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Old 03-23-2017, 04:12 PM   #21
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I'm following this thread with interest. What I've noticed, from several threads, there's several of us that have regrets where our storage area is too dang short and/or our "new" trailers are too dang tall to fit inside our storage "areas."

Bobbie, considering the number of times you may want to hookup and pull-out to go camping during the entire time you own this particular trailer, would it be cheaper and better to go to ETI and have them change the axle? Whether that's to remove the "high-lift" and/or change to 14" tires or some combination... it may be a better move and cheaper, than constantly changing wheels, tires, dollies, buying a cover, paying for storage.
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Old 03-23-2017, 04:25 PM   #22
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Bobbie, considering the number of times you may want to hookup and pull-out to go camping during the entire time you own this particular trailer, would it be cheaper and better to go to ETI and have them change the axle? Whether that's to remove the "high-lift" and/or change to 14" tires or some combination... it may be a better move and cheaper, than constantly changing wheels, tires, dollies, buying a cover, paying for storage.
That was my original question in this post- how much can I gain by lowering it (and maybe changing out the fan and tires?) I have emailed Escape to ask about lowering. I'm at 8 foot 8 and the posted height is 8 foot 2- which doesn't make sense if raised axle adds only a few inches unless that height doesn't include the fan.

I'd much rather end up with being able to pull in and out without any kind of shenanigans.
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Old 03-23-2017, 08:01 PM   #23
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Can I put on a 12" rim wheel only (no tire?) I am not familiar with brakes at all other than as an end-user so don't know what they look like on an axle.
Yes, although it's hard to roll a wheel without a tire on anything but a smooth and hard surface - inside the garage would be fine but the driveway might not be. It would damage the wheel's rim, but that wouldn't matter since you would never use it with a tire.

The brake drum looks like a short 10" diameter cylinder with the studs for mounting the wheel sticking out of it, as well as a tube at the middle (containing the outer bearing). That means that the "back" (toward the trailer) half of the wheel needs to fit around it, since the centre of the wheel is bolted right against the raised areas around the studs on the face of the drum.

The brake drum (which is also the axle hub):
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Old 03-23-2017, 08:05 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by Bobbie54 View Post
... I'm at 8 foot 8 and the posted height is 8 foot 2- which doesn't make sense if raised axle adds only a few inches unless that height doesn't include the fan.
For other models, measurements by owners have confirmed that the published height does include the fan, which it should because the fan is standard equipment.

I agree that the suspension lift is not as much as six inches, but I don't know the source of the discrepancy.
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Old 03-23-2017, 10:21 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by Donna D. View Post
Bobbie, considering the number of times you may want to hookup and pull-out to go camping during the entire time you own this particular trailer, would it be cheaper and better to go to ETI and have them change the axle? Whether that's to remove the "high-lift" and/or change to 14" tires or some combination... it may be a better move and cheaper, than constantly changing wheels, tires, dollies, buying a cover, paying for storage.
This trailer sits pretty tall, but the lift over stock is likely no more than 3-1/2" or so. Let's be generous and say 4". The change to 14" wheels vs. current 15" buys you only a 1/2". So all that work and expense only buys you 4-1/2" max. Still not enough.

Now a standard axle (at least 3" gained) combined with rolling it on a 12" bare rim (~6.5" gained; assuming it fits) and he's in the garage.
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Old 03-23-2017, 10:28 PM   #26
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We just went through this same discussion about 14", 15" and 16" tires on FiberglassRV. I participated in that thread. It's important to remember talking about tires size, in reality, most are talking about the "wheel." At some point, there needs to be a discussion about tire profile.

The biggest indicator in tire height is the tire profile... or sidewall height. Remember low-profile tires?

Tire Width is the width of the tire measured in millimeters from sidewall to sidewall. The first three-digit number in the tire size refers to the tire width. For instance, in a size LT215/65 R15 tire, the width is 215 millimeters.

Aspect Ratio (profile) is the ratio of the height of the tire's cross-section to its width. The two-digit number after the slash mark in a tire size is the aspect ratio. For example, in a size LT215/65 R15 tire, the 65 means that the height is equal to 65% of the tire's width. The bigger the aspect ratio, the taller the tire's sidewall will be.

Maybe, between changing the axle out from a hi-lift, down to a 14" wheel and an LT tire with a lower profile (is there a manufacturer?) would give Bobbie what she needs?
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Old 03-23-2017, 11:49 PM   #27
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Thinking of a regular, non-lifted Escape 15. If that is 8' 2" and I need 7' 11", I'd still need to lose 3". That might be the fan- switching to a flush mount fan. Or if that gave 2" switching to 14" tires might do it. I did look up tire size and 14" is not much smaller than a 15" (27 d vs 26) in the same width.

I measured mine at the top of the fan but I could be off by an inch as I didn't have a level on the board I put up on the top. I didn't think to measure from the next highest spot but will do that when I bring it home.

At this point- I'm hoping I'm wrong about the garage! I looked at the garage pic and it seems like the vertical bracing over the door is to stabilize the door. Makes sense. What it doesn't do is stabilize the garage right to left as it only exists right over the door. So I don't think it is structural outside of how it interacts with the door. It might be something that can be done without too big a hassle. The issue around here is finding a good contractor willing to take on a small job (which is why I talked to the guy who is going to build a garage next door next month.)
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Old 03-24-2017, 02:25 AM   #28
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14" ST tires will all be the same 75-series profile, so they don't help much. I don't think you'll find many - if any - 14" LT tires, let alone low-profile 14" LTs. The LT designation is only used in North America, and there is no demand here for light truck tires that small. There certainly are 14" commercial tires - found on European and Japanese light commercial vans and trucks - but even then few if any are very low profile, so no more than an inch or so of ride height reduction is available by that method. Low-profile tires in more modern wheel sizes (15" and up) and Extra Load non-commercial tires are better sources, but we're still only talking about a couple of inches.

For an example, I noticed that the small Nissan commercial van (the NV200) comes with 185/60R15 commercial tires. With less width and a lower profile, that's a 111 mm sidewall instead of the stock ST205/75R15's 154 mm sidewalls... a 43 mm (or 1.7") radius reduction. They have a load index of 94, which means 1,477 lbs each (at 50 psi) - not enough for the full GAWR if it is 3500 pounds, but enough for the trailer. The tires are not very expensive, and they would probably handle well, but I still don't know if the change is worthwhile just for that height change.
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Old 03-24-2017, 10:22 AM   #29
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It remains to be seen how much of a reduction might be needed. I'm not doing anything like buying new tires/wheels unless I'm a lot closer to the garage height than I am now, though.
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Old 05-02-2017, 02:08 PM   #30
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OK: measured the height less fan (no fan at all) and it is under 8 feet even with the lift, by almost an inch.

So I'm thinking- remove the lifted axle, and put in a lower profile fan, and I'm in the garage. Looking to see how low a profile fan is available. I can get a vent only that is only 2" above the top. Not sure how good I can do with a fan. This one extends 2 1/2 inches above the trailer- that may be enough, especially if the height drops more than that.
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Old 05-03-2017, 12:18 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by Bobbie54 View Post
... So I'm thinking- remove the lifted axle, and put in a lower profile fan, and I'm in the garage. Looking to see how low a profile fan is available. I can get a vent only that is only 2" above the top. Not sure how good I can do with a fan. This one extends 2 1/2 inches above the trailer- that may be enough, especially if the height drops more than that.
The issue for me with that style of fan is that it cannot be left open in the rain. That's why there are covers such as the Maxxair (which you can't use because they must be very tall to clear an open lid) , and that's why the folding MaxxFan exists... and why Escape Trailer Industries pays extra to get the MaxxFan instead of a conventional powered vent.

My earlier suggestion was to consider an alternative:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
Although the MaxxFan is a great unit, there is now a vent with a good fan from Fantastic Vent which is quite low (even when open, although that doesn't matter in this case): EZ-Breeze.
Since I didn't have height information for the EZ-Breeze, I sent a query to the Fan-Tastic Vent people, and received this response:
Quote:
This fan sits 3.5" above the roof, from the base to top of lid.
Since this is a fixed lid, that's the height whether or not it is open or operating. That's lower than even a folded MaxxFan, and only an inch higher than a folded traditional Fan-Tastic vent.

Fan-Tastic Vent is known for excellent customer service, and I see that the acquisition of the company by Atwood Mobile Products (in 2010), and the subsequent acquisition of Atwood by Dometic (in 2014), have not changed that - my query was answered immediately.
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Old 05-03-2017, 12:45 PM   #32
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Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
The issue for me with that style of fan is that it cannot be left open in the rain. That's why there are covers such as the Maxxair (which you can't use because they must be very tall to clear an open lid) , and that's why the folding MaxxFan exists... and why Escape Trailer Industries pays extra to get the MaxxFan instead of a conventional powered vent.

My earlier suggestion was to consider an alternative:


Since I didn't have height information for the EZ-Breeze, I sent a query to the Fan-Tastic Vent people, and received this response:Since this is a fixed lid, that's the height whether or not it is open or operating. That's lower than even a folded MaxxFan, and only an inch higher than a folded traditional Fan-Tastic vent.

Fan-Tastic Vent is known for excellent customer service, and I see that the acquisition of the company by Atwood Mobile Products (in 2010), and the subsequent acquisition of Atwood by Dometic (in 2014), have not changed that - my query was answered immediately.
That might work-I still need to find out how much lowering the trailer would do- but it is likely to be very close. Still, if I could get in by slightly flattening the tires it would still make it pretty easy to do. Thanks, I'll check into it.
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Old 09-28-2017, 12:23 PM   #33
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Update: according to Reace it will only lower 2 inches and that's by replacing the axle. Going to 14" tires would lower another 1/2". I might be able to save 2" on a lower fan. None of that gets low enough.

Garage opening- a new door would not increase it enough because of the hardware (can't go up high enough due to crossbeams in the garage.)

So now I'm looking at carriage doors on the garage- no opener, nothing overhead, make the doors as high as the garage opening can be. Getting an estimate for that. I could do small winter wheels for winter storage- probably in addition to lowering the trailer- but I want to be able to keep it routinely in the garage so it is worth it to me to put the money into the garage instead- if it doesn't come in too high.

I do still love my trailer! It's worth the money and the effort. I do have winter storage in an open barn- not the best but free and easy enough, so I'm good once I store it until spring.
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