Nissan Frontier quad cab V6 4x4 short bed and Scamp 19

[John_M_1]

Originally Posted by Paul O.

My 2013 (before the last change) Tacoma V6, four door and the Scamp 19D is what I have and I am very happy with it. They also say not to tow a 5th wheel, but I am sure they never heard of a 5th wheel weighing less than 3000 lbs. My tongue weight is about 600 lbs, give or take. That leaves plenty of capacity for the two of us and a lot of junk in the bed and on the back seat.

Mounting the ball a couple of inches behind or ahead of the axle will make little difference. When it is mounted 3 feet behind, then you have the questions about WDH, sway control, etc.

The Tacoma can make a U-turn in three lanes easily, and with full steering, the cab is still about a foot from the Scamp loft. You better watch it if you are backing up, jack-knifing is a different story. In a rough, uneven campground, you also need to pay more attention.

My Reese ball mount worked out so that the front rail uses the bed mounting bolts, the rear one is bolted to the bed, but I have a steel bracket connecting to the middle pair of bed mounting bolts. The Tacoma has the composite bed, that I think is as tough as the thin steel they might use, or better, and it will never get weakened by rust.

The Scamp people will definitely tell you it is no problem to tow with the Frontier, and it is true, but ask how they would mount the hitch, etc.

So, not the answer you are looking for, but encouragement.

Actually, Paul, yours one of the best answers I've gotten so far. Many of them have been off topic. Is your tacoma a short bed or a long bed?

[John_M_1]

Originally Posted by stevebaz

Might give Scamp a call as they set these trucks up to pull their trailers. They probebly have more experience with pit falls more than everyone else. But remember they dont sell many of these 19 footers in compairison to the number of truck vairations.

Thanks. I've been planning to call them.

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

For me towing ability & safety ranks far higher on the list of desireable attributes in a tow vehicle than fuel mileage but to be fair , we have a small commuter vehicle and a designated tow vehicle.

This.

[Stretcher]

We towed a Scamp 19 with a Frontier Crewcab with the longer bed and never had any problems. I strongly suggest going with the 6' bed as I put a slight crease in the back of the Frontier cab by jackknifing the combo. The longer bed allowed installing a large toolbox in the front of the bed, which was handy for securing a variety of gear. The longer bed makes the truck more useful for hauling without the trailer. We liked the Frontier a lot, but replaced it with an F150 when we upgraded to an Escape 5.0TA, which we felt needed the greater payload.

If the camper bed size is an issue for your wife, you should definitely have her try out the Scamp bed. I'm 5'11" and was never comfortable sleeping crossways in the Scamp loft, waking up with my feet against the window. We put in a fullsize mattress lying front to back, which solved the problem.

Good luck!

[Stretcher]

We towed a Scamp 19 with a Frontier Crewcab with the longer bed and never had any problems. I strongly suggest going with the 6' bed as I put a slight crease in the back of the Frontier cab by jackknifing the combo. The longer bed allowed installing a large toolbox in the front of the bed, which was handy for securing a variety of gear. The longer bed makes the truck more useful for hauling without the trailer. We liked the Frontier a lot, but replaced it with an F150 when we upgraded to an Escape 5.0TA, which we felt needed the greater payload.

If the camper bed size is an issue for your wife, you should definitely have her try out the Scamp bed. I'm 5'11" and was never comfortable sleeping crossways in the Scamp loft, waking up with my feet against the window. We put in a fullsize mattress lying front to back, which solved the problem.

Good luck!

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by John_M_1

Actually, Paul, yours one of the best answers I've gotten so far. Many of them have been off topic. Is your tacoma a short bed or a long bed?

Mine is the short bed. With the long bed, you could probably clear the cab even at 90 degrees angle, but I don't see much of an advantage in that.

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by John_M_1

Actually, Paul, yours one of the best answers I've gotten so far. Many of them have been off topic. Is your tacoma a short bed or a long bed?

...and, yes, thanks for the compliment!

[Peter S. in Iowa]

Hi John,

I purchased a Scamp 19 two years ago and had the same concern as you do as far as placing the hitch behind the axle.
I use a 1994 Silverado (reg. cab, long bed) to tow and because of the length of the bed, the hitch had to be placed about 4 inches behind the axle. In two years of numerous trips with this set-up I can tell you that placing the hitch in this location has had absolutely no impact whatsoever on the towing or stability of this set-up. I think this would certainly be the case with a Frontier (much newer than what I use and likely more powerful than my Silverado) as well. I believe the low gross weight of the Scamp 19 makes this setup ideal for towing. I hardly even feel the trailer when I'm towing it and there has not been one time when I felt any sway (which is what I was most concerned about when I discovered I had to place the hitch behind the axle).
Hope this helps, though I obviously can't address your second question about the short-bed.
Pete

[Keith2000]

John: did you ever figure this out?

[Justus C]

Originally Posted by Keith2000

John: did you ever figure this out?

John hasn't logged in for over a year. You might want to try PMing him as this may generate an email notification that he is more likely to see.

[Al and Cindy K]

It doesn't look like John got an answer (at least, not on this thread) but, just in case someone searches and finds this in the future, a 2019 Chevrolet Colorado crew cab with the short (61.2") bed tows a Scamp 19'er with no clearance problems.

[Keith2000]

Thanks. That is good to know as we look at options.

[RCK FDK]

Originally Posted by Al and Cindy K

It doesn't look like John got an answer (at least, not on this thread) but, just in case someone searches and finds this in the future, a 2019 Chevrolet Colorado crew cab with the short (61.2") bed tows a Scamp 19'er with no clearance problems.
Attachment 136420

Hi, I stumbled across this thread on a internet search engine (thank you moderators for that), and I’m considering a Scamp 19 fifth wheel and have a 4 door 5 foot (approx) Nissan Frontier Pro 4x. If you have it available, would you mind sharing a photo of the Scamp connected to the hitch so that I can see the hitch placement in the bed as well as how far back the scamp sits from the cab on hour Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab? I know - apples and oranges potentially but still would help me.

Thank you.

Randy (new to the forum first post)

[Paul O.]

Maybe this helps in estimating the clearances. Frontier is probably pretty close to the Tacoma in size. The truck wheels are 16 in, to help with the scale. I took this picture on our trip a few weeks ago, parked on the road near the Elephant Rocks in the San Luis Valley.

[Al and Cindy K]

Originally Posted by RCK FDK

Hi, I stumbled across this thread on a internet search engine (thank you moderators for that), and I’m considering a Scamp 19 fifth wheel and have a 4 door 5 foot (approx) Nissan Frontier Pro 4x. If you have it available, would you mind sharing a photo of the Scamp connected to the hitch so that I can see the hitch placement in the bed as well as how far back the scamp sits from the cab on hour Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab? I know - apples and oranges potentially but still would help me.

Thank you.

Randy (new to the forum first post)

Hi Randy, welcome to the board. My short bed crew cab Colorado has a 61.2" bed. The bed height at the tailgate is 21.5". I am using the modified Reese hitch sold by Scamp.

From the front of the bed to the center of the ball is 27" which puts the ball roughly 2" behind the rear axle. From the center of the ball to the closed tailgate is 34". From the front of the bed to the back edge of the lowered tailgate is 83". With ihe hitch crossmember in the lowest of the three possible height settings, the base of the ball is 10" above the floor of the truck bed. NOTE: I have a BedRug installed so these measurements may be slightly off.

I can turn a bit over 90* left or right without cab to nose or bumper to landing gear frame contact. If my cooler and generator are along (carried on the tool box), the turning limit is around 75-80*'s which has not been a problem. When hooking up, I have about an inch of clearance between the lowered tailgate and the landing gear frame after centering the hitch over the ball (don't have to back up, raise the tailgate and back up some more to complete the hookup). Top of bed rail to camper nose clearance is 4" - I've never had bed to camper contact and travel some fairly rough FS roads.

We mostly boondock or at least dry camp and enjoy back road exploring so there's usually a good bit of extra gear in the bed - fuel/water cans, blocks, jack, grill, propane tank, etc. No clearance problems with any of this aboard.

I hope these measurements and comments will answer your questions. If not, just let me know.

Edit to add - Our Scamp does have the lifted axle option.

[RCK FDK]

Originally Posted by Paul O.

Maybe this helps in estimating the clearances.

Thank you! Very helpful and awesome photos. Surely must have been a good trip. I didn’t realize how much clearance there might be above the bed rails which is great. Randy

[RCK FDK]

Originally Posted by Al and Cindy K

Hi Randy, welcome to the board.

I hope these measurements and comments will answer your questions. If not, just let me know.

Thank you for this excellent post. I think you’ve given me what I need to figure hitch placement and lots of great ideas on how to store stuff in the bed. Everything looks really doable. Now to just decide if a Scamp 5er is what we want to pursue. I’m pretty well sold on it, but I’m only 33 percent of the decision and dont have veto privileges...

[Susierruth]

Originally Posted by John_M_1

From searching and reading here I've learned that many people use a Nissan Frontier short bed quad cab pick up to tow a Scamp 19. I'm wondering what you give up regarding the hitch installation if you have to have the short bed. I'm in the possible position of buying a new car and the Nissan Frontier I described could work for me. I'm a backpacker and hike in remote place that requires fording streams - got to have the 4x4. I also need the 4 real seats for family use. I just don't like the long bed. I could live with it but I'm probably buying used and the long beds aren't as plentiful - the other consideration.

It seems that the standard scamp 19 hitch would have to be mounted aft of the axle which has to be less than ideal for towing. So two questions:

1) Does the hitch behind the axle location cause any towing and/or stability problems?

2) Does the short bed result in a clearance problem - for example not able to maneuver the truck fully without the scamp hitting the back of the cab.

I’m curios what you decided and how it worked out?

[ShelbyM]

As pointed out above, John has not posted in about 5 years. I think he ended up with a Casita rather than the 19' Scamp. FWIW, I have a Frontier CC 4X4 and I wouldn't consider the Scamp because the truck has such a low payload. Pin weight of the Scamp will be +/- 600# plus hitch weight, too close to the edge for me. YMMV.

[Susierruth]

Originally Posted by ShelbyM

As pointed out above, John has not posted in about 5 years. I think he ended up with a Casita rather than the 19' Scamp. FWIW, I have a Frontier CC 4X4 and I wouldn't consider the Scamp because the truck has such a low payload. Pin weight of the Scamp will be +/- 600# plus hitch weight, too close to the edge for me. YMMV.

Thank you! I put a $300 deposit on a 1991 19ft and took the hitch with me for installation. I didn’t realize I’d have to install aft of the axel until the shop took a look. I just want to be safe. I think I’ll back out of the deal.