There are two different driving routes between my home and my trailer’s storage yard. One route is a road that goes under a railroad bridge with a sign that says there is 12 feet of clearance. When I have the trailer in tow, I never take that route, I always go the longer way around because I’ve never known for sure how tall Towhee the Trailer is.
Here’s a photo (below) of that road with the railroad bridge. So, question, is there 12 feet of clearance on the left side (where the sign is), so it’s more like 13 feet on the right side? But coming from the other direction, the 12-foot sign is on the opposite side that obviously has more clearance. So maybe the clearance is only 11 feet on the left side when viewed in the image below, and the 12-foot clearance is on the right above the lower section of the road. The road sure does slant. And from inside my pickup truck, the clearance doesn’t look like 12 feet anywhere! AND I’ve seen several commercial trucks stopped on the road there, needing to back up because they were too tall to go under the railroad bridge, even with signs back along the road, which makes me think there really is NOT 12 feet of clearance.
I purchased this Escape Trailer Industries (ETI) trailer back in 2018. They told me the trailer was less than 11 feet tall. But I’ve always wondered exactly how tall it is. What is the height of the trailer? And what clearance under bridges and roofs and things do I need to pay attention to? When adding options to the build of the trailer, I opted to have the trailer “lifted” by three inches so the bottom of the trailer is higher, for entering/exiting driveways and for off-roading (for added clearance UNDER the trailer). So that option added three inches to the height of the trailer. And I opted to have an A/C unit installed on the roof, which adds about 8 inches of height. I’ve been wondering about the height of this trailer ever since I bought this trailer in 2018.
Well, today, in 2025, I finally managed to get myself together to figure it out. Yay!
For years now, I’ve been thinking about how to measure the height of the trailer … with a 2×4 piece of wood on each side, propped up … and then another 2×4 lying across them just clearing the air conditioning unit (the highest point) on the top of the trailer’s roof. But how would I make sure that upper 2×4 was level? That it wasn’t tilted? How would I hold both upright 2x4s in place while I climbed up to measure?
Ah, but today I finally figured out how to do it that made sense and would be accurate, and would be easy!
The trailer is stored in covered parking, and is in the end spot, right next to a wall … right next to a wall! Piece of cake! 🙂
Here’s what I did.
First I got my ladder out. Then I got my “level” out. Then I got my black marker pen out. And then I got a nice eight-foot long piece of 2×4 wood out of my garage at home … a piece of 2×4 that did not curve, did not bend, but was perfectly straight. Oh, and then I got my camera out to take photos. 🙂
In the photos above and below, you can see that the air conditioning unit is the highest point (the RED arrow below). Other stuff is on the roof too … refrigerator workings, and the solar panel, and some vents, etc. But that one point on the A/C unit is the highest point.
Photo below … the ladder, the 2×4 in front of the ladder with the 2×4 leaning against the wall, and a level perched on top of the ladder.
As well, there’s a measuring tape, and a black marker pen. And of course, my camera is in hand. Ready to measure up!
I climbed the ladder, lifted the 2×4 into place on top of that point on the A/C unit. Held it in place with one hand, took a photo with the other hand. Did not fall off the ladder.
Then I rested the left end of the 2×4 onto a cross beam on the wall of the storage building, and I placed the level on top of the 2×4, and I took the photo below.
But obviously the 2×4 certainly wasn’t level. So I climbed up the ladder and lifted the left end of that 2×4 until the level told me that the 2×4 was level.
I carefully balanced on the ladder, and carefully lifted just the left end of that 2×4 until it was level, then used the black marker pen to mark the bottom of the 2×4. Then I checked the level reading again … oops, I had let the 2×4 slip. So I re-positioned the 2×4, double checked the level reading, then made another mark, then held everything in place with one hand, kept my balance on the top of the ladder with the other hand, and took a photo of the correct mark (below) with my third hand. Ok, actually it wasn’t all that hard, but still, I was very careful!
Then I put my camera down on top of the trailer roof, along with the black pen and the level. And then I lowered that 8-foot 2×4 to the ground and leaned it against the storage wall. Then I brought down everything else (camera, marker pen, level, me).
And then I measured from that top black line … all the way down to the gravel. Here below is my very professionally crafted, mathematically precise, detailed engineering diagram illustrating the measurements.
9.75 feet = 9 feet and 9 inches! Now I know how tall my trailer is!
Isn’t she the most beautiful, the most perfect trailer ever? I think so.
On the other hand, I still don’t trust that 12-foot clearance sign under that railroad bridge. One of these days you’ll find me out there measuring it. I will report my findings!
Ah, just one little blog business item here, ok? In the past two months, there have been five new subscribers to the blog. Welcome! I sure hope each of you folks enjoys this blog. But if something different would suit your fancy, then I hope you find other blogs that you enjoy. Comments are more than welcome here … questions, ideas, places you’ve camped, how you do things if you have/had an RV, who you are, where you live, where you’ve traveled anywhere in the world, what’s your favorite photo in each blog post, etc. Bottom line is that you are welcome here whether you comment or not. Thank you for riding along! I love the company, I really do. 🙂