Garage opening clearance 6'10"

[Rita in FL]

Hello all! I'm new to this forum, and happy to have found you. I recently saw a Scamp 13 at a local park and fell in love. I would love to buy one, but my garage opening (yes, door fully clears opening) is exactly 6'10". This limits me in the type of trailer I can buy. (HOA = must garage)
I know the older Scamps (pre 2005?) are a couple inches lower, in addition to not having AC on roof. Can anyone tell me if I'm even in the ballpark with an older Scamp? What are the factory dimensions for an older Scamp? I can only find the latest online. Or are there other fiberglass egg style trailers that could work? Like Boler, Burro, etc?
I'm open to Aframes, but really prefer the adorable egg trailers.
Any help is appreciated.
I'm aware I can let air out of tires, and remove vent cap, but will that be enough? I'f I'm still 5" too tall, it's a no go.

[John in Michigan]

Rita, I have a 7 foot (exactly) garage door opening. I can just squeeze my Trillium 4500 into the garage if I do this:

- EDIT (oops forgot) unplug door opener and wedge door above top of frame
- swap the regular wheels/tires out for a pair of Kenda 4.80/4.00-8 Bias Trailer Tire with 8" White Wheel - 5 on 4-1/2 - Load Range C
- remove the vent cover (takes one minute)
- lower the tonque close to the ground using a floor jack

The 8" wheels fit over the 7" brake drums.

My former Boler 13 was much shorter. I could easily roll it in and out if I removed the vent cover.

[floyd]

Backing a standard 13 under a 7' (6'10") door can normally be accomplished with very little effort.
To back the trailer in, lift the tongue extra high above level and back in until it starts to touch, then lower the tongue well below level and continue inward.
This worked for me on dozens of 13ft trailers.
If it is still too tight you can deflate the tires to nearly flat.
Scamp13s were originally designed to fit under a 7ft door opening.
You can usually gain another 3/4" by removing a section of the door seal trim then reinstall it with screws, making it removable.
The purchase of a pair of 8" wheels and tires would be another choice, to be used only for this purpose.

[thrifty bill]

The shortest trailers are the ones where a section of the roof goes up or down, like the Hunter Compact and similar. Anything with roof air will be out.

[Rita in FL]

Thank you for the replies. I've looked at the Hunter Compacts. Very nice, but the layout doesn't work for me. Plus I'm trying to avoid any canvas. Also, I have 6'10" with the door seal bent out of the way. Concrete to concrete is 6'10". That's my absolute limit...without a jackhammer.

Now, since I'm a novice, I'll run off to Google what a "tongue" is. Haha! It's nice to know this could work. I suppose if/when I find a Scamp I'm interested in, I'll make sure to measure carefully before buying. Or have the owner do it, since I'll likely be driving quite a distance to pick it up.

Again thanks! Any additional ideas, please feel free to post more comments.

[Dan-NS27]

Having living restrictions (HOA) can be a pain so hopefully you can fit one in your garage. I recently got one but had to put it in a self storage lot that's an hour away.

Good luck finding your trailer.

[EricAllyn]

Another option to the smaller wheels is to take the wheels off and drop onto a flat dolly. When I had mine in the garage off the frame, I used a couple of dollies I made to move it around. A lip on the Garage might make it a little harder to push in, but should make it with backing in. Constructed right, it would let the brakes sit an inch above the concrete. There is also a thread on here somewhere, where there were welded brackets on frame that allowed much smaller wheels as well.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by EricAllyn

Another option to the smaller wheels is to take the wheels off and drop onto a flat dolly. When I had mine in the garage off the frame, I used a couple of dollies I made to move it around. A lip on the Garage might make it a little harder to push in, but should make it with backing in. Constructed right, it would let the brakes sit an inch above the concrete. There is also a thread on here somewhere, where there were welded brackets on frame that allowed much smaller wheels as well.

You could take an old bed frame, cut the "feet" off to a good height, weld them on, then reinsert the casters.

[Carl Pa]

I would love to get my 16' with air, into my garage, but its not happening. carl

[Rita in FL]

Originally Posted by floyd

Backing a standard 13 under a 7' (6'10") door can normally be accomplished with very little effort.
To back the trailer in, lift the tongue extra high above level and back in until it starts to touch, then lower the tongue well below level and continue inward.
This worked for me on dozens of 13ft trailers.
If it is still too tight you can deflate the tires to nearly flat.
Scamp13s were originally designed to fit under a 7ft door opening.
You can usually gain another 3/4" by removing a section of the door seal trim then reinstall it with screws, making it removable.
The purchase of a pair of 8" wheels and tires would be another choice, to be used only for this purpose.

I wish I could see a video of this being done, Floyd. Since I've never had a trailer, I'm not sure what I'm picturing is what you described. The lifting and lowering tongue method, that is.

The thought of changing out tires every time I want to use the Scamp is intimidating, I admit. Also, I'm a single woman, so any method requiring a lot of brute strength might not be feasible, fit as I am!

[sokhapkin]

I had a similar problem a while ago. I sold the house in the HOA and moved to rural area few miles away. Problem solved.

[Rita in FL]

Sergey, that has crossed my mind, but nothing but HOA's in my kids' school district. I either make it fit, or the Scamp plan is on hold. I'm sure I can happily bide my time in an alternative trailer...

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Rita in FL

Sergey, that has crossed my mind, but nothing but HOA's in my kids' school district. I either make it fit, or the Scamp plan is on hold. I'm sure I can happily bide my time in an alternative trailer...

SO TRUE! Here where I live, every new subdivision has covenants and HOAs. It is so bad that people are buying existing houses and demolishing them for the building lots, to avoid HOAs.
Some people are forced to agree with HOAs simply to live in the communities where they grew up.

My favorite is the prohibition on storage sheds or other small outbuildings, spawning a huge business and expense of offsite storage.
At least half of all new subdivisions should be limited to city ordinance.

[Tom Trostel]

Rita,
Here's a YouTube video of a 16' Casita with front AC pushed into a garage. Note the extra small tires.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62RkW_LT6is

[Tom Trostel]

Rita,
Here's a YouTube video of a 16' Casita with front AC pushed into a garage. Note the extra small tires and the wheel on the tongue jack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62RkW_LT6is

[Fred762]

Sad situation for you. We are luckier, bks we live in a semi-rural area w a simple HOA:
..we just had a crew pour an additional 10'x40' section onto the side of our original driveway "turn-around" ...to accommodate the new 9' tall Casita 17' we bought this spring.
Next spring we may possibly have a shed built similar to our present small barn/run-in-shed out in the side field, so we can park her under a roof.
For this winter she will have to live under her factory cloth cover we just put on yesterday, after winterizing the water stsyem.

[Captleemo]

I don't know what your budget is but have you looked into facility's that store travel trailers offsite. I live on the Texas gulf coast and in my area there are a number of sites that store travel trailers and boats for people that for one reason or another cant park them at home.

[Rita in FL]

Tom, thank you for the video!

Fred, ironically, I sold my NY house, no HOA, on a acre, with RV parking and electrical hookup outside, last year to live in paradise...now I want an RV. I can't!! Haha!!

Lee, I haven't even priced anything out as far as storage. But I know there are options near me. Everyone has a boat or RV around here. I'm a big fan of keeping expenses to a minimum. Plus I'd like to keep her close. I don't even have her yet, and I'm emotionally attached. Yeah, I'm nuts. No, I'd just like to keep an eye on her, maintain, clean, decorate, etc without having to leave home. Mostly, I want the trailer safe in my category 5-built house, not in a lot somewhere. I'll consider it, though. I'm not giving up. There will be something that works.

[Borrego Dave]

Rita, I've no idea of what your homes build/design is but....if you have the interior ceiling height available, changing the door height isn't a big job. At least one member did just that but I don't think an HOA was involved.

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by Rita in FL

Thank you for the replies. I've looked at the Hunter Compacts. Very nice, but the layout doesn't work for me. Plus I'm trying to avoid any canvas. Also, I have 6'10" with the door seal bent out of the way. Concrete to concrete is 6'10". That's my absolute limit...without a jackhammer.

Now, since I'm a novice, I'll run off to Google what a "tongue" is. Haha! It's nice to know this could work. I suppose if/when I find a Scamp I'm interested in, I'll make sure to measure carefully before buying. Or have the owner do it, since I'll likely be driving quite a distance to pick it up.

Again thanks! Any additional ideas, please feel free to post more comments.

No reason to avoid the canvas, I have it on my Campster, it is holding up very nicely in all kinds of weather including stormy weather with strong wind and rain. As I am working on remodeling the interior I have had the popup top up 24/7 since around the first of May with not one single minute of trouble with having the top left up in the open position. The other nice factor is on hot days you get great cross ventilation which pulls the stale air out with no assistance from a fan.


The modern canvas materials with a urethane coating for water proofing, modern zippers and vinyl coated screens versus the older bare fiberglass screens are way better than the original materials from the 1970s. The new canvas fabrics are UV resistant and you can also get UV resistant threads.


But the side door layouts do have some advantages over the rear door entry.