16" Scamp frame needs new weld San Diego.

[nikkiloni]

Hello,
The frame to our Scamp snapped and needs some
serious welding. Anyone know of a great place to take it
in San Diego? We are new in town...

[likeair2me]

First question is where did the frame break? If it is under the coach, you may have difficulty finding someone to weld it because the wood floor sits directly on top of it. If out from under the coach on the tongue or on the rear bumper, then the heat build up will not be as critical.

A horse trailer repair shop might be a good bet. They should have a welder on staff.

[nikkiloni]

Yup, It's right underneath the Scamp. Will look for
horse trailer repair.. Thx for the info!

[sokhapkin]

If it is underneath, then you have to separate the frame and body. There is no other way. It's impossible to weld without overheating adjacent areas.

[nikkiloni]

It seems to be where the tow bar is attached to the body? I'm attaching photos to give a better idea. One mobile welder we spoke with said he had done a bunch of fiberglass trailers and has never had to separate the fiberglass when welding?

[likeair2me]

In as much as his rates might have seemed sky high, getting someone out there who has ANY experience with Fiberglass trailers would be a good choice. The fact that the tongue has separated from the frame would certainly keep you from towing to a shop. That is a scary break!!!

[likeair2me]

And get those propane tanks off of there while things are broken. No need to leave that excess weight on it. If it is in a safe location, jack up the front of the camper behind the break and chock the wheels.

[sokhapkin]

It doesn't matter if he has experience with fiberglass or not. Nobody with welding experience will not weld closer than less an inch from non-metal surface.

[Jack L]

Is that rotten plywood in photo #5, near where the frame used to be ?

[Neto]

Please read your private mail.

[likeair2me]

Most certainly the body will need to be separated from the frame to do the work, but having some familiarity with the assemblies used by different FB manufacturers might give him a better idea of the work involved. That is all I am suggesting.

[Bruce Thomas]

If you can...get the body off and slide that frame out..the plywood looks broken too...probably from catching the weight of the trailer while the tongue was breaking...it's a serious break...but not the end of the world..messaged you also.

[stevebaz]

I would contact Sams welding and see what he can do for you.
4821 university AVE,
San Diego, CA , 92105

619-281-2709

Remember this isn't just a weld it back together, there is some serious reinforcement that will be needed. Welding it back together is one thing keeping it there so it doesn't happen again is a whole other issue.

Listen to what the welder has to say that needs to be done.

You have a composite wood floor not fiberglass so you wont be removing the body especially in a Scamp. You do have a problem in re-securing the floor to the frame once it gets put back in place.

Think about maybe having some tabs welded to the frame you can through bolt the floor to.

You need to check your propane system from front to back as the copper lines will have been put in a lot of stress with that severe frame bend.

I am not affiliated with Sams and have not had any of work done by them for me. Good luck and let us know how this all turns out.

[Bruce Thomas]

I hate seeing people who aren't able to fix things like this end up with a disaster. Thing is, most just wanna go camping in a little comfort and pow!
Not sure if an earlier repair was scabbed on that but I don't remember seeing side plates on frames like those..not sure.
I'd be copying dimensions and putting a real frame under there.
The guy suggesting he needn't take the body off...isn't towing it...you are. And really, looking at those pics...scamps are kinda cheesy with metal gauge.

[stevebaz]

And your not the one who has to disassemble a Scamp down to a fully clear floor and dig out a couple hundred screws under the flooring that just don't want to come out of the frame. Then you remove the body.

Unless your a welder fabricator with some out of box thinking you dont know what can be done. I have 45 years in fabrication I know what can be done if someone puts thought and effort in it.

[redbarron55]

This has been broken fro a while and also previously repaired.
This is a weak point for the Scamps and kin.
I reinforced my rebuild by adding a second rectangular tube under the original and tapered to towards the front.

The added tube runs all the way to the doubled tune that the axle is mounted on
I think the cracking in this area is caused from flexins in the door area and I would look fro cracks in the attachments from the flat tubes under the door to the fron as well. I added reinforcement here too.

PI think that what has held the trailer together until now is a few screws into the plywood.
The fish plate from the previous repair has broken out probably due to undercutting in the original thin tubing steel at the time of repair.
The added angle did not help much just focusing the stress in this area instead of spreading it out over the length of the tongue.
Here is a picture of what I cut out of my Scamp with much poor quality welding.

To repair my unit I rebuilt and extended the frame about another 18 inches to give room for a front center bath .

[Johnny M]

You could cut out small sections of the floor directly over where the welds need to be made without removing the whole body or floor. Then after the frame is repaired you can patch the cut out areas then glass over them. Also my axle is under the lower floor and the brackets that it bolts to are in close contact to the lower wood floor and my welded didn't have any issues. It can be done, if one welder says no find one that can.

[Bruce Thomas]

Originally Posted by stevebaz

And your not the one who has to disassemble a Scamp down to a fully clear floor and dig out a couple hundred screws under the flooring that just don't want to come out of the frame. Then you remove the body.

Unless your a welder fabricator with some out of box thinking you dont know what can be done. I have 45 years in fabrication I know what can be done if someone puts thought and effort in it.

If you do...you know removing that body and going over the whole thing is the way. No one said it was easy.

[Eddie Longest]

This appears to be at least the second frame failure for this trailer. The trailer has some age on it and more than likely needs a new axle. Besides rust, thin metal on the earlier Scamp frames, a bad axle transfers a lot of stress to the frame. At this point you may want to call Scamp and order a new frame and axle, you will have thicker frame with no stress on the metal. What ever you do it is not going to be easy or cheap. What year is the trailer?
Eddie

[Neto]

Stevebaz matched what I said in my private email to you. Do that first.