3 inch lift, upgraded axle & 15 inch rims on Scamp 16 foot

[BrewskiDV]

Eagerly awaiting delivery of our new 2016 Scamp 16 foot trailer from my father in law this weekend! We primarily primitive camp in the mountains of Utah and Southern Utah and I am really interested in the lift + 15 rims for the 16 foot trailer. Scamp won't install but will sell me the upgraded axle and 15 inch rims. They are really discouraging me from the lift and say it will seriously hamper the towing, sway etc.

I plan to get a right side friction anti-sway on the trailer but I'm wondering if anyone has experience lifting the 16 foot and increasing size on the rims. Has it seriously affected towing and sway? Scamp says the axle is custom made for their narrower trailers and can't be bought elsewhere.

[ZachO]

I'll just give you my experience: I'm in Utah now, just making my way north after spending about 3 weeks in the desert. My 17' Bigfoot has a straight axle instead of the 4" drop axle. So about 4" of lift, but I still have the 14" wheels on it.

The biggest issue was driving through empty drainages that crossed the roads I was on. A steep drop then right back up again out of the bottom. On the steepest, I did drag the very front and very back of my camper.

As far as slick rock and rough roads, there was no problem. Anywhere I felt comfortable taking a trailer, it had enough clearance as far as that went. With the little drainages, at first I thought maybe more lift would be nice. But then...really I think I'd rather not take my trailer down those roads. It's pretty rough on them. They get on some steep, scary sideways angles, and get kinda beat up.

If it were me, I would use the trailer with the upgraded axle and larger rims, and take a few runs down south or into the mountains. If you think you actually want to pull that thing down crazier roads than it can get down with those upgrades, then think about the lift. You can always do the lift down the road.

But after this first time in the desert with my new-to-me camper, I think I'll actually be less likely to bring it with me next time. Or I'll plan to leave it somewhere and just take day trips in the truck, or do a couple overnight trips just car camping out of the truck and leave the trailer parked somewhere.

[BrewskiDV]

Good to know ZachO. Wasn't planning on serious off roading but you never know. The only thing with the the axle upgrade is I think in order to do the 15 inch rims on the Scamp I have to have the lift.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by BrewskiDV

Has it seriously affected towing and sway?

No difference at all .

[tedladue]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but... I just rolled through Utah two weeks ago in my "new to me" Bigfoot as well. 1984 Gaucho. Would have been great to run into another one! How are you liking yours? We've pulled ours from Las Cruces, NM to Vancouver so far and are loving it.

-Ted

[ZachO]

Originally Posted by BrewskiDV

Good to know ZachO. Wasn't planning on serious off roading but you never know. The only thing with the the axle upgrade is I think in order to do the 15 inch rims on the Scamp I have to have the lift.

You know more than me about it, but with Casita, you just need their factory high lift axle or suspension or whatever, and it fits 15" wheels. I would think Scamp would be the same.

I thought you were wanting to do a higher axle, and a lift, and 15" wheels. Whatever Casita does to fit 15" wheels in an essentially identical trailer has worked for many, many people.

If you don't plan to do real off roading, and just want to get to the camp spots you want to get to, I don't think you need anything crazy. My Bigfoot gets where I want it to go with just a straight axle instead of the 4" drop axle. So in total a 4" lift over "stock".

[ZachO]

Originally Posted by tedladue

Sorry to hijack the thread, but... I just rolled through Utah two weeks ago in my "new to me" Bigfoot as well. 1984 Gaucho. Would have been great to run into another one! How are you liking yours? We've pulled ours from Las Cruces, NM to Vancouver so far and are loving it.

-Ted

That would have been cool! I think I was looking at that trailer. The guy probably had enough local interest that he didn't need to humor all my questions because I stopped hearing from him. Once I realized that there would be more of them in Canada, and a lot of Canada is closer to me than NM, I gave up on it and found mine up in Alberta.

I love it! It's big. But I appreciate the space. Half my stay in Utah (three weeks) was either rainy or windy or both, and some snow. So I spent a lot of time just hanging out inside, watching the weather, reading and eating. I got a little stir crazy but I never felt cramped!

I just got back to Montana. Feels really nice to not have that thing behind my truck anymore, but even for my little 98 Tacoma, it's not so bad to tow.

[BrewskiDV]

ZachO - Were you in the North Klondike Bluffs TH area of Moab on Mon 4/11? Pretty sure we saw you as we were pulling out. Dodge Ram 1500 with Hallmark pop up. We were still shopping then and Bigfoot's were at the top of the list so your rig stood out.

[ZachO]

Yep, that was me! Don't post my favorite spots for all the world to see though!

What I like about that area is how close it is to the largest non-crappy city in southern Utah, but how little traffic it gets, relatively.

I can't say that I remember your rig...I did see a lot of people in & out of there, but I probably did see you.

[BrewskiDV]

Nice! Best spot down there for MTB/rig camping. Not so great for tent camping.

[ZachO]

Yep. Lots of wind, if nothing else...

After I left there I went to the main Klondike Bluffs area. That's where I really tested the trailers clearance...

It's not good photo quality...

[redbarron55]

When I installed the Flexiride axls and 14" wheels and 205 55 r14 tires I had to remove the fiberglass wheel wells for more clearance since I did not want to have to raise the trailer too much.
The torsion arms are basically level instead of 22* up as stock.


I thought I had some pictures of the installed axle, but evidently I don't.
If you install the Flexiride you can adjust the ride heigth.
My setup raised my trailer 3-4" with the adjustable axle and the taller tires.
I think that 15" tires are overkill of road use, but for boondocking higher might be helpful.

[BrewskiDV]

Nice work man, looks like you're in deep. Micah from the shop @ Scamp (last name Eveleland so I'm taking his word) said with the axle they sold me + 15 inch rims no modifications would be needed, simply unbolt and rebolt. Taking it to the shop next Mon and will post some before/after photos.