This is the third trailer we've owned this year. Really hoping this one sticks around for a while 
.
I've been "trailer hunting" ever since we came back from a 5-day, 4-night camping trip a few weeks ago. We (yet again) decided that a RTT isn't cutting it for our favourite type of camping: spring/autumn, and a bit of winter.
After looking at countless trailer manufacturers and models, I put together my criteria as such:
- fibreglass body
- some sort of insulation
- better quality than the mainstream travel trailers
- large main sleeping area (ideally a full size queen bed at 60x80)
- toilet and shower
- a dinette that can convert into another sleeping area for two kids (down the line)
- at least a 20g fresh water tank
- standing room height
- good heater that is quiet enough that I can sleep with it working (the one we had in our previous Rockwood 1640 ESP was very, very loud)
- small fridge
- hot water
- under 20ft in length
- reasonably modern interior
After 1.5 weeks of searching all classifieds multiple times per day, I had completely given up on finding something that meets the above criteria, much less that also fits in the garage. My main search target was Escape trailers, in the 17ft and 19ft layouts. These are highly sought after and very tough to find used. The ones that do show up are usually in the $20-25k CAD range for 12-15 year old models, and they sell literally within hours of being listed. I figured I had a few years worth of searching ahead of me.
Lo and behold, on Wednesday I accidentally stumbled upon this unit. I had never seen these things before, nor even heard of them. At first glance it looked like an absolute unicorn: all of the above criteria were met, AND with the pop-top, it's only 7'4" in height, so it easily clears my 8' garage door. I did some very quick research and made take-away notes:
- European company that has been building products since the 50's
- These units were made by a North American child company, in Ontario, Canada
- North American company went under due to shady financials; thus, no warranty and limited parts availability
- Some reports online about trailers being unstable and swaying at speed; I noted the axle seems to be further forward than on other trailers
- Some reports about miscellaneous quality issues; majority being small and easy to address
Overall it sounded like something I could work with. The problem was that the dealership selling this was 10hrs away. I called them, asked a few questions, made an offer which they accepted (should have gone lower, but I had no other units to look at for reference), and took Friday off. On Thursday evening I took off from home, picked up the unit Friday morning, and started the trip back home.
This 2019 model was previously a rental, so it has a few signs of use, but nothing serious. Most notable current "issues" is cracked caulking/sealant around a few exterior hatches; easy enough to fix.
As I got on the highway I took it up to the speed limit (110kph) and noticed a little bit of sway behind me. Without thinking about it too much, I got up to my "normal" speed limit+10 cruising speed (120kph in this case) and kept on. At one point I made a small correction in my line, and saw a horrible sight in my mirrors: the trailer was swinging at least a foot in each direction. With butt-pucker factor cranked to 100%, I had instant flashbacks of seeing such things on YouTube videos, and the resulting flips of both trailer and tow vehicle. I kept it as straight as I could and accelerated as the slowest possible rate - within 10-15 seconds (felt like an eternity) the trailer settled in and stopped swaying. I slowed down to 100kph and did the rest of the drive at that speed (despite being on many seconds with 120kph speed limits). I've never driven this slow in my life, but I was on pins & needles the entire time.
Got home yesterday morning after spending on night in the trailer. The heat worked awesome and was very, very quiet. The water heater is great (never had one before, so I've got nothing to compare to). The bed is pretty comfy, and overall the trailer is everything we need. It is definitely tight on space, but still a heck of an upgrade from any tent, and I think it's a great middle ground.
Overall construction is exponentially better than the Rockwood trailer we had before, and better than any mainstream trailer I've seen. Of course, it cannot hold a candle to an Airstream, Oliver, Bigfoot, etc., but it is also 1/3rd of the price and fits in the garage. So far it looks like excellent value.
At the dealership:
Waiting for the ferry:
Breakfast on the road:
And home:
Since I had a brand new ARK XO750 jockey wheel sitting in the garage, it went on immediately:
The trailer has a very low tongue weight. Despite a very bad knee (recent surgery) I can lift the tongue in the air by hand. The rake takes things even further by shifting more weight behind the axle. My theory is that since this trailer is of European design, and most vehicles there are tiny, economical and practical (ie. low tow capacity and tongue weights), the axle was intentionally placed further forward than normal to minimize tongue weight.
The instability is dangerous and needs an immediate fix. A lower hitch is an easy fix and I have one on hand, but what it really needs is a weight distributing, stabilizing hitch. There are existing, bolt-on solutions to this referenced in a Facebook owner's group for this trailer, and I will likely be ordering those parts momentarily.
Outside of stability, the biggest immediate issue is clearance. This thing is incredibly low to the ground. The grey water tank & drainage is probably no more than 4" off the pavement, which simply won't do for the forest service roads we intend to go on.
The trailer frame is aluminium (another big plus), and it is sandwiched between the fibreglass. The axle is bolted to this frame from the top, so there is no reasonable way to remove it. What people do is cut the ends of the axle off, and u-bolt a new torsion axle below it, resulting in a 4" lift. I think I can do a 6" lift and still fit in the garage, so that's what I'd like.
I'm considering options to mount Timbren suspension (and a spacer between that and frame), but that's also tricky. On the underside of the trailer is a 3x3, galvanized pole-design tongue that's attached to the inner frame structure. Along the sides of the trailer is steel c-channel. That's it as far as underneath structure goes. To mount Timbren suspension I'd need at least one crossmember, and a way to attach the Timbrens. I have some ideas, and I think it may be doable, but will need to spend some time under the trailer to figure things out.
Beyond stability improvements and lift, I want to:
- extend the tongue with a folding hinge (like on boat trailers)
- get rid of the horrible surge brakes in favour of electric ones
- add a rear bumper and receiver for spare tire (there's no spare on this thing!)
- better rear backup lighting
- custom storage box on the front, to house 2 20lb propane tanks, battery, and likely a few Scepter water cans
- a bunch of interior usability improvements (proper bedding, maybe a mattress topper, hooks and pockets for various storage, paper towel holder, etc.)
Fun times ahead!
.I've been "trailer hunting" ever since we came back from a 5-day, 4-night camping trip a few weeks ago. We (yet again) decided that a RTT isn't cutting it for our favourite type of camping: spring/autumn, and a bit of winter.
After looking at countless trailer manufacturers and models, I put together my criteria as such:
- fibreglass body
- some sort of insulation
- better quality than the mainstream travel trailers
- large main sleeping area (ideally a full size queen bed at 60x80)
- toilet and shower
- a dinette that can convert into another sleeping area for two kids (down the line)
- at least a 20g fresh water tank
- standing room height
- good heater that is quiet enough that I can sleep with it working (the one we had in our previous Rockwood 1640 ESP was very, very loud)
- small fridge
- hot water
- under 20ft in length
- reasonably modern interior
After 1.5 weeks of searching all classifieds multiple times per day, I had completely given up on finding something that meets the above criteria, much less that also fits in the garage. My main search target was Escape trailers, in the 17ft and 19ft layouts. These are highly sought after and very tough to find used. The ones that do show up are usually in the $20-25k CAD range for 12-15 year old models, and they sell literally within hours of being listed. I figured I had a few years worth of searching ahead of me.
Lo and behold, on Wednesday I accidentally stumbled upon this unit. I had never seen these things before, nor even heard of them. At first glance it looked like an absolute unicorn: all of the above criteria were met, AND with the pop-top, it's only 7'4" in height, so it easily clears my 8' garage door. I did some very quick research and made take-away notes:
- European company that has been building products since the 50's
- These units were made by a North American child company, in Ontario, Canada
- North American company went under due to shady financials; thus, no warranty and limited parts availability
- Some reports online about trailers being unstable and swaying at speed; I noted the axle seems to be further forward than on other trailers
- Some reports about miscellaneous quality issues; majority being small and easy to address
Overall it sounded like something I could work with. The problem was that the dealership selling this was 10hrs away. I called them, asked a few questions, made an offer which they accepted (should have gone lower, but I had no other units to look at for reference), and took Friday off. On Thursday evening I took off from home, picked up the unit Friday morning, and started the trip back home.
This 2019 model was previously a rental, so it has a few signs of use, but nothing serious. Most notable current "issues" is cracked caulking/sealant around a few exterior hatches; easy enough to fix.
As I got on the highway I took it up to the speed limit (110kph) and noticed a little bit of sway behind me. Without thinking about it too much, I got up to my "normal" speed limit+10 cruising speed (120kph in this case) and kept on. At one point I made a small correction in my line, and saw a horrible sight in my mirrors: the trailer was swinging at least a foot in each direction. With butt-pucker factor cranked to 100%, I had instant flashbacks of seeing such things on YouTube videos, and the resulting flips of both trailer and tow vehicle. I kept it as straight as I could and accelerated as the slowest possible rate - within 10-15 seconds (felt like an eternity) the trailer settled in and stopped swaying. I slowed down to 100kph and did the rest of the drive at that speed (despite being on many seconds with 120kph speed limits). I've never driven this slow in my life, but I was on pins & needles the entire time.
Got home yesterday morning after spending on night in the trailer. The heat worked awesome and was very, very quiet. The water heater is great (never had one before, so I've got nothing to compare to). The bed is pretty comfy, and overall the trailer is everything we need. It is definitely tight on space, but still a heck of an upgrade from any tent, and I think it's a great middle ground.
Overall construction is exponentially better than the Rockwood trailer we had before, and better than any mainstream trailer I've seen. Of course, it cannot hold a candle to an Airstream, Oliver, Bigfoot, etc., but it is also 1/3rd of the price and fits in the garage. So far it looks like excellent value.
At the dealership:
Waiting for the ferry:
Breakfast on the road:
And home:
Since I had a brand new ARK XO750 jockey wheel sitting in the garage, it went on immediately:
The trailer has a very low tongue weight. Despite a very bad knee (recent surgery) I can lift the tongue in the air by hand. The rake takes things even further by shifting more weight behind the axle. My theory is that since this trailer is of European design, and most vehicles there are tiny, economical and practical (ie. low tow capacity and tongue weights), the axle was intentionally placed further forward than normal to minimize tongue weight.
The instability is dangerous and needs an immediate fix. A lower hitch is an easy fix and I have one on hand, but what it really needs is a weight distributing, stabilizing hitch. There are existing, bolt-on solutions to this referenced in a Facebook owner's group for this trailer, and I will likely be ordering those parts momentarily.
Outside of stability, the biggest immediate issue is clearance. This thing is incredibly low to the ground. The grey water tank & drainage is probably no more than 4" off the pavement, which simply won't do for the forest service roads we intend to go on.
The trailer frame is aluminium (another big plus), and it is sandwiched between the fibreglass. The axle is bolted to this frame from the top, so there is no reasonable way to remove it. What people do is cut the ends of the axle off, and u-bolt a new torsion axle below it, resulting in a 4" lift. I think I can do a 6" lift and still fit in the garage, so that's what I'd like.
I'm considering options to mount Timbren suspension (and a spacer between that and frame), but that's also tricky. On the underside of the trailer is a 3x3, galvanized pole-design tongue that's attached to the inner frame structure. Along the sides of the trailer is steel c-channel. That's it as far as underneath structure goes. To mount Timbren suspension I'd need at least one crossmember, and a way to attach the Timbrens. I have some ideas, and I think it may be doable, but will need to spend some time under the trailer to figure things out.
Beyond stability improvements and lift, I want to:
- extend the tongue with a folding hinge (like on boat trailers)
- get rid of the horrible surge brakes in favour of electric ones
- add a rear bumper and receiver for spare tire (there's no spare on this thing!)
- better rear backup lighting
- custom storage box on the front, to house 2 20lb propane tanks, battery, and likely a few Scepter water cans
- a bunch of interior usability improvements (proper bedding, maybe a mattress topper, hooks and pockets for various storage, paper towel holder, etc.)
Fun times ahead!
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