Shell separation

[angler24]

Hello,



My 2013 15 foot Escape has small separation at each corner. The top shell is slightly separated from the bottom. I am attaching pictures. I have never noticed this before and I have never had any impact or collision that I can think of to cause this. The front left is the most separated at maybe 1/4 inch. The other 3 corners are not as bad but all have some separation. Is this normal? And if not normal, any ideas what to do to fix this? Thank you.



Jane



Jane

 

[TTMartin]

My 2013 15 foot Escape has small separation at each corner. The top shell is slightly separated from the bottom. I am attaching pictures. I have never noticed this before and I have never had any impact or collision that I can think of to cause this. The front left is the most separated at maybe 1/4 inch. The other 3 corners are not as bad but all have some separation. Is this normal?

It likely has always been there. With all the nitpicking from the current generation of buyers, you are likely just noticing it.

When the molds for that trailer were made, the were all made by hand. So slight variation between the top and bottom halves are normal. Even my 2020 Escape 19 has some difference between the two halves, for the same reason. The Escape 23 is the first Escape trailer where the molds were made using Computer Numerical Control (CNC). It should have little to no misalignment of the two halves of the shell.

The reason the trailers have the 'belly band' is to cover or you could say hide the differences between the two halves of the shell.

So yes it is normal. As far as things to check or do, you can remove the plastic insert from the bellyband and make sure there are no loose or missing rivets.

 

[angler24]

Thanks TTMartin for your informative reply. I did inspect under the black plastic of the b band and see that each corner has 3 or 4 missing rivets (gap of 3 or 4) on each corner. Is this normal? Or are they missing because of the gap which Escape cannot rivet or?



Also wondering if water from wet road could get in via the separation. I don't know all of the build details around the 'gap' but seems like it would be an entrance for road water and rain. Thank you!

 

[diannelgraham]

Thanks TTMartin for your informative reply. I did inspect under the black plastic of the b band and see that each corner has 3 or 4 missing rivets (gap of 3 or 4) on each corner. Is this normal? Or are they missing because of the gap which Escape cannot rivet or?



Also wondering if water from wet road could get in via the separation. I don't know all of the build details around the 'gap' but seems like it would be an entrance for road water and rain. Thank you!

Do a search by ... top and bottom halves of trailer separating?
This question has been asked many times and I also had major concerns when I noticed this on my Escape....no worries.

 

[TTMartin]

Thanks TTMartin for your informative reply. I did inspect under the black plastic of the b band and see that each corner has 3 or 4 missing rivets (gap of 3 or 4) on each corner. Is this normal? Or are they missing because of the gap which Escape cannot rivet or?

If there are no holes in the fiberglass behind the holes in the aluminum the rivets aren't missing, they were left off on purpose. You should only be concerned with loose or missing rivets where there is a hole in the gelcoat and fiberglass for the rivet.

Also wondering if water from wet road could get in via the separation. I don't know all of the build details around the 'gap' but seems like it would be an entrance for road water and rain. Thank you!

As long as you have no loose or missing rivets, no water can not enter the trailer there. In the how it is made video below you can see that after the two halves of the trailer are put together, and before they are removed from the mold, Escape goes inside and fiberglasses the two halves together from the inside. Only after the two halves of the shell are fiberglassed together is the mold removed.

 

[angler24]

Thank you both