Scamp 19' tire size? - Fiberglass RV
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 05-31-2009, 08:34 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Randya's Avatar
 
Trailer: 2005 17 ft Casita
Posts: 157
Dealer told me that the new 19' Scamps have 13' tires. It makes me scratch my head, with my 17" tow vehicle tires, those little Scamp tires would pick up about 25 miles extra for every 100 miles driven. My tires would be 19" larger circumfrnece than a 13"x 195x 65 tire. Has anyone put bigger tires on a Scamp 19'? Like 14" or maybe even 15"?
Randya is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-01-2009, 11:26 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2008 19 ft Scamp Custom Deluxe 5th Wheel
Posts: 134
bummer. Our deluxe 19'er has 14" wheels - but then it also had a lift added due to the heigth of the truck bed wall sizes. So I am not sure exactly where Scamp recommends an upsize - whether the weight of the deluxe, the height of the new trucks, or both.

Agree, tho, that those little puppies, AND THE WHEEL BEARINGS, will work extra hard. Have you looked into the cost to upgrade? Is there room?
PERSONALLY, one upgrade on my list is to go to Chrome Smoothies and Baby Moons... oh ya!! We will be lookin' sharp.


Off topic side story... WAY back in the day, early 70's - before Honda became a "mainstream" auto producer, they first marketed a "Honda Car" - with a 600cc (no kidding!), air cooled, TWO cylinder engine. The REAL kicker, tho, was that it had....... 10" WHEELS. Tiny little fellas. And, one time I was coming back from Reno, downhill on I-80 towards Sacramento, and me speed kinda drifted up.... oh ... maybe ... ummm.... let's just say "well over" 85mph. Which isn't THAT bad, until you realize that those little 10" wheels were doing WELL OVER 100mph. That slowed ME down.



Quote:
Dealer told me that the new 19' Scamps have 13' tires. It makes me scratch my head, with my 17" tow vehicle tires, those little Scamp tires would pick up about 25 miles extra for every 100 miles driven. My tires would be 19" larger circumfrnece than a 13"x 195x 65 tire. Has anyone put bigger tires on a Scamp 19'? Like 14" or maybe even 15"?
Alan Weinel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-01-2009, 06:02 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Randya's Avatar
 
Trailer: 2005 17 ft Casita
Posts: 157
I had a little Honda in 79, civic sedan, it had 12" wheels, no ground clearence, had to dodge turtles in the road. And only go 35 mpg and room for two barely! LOL! Those were the days!

As for the Scamp I was looking at stock on hand, not an order. But maybe I could order and still get one before fall. THe salesman tried to deter me from a highlift axle, saying "you will have plenty of clearence, and I take one into the woods all the time"! But I wan't the lift for taller tires and ground clearence.
Randya is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-01-2009, 07:15 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Alf S.'s Avatar
 
Trailer: 2007 19 ft Escape 5.0 / 2002 GMC (1973 Boler project)
Posts: 4,148
Registry
Send a message via Yahoo to Alf S.
Hi: Randya...1 more plus for Escape 5.0's. 15" tires& wheels std., and with our axle lift room for 16"ers.
Just got back from Michigan. Avg. MPG 18.3 per Imp. Gal.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie
Alf S. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-01-2009, 10:13 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2008 19 ft Scamp Custom Deluxe 5th Wheel
Posts: 134
***THe salesman tried to deter me ***

Bad Salesman! Bad Boy! He should LISTEN, educate (if necessary), and then respect the customer's wishes. After all, it **IS** your money!
You get to build the trailer that YOU want.



Quote:
I had a little Honda in 79, civic sedan, it had 12" wheels, no ground clearence, had to dodge turtles in the road. And only go 35 mpg and room for two barely! LOL! Those were the days!

As for the Scamp I was looking at stock on hand, not an order. But maybe I could order and still get one before fall. THe salesman tried to deter me from a highlift axle, saying "you will have plenty of clearence, and I take one into the woods all the time"! But I wan't the lift for taller tires and ground clearence.
Alan Weinel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-02-2009, 09:46 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Randya's Avatar
 
Trailer: 2005 17 ft Casita
Posts: 157
Yes, I think he was just trying to sell stock on hand, it did turn me off a little, the OSB underside doesn't set well either, is the OSB on Scamps coated or covered? Yes the plus's for the Escape are mounting, ALF S, what is on the underside of your Escape? Fiberglass or wood?
Randya is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2009, 05:19 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Alf S.'s Avatar
 
Trailer: 2007 19 ft Escape 5.0 / 2002 GMC (1973 Boler project)
Posts: 4,148
Registry
Send a message via Yahoo to Alf S.
Hi: Randya... The under side is completely fiberglassed and sealed...so no road dust gets in!!! The drain channels run the full length of the hull and the floor is raised above them. If it weren't for the drain holes the 5.0 would float.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie p.s. The drain "Pontoons" also hide the frame from view...unless you get right down under!!!
Attached Thumbnails
downunder.jpg  
Alf S. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2009, 05:46 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Alf S.'s Avatar
 
Trailer: 2007 19 ft Escape 5.0 / 2002 GMC (1973 Boler project)
Posts: 4,148
Registry
Send a message via Yahoo to Alf S.
Hi: Randya... It's me again... I forgot to mention that the windows are less likely to leak as they aren't installed on the curve of the shell but in flattened out areas of the walls. It's much better to install a flat window in a flat wall.
The sub floor doesn't extend to the outside walls to permit any condensation to pass by into the "Pontoons". In the rear dinette storage bins you can actually slip your hand under the sub floor. The propane bottles are completely enclosed and sealed in their compartment, with a drain/vent as well. This type of construction is a major part of the price diff. and well worth it. IMHO!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie
Attached Thumbnails
say_aaah.jpg  
Alf S. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2009, 10:56 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
ronsmith100's Avatar
 
Trailer: Casita
Posts: 451
One thing exciting about my trip to Alaska I have routed it through Escape-town (Chilliwack?) and get to see my first Escape up close and talk to Rease and Tammy! The more I hear about the escape the more sure I am of intelligent design... the trailer kind
ronsmith100 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2009, 05:27 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
Alf S.'s Avatar
 
Trailer: 2007 19 ft Escape 5.0 / 2002 GMC (1973 Boler project)
Posts: 4,148
Registry
Send a message via Yahoo to Alf S.
Hi: ronsmith100... I hope you have a great trip and take lots of pic's. Looking forward to your C'wack report. Buying our rig used; we have not experienced the Reace& Tammy touch!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie
Alf S. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2009, 05:34 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
Donna D.'s Avatar
 
Trailer: 1988 16 ft Scamp Deluxe
Posts: 25,697
Quote:
Dealer told me that the new 19' Scamps have 13' tires.
Attached Thumbnails
Scamp19.jpg  
__________________
Donna D.
Ten Forward - 2014 Escape 5.0 TA
Double Yolk - 1988 16' Scamp Deluxe
Donna D. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2009, 06:11 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
peterh's Avatar
 
Trailer: 2005 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel
Posts: 1,555
Registry
When one of the 13" tires on our Scamp 5er was giving out we moved up to a 14" tire because our 5th wheel is a heavy trailer and the larger tire can carry more weight.

The base Scamp may weigh just 2000 lbs and is well within safety limits for the the 13" tires it comes with, but load your trailer up with options (ours came with a furnace, large refrigerator, water heater, two propane tanks, fresh water tank and pump, flush toilet, black and gray water holding tanks, battery, overhead cabinets, a cabinet pre-wired for a microwave, and other goodies, none of which are included in the spec weight for our trailer) and load it up with a microwave for the aforementioned microwave cabinet, then add and the usual food, fresh water, propane, clothes and other gear needed for a couple weeks of dry camping and our 5er weighs 3300-3500 lbs with up to 2800 pounds of that sitting on the trailer axle.

The 13" tires our trailer came with were rated for only 1350 pounds each (2700 pounds for the axle), so fully loaded our axle may carry 100 pounds more than the rated capacity of the tires our trailer came with. Prior to upgrading our tires we were pretty careful about loading our trailer, emptying the holding tanks and draining the fresh tank before heading out on the freeway, and I regularly weighed our trailer at closed truck scales to check and make sure we weren't running too heavy, but even so it really isn't surprising that the curb-side tire (the one on the heavier side of our trailer where our water heater, 'fridge, and microwave all reside) developed a bulge where a tread separation occurred and nearly failed. We were lucky: I caught the problem when I parked the trailer at the end of a trip, but we could have had a blowout that day while we were towing.


Click image for larger version

Name:	09Feb16BadTire1.jpg
Views:	16
Size:	148.9 KB
ID:	20827


We replaced the stock 13" rims and tires with 14" rims and tires that have a rated capacity of 1860lbs per tire (3720 lbs for the axle). The larger tire fit without our having to make any changes to our trailer . . . but our trailer had been "lifted" to provide clearance for the high rails on the previous owner's tow vehicle. We have heard, however, from several Scamp owners with standard-clearance trailers who have fit 14" and 15" rims without problems.

Upgrading our trailer tires had an added bonus for us, too: Our Ford Ranger TV and the trailer rims have the same bolt pattern, so now we have larger trailer tires we can now use our only slightly larger (15" rim) Ranger spare on our trailer. Using mis-matched tire sizes is not an ideal towing solution, but it's good enough to use as a short-term solution to get to a tire shop where the failed trailer tire can be fixed or replaced.

One thing I did not worry about when I replaced the tire was reducing my tire's tread wear or wear to the trailer's wheel hub bearings A tire's circumference is the diameter of the tire times pi (3.14). The diameter of a tire is roughly 12" larger than its rim, so every inch added to the rim size increases the tire's diameter by about 4%. Since the larger tires, without rims, cost 25% more than 13" replacement tires I'll never make up the difference in tire cost and wear. As for wear and tear on the wheel hubs, re-packing the bearings every year or two will do more to reduce wear-and-tear than reducing the rate the tire spins by 4%.

So, no, going to a larger tire size does not reduce maintenance costs associated with regular wear-and-tear, but it does increase how much weight you can carry and improve your safety margin, and that's a good deal. The real curiosity here is why Scamp doesn't put 14" tires on their 5th wheel trailers to start with.
Attached Thumbnails
09Feb16BadTire2.jpg  
peterh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2009, 08:20 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Randya's Avatar
 
Trailer: 2005 17 ft Casita
Posts: 157
Thank you Peter! That is great information.

We are accompanied by our granduaghter every weekend, we sold our 16' Scamp to get a little more room for me and the wife, and bought a Casita back in 06. But now with a third little person, we feel we need more room. So our attention has turned to a 5th wheel, my wife wants a conventional rv 5th wheel, I want a Scamp or Escape 5er. I know the pros and cons, and cost differences as to standard and optional features. I am leaning towards the Scamp
right now. Availibility I guess.
Randya is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-10-2009, 05:20 PM   #14
Junior Member
 
Trailer: 1995 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel
Posts: 3
Quote:
The base Scamp may weigh just 2000 lbs and is well within safety limits for the the 13" tires it comes with, but load your trailer up with options (ours came with a furnace, large refrigerator, water heater, two propane tanks, fresh water tank and pump, flush toilet, black and gray water holding tanks, battery, overhead cabinets, a cabinet pre-wired for a microwave, and other goodies, none of which are included in the spec weight for our trailer) and load it up with a microwave for the aforementioned microwave cabinet, then add and the usual food, fresh water, propane, clothes and other gear needed for a couple weeks of dry camping and our 5er weighs 3300-3500 lbs with up to 2800 pounds of that sitting on the trailer axle.

The 13" tires our trailer came with were rated for only 1350 pounds each (2700 pounds for the axle), so fully loaded our axle may carry 100 pounds more than the rated capacity of the tires our trailer came with. Prior to upgrading our tires we were pretty careful about loading our trailer, emptying the holding tanks and draining the fresh tank before heading out on the freeway, and I regularly weighed our trailer at closed truck scales to check and make sure we weren't running too heavy, but even so it really isn't surprising that the curb-side tire (the one on the heavier side of our trailer where our water heater, 'fridge, and microwave all reside) developed a bulge where a tread separation occurred and nearly failed. We were lucky: I caught the problem when I parked the trailer at the end of a trip, but we could have had a blowout that day while we were towing.
Hi Peter, I'm new at this and am a little confused by your post. The GVWR on our 19ft Scamp is 3000 pounds. I believe that is the maximum safe weight for pulling the trailer. Are you saying that by adding tires that have a higher rating you can actually go over the GVWR?
PatMa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-10-2009, 09:06 PM   #15
Senior Member
 
peterh's Avatar
 
Trailer: 2005 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel
Posts: 1,555
Registry
Quote:
Hi Peter, I'm new at this and am a little confused by your post. The GVWR on our 19ft Scamp is 3000 pounds. I believe that is the maximum safe weight for pulling the trailer. Are you saying that by adding tires that have a higher rating you can actually go over the GVWR?
The GVWR listed on your trailer's VIN card is, indeed, the manufacturer's maximum weight recommendation for the trailer's total weight (axle weight + tongue/hitch weight when loaded). If you go beyond that weight recommendation and are involved in an accident your insurance company may tell you that you're on your own for paying any damages, regardless of what tires you have on your trailer.

Our VIN sticker lists 3500 lbs for the GVWR. I can't (won't) comment on what's safe for any one else's trailer.

I felt the tires that came with our trailer were not up to the task, that when I weighed our trailer after loading it the total weight on the axle exceeded the tire's manufacturer's specs. I felt it was a matter of prudence and safety to go up a tire size and load range to make sure I wasn't exceeding the tire's safe load specifications.


Click image for larger version

Name:	VIN_Sticker_VinBlurred.jpg
Views:	20
Size:	104.6 KB
ID:	20862
peterh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-11-2009, 04:54 PM   #16
Junior Member
 
Trailer: 1995 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel
Posts: 3
Thanks for clarifying, Peter. Still learning. Our 1995 Scamp Deluxe has a 3000 GVWR. We are new owners and trying to figure out how much we can carry.
Checked out your web page and enjoyed seeing your improvements to the Scamp. Thanks again.

Tim and Pat
PatMa is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
scamp


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Tire Size Pat C Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 2 04-08-2010 09:46 PM
scamp 13 tire size jmacchi Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 2 04-12-2009 06:21 PM
Tire Size for Trillium Barry Konkin Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 11 03-10-2009 11:22 AM
Boler tire size? Cory K Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 5 05-13-2007 11:49 AM
82' 13ft Burro Tire Size? Legacy Posts Care and Feeding of Molded Fiberglass Trailers 7 07-06-2003 05:22 PM

» Upcoming Events
No events scheduled in
the next 465 days.
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:35 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.