New Scamp 16 owner and have some questions?

[aaronmt]

Last night my mom picked up a 89 16ft Scamp.Weve been looking for a while and this one fit the bill for price knowing there were some stuff wed have to to address.She likes to camp in some preety remote areas so I need to raise the trailer a bit,its a torsion axle.I didnt get a chance to look at it much since I dropped it of late.Are the torsion axles resplineable for aditional lift or is it something Ill have to cut out and weld up blocks etc.Id be happy with 2-4"s of clearance.
Other things on the list are the hot water heater has rusted out and the lady just by-passed it so I will need to replace that,the heater also has been removed so thats another issue Ill be needing to look at.My wife and I have a bigfoot cmper so im fairly confidant on working on trailers/campers etc.Wheres a good place to look for these parts such as water heater and heater?As far as the heater goes id like to go fairly small and vented outside.I prefer a very low draw on the blower if it has to have one.Anyways im sure shell be on the site soon shes been a member for a while just hast had a trailer yet.Im looking forward to this build with my parents it should be fun .Thanks Aaron

[melissab]

Welcome Aaron! Congrats on your Mom getting her camper. As for parts Scamp sells e'thing you'd ever need. Be sure and post pix when you can. We love pix!

Melissa

[RogerDat]

Welcome! Always love to see new owners who are willing to do some work to keep these babies useful. And boondock camping, gotta love it.

Dexter Axle web site has a document showing the different configurations you can buy (with diagrams and measurements), essentially it comes down to "down angle" of the arm the wheel is mounted to. And the size of tire that will fit on that axle bolt pattern, with enough clearence in the wheel well so tire won't rub given the travel the axle will allow.

I think Donna has a 16 ft Scamp with a 45 degree down angle axle and that baby has some ground clearence in the picture I saw.

[Donna D.]

That's me! The 'set up for 4x4 off road' Scamp owner... even if I don't! Aaron welcome to FiberglassRV! Now, torsion axles last 'usually' around 15-20 years then die... rubber gets hard and no longer provides a soft ride. I replaced a dead axle about five years ago. I towed my Scamp before the replacement and obviously after the replacement and towing was like night to day. Replacment was less than $750 and I'm glad I did it. YMMV