New Escape 5th Wheel

[Thane]

I was also concerned about the waste tank capacity on the Escape, in the end I decided to use a 22 gallon tote tank to off-load the tanks if required. The Escape waste tanks are 21.5 gallons total so if I dump them when 3//4 full, I expect the tote tank to weigh about 130 pounds, not a pleasant thing to haul, but doable.

Part of my justification was based on volumetrics. With a 10% added tare for the tank, an Escape requires about 21 cubic feet for waste water tanks, a Casita requires approximately 40 cubic feet. Since I hope to have a dump station relatively close to our camp sites, I decided the lower space requirement of the Escape was a reasonable accommodation for us.

There is no doubt that more waste storage is convenient when 'docking, I just thouhgt I'd provide my view.

Being a witness to the laying of a new egg is pretty exciting.

[Dwain T]

I have a 17' Casita, and love it. However, this is interesting. I looked at the Scamp 5th beore buying, thought the sleeping area was pretty tight - especially in height. A little claustrophobic here. Your roofline looks raised a bit which might fix this prob. How about a comfortable place - maybe a couch - at the rear. This is what my Casita lacks. Some comfort. Keep up the good work. In my opinion, I think a trailer like this has a market.

[Kathy & Doug Roach]

Reace,

Thanks for asking our opinions. As you have noticed their is never a shortage of them on this site.

I would very much like to have an option with comfortable seating in my trailer. I find the dinettes very uncomfortable for anything other than a quick meal. I would love to be able to have a nice sofa or small recliners in the rear instead of the dinette. We eat on TV tables at home so why not in the trailer. In inclement weather or after a long day, I like to have a nice place to sit and read or watch TV.

One other suggestions is a way to "privatize" the sleeping area without interrupting the airflow. We seldom rise or retire at the same time and a little privacy or separation would be nice.

Last thought. Please add more windows and offer crank out (awning style). That is why we like our trillium 5500 better than scamp or casita.

Keep us posted. We are very interested in your plans.

Kathy and Doug

[Nancy in Oregon]

My #1 wish would be a big refrigerator!

My #1 wish USED to be more storage but we aleviated that problem. You can see our solution here.

Scamp 5th Wheel Renovations

Nancy

[shirley munson]

comfortable seperate seating for two adults with arm rests

[Benita]

My #1 wish would be a big refrigerator!

My #1 wish USED to be more storage but we aleviated that problem. You can see our solution here.

Scamp 5th Wheel Renovations

Nancy

Fantastic Job Nancy. Really great ideas. Does the stepped storage allow you to step up into the bunk area using the drawers? Open or closed?

Ditto the seating request. Being stuck in the trailer for 3-4 days of heavy rain means a really sore backside. I like to read inside. That gets uncomfortable after 20 minutes with most of the stock cushions.

[Nancy in Oregon]

Does the stepped storage allow you to step up into the bunk area using the drawers?

The closed drawers make steps into the bed area. Here is a photo of the drawer area as it was being built. You can see the steps more clearly in this photo than in the finished photo.

Nancy

[Benita]

OK. After looking at the Escape Layout B and Nancy's modifications, here's my two cents.

First not everyone who wants a 5th wheel is looking to sleep more people. My mods would increase living comfort, not sleeping capacity.

Get rid of the gaucho most 5th wheels have. I like the steps to the loft. The step area is storage. The step drawers should be sturdy enough to allow at least one of them to be secured open to serve as an additional seating area if needed.

Move the refrigerator to the sink side of the cabin. This opens up the other side of the cabin. Make the refrigerator top counter high so that it serves as extra counter space. Add a hinged counter extension on the side of the refrig area so that its possible that the counter extends halfway to the wall. A microwave could be added underneath the overhead cabinets here.

In the corner where the counter extension lives add an upholstered seating area with a good back rest and arms. Have a curved counter extension that comes from the back wall. When the back wall extension is dropped, this area can serve as a laptop/writing work area. This half extension can meet the other extension so that the option have having a counter from the back wall to the sink exists. This upholstered area could also be moved to where the wardrobe and refrigerator currently are if the owner wants to move them. This would lengthen the bed for those who need length, not width.

Add a second extra-wide upholstered seat under the back window. This one with removable arms plus backrest. It would be great if the counter extension that comes from the wall could be swung around so that the person sitting here can have an optional desk.

Use a scissor telescoping table for the dinette. This way the table can be used a bed support, moved outside the trailer or laid down flat to open floor space.

On the door side of the cabin have one long bench with storage underneath. The bench is on both sides of the door.

The upholstered seating areas and bench can be broken down into a double bed or an extra long narrow bed if desired.

Get rid of the wardrobe in favor of the wardrobes in the loft. More openess.

I like Nancy's loft plan.

[Brian B-P]

...I like the room and features of the 19', but the versatility of being able to tow the 16' on a conventional hitch...

Roger is suggesting an optional frame of some sort to convert the new "fifth-wheel", when desired, to a conventional trailer. As another option, how about building a long conventional trailer (to get the desired interior room) and offering a tongue conversion which would remove the conventional tongue and replace it with a gooseneck?

I realize that the current Escape tongue is an integral part of the frame, which is a good design, but U-Hauls prove that a bolt-in tongue can be a sound design as well.

The gooseneck would work with those really short pickup boxes, the design could be planned for reasonable tongue weight (and result in unusually low goosneck hitch weight), and neither structure would be particularly awkward in design. Installation would not be trivial, since the tongue structures (especially the goosneck) would not be small or light.

Just more "out there" thoughts...

...home-built tongue conversions on their fifth wheels. The concern, however, is a seven or eight hundred pound tongue weight....

Is it really this high? If the tongue conversion reaches 3 or 4 feet forward of the trailer body (to allow turning without the upper body hitting the upper part of the tow vehicle) then the new coupler location is well forward of the original, reducing hitch weight. Maybe the added structure and whatever else gets hung under the forward body adds up to this, but then we're not talking about something one could readily toss on to allow hookup to the SUV...

[Mike Watters]

Hmmm... I have a few random thoughts, not quite sure how to turn those into "advice" though. Perhaps it's best to just let them out and you can take them for what they are worth.

I've always liked the Scamp 5-er design. Seems a physically attractive beast with a lot of utility in a still-small space. However - I know I'd never get one since I've no interest in driving a truck.

One of the things I like about the design is the big queen-size bed (yeah... this is an issue I flog at every opportunity). Short of gutting and retrofitting - none of the other eggs offer this (There IS the Casita Liberty with it's King-size bed - but that comes at costs).

I also like the ability to sleep more people (up to six - an issue which is a 'growing' concern to me right now). Since I'm unaware of any truck (the only acceptable tow-vehicle for a 5th wheel) which seats six however - this is unlikely to be a feature which would be easy to take advantage of.

For my own interests - I like the idea of an egg with increased capacities - but I wouldn't look twice at it unless it could be pulled by something other than a truck.

mkw

[Frederick L. Simson]

[quote]I have committed to a front to back queen size bed for the top bunk


Attachment 1780

I'm confused. Does that mean you sleep front to back? Or does that mean the "queen" width measurement is front to back, and you actually sleep side to side?

[Reace]

The queen size bed will be front to back. This is one major reqest I have set in stone. I like Nancy's modifications and hope to have a closer look at the Oregon gathering!

Excellent feedback everyone! I don't think I can make everyone happy but I like all the ideas.

Reace

[Roy in TO]

I don't think I can make everyone happy but I like all the ideas.

Reace

This is more of a question than a suggestion. I like the bed format of the 5th wheel. I also like the concept of the trailmanor, but not necessarily the rear pullout as seen in the bottom right picture on this page:

TrailManor

Is it technically possible to make a fiberglass trailer with a conventional hitch where the sleeping area can be pulled up and over the hitch? (or even a slideout kind of arrangement)?

If so the dinette can come to the front, washroom to the rear and kitchen on both sides over the wheels.

Roy

[Palmer M]

Mike,
My '96 Dakota extended cab has seatbelts for 6, forward-facing seating. Don't think it would be particularly comfortable for a trip, but it's at least possible.
Best of luck, Reace, on the new design; it looks good!
P

[John D.]

New Escape 5th Wheel
#1 Larger Bathroom
#2 Generator (Optional) (Built in with start from inside) (2.8 Or Larger Up to a 4000 Watt)
#3 Air Conditioner
#4 L.E.D Lighting (Outside & Inside)
#5 Electric Hot Water Heater 10 Gal. (Optional)
#6 Memory Foam Cushions & Mattress (Optional)
#7 14 Or 15in. Tires
#8 Built for 2 People With Optional Package to Add sleeping Capacity.
#9 Rear View Camera. (Optional)
#10 Awning (10 Or 12 Ft. (Optional)
#11 Option to order Trailer without Rear Seating and Dinette (Add your own Seating)

[Brian B-P]

I think John has an interesting point with the LED lighting. Particularly for the external (vehicle) lights, LED is an easy alternative to conventional bulbs, which doesn't require any changes in wiring, but is much more efficient to do as a factory option than afterwards. If I were buying new I would appreciate this choice (which would carry a moderate cost premium) in any configuration of trailer.

For inside lighting, 12V fluorescents would again be an easy-to-supply feature, again as an extra-cost option so the base price can be kept lower for those who prefer that choice. In the larger space of the larger 5th wheel, power consumption for lighting becomes more of a concern for those camping without shore power.

The battery issue leads to another feature - in the larger and heavier 5th wheel, necessarily pulled by a truck, a larger battery (or dual batteries) is likely to be a popular desire, so suitable battery mounting provisions would be appreciated.

[Benita]

I'm really like the thought of a trailer with a 5th wheel's space and separated sleeping compartment that's towable by an SUV. The loft as a slide or a cantilevered projection?

As far as I can tell, the main reason folks want a 5th wheel is more space. I'm not a truck person either. Obtaining the space without having to acquire a new vehicle would be fantastic.

[Brian B-P]

Isn't a trailer with the space of a 5th wheel but towable by an SUV just... a longer trailer? If one end is raised (a "loft") to provide for storage underneath, that's a basement style unit, as is currently popular in Class A motorhomes.

While I have not seen one "in person", the front-bed 21.5' Bigfoot (25B21.5F looks like the unit some of us are asking for, as far as length and the front sleeping arrangement are concerned. The Bigfoot is wider (and has different construction details) and thus I suspect heavier than a similar length Escape variant would be - the 25B21.5FB has a base dry weight of 1730 kg (3815 lb).

[Benita]

That's not the fantasy, Brian. I don't necessarily want a longer trailer. I like the 16-17 ft length. Actually, my wildest dream would be for a garagable model that fits a standard sized US garage - with the loft/sleeping area separated.

[Roy in TO]

That's not the fantasy, Brian. I don't necessarily want a longer trailer. I like the 16-17 ft length. Actually, my wildest dream would be for a garagable model that fits a standard sized US garage - with the loft/sleeping area separated.

Agreed. 2 people and a dog don't need a 25' trailer. The separate sleeping area lets the early bird get up and have a coffee or whatever while the other sleeps.

the 25B21.5FB has a base dry weight of 1730 kg (3815 lb).

The GVRW of the 25B21.5FB is 7500 lbs. My tonka toy is only rated to tow 3950 lbs If I understand correctly, many recommend I aim for 75% of GVRW, or about 3000 lb max. That is why the eggs are so enticing. We don't have room for a queen bed at home... we don't need one camping.