crosby670
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Post by crosby670 on Mar 24, 2019 5:44:23 GMT -5
I am seriously considering purchasing a 2016 Spree Escape 196S bunkhouse or a 2019 Escape 191 bunkhouse.
It is a single axle, Behind the tire to the wheel well, what should the normal gap distance be?
Should the center of the axle be in the center of the wheel well?
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Post by lynnmor on Mar 24, 2019 8:35:12 GMT -5
Should the center of the axle be in the center of the wheel well? Of course, what is your concern? |
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Post by Edd505 on Mar 24, 2019 14:09:18 GMT -5
I am seriously considering purchasing a 2016 Spree Escape 196S bunkhouse or a 2019 Escape 191 bunkhouse. It is a single axle, Behind the tire to the wheel well, what should the normal gap distance be? Should the center of the axle be in the center of the wheel well? yes unless something bend, broken, or loose. |
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crosby670
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Post by crosby670 on Mar 25, 2019 13:53:41 GMT -5
On the 2016 Spree Escape, under the kitchen cabinet we found about a 6 inch hole where we could see outside. When I looked from the exterior I saw that the gap between the tire and the wheelwell was only 1 inch and the tire I had hit/damaged the sheet metal that opened up the hole to the underside (inside) of the cabinet. That one has 14 inch tires and a 4 inch frame. Obviously I don't want to buy that damaged Escape.
On the new 2019 Escape 191BH, behind the tire there is a slightly better 2 inch gap on the back of the tire to the wheelwell and a 4-5 inch gap from the front of the tire to the wheelwell. Like most people, I would expect the axle to be centered in the wheel well. Is this a design problem? the 2019 Escape 19BH has 15 inch tires with a 5 inch frame so it looks like KZ is trying to correct the issue but they didn't center the axle in the wheel well. I am concerned if I ever hit a pothole, curb or a rock will the tire smash into the wheelwell like it did on that 2016 model???
Are the wavy aluminum roofs a good quality roof that will keep rain water out if maintained with sealant twice a year? How much snow can these aluminum roofs handle? Is it best not to use a cover on these roofs in the New England winters?
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crosby670
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Post by crosby670 on Mar 26, 2019 4:25:37 GMT -5
Is it true that depending on what type of floor plan you have in an Escape, the axle will move forward and back within the wheel well to balance the weight on the tongue best. I am looking into buying a 2019 bunkhouse so the axle is behind the center of the wheel well an inch or two.
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Post by lynnmor on Mar 26, 2019 8:42:32 GMT -5
Are there additional mounting holes?
You should have at least 3" clearance vertically above the tire. It might be that the damaged trailer you saw had a spring failure and that happens often enough.
On a single axle the leaf springs are anchored at one end and floats at the other, so a very small amount of change will happen according to load. Torsion axles may too change a very small amount depending on the angle.
I doubt that the aluminum roof will be a problem with snow. Inspect all seams at least one per year as is the case with any type roof.
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crosby670
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Post by crosby670 on Mar 26, 2019 12:04:56 GMT -5
Thanks Lynnmor! There is at least 3 inches above the tire. Where exactly will the additional mounting holes be? I will look on my next trip to that dealership on April 27th. The 2019 Escape 191BH also has a smaller 2 inch gap behind the tire and a 4-5 inch gap in front of the tire and that trailer is brand new and empty (no additional load) so I don't think it was damaged. I think it was designed that weigh based on that specific floor plan with the bunkhouse. The dealer said the axle is not centered exactly in the center of the wheel-well because of the slide-out and refrigerator location on that floorplan for best weight distribution on the tongue. I am just trying to make sure that is true. Otherwise it may be something wrong with it.
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Post by lynnmor on Mar 26, 2019 16:00:02 GMT -5
I thought that perhaps the spring hangers might have multiple holes so that the axle position could be changed depending on how the trailer is equipped. I doubt they did that but since the axle is offset from the wheel well anything is possible. Look at the spring ends and see if there are optional holes either for the spring eye or for the hanger to be moved.
It might be simply a factory error where the frame manufacturer and KZ were singing from different song books. There is very little engineering going into these things and mistakes are common. If you are not comfortable with the clearances, keep on shopping. You have a good eye, better than the average buyer who would have missed the offset.
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Post by mdconvert on Mar 27, 2019 6:28:05 GMT -5
I have a 196S that is in storage, but going from memory, the wheels are not centered in the wheel well. During our first year of ownership I noticed that the wheels had hit the wheel well. I was told by KZ factory that this is not abnormal but after showing it to the dealer KZ sent them longer spring hangers, which the dealer installed. Also, I know of someone with an older model 196S that also has shown signs that the tire has hit the wheel well.
After the longer hangers were installed the tires still hit the wheel well. Fortunately I had kept an eye on it and made repairs, which were not significant, each time the tire rub occurred.
I then had an additional leaf spring added (I believe it was modified from 4 to now 5 springs) which raised up the body of the trailer enough that it no longer hits. The added leaf spring seems to be a good solution and the handling characteristics of the trailer have been fine. It has the added benefit of taking some of the stress off of the adjoining leafs. That older model 196S mentioned earlier had a leaf break on one of these leafs last summer which may have been prevented by the added leaf - not sure of this, but it is plausible.
During one of my trips to the dealer I looked at one of the newer 196S models and found that the newer trailers have an added piece of metal (call it a spacer, if you will) that is between the frame of the trailer and where the leaf spring hanger attaches. I believe this spacer is 1" to 1 1/2".
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crosby670
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Post by crosby670 on Mar 30, 2019 20:56:56 GMT -5
Thanks for your knowledge and input!!
We decided to purchase the 2019 escape 191bh. The gap distance behind the wheel is the same on both sides so I’m not gonna worry about how it’s not exactly centered in the wheel well as it sounds like they’re engineering is not as precise as most cars and trucks. There is no additional mounting holes for the leafspring or axle. It has 3 leafs. We will be taking our first long trip very soon.
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k0vwa
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Post by k0vwa on Apr 2, 2019 9:49:53 GMT -5
<snip> Are the wavy aluminum roofs a good quality roof that will keep rain water out if maintained with sealant twice a year? How much snow can these aluminum roofs handle? Is it best not to use a cover on these roofs in the New England winters?
We have a 2014 Escape 196 (bought used in 2015). Had a cover on it in April 2016 when we got 27" snow in 24 hours. Heavy wet spring snow. Trailer did just fine. No leaks or cracks. That was the only year I've left it covered in winter though. It took *weeks* for the snow to melt enough to get the cover off. Summer comes late here at 8500' in Colorado but waiting weeks for snow to melt so I could get the cover off was an eye opener. Don't know why it seemed to take so long to melt with the cover but it's a lot quicker without it. We've had snow on the ground since 12th of November. Still have a few 2' drifts but those will likely melt in the next few days.
Really nice to hear KZ making the Escape a little more capable, load wise. Our right tire has bottomed out once. I replaced the wheel liner the first time and had heavier-duty springs installed. Even with that it's touched one more time but just rubbed a little.
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