2001 Scamp 13 - proud new parent

[BC Scamper13]

Hi!

I am Barbara, or BC in beautiful Southeast Alaska. I just bought a beautiful 2001 Scamp 13 from a very good friend who found it a couple of months ago in town. I was horribly jealous but managed to rise above for the most part.

On Monday she decided to sell it, as she had used it the past weekend for the first time and did NOT like towing it. She has a VW Eurovan and knows she can borrow the Scamp back anytime. He boyfriend had first right of refusal but she let him know pretty clearly that he couldn't have it. So she asked me and I said YES YES YES pretty please.

So here I am, all of a sudden with a real beauty right outside the house! We have to make a space next to our garage for it and will build some kind of shed for it after moving some plants and putting down some tracks for the wheels. We had hoped it would fit in the garage but our 1941 garage is a standard 7 feet or slightly less so no go.

I've been fantasizing about small RV options as car camping with a tent is a hassle here in the rainforest - not to mention absolutely not bear resistant. I looked into Truckcampers (requires having a big pickup truck! And a camper! And lots of $$$$ and they are pretty cramped feeling -based on the few I've been in.) Then I had a pretty intense phase with Sportmobiles . . . But there aren't any here, and they are kinda "fancy looking" - maybe too flashy? Also very $$$. Oh, then there was the origami trailer idea, Aliner, but luckily too far from SE Alaska to be an impulse buy.

So then fate intervened and I had a Scamp 13 in terrific shape dropped in my lap (figuratively - ). I don't have a hitch on my 2004 Subaru Forester, so have one ordered to be installed by local mechanic. (I don't want to even try to install it myself.). Also ordered a trailer dolly from Harbor Freight today, and a BAL tire leveler (no pizza bag yet). Oh and LED light bulbs for interior lights - ALL after doing LOTS of research on this forum with the great Google Search tool. THANK YOU ALL for making this forum the fabulous resource it is!!!

So far have had a couple of cocktail parties with friends and lunch with my fairy godmother (who sold it to me) while on the street. Have yet to try to use the propane for anything and plugging in will have to wait till we get it next to garage, but for now its the cutest playhouse ever. My husband and I plan on using it for trips in Alaska and the Yukon but will take some one- night ears here in town once we get a hitch on the car!

More photos are in my profile.

BC

(I just previewed this and it looks OK, but the past couple of days there is some image in the background of a lot of posts on this forum - don't know if its my ipad acting up)

[Darrell in Al]

Welcome to the Scamp and fiberglass family. I think you'll love it and towing should be no problem with your Forester.

[BC Scamper13]

Thanks Darrell! From AK to AL!

[Donna D.]

Hi Barbara to FiberglassRV, we're glad you're here

Sounds like your friends loss is your gain! Based on some of your comments, LEDs, BAL, etc. it appears you've spent time here on the forums reading and educating yourself.

Be sure to post lots of pictures, I'd love to go to Alaska one day... in the meantime, I'll live vicariously through your posts.

[BC Scamper13]

Hi Donna, I love your avatar and have seen how you make everyone feel welcome here. Please come to Alaska with or without the double yolk anytime. I have a guest egg now!

Once I have a hitch I'll have to take my baby out for a beauty shot near the glacier.

Barbara

[papa-t]

Hi BC. Welcome to the forum from North Carolina. I've had the priviledge to visit your beautiful state one time and hope to get back there again one day. Glad you found your Scamp. May you have lots of wonderful memories along the way.

[Carol H]

Welcome Barbra so glad you found the perfect little trailer so close to you!
Spending time exploring your area is on my ever increasing long list of things to do!

[BC Scamper13]

Took the dinette table out, it feels twice as big! Brought in a folding wooden TV tray for drinks and snacks. (Scamp still on the street by my garage till the trailer dolly arrives and plants next to garage are relocated). Much neighborhood interest and its so small it's perfect for small intimate beer-thirty meet ups.

Where to sleep you may ask? Well, I did take a test nap on the front bunk, it was quite satisfactory. For the dinette area I'm thinking of cutting some 30" wide plywood sections to use as a seat at the back (U couch shape) with a cushions on top and back, store the extra section for the bed behind the seat. Maybe just use the seat along the back as another single bed area. One of us at the front and one on the bunk . . . We will see.

All mods so far are easily reversible, and within my current skill set!

[stevebaz]

Wecome aboard. If you want the shorter table and want to keep the bed some people have made the regular table fold in half. This way you keep it all. much more stable than the folding TV tray. Do a search there are a couple of ways its been done.

[BC Scamper13]

Thanks Steve!

Believe me I have read so many posts about clever innovations and the half table idea, but I am not any kind of woodworker. Also want the option of no table at all! (I want a "magic table" transplant from a Parkliner"!!!)

So anyway, this is the lowest of low frill mods - taking something out! Stability not an issue at the moment unless the cocktail parties get too out of hand.

Thanks again for the ideas, I really LURVE all the help and resources being shared here. Knowing that other Scamp owners have probably tried anything I can think up and figured out a better way.

Cheers!

[Vickie B.]

I thought I liked having the dinette made into a bed all the time, but it just makes it too small! So we cut 3 pieces of wood for the "bed slats". When not being used as a bed---2 stack on top of each other, and the third (which I covered with vinyl) becomes the back of the now U shaped dinette.

Will officially try it this weekend before we take it to the Eggstravaganza Rally. I sure like the looks of it a lot better. The round table is because I wanted a pig, coffee house feel----will store it under the bed.

[Vickie B.]

Anyway, Barbara, I like what you did, and I think you're on the right track! I'm just sorry it took me 4 years to figure this out---a smaller table makes a BIG difference!

[Vickie B.]

Oh gee--my first post should read---"pub, coffee house feel"!!!!!!!

[BC Scamper13]

Vickie that looks really nice!

Thanks for the photos, really helps. I love the colors and curtains in your pictures. Let me (us) know what great ideas you get from the rendezvous.

I'm having so much fun with my little scamp, I'm so glad is in good shape, I am in awe of all the restoration some have done to thier eggs. I'll have to look up your model, it looks very similar to the Scamp.

Thanks Vickie again!

Barbara

[Vickie B.]

Thanks, Barbara---I'm enjoying your enthusiasm and can't wait to see what you do!

[BC Scamper13]

I have been busy with getting up to speed with the basics!

- got a Subaru hitch installed on my 2004 Subaru Forester - $600 parts and labor at dealer (limited choices in an isolated town of 30k). Figured it was cheaper than a new car with a trailer hitch! We are a 1 car family - simpler and cheaper.

- my BAL stabilizer came it is fabulous! Really makes the Scamp feel rock steady, I used it when I had it on the street, and now am using it in the yard w/ the Scamp in its new spot. Also have the rear stabilizers down of course but the BAL leveler is essential as far as evening out the side to side level.

- moved the Scamp off the street to be next to the garage. Got it stabilized with BAL and chocks and its all level. Also plugged her in to outlet in garage! We got power!

- my Harbor Freight Trailer dolly came in the mail - used a cupon and the total with freight was about $60. I'll need the dolly to move the Scamp out to the street to hitch to the car. Haven't used it yet, but put it together with assistance of YouTube video!

- I got down and dirty and confirmed via iPhone camera that my 2001 Scamp has the valuable brake flanges! So I can have electric brakes installed without ordering a new axel! Yeah! I want the brakes for safety, we have some steep grades in Alaska, notably the road out of Skagway to Whitehorse. Plan to get them installed before next summer.

- my fairy Scampmother, who sold me her Scamp, helped me figure out the awning yesterday, so now I have it out for a front porch cover. It's angled a bit for the inevitable rain we "enjoy" in the Tongass temperate rainforest. (Precipitation falls on an average 230 days per year, averaging 62.5 inches but ranging from 55 to 90 inches. Makes the Northwest look like the Banana Belt to us in SE Alaska!)

I'm going to post some photos in my profile.

Meanwhile I am using my new playhouse for coffee and cocktails with friends and husband. Ukulele practice. And will have an overnight soon - in the yard. It's always clean! ( vs the house!). And no one expects much in the way of cooking!

[Thomas G.]

Awesome. The brake install is easy for a DIYer, especially if you can install the brake controller in the TV yourself. Worst case, order the parts and have a local garage do the install.

[BC Scamper13]

Thanks Tom, I'll order the parts but go with a real mechanic! My dad would have been all over it if he were still here, but he passed last year at 91 (a very long and happy life, with my mother for 64 years till she died 5 months before him.). He and his folks lived in trailers during the Depression in California and then his parents travelled all over in a trailer after retiring - so I feel I am carrying on the family tradition!

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by BC Scamper13

Thanks Tom, I'll order the parts but go with a real mechanic! My dad would have been all over it if he were still here, but he passed last year at 91 (a very long and happy life, with my mother for 64 years till she died 5 months before him.). He and his folks lived in trailers during the Depression in California and then his parents travelled all over in a trailer after retiring - so I feel I am carrying on the family tradition!

Sorry to hear of your parents' passing, but you are doing 'em proud.

Great prices on brake components here:
Electric Trailer Brake Assemblies at Trailer Parts Superstore

Electric Trailer Brake Drum / Hub Assemblies at Trailer Parts Superstore

You need to match the drum / bearing assembly to the spindle that is on your trailer now. That is defined by the diameter of the bearings on the inner and outer race (and the wheel bolt pattern). And of course, match the brakes to the drum diameter that you buy. Probably a 7" for a 13' Scamp, but verify first.

Check eBay, too, you may find a package deal. Example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Add-Brakes-t...019822&vxp=mtr

[BC Scamper13]

Hoo boy, I'm sure I will need some help with this. Those prices look good!

My Subaru hitch came with a 4 pin connector for the trailer lights (I assume) so can the same wizard who installs the brakes fix the car to communicate with the trailer brake system? The Scamp has a 7 pin connector and the Subaru has a 4 pin connector - even with my amazing math ineptitude this strikes me as a problem. Does the car end get a new set of wires, or more wires?

The eBay link you gave me has a lot of information (and pictures!!!) but the complete brake set up is $150 and shipping is over $200!

Well I'm learning bit by bit. Thanks so much Tom!!!