What kind of camper do you have?

Or a FLIR infrared camera to check for water and air leaks. They make several models. Most expensive is $400
FLIR ONE Gen 3 Thermal Camera for Smart Phones | FLIR Systems

 

If you’re thinking about a FG trailer, take a look at Casitas. I had an ‘03 model that I used for eight years and sold it for more than I paid for it. I now have a Lance, which is top notch quality.

 

These trailers are manufactured 10 minutes from our house and a friend of mine was responsible for welding the first few hundred frames. We really like these units - their fit and finish is excellent - but, with my height of 6'2", I can't stand up straight in them.
Enjoy your new baby!

 

Yeah, I'm 6'1" so I'll be right up against the ceiling, but we went and looked at one in person and I didn't feel any more cramped than our NoBo. One of my biggest issues with the NoBo was the small bathroom and the short queen bed when sleeping due to my height. The Escape beats it hands down in those two regards. I even ordered the Escape to have the bathroom sink removed so I could have more leg room in there.

But yeah I actually like that it's lower than most similar-sized trailers, especially since we'll be towing it with the Tacoma. Should help out in the aerodynamics.

 

You will love it. Aside from the height bit, our Canadian Dollar pretty much took the price well beyond our comfort level... we also didn't want to wait a year and a half to go camping

 

Man, we got so lucky with timing. Literally within two weeks of putting our deposit down, the production dates had been filled through the entirety of 2021. Totally nuts.

 

Picked her up on Thursday and had a successful shakedown run at Deception Pass! Escape 19.









disregard the cheese whiz...

 

Why, were you gettin crazy with it?

 

How was the tow? It makes me happy to see another quality trailer on the road.

 

Picked up this trailer on the weekend. Even with the WDH the truck still had a bit more squat in the back than I was hoping for. Looking at something like the hellwig helper springs to fix the issue. Was also very happy with the redarc brake controller. Overall towed really well for the first time with it.

 

Can you not get crazy with cheese whiz?!

Someone just suggested the next-level of cheese whiz munching to me: putting it into Bugles. How have I never heard of this??

It towed great! The dual axle and lower roof line helped a lot I'm sure. I also finally got the OVTune last week before the trip, and that helped a lot with the powertrain dynamics compared to towing our previous travel trailer. Granted, I didn't do any mountain passes or anything like that. I'm sure whenever I finally do tackle one, my brain will be thinking "tundra tundra tundra" but I'm confident the Tacoma can definitely handle this size trailer in 97% of situations. Just that damn payload capacity always in the back of my mind...(I've also got the obvious weight distribution hitch as well as Dobinson 110R rear springs which I believe help a lot as well)

The quality difference between this and out NoBo 16.5 is quite impossible to put into words. There's just no comparison at all between the craftsmanship and build quality and design choices. The Escape is on a completely different level. Can't even begin to imagine what something like an Oliver would be like, but it's hard for me to believe it's twice the trailer of the Escape. Whereas the Escape is most certainly twice the trailer of the Forest River stuff.

I fully expect this trailer to last a lifetime, and assuming history holds true, it should maintain its value pretty substantially as well. Kind of feels like a Toyota of the travel trailer world.

 

Looks like you've got the Fastway E2 as well? Did you do the full front fender height measurement process setting it up? You may still have a little wiggle room for adjustability to level it out some.

Also yeah, the Redarc brake controller is great both functionally and aesthetically.

 

That was my exact experience with a very similar forest river product. Land fill fodder all dolled up. The crazy thing is the forest river rpod msrp has gone up to match the price listed for your escape! Why anyone is buying that junk new is lost on me now.

I think you will be alright with your pickup. You'll learn what it likes and what it doesn't.

Anyways enjoy the new camper. It changed the pace of our travel. Travel trailers are the best way to see the United States.

 

Just looked at RVTrader. Wow you aren't kidding. I had no idea prices had jumped that high. As I'm sure you're already aware, demand is crazy right now and COVID is still screwing up all sorts of supply chains, but I didn't expect prices to get that high. Once supply chains catch back up and people are back to going on normal vacations, the used market is going to be absolutely saturated. Craziness...

 

I too saw the increase in prices just frequenting RVtrader, I am holding out for another year or two when the Covid boom slows down and all those people who bought during and before covid get tired of their stuff and get rid of it. hopefully flooding the market of lightly used campers trying to be sold quick.

 

Ya I think I got about as much of the squat equalized as I could with setup. Thought I might have it wrong and took it into a rv dealer to have them check it out but when their tech looked at it he said it’s about as good as it will get. It’s about an inch of squat in the back and maybe half an inch up front. It drove fine but would like to have it leveled out a bit more in the future.

 

Thanks! Actually they bring it across the border into Sumas, WA and you just drive away with it. No hassle with customs or anything as the customer. Super simple.

(or if you don't live in Washington or want to make the drive, they deliver it to anywhere in the US for a fee)

 

Looks awesome, congrats!

 

Looking good!