Observations & Mod Questions

[hey_rls]

Hi all,
Took a trip up to ETI last Friday. Great people and many thanks to Sarah and her patience with all my questions. I have a 17B on order for a March 2017 delivery. Wanted to check out the new 17B and figure out my options.

Has anyone added:
>A locking door such as the one below for their water inlet / city water to their Escape? I asked if this could be added to my build and it cannot be.

Locking City/Gravity Hatch, Polar White

>A flush mount 2 burner stove top to their 17B? I've heard of the Dickenson Marine being added but to a 19ft I think. And Sarah said the tear drop 2 burner SMEV won't fit.

>Any dog friendly mods? I have a 70lb AmStaff who will be traveling with me and he likes his creature comforts.

By the way, loved the new Dometic awning. I have to admit I was really against it. However, it appears to be very well build and operated very smoothly. The manual alternative awning is the Carefree model and needs legs to stand on so I think I'll stick with the Dometic. Also, the new frameless windows were very nice. They don't open a lot but you do get an opening back window which is a plus for me. It was a sunny warm day and the trailer felt comfortable inside. I took a hard look at the spray foam insulation. I was considering putting in hard foam instead but after seeing how well the spray foam was sealing everything including the black/gray/fresh water lines I was sold.

Thanks to everyone who posts their mods and questions / observations on the forum. It's a great resource and I'm glad it's available for us newbies.

Rick & Brock the dog

 

[gbaglo]

Here's a picture to demonstrate how secure that door likely is. This is freshwater compartment on my 2009 17B. I'm twisting the door with little effort.

 

[freespirit]

>Any dog friendly mods? I have a 70lb AmStaff who will be traveling with me and he likes his creature comforts.

Rick & Brock the dog

perhaps upgrade to a Escape 19 with a queen size bed for Brock!

 

[dfandrews]

Here's a picture to demonstrate how secure that door likely is. This is freshwater compartment on my 2009 17B. I'm twisting the door with little effort.

Is there any real need for a locking door for the water. The only advantage I see is to keep vandals from polluting the water. But then they can bust the lock first, for fun.

 

[Patandlinda]

Is there any real need for a locking door for the water. The only advantage I see is to keep vandals from polluting the water. But then they can bust the lock first, for fun.

Don besides some joker putting something in your water tank . The UV's broke the lanyard holding the screw on cap which was almost lost . Also instead of a cheap plastic or nylon for water hookup , it is brass . I put a door on mine but will eventually cut my fiberglass to fit that better hookup . I just didn't have time and didn't want to do yet . The door was 11.00 , the better water hookup is about 50.00 .Pat

 

[hey_rls]

Don besides some joker putting something in your water tank . The UV's broke the lanyard holding the screw on cap which was almost lost . Also instead of a cheap plastic or nylon for water hookup , it is brass . I put a door on mine but will eventually cut my fiberglass to fit that better hookup . I just didn't have time and didn't want to do yet . The door was 11.00 , the better water hookup is about 50.00 .Pat

This is exactly why I wanted to upgrade to a door....keeping the screw cap, debri and potential for tampering to a minimum. Plus a brass city water inlet vs plastic that can be cross-threaded.

 

[hey_rls]

perhaps upgrade to a Escape 19 with a queen size bed for Brock!

Trust me...the dog is lobbying hard for this one. But I see through his trickery since I'll still only get my standard one foot of bed space by the morning....

 

[Patandlinda]

This is exactly why I wanted to upgrade to a door....keeping the screw cap, debri and potential for tampering to a minimum. Plus a brass city water inlet vs plastic that can be cross-threaded.

Pat

 

[blhvet]

Advenas, I have a 17B on order and have about 250 canine pounds in 3 big dogs. I'm getting a permanent rear bed, and if I can keep them pushed against the rear wall like I do in my current Aliner, it'll be just fine.

One mod I am seriously considering is some type of light, plague panel for the bottom 1/3-1/2 of the screen door so I don't end up with a large dog-shaped hole in the event of "Squirrel!".

 

[hey_rls]

Advenas, I have a 17B on order and have about 250 canine pounds in 3 big dogs. I'm getting a permanent rear bed, and if I can keep them pushed against the rear wall like I do in my current Aliner, it'll be just fine.

One mod I am seriously considering is some type of light, plague panel for the bottom 1/3-1/2 of the screen door so I don't end up with a large dog-shaped hole in the event of "Squirrel!".

Here's a thought. I currently have a truck camper with a screen door just like the on Escape. The screen door will open pretty easily for a dog of any size. So I took a butter knife and bent the blade to a 90 degree angle. Then I could drop it into the door lock slot on my truck camper and the handle stuck out keeping the screen door from being pushed open by my dog. I also bought a an expandable screen window insert and velcro'd it inside in front of the screen door. Easy enough to step over and it prevents the dog from going through the screen door plus it doesn't inhibit the air flow. Between those two items my dog is pretty secure inside the camper. And when he's outside he's in his harness and a 16ft lead.