Cargo carrier on back of 13ft Scamp - Fiberglass RV
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Old 09-18-2011, 06:21 PM   #1
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Name: jason
Trailer: 13' Scamp "pending"
Minnesota
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Cargo carrier on back of 13ft Scamp

Im thinking of installing a cargo carrier on the rear of my scamp and put one of those nice black rubbermaid boxes on it to free up some storage inside camper, as long as im not putting alot of weight in it will this cause any problems?
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Old 09-18-2011, 06:40 PM   #2
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Name: Norm and Ginny
Trailer: Scamp 16
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Rear Bumper Box

I had a plastic black Walmart box that I mounted on the rear of our trailer. I cut out the lid to wrap around the spare.

I use it to hold 2 spare water hoses, 25 feet of traditional Power cord, a number of wooden blocks, a small tool box, a 50' orange extension cord and two supports for the front rock shield. Really nothing too heavy.

Below the Bumper Box attached to the bumper is a plastic fence post that also supports the bumper box and contains an extra length of sewer hose.

Attached to the bottom front of the bumper box is storage for our clothes line.

This is not the Rubbermaide box, but rather a smaller $18 black rubber box I painted with spray white rustoleum and coated with Red Maxx 3. There is a limited to the width of the box unless you want to mount new taillights.

Since these pictures I've added two more latches to the cover.

Hope this helps. There might be a few more pictures under Modifications Preparing a 1991 Scamp
Attached Thumbnails
Rear Bumper 2.jpg   Rear Bumper 3.jpg  

Rear Bumper Storage.jpg   clothes line.jpg  

Clothes Line Storage.jpg  
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Old 09-19-2011, 09:34 AM   #3
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Depending on how elaborate you want to get, here's what I did to increase my "storage capacity". I removed the 4" tin foil bumper with a Sawz-All and welded a 5 ft. length of heavy-walled square channel tubing on in its place. Under that I welded a piece of 2" receiver tubing to slide a receiver hitch into. I bought a Stow-Away brand roto-molded plastic carrier (with locking catch and built-in rear lights). They also make smaller sized units which may suit your needs better than the large box, since your trailer is a tad smaller.
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Old 10-03-2011, 10:42 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 81scamp View Post
Im thinking of installing a cargo carrier on the rear of my scamp and put one of those nice black rubbermaid boxes on it to free up some storage inside camper, as long as im not putting alot of weight in it will this cause any problems?
I am doing the same on our Astro trailer. I picked up a cargo hitch basket this weekend from harbor freight. I plan on either welding or bolting on a receiver to the rear bumper. That way I can also use a hitch mount bike rack. Plus I can easily remove either by pulling the pin.
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Old 10-04-2011, 04:35 AM   #5
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Casita Greg,

We have a 2007 Freedom Dlx 17. I am thinking of a similar setup to yours. When welding to the frame did the heat damage the fiberglass body at all?

Since our Casita's are tongue heavy did this setup help balance this out? How does it work when you have full water tanks?

Did you put the bumper back on for sewer hose purposes?

I love your setup and would like to talk to you more about it. Nice work on this modification

Don and Brenda
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Old 10-04-2011, 07:15 AM   #6
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Hi Don,
I welded the set-up on myself. If you do any welding which would be near the fiberglass shell, take it in small increments and let it cool down. Don't try to run a full bead all at once. Having done it the way I did, the trailer suffered no physical damage or blistering, although you will get some welding soot in the area. This just wipes right off though, so no problem.

The only place you will even find yourself in proximity to the fiberglass shell would be while installing the 1 1/2" forward crossbrace between the 3" main frame rails, which the front end of the 2" receiver tube gets secured to. Everywhere else, you are just metal to metal.

The old sewer hose bumper went away with this install. I now carry the sewer slinky rolled up in a 5 gallon plastic bucket in the Stow-Away box.

The "new" bumper is a 5 foot length of 3" X 3/16" thick heavy-walled square channel tubing, welded to the ends of the existing 3" main frame members. The forward brace is 1 1/2" X 1/8" square tubing, cut and welded to fit between the outer main 3" frame members (about 2 feet forward of the new bumper for strengthening the receiver tube mounting,) and is also welded onto the existing center longitudinal floor brace in the middle for reinforcement of the whole hitch assembly. The actual receiver tube (welded "fore and aft" under the whole shebang, is dimensionally 2" receiver tube channel, which is different than standard 2" square channel. Most metal channel tubing is sold as an "outside dimension", whereas receiver tube is sold measured as an "inside dimension". Be sure to spec the right stuff you want to buy, or they'll probably sell you regular 2" square channel which will not accept a standard 2" receiver hitch.

As you mentioned, 17' Casita tongue weights do tend to run heavy. I haven't had any problems with tongue weight issues or handling issues whatsoever, and I carry (box wt. incl.) about 130~150 lbs. back there in mine. Even with the box installed, full of junk, and with me standing on the box lid in the driveway, (another 240 lbs. on top of the other 150 lbs.,) my neighbor, who is a pretty big and very strong man, couldn't even lift the tongue wheel off the ground.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions about this install, hit me up.

Happy camping,
Greg
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Old 10-04-2011, 08:18 AM   #7
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Greg,

Where did your spare tire go?

A nice solution to the sewer hose is a fence post uder the bumper box.
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Old 10-04-2011, 08:40 AM   #8
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The spare now lives in the bed of my pickup, under the canopy. I welded up a rack out of scrap ends of metal I had laying around. It sits upright to take up less space, but is not permanently mounted. I can slide it out if I need the full area of the truck bed, if needed. I secure it in place with a bungie cord to tie down rings under the bed rail.
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Old 10-04-2011, 09:53 AM   #9
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Just ordered a bolt on receiver from Campingworld
Danik Industries Ltd - RV 4" Bumper Adapter - Bike Racks - Camping World


Next on the wish list now is a hitch mounted bbq grill.
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Old 10-04-2011, 10:31 AM   #10
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Be very, very, very careful as to how much weight you put on these bolt-on receivers. They may look good, and are by themselves fairly well constructed, but remember that the 4" sewer hose bumper you're attaching this on isn't very substantial. They won't take a lot of weight, and anything mounted outboard from them adds significantly to the leverage "moment arm". The farther out, the more leverage stress is produced. There have been several members who have recounted tales of woe at finding their high-dollar bikes and other items dragging on the ground due to the buckling and collapsing of the metal itself of these thin-walled bumpers.
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Old 10-04-2011, 11:03 AM   #11
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As Greg has suggested, you do need to be careful about rear bumper weight. The only time we ever had a trailer sway was when we added a small generator to our bumper box.

I will say it was our 15.5 foot Sunline and not a Casita. Casitas, particularly Casita 17s, tend to be very nose heavy. Removing the generator immediately corrected the problem. It is prudent to determine the effect, as Greg did, of all bumper additions. I believe our bumper box and it's contents weigh well less than 30 pounds.

Also note that Greg removed about 30-40 pounds from his bumper by moving his spare tire to his tow vehicle.

Safe Travels
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Old 10-04-2011, 11:23 AM   #12
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Thanks for the advice, I will definitely have to make a few test runs and be mindful of the weight added. I'll post some pictures too.
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Old 09-28-2016, 10:41 PM   #13
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Greg,

I 've been thinking of all the ways to get more cargo space and your post certainly got me pointed in a direction that this is the way to go for me. I have a couple questions and appreciate all the help.

Which version of the Stowaway do you have... the smaller box or the larger one? Also, did you wire the lights up? If so, how do you do that?

Thanks!

Chris
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Old 09-29-2016, 05:52 AM   #14
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outside Storage space

Quote:
Originally Posted by creidenouer View Post
Greg,

I 've been thinking of all the ways to get more cargo space and your post certainly got me pointed in a direction that this is the way to go for me. I have a couple questions and appreciate all the help.

Which version of the Stowaway do you have... the smaller box or the larger one? Also, did you wire the lights up? If so, how do you do that?

Thanks!

Chris
We have 8 outside plastic containers for storage mounted on our Scamp 16. Three are visible and 5 are out of sight.

The rear bumper has a large plastic container for our blocks, hoses and cords. Under that container are two plastic fence posts, one contains a long sewer hose and the other contains plastic pipes that assemble to form a rear mounting clothes line.

The five that are out of sight are screwed to the bottom of the Scamp's floor. Two are large plastic bins on slides. They contain tools and items not often used but sometimes needed on 7 month trips. The other 3 boxes are smaller but contain smaller items.

These storage compartments free up space inside the trailer and tow vehicle while allowing us to take some important items, like a 50' construction cord, useful when plugging in at family and friend's homes.

They all can be seen at Preparing a 1991 Scamp under Modifications.
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Old 09-29-2016, 06:53 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by tdkosta View Post
Thanks for the advice, I will definitely have to make a few test runs and be mindful of the weight added. I'll post some pictures too.
You have these instructions ?

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-how-to-...ue-weight.aspx

It' a good reference...
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Old 09-29-2016, 10:09 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by creidenouer View Post
Greg,

I 've been thinking of all the ways to get more cargo space and your post certainly got me pointed in a direction that this is the way to go for me. I have a couple questions and appreciate all the help.

Which version of the Stowaway do you have... the smaller box or the larger one? Also, did you wire the lights up? If so, how do you do that?

Thanks!

Chris
Hi Chris,
The Stow-Away box I bought is the 49" long model. As to the mounting bracket, I opted for the upturned goose-neck "fixed" one as opposed to the swing-out version. It gives you a little more "angle of departure" clearance room to keep from bottoming out in a ditch or gulley because the box sits higher. Just my personal choice, but I suppose either one would work alright.

The box I use: (Link): https://www.stowaway2.com/max-cargo-box-white
The mount I use: (Link): https://www.stowaway2.com/fixed-hitch-frame

I wired up the Stow-Away's tail lights by tapping into the trailer's wiring bundle, (which runs under the rear toe board at the back of the trailer,) to pick up the lines feeding the lights. I drilled a hole down through the floor and ran a 4-Pin flat lead trailer light pigtail out the bottom to supply the power to the lights in the Stow-Away box. Feed the pigtail harness up from the bottom so you can drill a smaller hole, (and seal it when you're done,) but I would recommend drilling the hole from inside the trailer to the bottom outside, so as not to drill into any wiring, as could happen if you were to drill blindly up from the bottom. The wires you will want to pick out from the bundle are these. Do not rely on standard trailer wiring charts, because the Casita wire colors you'll want are as I show below.

TRAILER------------FUNCTION--------------4-PIN CONNECTOR
WHITE--------------------GROUND-----------------------WHITE
GREEN--------------TAIL/RUNNING/LIC.-----------------BROWN
RED----------------LEFT TURN/BRAKE LT.----------------YELLOW
BROWN------------RIGHT TURN/BRAKE LT.--------------GREEN
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Old 09-29-2016, 10:39 AM   #17
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@ honda03842 thanks for all of those ideas. Gives me MORE to think about as I find I'm building a bigger trailer than I bought! very helpful

@ Gilles Thanks, I had seen it. Once I figure my final load (water, contents, etc), the weight will usu be very similar each trip. Thus, I had decided not to get a scale but manually add up the additional contents (from the out of the factory/extras added Casita) and do the math. If anyone sees a flaw in that, let me know. I have a V8 tundra and the trailer has felt very stable thus far.

@ Casita Greg Thank you for the additional information. This is going to help me big time getting something like this rigged up. Really appreciate it.
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Old 09-29-2016, 04:19 PM   #18
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Chris,

We used a Casita 16 for a year and there is a lot of space in side where one can improve 'storage ability' as well as outside.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Fiberglass RV mobile app
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Old 08-28-2017, 11:37 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Casita Greg View Post
Hi Chris,
The Stow-Away box I bought is the 49" long model. As to the mounting bracket, I opted for the upturned goose-neck "fixed" one as opposed to the swing-out version. It gives you a little more "angle of departure" clearance room to keep from bottoming out in a ditch or gulley because the box sits higher. Just my personal choice, but I suppose either one would work alright.

The box I use: (Link): https://www.stowaway2.com/max-cargo-box-white
The mount I use: (Link): https://www.stowaway2.com/fixed-hitch-frame

I wired up the Stow-Away's tail lights by tapping into the trailer's wiring bundle, (which runs under the rear toe board at the back of the trailer,) to pick up the lines feeding the lights. I drilled a hole down through the floor and ran a 4-Pin flat lead trailer light pigtail out the bottom to supply the power to the lights in the Stow-Away box. Feed the pigtail harness up from the bottom so you can drill a smaller hole, (and seal it when you're done,) but I would recommend drilling the hole from inside the trailer to the bottom outside, so as not to drill into any wiring, as could happen if you were to drill blindly up from the bottom. The wires you will want to pick out from the bundle are these. Do not rely on standard trailer wiring charts, because the Casita wire colors you'll want are as I show below.

TRAILER------------FUNCTION--------------4-PIN CONNECTOR
WHITE--------------------GROUND-----------------------WHITE
GREEN--------------TAIL/RUNNING/LIC.-----------------BROWN
RED----------------LEFT TURN/BRAKE LT.----------------YELLOW
BROWN------------RIGHT TURN/BRAKE LT.--------------GREEN

Greg, I'm finally getting this Wednesday and I was looking at the wiring. Do I need a converter to split the turn signal/brake? It looks from reading other posts you did use one of these. Thanks again!
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Old 08-28-2017, 12:18 PM   #20
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Trailer: 2008 Casita 17' SD
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Because I originally towed with my 2004 Nissan Frontier, I did have to add a tail light converter to convert the truck's wiring to properly operate the trailer's lights, (the tail light wiring converters are available off the rack at NAPA, and probably at most auto parts places,) but after that, I didn't have to add any additional wiring converter inside the trailer when I wired up the Stow-Away box's wiring to the 4-Pin connector I installed to tie into the rear wire bundle along the back wall of the trailer under the toe board. (See my wiring guide I posted a few posts back for the color code.)

Now, my wife just bought a new 2016 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab 4X4 with the "trailer tow package," and I didn't have to add any wiring converter to her truck's tail light wiring. Just plugged the trailer's plug into the 7-Pin Bargman on her truck and walked around to do a light check, and everything worked fine without adding anything extra.

Since I don't know what your tow vehicle is, I can only say that some vehicles may need a converter (mounted under the truck) and some don't. I guess if the trailer lights are working fine right now, then you won't need to add a converter.
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