, of all the mods possible I do rate this one as most worth doing.

Attaching the castors is easy. I used a small metal plate on the bottom of the crate. You could use a small block of wood with screws coming up through the holes in the egg crate bottom. No drilling necessary. Not sure about using tape. It might work fine.

Wood for the ramp would work just fine. It's actually more for protection of the water lines than to use as a ramp.

Ron
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Old 01-14-2023, 01:41 PM   #43
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Hi Ron - I am most interested in how you re-located your spare tire under the A-frame of your 21. I have a 22 21C, and would like to do the same. Did you mount the winch on the floor of the Escape supplied fiberglass front storage box? Doesn't seem like the floor would support that much weight, especially over time and rough roads. What are the commercially available winches you refer to? The only ones I have found that seem applicable are replacement winches for pick up truck spare tire systems, and they appear to mount the opposite direction of what would be needed with your floor mounted design. Am I looking at the right part? I would love to see more pictures. What is the last picture depicting with the locking pins? It is pretty dark and I am not sure what I am looking at with regards to the spare tire mount you did. Thanks. Dave in Edmonds, WA;.
Not Ron but for your consideration. This is mounted under the box entirely. We have a 19 but this was done for another owner with a 21C.
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post292144
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Old 01-14-2023, 03:18 PM   #44
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Thanks so much for the spare tire info. It looks like a very feasible solution. So, the actual tire support was custom fabricated and welded to the underside of the storage box brackets, and a couple of steel box tubes were welded perpendicular to the cross support piece. Any idea what the dimensions of those tubes were? 1x1, 2x2? And thanks for link to the winch system. I appreciate your follow up.
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Old 01-14-2023, 05:30 PM   #45
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It's not only feasible but a good way to free up usable space at the rear especially if you want to have a rear box, rack or multiple bikes.

I did a DIY style with a winch that I already had and because I seem predisposed to doing that sort of thing.

The Lippert winch is much more practical. I think that it could be done two ways. Neither needs to involve welding.

One would be just use bolts for the cross piece and for the Lippert winch. Countersink the bolt holes and use flat head bolts if a flush fit is required.

I think that it would be feasible to skip the cross piece entirely and bolt the Lippert winch to the bottom of the box with, say, a 1/4" x 6" x 12" piece of aluminum plate inside. My winch carries the entire wheel weight on the box bottom, without any plate and the footprint is much smaller than that.

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Old 01-14-2023, 06:40 PM   #46
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Do you add an additional chain for safety after the winch, or just count on the winch along? Thanks
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Old 01-14-2023, 07:01 PM   #47
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Do you add an additional chain for safety after the winch, or just count on the winch along? Thanks
I would add a backup…
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Old 01-14-2023, 07:06 PM   #48
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Do you add an additional chain for safety after the winch, or just count on the winch along? Thanks
I'm a guy who has redundant everything including two 12 volt batteries.

I'd never carry a load suspended like that without a safety chain. Even though all the trucks that I've had only suspended the spare on a cable.

Ron
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Old 01-14-2023, 07:09 PM   #49
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Good catch! I'm not a metal expert, but I wonder if that steel got brittle from the heat of the weld? My bracket is still good but I've replaced both bolts on my trailer to slightly larger diameter and higher grade bolts, because they have both broke, luckily only 1 at a time.
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Old 01-14-2023, 07:11 PM   #50
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I agree with the belt and suspenders approach!
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Old 01-14-2023, 08:47 PM   #51
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Good catch! I'm not a metal expert, but I wonder if that steel got brittle from the heat of the weld? My bracket is still good but I've replaced both bolts on my trailer to slightly larger diameter and higher grade bolts, because they have both broke, luckily only 1 at a time.
I’m thinking the rear bolt came loose allowing movement, or the metal snapped. Either way I’m going to move it to the front top of the 5.0 hitch. I no longer trust in the original setup.
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Old 01-14-2023, 09:40 PM   #52
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I would add a backup…
Ouch. Has anyone alerted ETI to this issue of weak spare tire brackets and inferior hardware? Those brackets take a beating on the rear bumper with all the bouncing and cantilevered weight. I would hate to see a spare tire come off and damage a following vehicle or possibly even kill someone.
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Old 01-14-2023, 09:43 PM   #53
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I’m thinking the rear bolt came loose allowing movement, or the metal snapped. Either way I’m going to move it to the front top of the 5.0 hitch. I no longer trust in the original setup.
There have been previous threads about this and many of us also increased the bolt diameter.

One problem with that setup is that you'd think that when the plate is firmly bolted down to the bumper bracket it'd be pretty waterproof. Many folks have found that when you undo the bolt through the bumper that a lot of water drains out. I guess that depends partly on whether you live and use the trailer in a wet area.

Ron
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Old 01-14-2023, 10:22 PM   #54
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Ouch. Has anyone alerted ETI to this issue of weak spare tire brackets and inferior hardware? Those brackets take a beating on the rear bumper with all the bouncing and cantilevered weight. I would hate to see a spare tire come off and damage a following vehicle or possibly even kill someone.
What I didn't like about the design was the two bolts inline front and rear on a narrow base. On a rutted bumpy road the tire likely rocks side to side which isn't a good thing.

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Old 01-15-2023, 04:19 AM   #55
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Originally Posted by Ron in BC View Post
There have been previous threads about this and many of us also increased the bolt diameter.

One problem with that setup is that you'd think that when the plate is firmly bolted down to the bumper bracket it'd be pretty waterproof. Many folks have found that when you undo the bolt through the bumper that a lot of water drains out. I guess that depends partly on whether you live and use the trailer in a wet area.

Ron
I have drilled drain holes in the past to allow water to escape from my Escape....!
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Old 01-15-2023, 08:48 AM   #56
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I’m not sure if larger bolts would’ve helped in this case, but it never hurts to beaf things up. When I unbolted the one going thru the bumper there was water that did flow out, a couple of drain holes are definitely a good idea. I’ll probably get a eyebolt to replace the old bolt, might come in handy when securing the bikes.
I’m thinking Ron’s right about the poor design…
I have emailed Dustin in parts, curious if this is common and do they have a solution. It may still be under warranty but I’m not interested in getting the same setup.
Now to find a mount, or have the same mount cut down and welded onto the top of the 5.0 hitch.
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Old 01-15-2023, 09:20 AM   #57
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Now to find a mount, or have the same mount cut down and welded onto the top of the 5.0 hitch.
Check out this thread for bolt-on configuration. Details in posts #18 & 19.
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f8...ier-14450.html
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Old 01-15-2023, 10:16 AM   #58
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Check out this thread for bolt-on configuration. Details in posts #18 & 19.
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f8...ier-14450.html
Thanks for that, I did come across it yesterday, searched online and couldn’t find it anywhere.
Your bolt idea, and the hassle it would save me got me thinking about a different way.
It’s a bit of a reach inside the backside of the hitch may be my only problem. The tire lays nice on top of the hitch so all it really needs is enough to lock it in place.
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Old 01-15-2023, 11:37 AM   #59
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A better design would have been to have the base at the rear wider so that two bolts could be used to prevent side-to-side movement. Even better would be adding two small gussets.

Also the through bolt on mine only had a nut and lock washer the same diameter. In place and tightened up the washer is compressing the center of the tube. Put enough sideways force on the tire holder and the underside of the tube starts to collapse and then allow for more movement. When I had a spare tire holder on the back I put a large diameter fender washer under the nut.

Ron
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Old 01-15-2023, 12:24 PM   #60
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Personally for everyone’s safety I would have liked the spare tire mount welded properly to the frame and have no bolts at all. I however have the fear that someone is going to drive that spare tire right into the back of our trailer. Nice to have a bumper but if the tire is sticking out beyond, little help the bumper will do until it is to late. For this reason I moved our spare to under the front tongue years ago. It was great that I could just unbolt the rear mount and remove it. Like Ron, I would never just count on one method of holding the tire in place and have a safety chain as well.

I would have also liked the propane tank cross frame supports welded on instead of screwed on. The picture below shows the rust forming and the simple act of not cleaning drill fillings for the screwed on supports. The picture was taken less than 3 months after receiving our trailer and rust was forming. It has happened to people in the past that screws rust to the point that they no longer hold the supports in place. Not a big fan of propane tanks dragging on the ground making sparks.

If I get the ear of Karl or Harrison this year these will be a few of my talking points.
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