Hi! I'm new to this community

[Pelagia]

I'm Pelagia. I have been shopping for a 1500 pound trailer that my crosstrek can pull and Scamp seems to be the only one at that weight that can design in a toilet and shower. I was surprised to see an order made today would not be ready til November! Five years ago I owned an Escape, but that's when I drove a Toyota Tundra to pull it. Downsized and happy. Question: can Scamps be rented to make sure I like it before I order one?

[Civilguy]

Welcome to the forum.

Trailer rental operations seem to come and go. Two rental businesses I was aware of that were focused on renting small molded fiberglass trailers have closed.

Here's a Scamp 13 for rent in Colorado, and a search box to look further.

https://www.outdoorsy.com/rv-rental/..._64119-listing

Entering "scamp trailer rental" in Google, (without quotes), brought up a couple of other potential prospects in various parts of the country.

[Alex Adams]

Pelagia, I own a 13 foot Boler that I tow with my Crosstrek. Modern Scamp with a bathroom will be pushing your towing capacity. My Boler weighs about 1300 pounds loaded without water in the tank and no bathroom. I wouldn't want it to be any heavier. I can tow it without any problems and have functioning electric brakes (absolutely necessary for the Crosstrek to achieve the 1500 pound capacity).

[Jon in AZ]

Personally, the only trailers I’d be comfortable towing with a Crosstrek are a vintage Eriba Puck or the modern Meerkat clone, with a base dry weight under 1000# and a narrow, low towing profile.

My very basic (no bath, A/C, or awning) 2008 Scamp 13 weighs around 1700# loaded. On a long grade or against a stiff headwind, my V6 Honda Pilot is clearly working hard.

[Pelagia]

Thank you, Civilguy (sweet nickname), for that info, I will check it out since I'm in AZ and can easily hop over to CO to rent one. However, reading other posts last night I have been discouraged from buying a Scamp since I read the post of a member who just received his/her new one and the dry weight is over 1500 lbs. which is tops for Crosstrek. Im thinking Scamp may be too heavy. Having a bathroom is necessary since Im alone and older and don't need to be traipsing through the woods or out of the security of my trailer for a restroom.

[Pelagia]

Thank you, Alex, does your Boler have a bathroom?

[Pelagia]

Thank you, Jon, yes that's what I'm learning here. Do the two types you mentioned accomodate bathrooms at the weight you quoted?

[Jon in AZ]

No, just a porta-potty. Hate to say it, but a bathroom in an under-1500# GVW trailer just isn’t realistic. You’d be much better off with an Outback instead of a Crosstrek. It’s a very popular tow vehicle for 13’ Scamps, including front bath models.

[Alex Adams]

Originally Posted by Pelagia

Thank you, Alex, does your Boler have a bathroom?

No it does not. I don't think you are going to be able to tow any trailer with a real bathroom with the Crosstrek. You could see how much it would cost to trade up to an Outback.

[steve67]

We're pulling our 13' Boler with a Forester, which has the same drive train and brakes as your Crosstrek. The Outback is rated for higher towing weight because it has larger brake rotors. The drive train is the same.
We worked hard at reducing and keeping the Boler weight down when we renovated.
The older models of both Trillium and Boler are lighter than newer models.

[thrifty bill]

Originally Posted by Pelagia

Thank you, Civilguy (sweet nickname), for that info, I will check it out since I'm in AZ and can easily hop over to CO to rent one. However, reading other posts last night I have been discouraged from buying a Scamp since I read the post of a member who just received his/her new one and the dry weight is over 1500 lbs. which is tops for Crosstrek. Im thinking Scamp may be too heavy. Having a bathroom is necessary since Im alone and older and don't need to be traipsing through the woods or out of the security of my trailer for a restroom.

1. You will never tow dry weight. Check weights in the real world for a better view of what actual weight will be (its higher).

2. No true bathroom model (that I am aware of) will weight in at 1500 pounds or less. Even my 1977 Trillium 1300 (no bathroom) weighs over 1500 pounds with no propane tank and not much packed inside.

3. Almost all the vintage 13 footers did not have bathrooms. Trillium did make one version of the 1300 with a toilet, very, very, rare.

4. I've seen many people out there that tout how light their trailer weighs, but have never run it across a scale. And a lot of sellers will list a weight, but if you ask them where the weight comes from, its typically one of those "I was told....." Real data? Nope.

The good news with a 13 foot trailer with no bathroom is you have more room for other stuff. Squeezing a bathroom in a 13 footer means you lose critical space. Realize the body of a 13 foot FG trailer is only 10 feet long total. Mark out a spot in your house sometime, 6 1/2 feet by ten. Then fit in a door, an aisle way, a bed, a small kitchen area, a closet (in part to support the roof and wall). Tight.

For renting an RV, you can find them on RVshare or Outdoorsy. Google RV rental by owner.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by steve67

We're pulling our 13' Boler with a Forester, which has the same drive train and brakes as your Crosstrek.

The Crosstrek has the smaller 2.0L engine shared with the Impreza. The Forester has the 2.5L, same as the base engine in the Outback. I did hear a 2.5L may be coming as an option in the Crosstrek later this year, but that’s not going to help the OP, and I doubt it will affect the tow rating, which (as you say) is about more than just the engine.

I agree some of the vintage 13’ers are lighter and can be kept within the 1500# rating of the Crosstrek and the Forester. But not with a wet bath, which is on the OP’s list of requirements. For that an Outback is needed.

The 2020 Outback is riding on a new chassis (a shortened version of the Ascent), which allowed Subaru to raise tongue weight ratings. However, with attention to tongue weight, 2019 and older Outbacks are capable of pulling a 13’ wet bath model.

[jeffminnesota]

I have a 2020 Forester, manual says it will pull a 1500 pound trailer with 150 pound tongue weight. What is the actual weight of a Scamp with a bathroom? as measured on a scale?
Thanks for sharing your info and experience.

[Jon in AZ]

Depends on options (A/C, awning, furnace, extra LP tank, and extra cabinets are common add-ons in not included in the bath package) and how much stuff you bring, but figure around 1400-1500# empty and 1700-1800# loaded for a 13’ standard bath model. It can go higher if you carry heavy stuff like water, bicycles, generator...

See the thread “Trailer Weights in the Real World” in the General Chat section for more information. With a couple of exceptions these are loaded, scaled weights. Post #297 links to a spreadsheet of the data. Note that some entries indicate whether it’s a bath model, but none give a full list of options.

[thrifty bill]

And you will probably run out of tongue weight first. Typical rule of thumb on a bumper pull RV is 13% tongue weight. Run with too little tongue weight and you are inviting sway, which can be very dangerous! Run too much tongue weight and you will likely get a lot of rear squat on your tow vehicle, and your headlights will point up into the trees, rather than illuminate the road.

Now some people exceed the tow rating on their TV, whether it is through ignorance or complacency. Exceeding the rating is one of those personal decisions. I won't do it but others are OK doing it.

I run between 13% and 14% tongue weight on my Trillium.