Need truck advice for hauling 19 foot Scamp

[thrifty bill]

#1 complaint I have on my truck is the overall length. The Ranger is almost two feet shorter in length. Its not really a complaint, it's more of a minor nit pick.

For this reason, and the fact I do not need the full capability of my F150, I would consider the new Ranger. But first, I need to put more miles on my F150. Bought it with 12,000 miles, it now has 120,000 miles.

[CamperBill]

We like pickup trucks.

Thinking about replacing our 2003 2.4L Tacoma with a 2020 Nissan Frontier. When we purchased Ollie used in MO, towed it home to NC with a 2013 4.0L Frontier. Waiting to see if Nissan comes out with a redesigned Frontier with more power-plant choices and higher weight capacities for 2020. Will see.

https://www.dwnissan.com/2020-nissan-frontier

We tow Ollie with a 5.7L Toyota Tundra.

[Dick Kasnick]

I had the Tundra, and think the engine was actually 4.6 Litre. And on the towing, Toyota is more worried about extreme turns and hitting the corner of the trailer on the side of the truck. There is not enough room to do a 90 Deg turn. So, if you are aware of that, go to it.

Originally Posted by Paul O.

What you call a medium size truck will do perfectly well. You want one with the tow package. There is a number of them available now, but in 2013, when I was in the market, there were only two trucks in that category: Frontier and Tacoma.

I tow mine with 2013 Tacoma, 6 cylinder engine (4.0 liter), four door (crew cab) and short bed, with tow package. I mounted the hitch in the bed myself after having it shipped from Scamp. I recently posted a link to a post where I described how it was done, and I can find it again if you want. The 19Deluxe weight is well within the towing specifications of 6500 lbs. The Tacoma manual says not to tow a 5th wheel, but I think the assumption is that any 5th wheel will be at least 10,000 pounds. (Some people here actually argue that the Scamp 5th wheel is not really a 5th wheel, but that is beside the point.) It tows like a dream and we have been over the high mountain passes many times. Towing gas mileage is about 16, headwind may take it down to 12, but tailwind takes it to 18. Non-towing is 20mpg.

[Becca50]

You will love your new Scamp! Many happy trails to you!

We have towed ours with 3 different Tacoma's, gradually increasing in power and comfort over the years. I would never install the hitch TO the truck bed. We have brackets welded to the frame, then bolt the hitch THROUGH the bed to the brackets. It's an easy install once you find someone to do it. Safety first!

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Dick Kasnick

I had the Tundra, and think the engine was actually 4.6 Litre. And on the towing, Toyota is more worried about extreme turns and hitting the corner of the trailer on the side of the truck. There is not enough room to do a 90 Deg turn. So, if you are aware of that, go to it.

That is a good point about hitting the 5th wheel with the truck cab, especially with the four door, crew cab, trucks. I knew it was something to be careful about, and verified that there is clearance, about 8 to 10 inches, when making the tightest turn. Backing up is a different story. It is always possible to jackknife the rig and damage things, if you work at it. Being able to do the 90 degree turn is only needed in extreme cases and in all these years I never had the need for that.

[J. Sully]

We tow ours with a 2013 Chevy Silverado. We get 15mpg pulling at 65mph. Lots of extra power on the hills. I pulled with a older Ranger v6 auto w/ tow mode for a few years and felt it was under-powered on the hills, going up and down. The Chevy box is 2inches lower at the side rail than the Fords we compared and it is 2 inches shallower inside the box. That helped with clearance between the overhang of the Scamp and the pickup bed. We do have the 3 inch lift on the Scamp.

[thrifty bill]

The good news/bad news with an F150. If you buy new, bad news, they depreciate fast.

Good news if you buy used, F150s depreciate fast. I paid less than HALF of what the original buyer paid for his F150. It was 5 years old with 12,000 miles on it. And it had been for sale for a couple of weeks. Guy that bought it new took a $2.50 per mile depreciation hit, OUCH!

I've since put another 120,000 miles on it, my depreciation hit is less than 10 cents a mile (probably more like 7 cents +/-). If you can afford to lose a ton of money, then sure, buy a new F150. If you are on the thrifty side, wait for a deal on a used one, from a private party. Its not like an F150 is rare.....

On fuel economy, you are likely to find that the full sized trucks get the same mileage as some of the smaller trucks (like a Toyota Tacoma). And when towing, can get better mileage as they aren't working as hard.

[NH-Boomers]

Originally Posted by Paul O.

What you call a medium size truck will do perfectly well. You want one with the tow package. There is a number of them available now, but in 2013, when I was in the market, there were only two trucks in that category: Frontier and Tacoma.

I tow mine with 2013 Tacoma, 6 cylinder engine (4.0 liter), four door (crew cab) and short bed, with tow package. I mounted the hitch in the bed myself after having it shipped from Scamp. I recently posted a link to a post where I described how it was done, and I can find it again if you want. The 19Deluxe weight is well within the towing specifications of 6500 lbs. The Tacoma manual says not to tow a 5th wheel, but I think the assumption is that any 5th wheel will be at least 10,000 pounds. (Some people here actually argue that the Scamp 5th wheel is not really a 5th wheel, but that is beside the point.) It tows like a dream and we have been over the high mountain passes many times. Towing gas mileage is about 16, headwind may take it down to 12, but tailwind takes it to 18. Non-towing is 20mpg.

Hi Paul,
It would be helpful to know how to install the hitch, we have the truck a 2019 Tacoma with a tow pkg with the metal plates bolted to the bed and because we are trying to by a used Scamp 19 and it comes with the hitch we don't know if we can just drill holes on the fly or put more time into this project ahead of time, any suggestions are helpful we have always a 13'/16' and 17' Scamp and Casita so this will be different. thanks in advance

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by NH-Boomers

Hi Paul,
It would be helpful to know how to install the hitch, we have the truck a 2019 Tacoma with a tow pkg with the metal plates bolted to the bed and because we are trying to by a used Scamp 19 and it comes with the hitch we don't know if we can just drill holes on the fly or put more time into this project ahead of time, any suggestions are helpful we have always a 13'/16' and 17' Scamp and Casita so this will be different. thanks in advance

I recently posted a link to my post from years ago, describing how I mounted the rails. Here it is, scroll down: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f72/scamp-5er-hitch-mod-w-photo-link-36300.html
This thread has a lot of good stuff.

I have also seen a picture where somebody mounted two long, about 5-6 inches wide, pieces of 3/8 (?) steel in the bed, using all six bed mounting bolts. Then the rails can be mounted to those pieces. Keep in mind that the Scamp 19 tongue (or call it pin? ball?) weight is only 600 to 700 lbs.

[Scamp13]

Hello Paul,
I have a 2007 19’ scamp. Getting ready to setup a 2019 Tacoma/ towing package, quad cab with 60” bed. Would love pictures and advise on setting up hitch? Also worried that adding the hitch will void warranty? Thanks Kevin

[jwcolby123]

I tow mine with a 2000 dodge dakota with a big engine.

[parmm]

Tow mine with a 2018 Chevy Colorado, crew cab, short bed. Scamp new style hitch. Hitch has to be mounted perfect in bed to make 90 degree turn and clear both cab and rear of box, which mine can do. I got 15/16 mpg


And can you even get a Ford pickup? "The cuts are the latest for Ford, which earlier this year said it expected to lose about 50% of its vehicle production in the second quarter due to the chip issue. Ford has said it expects to lose $2.5 billion in earnings and roughly 1.1 million units of production this year because of the problem." We toured the Dearborn plant last month and it was shut down dut to the chip shortage. They had all the lots full of pickups waiting for chips!!!

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Scamp13

Hello Paul,
I have a 2007 19’ scamp. Getting ready to setup a 2019 Tacoma/ towing package, quad cab with 60” bed. Would love pictures and advise on setting up hitch? Also worried that adding the hitch will void warranty? Thanks Kevin

As it happens, I am looking into switching from my 2013 Tacoma to a 2021. The most important for me is whether the bed has been changed in any way since they updated the truck in 2017(?). It seems to be exactly the same, as far as I can tell. It makes sense that they would keep the same tooling to form the glass re-enforced sheet molding compound (SMC) part. I hope to be making the switch some time in September, and hope to be able to reuse all parts (except the hardware). There might be some updated information on one of the Tacoma forums, such as this https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/.../#post-8646675 (this link takes you to an old post, but there may be some later stuff there.)



Take a look at the thread I referenced in the other post. The way I have mounted the rails is just one way to do it. I have seen pictures of some people using two long, narrow plates, left and right, that get mounted to the bed using all six bed mounting bolts (six 3/8 thick spacers needed), and the cross rails get attached to them.



When I get done with it, I should be of more help.



PS. I know that the 2013 user's manual says not to pull a 5th wheel with the Tacoma, but the Scamp 19 is, say, 50% of the towing capacity. A real 5th wheel hitch probably weighs lot more than the Scamp hitch. I never had any warranty issues, so no help here. For what it's worth, many people maintain, with emphasis, that the Scamp 19 is not a 5th wheel trailer. But it tows like one.