My wife and I bought a Scamp 19 last August and have only had it out 4 times and did less than 1000 miles since bringing it home from Scamp. This last time after getting back I noticed that the door side of the camper was lower than the opposite side by about two inches and the tire had begun eating into the trim of the camper. I got underneath and it's difficult to tell, but it appears that the axle on the door side was tilted upwards just a bit more than the opposite side, and IMHO, that's why it's lower on the door side. Does anyone know what would cause this? I've never taken it off road, and it's brand new. Waiting to hear back from Scamp and and waiting to get into a nearby RV dealer. May be down awhile as they are months out on repairs. Hoping that this will be a covered repair!! Has anyone else had such a problem in so short a time?
Thanks!
I think more pics would help. Especially from the other side for comparison, one from the rear, and one where it's contacting the trim.
Any chance the trailer is loaded unusually heavy on the curb side. ? ? But this does seem odd. to rub. It is not uncommon for these type of axles to have the arms pointing up instead of down in reference to the ground? I never really understood this but our 2019 13 was like yours.
2019 Scamp 13 standard
The camper is unloaded, no weight bearing difference on one side compared to the other. I'm attaching pics with a tape measure from both the good side and the bad side. The measurements that are higher are the good side.
More pics
And more Pics. Sorry, not a good angle to get a picture of the back of the camper.
Axle might not be attached square on frame. With it being new things happen they will make it right.
Have Scamp will travel !
It not only is lower on that side, but it's not centered for-aft in the wheel well. It needs to be centered well enough to have full suspension travel without the tire rubbing anything.
Maybe the rubber torsion parts have failed, plus the axle mounting is off in the for-aft direction. Suggest taking measurements from the axle mount to somewhere on the frame, on both sides.
First the scamp shell is not symmetrical, the curb side is lower for the molding of the shell for the door. Check your tire and wheel size. Your measurement at the end of the swing arm is a result of tire/wheel size or tire pressure. There is about a 1" difference in height between a 13, 14 or 15" tire and wheel. A miss match in tire size will also affect your axle beam height as shown in the later pictures. The closeness to the shell and tire can be adjusted by removing the black trim, trimming the fiberglass and reinstalling the trim strip. This is a common adjustment made when installing larger tires. Also If your frig. water heater and water tank are on the same side the trailer will tend to sit a little lower on that side.
Eddie
1st, thanks for both comments. I will take more measurements before the day is done. Regarding the weight being on the lower side of the camper, not the case. The larger size fridge is on the higher side, the stove, sink, and fresh water tank(empty) are on the lower side. regarding tire pressure, they are both the same pressure, lol I didn't check the tire size but will when I go out. But this has only recently reared it's head, I didn't look for or notice at Scamp, and just recently realized something wasn't sitting right. There's about a 3/4 to 1 inch difference in height on the axle from side to side. In my simple mind, I think back to Geometry in HS. A 1degree angle wouldn't have much difference at the beginning, but the further out you go the further the distance becomes. Also, the angle draws the tire towards the camper and the camper towards the tire doubling the effect. Hence that's why I think it's an axle issue. I'm going to take a straight edge circular saw guide to verify the frame is not bent.I emailed Scamp about 5 days ago and noone's contacted me back other than to say that they received my email and forwarded it on. A little nervous about what's possibly covered and frustrated that I'm grounded in my driveway with a new camper that I'm dying to use!!! All the local RV places are booked in regards to repairs for at least 1 to 2 months out!! Again thanks for the input and will put more info later.
If the tires have the same rolling diameter (meaning that the centerline of the wheel to ground is the same distance), the center-line of the axle and wheel bearings near the end of the swing arm will be the same height off the ground regardless of the side-to-side weight imbalance or the condition of the rubber in the torsion axle. A lot of weight on one side will change the angle of the swing arm, but the center-line of the wheel bearing to the ground will only change a tiny amount from the tire flattening out a bit from the additional load.
When taking measurements, take a lot of care to get straight-line measurements that are perpendicular or parallel to the ground, or exactly the same on either side. The flatter (and level) the driveway the better, as that can throw off the comparison as well.
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