If you could just completely redo it?

[Coach George Jessup]

ok....... if you could do it all over again how would you redo the insides of your 13ft Scamp trailer (keeping in mind long distance and remote traveling). My options are wide open since the one Im buying has been completely gutted.

Thanx in advance for your input

[Mike Watters]

Did you get the one that was listed on eBay recently???

Everyone has their own priorities, but I'd do the following:

Perminant rear bed pushed to 60" wide. If you're spending 8 hours every day laying there - it's worth making comfortable. For me - it's the centerpiece. Can double as a lounge.

Bulkhead next to the door next to the bed (need something there to stabilize the door and keep the trailer from sagging). Maybe put on some wire shelves (the sort meant to be attached to the backs of doors, they're thin with retaining wires).

Front 2-person dinette.

Countertop filling the roadside space between the bed and dinette. Under the counter would go a fridge and lots of storage space.

Overhead cabinets over the ends and countertop with a shelf over the 'foot' end of the bed (possibly with hanging space below).

Stick a porta-potty inside the dinette.

I wouldn't bother with a sink or stove since I don't want to cook inside the trailer. I do all that stuff outside (put together a boy-scout-style chuck box to hold all the kitcheney stuff).

Course - implicit in the above is the assumption that you're aiming at a 2-person trailer. If specifically laying it out for one, I'd do it differently.

mkw

[Coach George Jessup]

Did you get the one that was listed on eBay recently???......Course - implicit in the above is the assumption that you're aiming at a 2-person trailer. If specifically laying it out for one, I'd do it differently.
mkw

Yes I got the ebay one. Been looking for an affordable fiberglass shell type trailer for several years now. As to 2 person..... well Im one person but I sure as he&& don't want to stay that way. Its getting old.

Thanks for the info.

Now to throw a curve ball into all this. This trailer will be mounted onto a flat bed that sits on a 1962 Merceds 4x4 truck (Unimog) with 39" tall tires. That puts the bottom of the trailer door nearly 40" off the ground. Luckly I'm and ex-gymnast. The Scamp will be mounted backward. (Flat rear facing rear of Truck Cab. A pass thru will be cut into the trailer and cab. The crack between the two will have rubber sheets to keep out the elements yet allow for the difference in flex between the cab and Scamp. This will in effect give me a Mini Motorhome type arangement between cab and camper box.

[Coach George Jessup]

This is the one I will be bringing home. Plan is to head out to go get it tommorow night. Return with it on Sun. A six hour drive both ways, buttttttt.... Im sick as a snot nosed dog right now so I may have to pospone it till next weekend.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...%3ARTQ%3AUS%3A1

[Coach George Jessup]

Here is something like what Im thinking but Im hoping to crop into the shell some and drop it down just a little lower than how this one sits. Matters how the frame under the scamp is designed if I can modify something up or not that will allow to drop it some.

[Benita]

Until I saw your posts, I thought all Unimogs came with a sleeper cabin. I googled Unis and discovered my thinking was wrong. Well, I guess that shows my exposure has been limited.

[Coach George Jessup]

Until I saw your posts, I thought all Unimogs came with a sleeper cabin. I googled Unis and discovered my thinking was wrong. Well, I guess that shows my exposure has been limited.

Oh goshen no. Unimog Expedition campers are few. The Unimog (UNIversal MOtor Gear) is a tractor that can go on the highway. Uses typically are military, agriculture, industrial and civil service. Mine was actually a forest service fire/rescue truck.

[Coach George Jessup]

PS. That orange Mog is sporting an Alasken pop up camper in the bed.

[Benita]

All righty.

I first heard of Unimogs from a gent who was lusting after one. He was traveling across country in his Chinook to satisfy his wanderlust, so he said. I think he was traveling AND trolling for adventurous female companionship. Since I only knew him via the Internet, I wasn't that adventurous. LOL, I declined the face to face meeting request. He sent me Unimog picturs for almost a year.

[Jana J]

ok....... if you could do it all over again how would you redo the insides of your 13ft Scamp trailer (keeping in mind long distance and remote traveling). My options are wide open since the one Im buying has been completely gutted.

Thanx in advance for your input

WELL, I don't have a Scamp, but already did the gut and redo in my Surfside. great fun.
I'm even thinking of redoing the beds - again - why not, its mine. I keep changing my mind so I change the layout in the trailer.
Putting it on a truck bed, that should be fun, but up that high? hope your knees hold up. maybe you could add a drop down ramp/porch.

[Andrew Gibbens]

Here's a couple of suggestions. Both have 60" wide dinettes and aim to provide good facilities for two, rather than squeezing in accommodation for four.

The first has a bathroom just like the Scamp 13' Bath, but the fridge moves to the front closet. There is just an armrest-high cupboard (and a frame supporting the roof) on the curb side and a short galley on the street side - to help with the cramped galley, there is a fold-up worktop extension.

The second does without the bath and instead gets a generous galley and closet.

Now that I have a close approximation of the Scamp plan drawn, you'll be getting hundreds of variants....... Do you have any particular features you want to include?

I've got some ideas for layouts with permanent beds, which may take a day or two to work out.

Andrew

[Benita]

I think the biggest determiner of how the space would go is whether you feel it is desirable to have a shower/toilet in the cabin of the camper. Most who have a 13ft don't because the amount of real estate is so limited. If you want one inside determining if you want the facilities placed in the middle of the cabin to be secreted when not in use or if you want to dedicate footage on the perimeter also pushes the rest of the design.

My thought for a 13ft would be a cabin arrangement like one of Scamp's custom units. Check out Lorene W's 13ft unit. Scamp custom photos

Since you are building from scratch, I'd probably have a drainage hole in the middle of the floor to be used with a portable/removable shower unit. Ken James and several 13ft owners use shower curtains, tarps and etc as a shower curtain that they attach to the ceiling for a temporary water barrier when they shower. They use various types of contaners for drainage pans. I'd have a water catcher pan and I'd use the hole which a hose could be run through to route the drainage wherever desired. If the floor middle weren't resting on a truck bed, I'd look at reinforcing the Scamp bottom in the middle.

Portable Temporary Shower design:
Ken James' Unit
Popup Times Archive
I've seen washing machine drain pans and hot water heater pans used for catch basins with portable showers. The advantage of those is they have a drain plug that a hose can attach to. So a drain hose could be run from your catch basin through the center drain hole and outside and away from the camper. If you are handy(saying this to a man who purchased a gutted trailer), adding a threaded drain plug to a plastic basin of your choosing is very doable.

Alternatively, outside arrangements work for some. I'm not sure how much remaining footprint you would have on your truck bed once you place the Scamp shell there. If there is space, you could have an outside shower like Bivouac Buddy or use a privacy tent.

[SandraD]

"Bulkhead next to the door next to the bed (need something there to stabilize the door and keep the trailer from sagging). Maybe put on some wire shelves (the sort meant to be attached to the backs of doors, they're thin with retaining wires)."

Why do you need something next to the door? We were intending to transfer the closet that was there to the wall opposite the door (this is a 1990 Lil' Bigfoot) and replace it with a small bench (idea being that there will be another bench directly across from it which will hook up to the dinette when it is folded out to form a king-sized bed - ie when folded out the bed would stretch from right beside the door to the back of the trailer). Does it have to be something floor-to-ceiling?

[Benita]

Clarification:

Will the primary access be via the pass through from the driver's cab?

Is the current side entrance going to be used at all?

[Maggie O.]

Sandra D, You have just described my dream egg. I thought we would do the same thing to our trailer, but it never happened. It's funny how two people can have different opinions about what to do. Anyway, some scamp deluxe have a wooden floor to ceiling support. I thought this idea might work for a closet replacement. That way you could have your bed and roof support too. I don't know about your bigfoot but I'm guessing structural remodels are easier with thru the shell rivets. Trillium does not have those. We have become quite happy with the original floor plan and it's so much less work. Good luck! I am curious how this project works out for you.

[Coach George Jessup]

Clarification: ...Is the current side entrance going to be used at all?

Yes the side entrance will the the primary Camperbox entrance unless someone convinces me different. The pass thru to the Cab is more of a "climb thru" than a "walk thru". There are 7 various levers between the passenger and and driver seats thus the "climb thru"

To maximize use of space - for sleeping arrangements; one thought I had was to fold passenger and driver seats forward or rearward. Then set up a bed that is part in the Scamper box and part in the cab. I was thinkig of suspending it with what I assume would be the the sleepers trunk sticking inot the cab. I was thinking of a bed made of canvas stretched between two pipes. Maybe an air mattress on top of this. Think of a bed sized trampoline type thing. Roll it up and stow it when not in use. I could see stowing it just above the pass thru along the inside top of either the Scamper box or the cab.

THANX for all the suggestions

PS: as you folk brainstorm rember [b]this thing is GUTTED no closet no shelfs, no nothing! just a shell, door and most windows.

[Coach George Jessup]

I think the biggest determiner of how the space would go is whether you feel it is desirable to have a shower/toilet in the cabin of the camper. Most who have a 13ft don't because the amount of real estate is so limited. ...

. Both inside and outside. Inside center or doorway w/curtain so not to take up dedicated real estate. Doorway w/ shower floor also has advantage of becomeing a washoutable place to remove or whipe clean muddy shoes before entering. Either of these setups is just for side of the road access, short overnight camping etc. For few days in one spot camping; then I would set up an outside porta-tent. Maybe even outside porta-HOT-TUB. (plastic tub filled with engine heated water) ahhhh. all the luxerys