5.0 Pin Box Rust

[Jack!]

Received our new 5.0 about 3 weeks ago. Did our first trial camp last weekend to make sure everything was in order. We hit a strong rain down pour on the way which lasted a couple of hours.

One thing I noted was my truck bed and Anderson hitch had a notable rust stains, which I cleaned off.
Searching for the source, I looked inside in pin box.

That was the rust source. There's a couple of "dividers supports" inside the pin box that make two places for water to collect and sit. Probably filled up on the delivery and again on our camping trip. It's not painted inside and badly rusted. The lower section drips very slowly into my truck bed via a small opening. The upper section has no openings, so can only evaporate off.

Has anyone else seen this happen? Is the inside of your pin box painted? Considering drilling a small drain hole, trying to clean up the rust, and paint inside there. It's tight but may be possible.

[Jack!]

More pics...

[nepaweb]

Yes, my pin box is unpainted and rusty inside as well. I've never noticed rust stains on my hitch and truck bed like you have though.

Looks like another trailer project to add to the list.

[Eggscape]

I wanted to ask Escape a question for their next monthly video. The link they provided took me to their company forum where I saw someone had asked about the rust dripping out of their new pin box. (I don’t expect that question to make it to the video)

Dustin blew him off by saying it was just surface rust. Doesn’t all major rust problems start with surface rust?

I am not impressed with either Dustin or the metal preparation.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

Doesn’t all major rust problems start with surface rust?

Hope you don't have to cross any bridges or drive under any overpass.

[Jack!]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

I wanted to ask Escape a question for their next monthly video. The link they provided took me to their company forum where I saw someone had asked about the rust dripping out of their new pin box. (I don’t expect that question to make it to the video)

Dustin blew him off by saying it was just surface rust. Doesn’t all major rust problems start with surface rust?

I am not impressed with either Dustin or the metal preparation.

Others have said the same thing. We told Dustin that rusting can be prevented and treated with early precautions and preventative maintenence.
Dustin's reply was, "Crickets". Wrong guy in the ETI after-sales seat.

Don't expect ETI will respond to our question in the March Q&A either, as they don't get many hard questions. We detailed out a good rust solution, as part of our question, but the point is why is there so little effort to prevent rusting on brand new trailers, pre-delivery.

We figured out for ourselves good solution. Took the Pin Box off. Drilled a second drainage hole for the upper compartment where all the water collects and sits there rusting away. The lower compartment has a drain hole that dumps the collected rusty water in my truck bed & makes a mess. Two drainage holes will now prevent water from collecting inside.
Then a local shop is going to sand & blast all the rust out, treat the metal with a rust inhibitor, and spray it with Valueguard undercoating. Being inside the pin box and protected, the undercoat will last and protect the metal forever. They are charging $50 for this work.

If the brand new 5.0 we got 3 weeks ago wasn't alreay so badly rusted, we wouldn't have had to take the pin box off the trailer to clean and treat the rust. They could have just sprayed the inside for $35 with the pin box on the trailer.
Guessing the shop's cost for the Valuguard must be about $8-$10.
Guessing that much money tp spray new 5.0's would break the bank at ETI, so as Dustin said, "Nothing you can do about it. It's always going to rust" If a rust proof, sprayed pin box was on the build sheet we would have taken it.
It's not the best quality pin box to start with, so won't be surprised to learn someday a rusted pin box broke and did a lot of damage for some unaware 5.0 owner.

[cpaharley2008]

Some people, like owners, do not worry about rust or items out of sight. There are various automotive after market rust treatments, "Zeibart" for one. Some will do this, others do not care, it is human nature. Same goes for the Escape....out of sight, out of mind mentality!

[Jim Bennett]

Any rust I have seen on my pin box is minor surface rust. If was was concerned I would recoat it with a good finish like POR 15. I actually will likely do that to the entire frame in time anyway.

If Escape was to upgrade every item I find not to my satisfaction, the base cost would rise a heck of a lot. I am fussy though, and just choose to do the work myself. Weird, eh?

[Jack!]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Any rust I have seen on my pin box is minor surface rust. If was was concerned I would recoat it with a good finish like POR 15. I actually will likely do that to the entire frame in time anyway.

If Escape was to upgrade every item I find not to my satisfaction, the base cost would rise a heck of a lot. I am fussy though, and just choose to do the work myself. Weird, eh?

When we spend over $40,000 for a brand new item, we don't expect to recieve that item dripping rust all over the place and making a mess on our hitch & truck bed, day one when we recieve the brand new item.

We expect a manufacturer to at least take some care that a brand new item is not rusting while in their possession and make an effort to prevent these issues pre-delivery.

Also, we don't expect to have to remove a brand new pin box to get the rust removed, treated, and undercoat sprayed to stop the rusting process & get it back to a near new state.

Guessing we just missed the "ETI orientation video" showing new buyers removing the pin box and doing rust maintenence and prevention at the 20 mile mark.

Obviously, ETI after-sales staff needs improvement, along with the way ETI is handling our brand new, very expensive trailers while in their care.

[Steve Clark]

The OP reported rust water accumulation in the bed of their truck and potential contamination of any items carried in the bed. Structural integrity is one issue, rusty water, pooling in a storage compartment is another. It is not something I would ignore or be pleased with in a 3 week old trailer. Driving under a rusty overpass may result in 1 drop of rust on my vehicle, not pooling in my storage areas.

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

I am not impressed with either Dustin or the metal preparation.

I had a fair amount of doubt creep in too. Maybe, and I think it is, due to the major uptick in product output over the last few years. I do not doubt his character.

They really should hire me to do their manual. IMHO.

Maybe spraying a little Rust-Oleum in the hitch interior would help. I don't have this issue, but I live in an arid environment.

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

as you learned ETI after-sales staff needs a mayor overhaul. They like to pass the buck. when you bring up a problem on this form you get the responses stated you lucky you even got a trailer first place. unfortunately these are problem that arises when you prepay for a product that you haven't had a chance to inspect. It comes down to two solutions You hope EFT makes it right with you or you fix it yourself. You are absolutely right it should have never left the factor that way. my guess is you going to have to fix this yourself. You might get them to cover the cost of paint. Try to make the best out of it and enjoy the camper.

[Jack!]

Originally Posted by NEWYORKHILLBILLY

as you learned ETI after-sales staff needs a mayor overhaul. They like to pass the buck. when you bring up a problem on this form you get the responses stated you lucky you even got a trailer first place. unfortunately these are problem that arises when you prepay for a product that you haven't had a chance to inspect. It comes down to two solutions You hope EFT makes it right with you or you fix it yourself. You are absolutely right it should have never left the factor that way. my guess is you going to have to fix this yourself. You might get them to cover the cost of paint. Try to make the best out of it and enjoy the camper.

The bottomline is we are not looking for ETI to do anything in terms of our trailer, now in Florida.

This is just a "ETI Do Better" moment, handled by way of shortsighted single email by Dustin & "Crickets".

We first contacted ETI after-sales support to understand better how this happens and thought they may have some good solutions to deal with it. That's the support we were hoping for in this case. We waited a week for Dustin's reply where he says "it's always going to rust and there's nothing you can do about that". That was the unexpected, disturbing part, and is clearly the attitude that created this rusting problem in the first place.

How hard is it to wrap a pin box in that "blue plastic" ETI uses, to keep water from collecting side these brand new pin boxes when they are stored outside in the elements for extended periods of time? That's our best guess about how rusting like this happens.

The shop that examined the rust showed us spots that had advanced beyond the infamous "surface rust". When you stick your arm inside the pin box and it feels smooth but dusty, that's surface rust. Inside our pin box the compartments where the water collected and sat are no longer smooth to the touch. They are bumpy and there are rust flakes. The shop mentioned that kind of rusting has been ongoing for a longer period of time than you would expect on a brand new trailer. That's why we removed our pin box ourselves so it could be examined and fully treated. This rust will be sanded & blasted so the metal is clean again, treated, and sprayed with undercoat product, as a forever, one time fix.

We trust this shop as they have no incentive on this $50 job. Their normal jobs are in the hundreds and even thousands on big truck rigs. It's a great place run by a really bright guy. So we got lucky on that part.

Just a PIA we have to take the pin box off and put it back on. We had to drill a new, added, drainage hole, and take a few round trips down to the Tampa shop.. Not what one expects to do when receiving a brand new, late Feb 2022 built, trailer.

Wrong people in ETI's after-sales seats.

[Jack!]

On Wed, Mar 16, 2022, 6:28 PM Parts and Service <PartsandService@escapetrailer.com> wrote:

The rust that you area seeing is surface rust and will always be present. At the front of the king pin you will see a drain port where the excess water runs off and will ultimately end up in the truck bed and unfortunately with the design of this king pin there is no way around it. The top portions also have small areas that drain off the water.

Sincerely,

Dustin@Escape, After Sales Support

Escape Trailer Industries
43851 Industrial Way
Chilliwack, BC V2R 4L2

Tel: 604-703-1650 Ext: 118 Toll Free: 1-855-703-1650
Fax: 604-703-1651 Email: partsandservice@escapetrailer.com



Note: All Prices quoted are valid for 30 days from the date in this response and are quoted in Canadian Dollars.

[gbaglo]

My Highlander is parked next to a large cedar. It is currently coated in pollen. Never occurred to me to complain to Toyota.

[Jack!]

Rust pics.
Bet you wouldn't have appreciated your Toyota dealership blowing you off if your brand new 2022 was delivered to you needing these kind of rust repairs.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Jack!

We figured out for ourselves good solution. Took the Pin Box off. Drilled a second drainage hole for the upper compartment where all the water collects and sits there rusting away. The lower compartment has a drain hole that dumps the collected rusty water in my truck bed & makes a mess. Two drainage holes will now prevent water from collecting inside.
Then a local shop is going to sand & blast all the rust out, treat the metal with a rust inhibitor, and spray it with Valueguard undercoating. Being inside the pin box and protected, the undercoat will last and protect the metal forever...

That all sounds good to me, except for the undercoat. That material is intended to protect exposed panels from paint damage due to road debris, and there won't be any of that inside the pinbox - it only needs paint.

[Jack!]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

That all sounds good to me, except for the undercoat. That material is intended to protect exposed panels from paint damage due to road debris, and there won't be any of that inside the pinbox - it only needs paint.

That's very true and thanks for mentioning that. We had that discussion with the shop. It was said paint in any wet location will have an expiration date and need work again in the future. The undercoat product inside the pin box, protected as you mention, has no expiration date and will never require any future attention. Being in a wet area won't effect this product's lifespan in any way. This product and the extra drain hole we drilled so both compartments can drain fully, is a one and done, forever.
I will never stick my head and arm in there again nor take off the pin box. $50, plus the rust removal and treatment is worth it to us. They are using this stuff in many locations & often spray into enclosed spaces these days. Metal quality is not the best on everything.
We will paint the outside of the pin box and upper pin box normally. That needs another fresh coat, as well, and does in fact have only some surface rust.

Oil undercoating, unlike traditional paint, rubberized or wax undercoating, penetrates through rust down to the good metal, displacing moisture and eliminating oxygen, take either out of the equation and oxidation cannot occur.

Oil Undercoating creeping

Oil undercoating also has the ability to creep and migrate deep into body cavities where rust is prone to begin. A good oil undercoating will creep 4 to 6 inches ensuring that spot welds, seams, folds are penetrated and protected. These inner body cavities are generally unprotected and prone to hold dirt and moisture.

[Jack!]

Oil undercoating creep demo.

[splicer]

When I picked mine up in Charlotte NC in January of 2022, the pin box looked like this. Maybe caused by a strap rub on the way down. There was also small damage to the belly band. Escape recommended touch up paint (name withheld). I agree with you Jack, when we pay this much for a trailer, it should be perfect. There was also some scuffing on the front (hard to show in an image) maybe from the mold release.