E19 under bed stage access

[Corgbee]

We pulled the trigger today and put down the deposit on an E19....upgrading from a 17b. I have seen where people have built a sliding system with bins under the rear bed that slide into the aisle.

There is an exterior access hatch on the p/s. Is it possible to put an access hatch on the d/s to access the space next to the sliding bins? It seems to me that this space would be ideal for storing water hoses and electrical cords.

ETA for the E19 is 01/24.....wow!

[cpaharley2008]

I believe the power cord, water heater and other items are on the driver side rear that would prevent a hatch. Besides, you have the front storage box for hoses and cords....

[HABBERDABBER]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I believe the power cord, water heater and other items are on the driver side rear that would prevent a hatch. Besides, you have the front storage box for hoses and cords....

Congratulations on making your superb decision. You'll not regret your leap of faith. Now, be patient until delivery, and work your plan.

Although a hatch may be possible on that side, it is occupied with the water heater and water pump, at least in my rig. Not much room or access around those devices. Access to any sliding storage container is very limited by the size of the hatch opening and dependent on your container system. I can see my sliding, under bed storage box but access is very, very limited, (none) & I made it tall and near full opening height, if using the passenger side rear hatch.

I wouldn't bother with this at all. If your rig and needs are different, you can always add a hatch later, sized to your needs, but there's not much real estate on that side for storage. Some, but not much. What room there is I use for long item storage accessed from the P.S. hatch.

[MVA]

brroberts installed an access door on the d/s under the bed next to the hot water heater. If you search the forum, you will come across their modification. It is a small door though given the space constraints.

Many others have installed a slide out storage system under the bed. Lots of posts on this forum. As an alternative solution, we had, and reused for this purpose, 5 Rubbermaid roughtneck containers (14 gallons size I believe?). They hold a lot of extra blankets, food, clothings, etc. More difficult to pull out than a sliding storage system, but will hold a lot more and you can access the entire space under the bed from inside.

2 cents

[brroberts]

Post 28 of this thread:

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post400837

My outside hatch solution. It’s a tight fit, be careful with your cuts. Some of my electrical and all of my water is stored in the P/S hatch as the D/S side hatch is too small. I use the front box for leveling, extra sewer, extra electrical, and a few other things.

This is the thread I started on mods for my September 2021 E19. I have many more mods planned as I have time to get to them.

It’s called Padawan’s Life, but there are also more extensive mod threads from those who have been here longer.

The added hatch and access to that space works great for me. I knew it was something I wanted from the start, but ETI no longer offered that hatch option.

[Eggscape]

There are many bin choices but I like the milk crates as they are strong, light and with vertical sides. In a 19 you can fit 4 deep x 2 for 8 cubic feet of storage. Ours are his and hers for cloth storage.
You can see what I did here in this link:
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post286336

I ended up removing the last two bins on each row so could slide long stuff in via a new drivers side rear hatch. Great place to slide in our screen room and antennas.
You can read how I did the hatch in this link:
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post286699

[BobG]

I have a 2021 21NE. I got the optional driver side shower which was mounted at the rear between shore power and hot water heater. Escape didn't want to add an access hatch at this location and I didn't know that the shower would be placed there. For some reason I thought it would be closer to the inside shower.

Anyway, I removed the exterior shower, moved the controls to the hot water heater to make more room for a storage area, boxed in the storage area with paneling, and ordered an access hatch from Escape so it would be keyed the same as the others. I store water hose, electric cord, a plastic box of water fittings including pressure reducer and filter, another plastic box of sewer fittings, and a box of rubber gloves and a couple small things I hardly ever use. For me, it has been very useful. I think the hardest part for me was removing the shower plumbing because I had never worked with PEX tubing or fittings. Moving the HW controls, boxing in the area, and cutting the fiberglass was the easy part. Screwing the new hatch into place was easy too.

I did make 2 long boxes that I pull out from under the bed. I glued 2 thin 2" wide strips of UDPE to the bottom of the boxes so they slide in and out easy. I also fashioned a keeper that spans the access opening to keep the boxes from sliding out when I apply brakes. I removed a metal strip that covered the splice between vinyl sheets so the boxes wouldn't scrape on it.

[JudyS]

Bob - what’s UDPE?

[BobG]

I used wrong abbreviation. It is a polyethylene plastic. I used 1/8" thick UHMW. Ultra high molecular weight. I think HDPE, high density polyethylene would be fine but may not be available less than 1/4" thick. A couple slick and highly durable runners on each box.

[BobG]

I think I used cyanoacrylate (CA) glue, Super glue is CA glue, for attaching polyethylene to the wood box. Wood glue probably won't work very well.

[Corgbee]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

There are many bin choices but I like the milk crates as they are strong, light and with vertical sides. In a 19 you can fit 4 deep x 2 for 8 cubic feet of storage. Ours are his and hers for cloth storage.
You can see what I did here in this link:
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post286336

I ended up removing the last two bins on each row so could slide long stuff in via a new drivers side rear hatch. Great place to slide in our screen room and antennas.
You can read how I did the hatch in this link:
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post286699

Thanks for all the responses. Eggscape's sliding bin storage is exactly what I envisioned. The d/s rear area seems like the logical place to store the electrical cord and water hose if space allows. A smaller aftermarket hatch may be the best solution.

[Mark B1]

Here is the hatch installation I did in our 19 on the drivers side near the rear. I bought the hatch door and installation screws from Escape when I was driving through Chilliwack in 2020. I think the door might normally be used on the 5.0? It fits well, matched the other hatches and uses the same key, and was easy to install. It took about an hour to do once I had everything there. I can't remember what I paid for it but it was a better price than what I had been looking at on line.

I also enclosed the area under the bed at the hatch location so the things we store in that hatch (electrical cord, hose, misc. other stuff) stays in place and can not bounce over to the main under bed storage area where I can not reach it through the hatch, or pile up against the water heater. The enclosure of the area took more effort than the door, probably another 3 hours.

[Corgbee]

Mark: Thank you for the response. I will contact Escape. Your installation of the hatch looks great!

[Mark B1]

Originally Posted by Hogndogz

Mark: Thank you for the response. I will contact Escape. Your installation of the hatch looks great!

Let me know if you need more details.

[Chasing Trials]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

I ended up removing the last two bins on each row so could slide long stuff in via a new drivers side rear hatch. Great place to slide in our screen room and antennas.
You can read how I did the hatch in this link:
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post286699

I wondered about the bins being that deep(4). The back is the only area for long things. Why I just ended doing the deep pullout(full extension slids). I figure I'll tie little ropes onto some of the long things to pull back towards cargo door, after I push them all the way to the other side behind Hot water heater.

[Chasing Trials]

Amazon now has a bunch of different sized Hatch doors. I bought this one. https://www.amazon.com/RecPro-Baggag...%2C371&sr=8-10 They don't have one 10" x 20" which is as big as I can go where the old one is (awning arms in the way). but 2" higher does open it up some from the 8" high that's there. I don't even think there is any where else I can move the old to to

[Corgbee]

Originally Posted by Mark B1

Let me know if you need more details.

Mark: Would you mind measuring the hatch that you installed?

Thanks

[Mark B1]

Originally Posted by Hogndogz

Mark: Would you mind measuring the hatch that you installed?

The door itself measures 11 3/6" wide by 8 1/4" tall. The outside edges of the frame measure at 13 1/2" wide by 10 1/2" tall.

The install is pretty straight forward and took a way less time than the research and gathering of tools, supplies etc. I did get input from Jim Bennett who has cut holes in a couple Escapes now. To do the install I did the following, or at least this is how I remember it:

1. Remove the running light and electrical plug aft of the hatch location for clearance of the cutting tool. I did not disconnect them, but held them back out of the way with masking tape.

2. Clean the area and cover it with masking (painters) tape to protect the surface while cutting.

3. Lay out the cut lines. This can be done by tracing the flange of the frame that goes through the fiberglass. Then drawing over the lines with a dark marker to make clear, easy to see cut lines. The cut lines have to be slightly bigger than the frame flange that goes through the trailer skin, but not to much so you don't get near where the attachment screw holes will be.

3. Cut the hole. It is important to do this with your eyes open. I used a jig saw with a diamond cutting blade. I first drilled a hole in two corners to put the jig saw blade through. Then I cut it being careful not to go too fast and heat up the fiberglass to it's melting point and plug up the blade. The cut was very smooth and a thing of beauty. I didn't even have to clean up or smooth the edge.

4. Remove all the masking tape and clean any residue off the skin and test fit the door for fitment. Make sure to clean under the light and plug removed in step 1. as you will need to reseal them along with the hatch.

5. Put butyl sealing tape on the faying surface of the frame flange where it overlaps the trailer skin and put the door in place. Mine stayed in place on its own with a bit of hand pressure but you could tape it in place if necessary. Note that there is a slight curvature to the trailer skin in the area near the lower aft corner but the the butyl sealing tape and fastener pressure takes care of that.

6. Using a drill/driver, install the self tapping screws into the holes in the frame to secure the hatch. Be careful not to overtighten and strip the fiberglass, squeeze out too much butyl sealant, or distort the frame too much in the curve area. Check that the door still moves, seals, and latches with normal effort. The butyl sealant will fill the gaps between the frame and fiberglass and will squeeze out some around he edges. Note that the hatches installed at the factory are done with screws and they have not used rivets for a number of years. I got the screws from Escape when I purchased the hatch.

7. Reinstall the clearance light and AC electrical connector as per original.

8. Leave it sit overnight (at least) to allow any excess butyl sealant to finish squeezing out from the joint. Then trim off the excess with a putty knife or blade being careful to not scratch the surface. Don't proceed to step 9 until you are sure that no more butyl sealant will squeeze out.

9. Clean the skin again. Seal the top and side edges with white exterior calking (Clearance light and AC electrical connector as well). This provides additional seal and hides the grey butyl tape. I used the same stuff Escape uses, Proflex if I remember correctly.

10. Clean up, grab a beer, and look at your new hatch installation with satisfaction.

[Corgbee]

Originally Posted by Mark B1

The door itself measures 11 3/6" wide by 8 1/4" tall. The outside edges of the frame measure at 13 1/2" wide by 10 1/2" tall.

The install is pretty straight forward and took a way less time than the research and gathering of tools, supplies etc. I did get input from Jim Bennett who has cut holes in a couple Escapes now. To do the install I did the following, or at least this is how I remember it:

1. Remove the running light and electrical plug aft of the hatch location for clearance of the cutting tool. I did not disconnect them, but held them back out of the way with masking tape.

2. Clean the area and cover it with masking (painters) tape to protect the surface while cutting.

3. Lay out the cut lines. This can be done by tracing the flange of the frame that goes through the fiberglass. Then drawing over the lines with a dark marker to make clear, easy to see cut lines. The cut lines have to be slightly bigger than the frame flange that goes through the trailer skin, but not to much so you don't get near where the attachment screw holes will be.

3. Cut the hole. It is important to do this with your eyes open. I used a jig saw with a diamond cutting blade. I first drilled a hole in two corners to put the jig saw blade through. Then I cut it being careful not to go too fast and heat up the fiberglass to it's melting point and plug up the blade. The cut was very smooth and a thing of beauty. I didn't even have to clean up or smooth the edge.

4. Remove all the masking tape and clean any residue off the skin and test fit the door for fitment. Make sure to clean under the light and plug removed in step 1. as you will need to reseal them along with the hatch.

5. Put butyl sealing tape on the faying surface of the frame flange where it overlaps the trailer skin and put the door in place. Mine stayed in place on its own with a bit of hand pressure but you could tape it in place if necessary. Note that there is a slight curvature to the trailer skin in the area near the lower aft corner but the the butyl sealing tape and fastener pressure takes care of that.

6. Using a drill/driver, install the self tapping screws into the holes in the frame to secure the hatch. Be careful not to overtighten and strip the fiberglass, squeeze out too much butyl sealant, or distort the frame too much in the curve area. Check that the door still moves, seals, and latches with normal effort. The butyl sealant will fill the gaps between the frame and fiberglass and will squeeze out some around he edges. Note that the hatches installed at the factory are done with screws and they have not used rivets for a number of years. I got the screws from Escape when I purchased the hatch.

7. Reinstall the clearance light and AC electrical connector as per original.

8. Leave it sit overnight (at least) to allow any excess butyl sealant to finish squeezing out from the joint. Then trim off the excess with a putty knife or blade being careful to not scratch the surface. Don't proceed to step 9 until you are sure that no more butyl sealant will squeeze out.

9. Clean the skin again. Seal the top and side edges with white exterior calking (Clearance light and AC electrical connector as well). This provides additional seal and hides the grey butyl tape. I used the same stuff Escape uses, Proflex if I remember correctly.

10. Clean up, grab a beer, and look at your new hatch installation with satisfaction.

Wow! Thank you for such a detailed response. I will save your directions for the install.

[brroberts]

I didn’t remove the light and used a spiral bit in a dremel router base, but otherwise did the same thing. Good instructions.