Salvaged/Wrecked 5.0TA value ?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Craiger

... You could possibly remove the frame from the body and have a welding shop create a new frame. But they'll probably refuse because of the liability issues.

I doubt liability is a problem, because building custom trailer frames is pretty routine, but of course not every welding and fabrication shop is interested in that particular business... and it wouldn't be a cheap job due to the many details of making the frame to fit the trailer body and all of the components mounted under the body.

[Suregrip391]

Hello Group,
First and foremost, thank you all for the help while I navigated through this with my insurance company, I just wanted to provide an update as to the outcome. The damage did not look that bad after I was allowed to view it in the storage yard that the insurance company towed it to. I was able to remove the spare tire and have a look at the fiberglass. There was a hole about the size of your fist, maybe slightly larger but not much bigger that punched through the fiberglass. The vertical bracket that holds the spare tire was what actually went through the wall, just enough to poke through into the underside of the dinette and just missing EVERYTHING. No electrical was damaged. Battery and all was perfect, Just cosmetic damage to the fiberglass. The rear wall of the camper below the frameless windows appeared “pushed in” giving it a concave look but once the spare tire was removed it bounced back and was perfect (the spare tire was pressing against the fiberglass wall, hope that makes sense), I give full credit to the spare tire for saving this camper! Also, too make a long story short, I found a fiberglass repair/RV collision place not far from home and it will be getting professionally fixed. One of my biggest concerns was if the axles were out of alignment now but everything squared up nicely per the shop. The rear steel bumper will get replaced as it was bent up and the fiberglass/gelcoat will get repaired as I work through this with insurance and this 5.0 will be saved and coming home! We are very happy and excited about this.

We purchased this camper in January of 2022, the accident happened on our first outing but we were able to use it for one night and loved it…..let’s hope 2023 will be a better year for camping!

Make sure you all have adequate insurance on your trailers everyone! And your tow vehicles….there are people out there driving around with ZERO or very little coverage and you will have to rely on your own insurance in those instances!

Thanks again group!

[Rockhead]

This is great to hear. So glad you’ll soon have your 5.0 back good as new for many many adventures

[Doug2000]

Originally Posted by Viajante

I think it would be worth getting a new frame built. It would likely be stronger than the original and you could customize it, such as a back deck for your new mini split air conditioner and bikes.

I don’t know what the rules are for getting an inspection and recertification but it might be possible.

When I took my trailer to a shop to have the recall gussets added the welder was not impressed. “He (Escape) must build for light. For a bit more weight you could have a much stronger trailer.”

The welder was not an Engineer. I’m a welder and any of my associates probably wouldn’t have a clue how to design a frame. Most welders just overkill because they aren’t familiar with strength of materials and how dynamics affects them.

When I heard Escape was going to put an aluminum frame under the 23 I was concerned about longevity. I watched Escapes YouTube video many times and decided it looked well designed.

I watched a episode when Slimpotatohead on YouTube had an aluminum frame put under his Trillium Outback and I was really concerned. The frame did not look well designed at all. Designing an aluminum frame is very different from designing a steel frame.