2014 Outback and Scamp13 specs

[shawn bertagnole]

I have learned a lot from many regular posters here and decided to document my Scamps hitch information so it may help others. I have illustrated the setup as well as the general tongue and trailer weights for my particular trailer but may help others with similar setups. I have added several customs to this 13', most of which are in my profile album.

We just returned from Jasper Alberta, 2000 miles from Seattle and back. 26 degrees at night and snow, would not have asked for less. It was great and we were warm at night with about half the time finding electricity at campsites. 6 Hotsprings in 10 days helped a lot too. We take our Scamp up there every few years, lots of hills, trailer brakes work great and a must have in places.

Shawn

[TomK]

Shawn, that's an impressive diagram. You obviously spent quite a bit of time on it. I hope it helps some folks think about some of the things you need to take into consideration when setting up your rig for towing.

We have a 6 week old 2014 Scamp 13 Std, and our tug is a 2011 Subaru Forester. I called Scamp before we went to pick up our trailer in order to get the correct ball height. I was told the top of the ball should ideally be about 16" when the trailer was hooked up. For our car, I stood on the ball, and my wife measured the distance from the top of the ball to the ground. This simulated the 200 lb. tongue weight.

I already owned a 2" drop / 3/4" rise ball mount for our Curt class III hitch. In order to get the 16" height, I had to use a 2" high rise ball. 2" Hitch Ball - 2" Rise - 1" Diameter x 2-1/8" Long Shank - 6,000 lbs Curt Balls C40034
I never heard of them before. Bottom line, it worked out great. We have no sway problems at any towing speed, and the trailer is perfectly level when hooked up.

I'm wondering why your trailer ball is 2" lower than ours? Is your trailer level when hooked up? We have similar options. I tried to configure ours to keep the tongue weight to below 200 lbs. We have A/C, but that weight is over the axle, so not a factor. Did Scamp raise the frames as well as the ceiling after the 2006 fire? Maybe your axle has the normal sag due to age? Just curious.

Tom

[MC1]

Looks good Shawn.

Suggestion..... one common mod in these parts is to get the ball mount shank redrilled which moves the ball as close to the back of the car as possible. This decreases the overhang to wheelbase ratio which improves overall towing stability.

as shown.....

[TomK]

On our trip home from Backus, I was struck by how level the trailer was when seen from a distance and snapped this picture.

[MC1]

Tom, very level. Doesn't get any better than that!

[TomK]

Originally Posted by MC1

Looks good Shawn.

Suggestion..... one common mod in these parts is to get the ball mount shank redrilled which moves the ball as close to the back of the car as possible. This decreases the overhang to wheelbase ratio which improves overall towing stability.

as shown.....

Wow W, that is one heavy duty looking hitch! Is that for your Airstream? I guess I'm so used to looking at the Scamp set-up. You're obviously better at backing up than I am. My Forester backs up in 2" increments. I'm afraid your set-up would really do a job on the bumper when hitching up.

I could probably get my mount about 2" shorter, but I wouldn't be able to open the hatchback. It clears the tongue jack by about 1" when parked on level ground.

Tom

[MC1]

For sure Tom backing up is interesting. I had to mount a mirror on the crank arm to watch the backing up process. It works good. "better than having the BH help" LOL!

Yes, for the Airstream. It is a 40 year old Reese dual cam with 750lb bars.

[shawn bertagnole]

Yes, I think it is sagging a little. I am the second owner and am unsure how they stored it. I always keep it on jacks now.

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by MC1

Looks good Shawn.

Suggestion..... one common mod in these parts is to get the ball mount shank redrilled which moves the ball as close to the back of the car as possible. This decreases the overhang to wheelbase ratio which improves overall towing stability.

as shown.....

We drilled the shank on our CRV and now use it on the Odyssey. It improves things the order of 5% and for the addition of one hole is one of the easiest improvements and is free.