My 13' Scamp arrived from MN yesterday and I'm excited. Brent who drove it down made very good time and it seems took good care of my little egg. No bumps or bruises.
I'm getting to know the Scamp and love it. It's hard to believe how much is packed into that small space. The new accordion blinds are an improvement over the curtains I've seen in pictures and I'm told the door and very substantial hinges may be new as well. The drain hose container is now underneath rather than across the front. I don't know when these changes were made. The wireless brake controller seems to work well in my short drive excursions.
One thing that confuses me is the table and bed support. I got the wider bed. The support includes the table in the down position and a second piece of the same material laid end to end to it. The result is that when I convert to a table, it is shorter than the one-piece table with the angled cuts at the end used for the narrower bed. And I have this extra piece that I have no place to store when the table is up. It literally doesn't fit in any storage space in the trailer. I know other people get the larger bed. What do you do with that piece? I'm actually considering cutting it in half to make it easier to store. I also have an idea of a way to use at least per of it to extend the table. I won't do that right away. Maybe other have a good suggestion!
The roof fan is even better than I hoped. Quite powerful and quiet.
At several people's suggestions along the way, I'm going to go by my tire store and have them check the balance of the tires.
I hope to get out on a trial overnight even this coming week.
Tom
Because I never have 4 people at the table, I have room to store the extension under the table on the “rails” next to the back wall. That gives me a place to store things like ham radios while set up, the picture is from before I started doing that. Also note that the tables need to be down when on the road.
Tires will need to be balanced and may not even be round. If you are new to the RV lifestyle, a camping “trip” in your own driveway can be a learning experience.
P.S.: Be sure to get all of the road salt washed off the frame, it can cause rust, It’s winter up north and most of us are hibernating.
That is a good suggestions, though it seems like it would still take up a lot of space. But if I did my idea of just cutting it in half, I could stack them as you've suggested. Thanks for sharing that.
I'm amazed that the tires might not be round. Is there something about trailer tires that I don't understand? There are weights on the rim so the tires were at least statically balanced. There is a post in eTrailer (link from another thread) that suggests that balancing trailer tires is optional since there are no ride issues. Seems odd to me, but I'm new to trailers.
I may do the overnight in the driveway. That seems like a good idea. It still gets below freezing here at night (5,000'), so no water. I will have shore power. I understand the table should be down when traveling, but why? Is it just less stable and could dislodge in a hard bump?
Thanks
Tom
The weights on your wheels are something new. You may be OK already. When I replaced the tires on my 2017, two of the tire dealers were quick to say "we never balance trailer tires", I went down the street.
Scamp did not do it when I bought mine in 2017. They made a LOT of good changes this year.
The table will bounce around on the mounts if up. The mounts are just not that strong and screws will get loose..
Glad to see you ( acOgv) mention the tires may be out of round. Four years or so ago I bought a new Trophy aluminum side by side trailer. I noticed it had a vibration. I jacked up the trailer and put a 2X6 under the lowest point of the tread and adjusted the jack so the tread was close to the 2X. I put a trouble light on the ground to the rear of tire and spun the tire around. Wow, was it out of round. I made a video with my IPad. Load Star sent me a new tire right away.
Congrats Tom on your new trailer! May you have many happy trips with it!
Doug
We usually store the extra bed board on the "rails" against the back wall. It makes a good shelf where we store our bedding while the table is set up. I did build a stand for the bed board so it could be used as a table but we have not used it much.
Nicely done. I have a metal fold-up table that I use camping. I read in another thread someone just substituted several 1x6 boards which are then easy to stow. I was thinking along that line. After all, many bed frames use a series of slats.
Several people have mentioned just putting on the rail under the table and even storing your bedding there. I like that idea as well, though I'd be inclined to cut it in half to take up less space under the table. Anyway, great ideas. Thanks!
Tom
I was surprised that the Scamp does not have backup lights, especially since they make a point of specifying the center plug pin for that. I wasn't ready to pop for the backup camera they offered. I asked if they could run wires up there for when I am ready and was told they prep all the trailers now for that. Hopefully that means there are backup wires at the rear of the trailer. Hope so.
I've read here that the manual was not helpful but wow, it is bad. It leaves out all kinds of things and gives instructions for appliance brands no longer used. To that end, there is a small ball valve along the bottom edge of the trailer, under the frig panels. I opened it and a bit of water came out under mild pressure and then stopped (pressure could be the altitude change to 5K'). Anyone know what that valve is?
Of course the manuals for each appliance answer many questions but not about the various elements of the trailer. There is a DC cutoff under the door to the front cabinet (bath model). It isn't mentioned in the manual, at least that I see. Did I miss it? We couldn't figure out why the battery didn't seem to have juice. Duh. Nice feature. Would have been nice to have it mentioned somewhere.
Loving the trailer. Just some details are puzzling.
Tom
Scamp has had them for years. Did they quit when the went to LED??
That was dumb!
Note also that the Scamp print information is lacking much useful information. The videos are better but there are some problems there too.
If you haven't done so already, Go to U tube and search SCAMP TRAILERS WALKTHROUGH. Hopefully this will help.
Doug
Hey Doug, thanks for that suggestion. I thought I'd seen what was there but was wrong. There's one for the new 13' like mine that shows all the changes and the current appliances. And the new cutoff switch. It did not mention the valve under the trailer by the frig. I may just call and ask, but it answered a bunch of other questions. Thanks for the tip.
I noted that he says the 12v frig setting is only for emergencies and that it will drain the battery quickly. I assumed the 12v was for towing but saw a comment in another thread about the frig draining the battery even while connected to the TV. I'll clarify that when I call as well. I'll also ask about the backup lights and wires.
Thanks again!
Tom
update: looking under the trailer I see there are two ball valves, not just the one I can see from the side. They are hooked to blue and red hoses. I'm assuming these are water drains, hot and cold. I'll confirm with Scamp.
Pages