5th wheel trailers

[Alexandra B]

hi there

we are thinking about getting a 19' ft scamp 5th wheel and are wondering about how you can tell if you are getting a good deal. This one is located in Ca and is a 2004 and he is asking 8500. I am wondering how rare they are and the maintenance side of things. We have had an Rv and been a little upset about the maintenance and resale of it. It seems to me having read a little here for a while now that in general fiber glass trailers hold their value, and I am wondering if this is true for 5th wheels too.

Any input would be valued for my family to make the choice.

thanks

Alexandra and mataniu

[Lizbeth]

If it's in good shape and fits you families needs then I'd make an offer. Scamp 5th are not that rare but if it's close in So Cal then that would make the whole deal easier.

[peterh]

Our 2005 5er with lots of goodies (most everything except an air conditioner) cost us $11,000 when we bought it in 2006, and we've never regretted buying it. Check out the FiberglassRV Buyer's Check List and give the trailer a good solid once-over before you buy; if it checks out with no major problems $8,500 sounds like an excellent price, and one that won't depreciate much if you keep the trailer in good shape. It's not uncommon to see ten and fifteen year old Scamp 5ers selling in the $6,500 range.

[Alan Weinel]

Remember - it is a gooseneck, not a true 5th. So you have to either get the SCAMP hitch or have one made. Also, depending on the tow vehicle (TV) you might have clearance issues - side rails on newer trucks are higher than old. If the old TV was a Ranger or similar small rig, you may need to raise the unit. Ideal situation would be the old TV was similar to YOURs.

Re: Pricing - much depend on how equipped it is. Air / no air. and so on.

enjoy the hunt....

Alan W.

[Harvey J]

I have been thinking about the Scamp fifth wheel also. So, can they be towed with a short bed small pickup truck? Ranger, Dakota, Tacoma, etc.?

Harvey

[Alan Weinel]

In theory. AS ALWAYS Run the calcs. Over in the Scampers forum http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scampers/ you will get a variety of opinions. And I **believe** there has been discussion on how to calculate.

one BIG differenct I personally noticed was that we had an F-150 V-6 **STANDARD** 5 speed. The towing capacity was VERY low. I think under 5,000#. WELL under as I recall. That was one of the reasons we upgraded. My buddy also has a scamp 5er and he tugs with the chevy 1/2 ton, v-6 standard 5 speed. his truck has lots of miles on it, so it is hard to tell... but on the way back from backus to california, he had transmission problems. Probably WOULD have happened anyway, but I think he might be right at the limit.

RUN the calcs.

[peterh]

I have been thinking about the Scamp fifth wheel also. So, can they be towed with a short bed small pickup truck? Ranger, Dakota, Tacoma, etc.?

Harvey

We tow ours with a 3.0 3.0 Liter V6 2-wheel drive Ford Ranger and a friend of ours pulls his 5er with a 4-cylinder Toyota Tacoma, so it's quite do-able.

Our Ranger does OK . . . we took it over the continental divide last summer, and while it did kind of grind its way up the steeper hills at 45 mph, it made it up and over. Our MPG while towing has ranged from 14 to 17 MPG with the trailer, and somewhere around 19 mpg without. A little more motor on those hills would have been nice, but it's far from necessary. The only modifications we made to our Ranger for towing the trailer was adding the Scamp hitch, Prodigy brake controller, and rear suspension airbags.

We do wish our Ranger had a little more tow capacity rating. The combined gross weight maximum (truck, trailer, and everything in them) for our ranger is 7500 lbs, and we've come awfully close when fully loaded with fuel, food, clothing, supplies, two adults and a big dog, as it was last summer.

If we were to buy a new TV today we'd likely opt for a 5-cylinder Chevy Colorado extended cab. It has more torque (more important than horsepower), a higher tow rating, better gas mileage and more space inside.