Hi, New to all this stuff.

[Yellowjacket]

Nope, no experience with campers, trailers, or any of this. Am currently shopping for a 13' Scamp with bathroom which I will probably buy new. Plan on doing a bit of touring/camping with my wife. Pulling it with a Toyota Tundra.

This will be a new experience for both of us.

I am retired, in good shape, and have mechanical skills and tools from a lifetime career in electronic and mechanical systems.

I'm currently investigating electric brakes. Then I have to learn how to back it up. I can't even back up my lawnmower trailer without jack knifing it.

Any advice, counseling, or admonitions please let me know.

[Glenn Baglo]

Well, a 16' would be easier to back up than a 13' and its bathroom would take up less of the available living space.

[thrifty bill]

To get a bathroom in the 13 ft Scamp you lose the separate seating area. Many like keeping a bed permanently set up, so having a separate area to sit is a big plus. With the Scamp 16, you can get a bathroom plus a separate seating area (couch or small dinette).

In the end, every trailer has its share of compromises. As trailers get smaller, to still fit in a bathroom means something else has to be sacrificed. We have two trailers, one for the two of us (Escape 19) and one for just one (the Trillium 1300). I have met a couple that had been full timing in a Trillium 1300 for over two years. No idea how they do it!!

In my experience, the shorter the trailer tongue, the easier it is to jackknife a trailer.. We had an older Casita with a very short tongue. Very. easy to jackknife. Practice backing up in a straight line in an empty parking lot. Rely on your mirrors. I am continually moving the steering wheel.

On options, consider where you might be camping, and not so much where you live. We took a four week trip this year, saw anything from 25F to 104F. So we needed both AC and our furnace.

[mary and bob]

With the Tundra as a tow vehicle I would go with either a Scamp 16 or Casita 17. I'm biased toward the Casita because we own one. At one camper rally the campground owner got the idea to do a backing up training seminar and "volunteered" me to do it. We used a golf cart and lawn mower trailer. Probably about the worst things to use because of the short size. Only two ladies attempted to try, and with a little instruction they actually did pretty good backing into a space we had roped off. They later reported that the instructions helped with backing their campers. When we bought a pop-up camper for our daughter I took her to an empty parking lot, school on a weekend, and had her practice there.

[Jon in AZ]

Welcome, Anthony!

You could also rent a U-Haul box trailer for a day- it's pretty inexpensive- and practice. Backing is only one skill you'll need to develop. Changing lanes in traffic, negotiating a corner without hitting the curb, getting in and out of a crowded parking lot- all take some practice. I recommend a box trailer tall enough to block your rear view mirror, so you get used to not having that view. Spend a day running errands, take a spin on the freeway, go to an empty parking lot and practice backing.

Look up Youtube videos on backing a trailer to pick up some tips. For me the trick was learning to start the trailer in the direction you want and immediately reverse steering gradually to follow it in. The shorter the trailer the less steering input is required. If you steer too sharply or wait too long to reverse, you'll jackknife. No biggie- pull forward and try again. Backing toward the driver's side is easier than backing toward the passenger side. Since campgrounds might require either, practice both. A small orange cone or leveling block makes a good target if placed where you want the rear corner to land.

I'll second going a little larger if you need a bathroom. At least get a first-hand look at several different trailers before you decide.

Best wishes!

[Carl Pa]

Hi,good luck on the right camper for you. We have the 16' Scamp Style 6, side dinette. We like that arrangement b/c you have permanent bed and still have a place to sit and have a meal and play games or whatever. My wife sleeps in the double bed and i find the side bunk works for me, that way we do not climb over each other in the middle of the night. I am up way early in the mourning and have my bed roll up and the table is set up and ready for coffee. Carl

[Tom 72]

Agree with Jon. When possible set up your backing so that you use your left mirrors. Again it's the angles. Your left side & mirrors, plus the window provide a much better view. Have fun.

[Kai in Seattle]

Anthony: welcome to FGRV and welcome to trailering. YouTube videos can be wonderful for watching to learn something new. And so is an empty parking lot and lots and lots of practice.


So is reading The Long, Long Trailer by Twiss...great and very funny description of learning to back up a trailer.


Happy hunting for your perfect egg...look at as wide a variety as you can before deciding...sometimes what's available for sale helps determine what you get. If you're going to order new, the world's your oyster! May you enjoy the whole experience from searching to fixing and making it your own. (As we say here, sometimes.)


Happy trails when the hunt and personalization are done!


BEST

Kathleen

"K"

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Yellowjacket

Nope, no experience with campers, trailers, or any of this. Am currently shopping for a 13' Scamp with bathroom which I will probably buy new. Plan on doing a bit of touring/camping with my wife. Pulling it with a Toyota Tundra.

This will be a new experience for both of us.

I am retired, in good shape, and have mechanical skills and tools from a lifetime career in electronic and mechanical systems.

I'm currently investigating electric brakes. Then I have to learn how to back it up. I can't even back up my lawnmower trailer without jack knifing it.

Any advice, counseling, or admonitions please let me know.

You might want to try car camping first. I know a camping trailer sounds nice, to be able take some of your home with you, but it's not like that if you really enjoy camping. Some people work really hard to have all the niceties of home with them, but that comes a lot of expense, not necessarily monetary expense. I'm thinking of stress associated with lots of systems to fail and needing get reservations so tied to a time table.



I little different than many people. The trailer is freedom from time tsbles and system stresses along with monetary expenses.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

You might want to try car camping first.

Yup. Just live in your car in the driveway for a week. That'll convince you that you love camping.

[Jon in AZ]

Many people consider RV's exactly because car/tent camping just does not appeal.

Byron's point is valid, though. A fully equipped RV is complex, comes with a learning curve, and requires a commitment of time and money to operate and maintain. Renting an RV is one way to test the waters before committing to ownership.

Might be more fun than living in your car in the driveway for a week... [emoji6]

Despite the complexity, which the OP seems well-prepared to handle, being self-contained gives greater freedom from reservations and schedules because you can overnight in a parking lot or camp on undeveloped land (where permitted, of course).

[Dennis McMillan]

My uncle taught me to back up with a trailer decades ago. Concept is simple: place your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel & move your hand the way you want the trailer to go. Then practice.

[Kip in Ga.]

I agree about backing a trailer. Our Casita 17 is way easier to back than either of our 8 or 10 foot utility trailers. .With that in mind, it would stand to reason that a 16' or 17' camper might be easier than a 13'. The frontal area will be the same. So maybe consider the longer?

I would suggest going to rallies and talking, listening and looking. Especially look over, under, around and thru the various brands. Then deciding on what you want.

FWIW: Winter is approaching and used campers will become more available. The price will be lower in fall and winter than in the spring and summer. If you get a reasonably priced used unit and decide you don't like camping, you can likely sell it in spring or summer for what you paid or even more. Yes that often happens with FG campers. If you buy a new one, you will definitely lose some money if you sell.

We purchased our 2003 Casita 17' Spirit Deluxe in January of 2011. Paid the going price, not a real bargain. It was still worth about +/- the same money, this summer, according the the classified ads I was seeing.

I suggest you buy a well equipped model with bath, AC, and Furnace. Because if or when you sell, you will have a much larger audience.

Good luck,
kip

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Yellowjacket

Any advice, counseling, or admonitions please let me know.

Be sure that when you get all the way out to your campsite, somewhere out in the beautiful mountains, or desert, that you brought the travel trailer instead of the lawnmower trailer you were practicing with! Other than that, you're golden. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with your new adventures.

[ShelbyM]

You are ahead of most with your mechanic and electrical skills and presumably interest. I've felt compelled to learn all sorts of stuff of marginal interest in order to keep the trailer functional and safe. After all these years, I still would not describe going out with the trailer as "relaxing." IMO, towing and maneuvering is the easy part. If I wasn't a germaphobe I'd probably just stay in hotels.

[EricAllyn]

We originally thought of the 13' but them I rebuilt a 16, and there are many times we have really been thankful for the extra space. For the 2 of us, there are times when the outside is not conducive and having room to move around each other is worth the extra it takes in gas to tow the larger camper.