oldcircusbread
New member
I've inquired in FG egg trailer forums and members there have referred me to off road forums with my questions (posted on some relevant old threads I tried to zombie but only a couple forum members replied on two posts).
In short, can I mod a Scamp 19' 5th wheel (my first preference) or 16' Scamp (my second preference)--or competitor equivalent--to enable me to safely get off road (no extreme four wheeling but some moderately sticky situations)?
By off road, I mean nothing extreme (no rock crawling or cliff base hugging) but more than washboard roads. For example, I'd like to get on rutted Jeep trail roads a few miles to get to a camping spot off a better road, and I may want to take old ranch roads or unimproved boulder strewn forest service roads that are good in parts but rutted in others, and possibly need to cross a stream here and there. I'm also wondering if roads are muddy after a camping weekend where the weather person was wrong as they usually are in WY with its winds.
My issue is that I bought a 2011 Tacoma TRD Sport ext cab 4x4 long box with the towing package thinking it would be no problem to find a truck camper that would not exceed its payload. I also didn't want to drive around a full size truck all year unable to afford two vehicles (one for commuting and work/play vehicle). I'm a fourth generation WY native and I've been dying to get away from the transplants and their four-wheelers/ATVs for real peace and quiet which is requiring one gets more and more remote. I just may have to move to AK!
I've considered a Travelite 625 (1200 lbs), Livinlite Camplite 5.7 (1200 lbs), and Capris Retreat (1050 lbs). I wish I could find a used Northern Lite 6'10" used in great shape and hardly used as those were supposed to be around 900 lbs. Those are all the base weights. Throw options and gear in plus my family in my extended cab (plus 500 lbs for my family's weight) and I'll easily exceed a payload of 1,100 lbs by 500-1000 lbs.
I really *don't* want a pop up (I want to go into bear country frequently and there's something about a hard side that makes me feel safer if only illusion, have had some encounters that leave me weary in AK) either. I've read Taco forums voraciously to learn that some have put one of these in their trucks with air bags and/or upgraded leaf springs with LT tires and have had no issues, claiming they've done so for years and years and thousands of miles.
But I've asked engineering friends and they say doing so is unsmart even for the occasional weekend expedition and even if I'm not cruising around all year with a truck camper on. It's unsafe all the way around, especially other drivers on the road and a recipe for an out of control vehicle and a broken axle and bent frame and consequent power train issues. Yet lots of these Taco enthusiasts cry foul and alarmism. They say upgrade suspension and drive slower and increase following distance and I'd be fine.
I have considered a hard shell topper too and customizing the bed for just sleeping with a rolling kitchen galley but I really like the idea of a living space for when the weather looks good and one goes out into a deluge where you can sit and talk over tea or play cards or charades. And heaven forbid if we see catastrophic collapse in our lives worst case having some mobile living space when we get out of dodge. That's why I find a trailer more appealing but I truly want the best of both worlds.
So then I stumbled upon fiberglass egg trailers which is what led me eventually to post here as I got very mixed (and strong opinions on both sides) responses inquiring about if a Scamp 16' or 19' or equivalent could get me as far off road as I want to go. Part of this is that experience of "rough road" is so relative.
I've considered tear drops too and expedition trailers but as a middle aged teacher with a spinal fusion am still awaiting Ed McMahon at my door and have not yet won the lottery and although I descend from colonial old money on both sides, our line keeps getting disowned and disinherited for marrying down. Lol. My middle name is downgrade.
As to the FG trailers, some users say aside from vibration issues on hundreds of miles of rough washboard roads they've handled rough road even boulder strewn, unimproved and rutted forest roads with a Scamp like a champ. They say just slow down and a few lifted 4" and added 15" tires. But manufacturers are clear the FG egg trailers are not designed for off road like I want and it is ill advised. Yet there's a definite community of off road FG egg enthusiasts going back to the seventies who INSIST they can get almost anywhere a truck camper can. Unfortunately I've wanted to hear more from them on zombie old posts and none have chimed in. Others suggest they're crazy and they wouldn't. Which leaves me confused.
I really really like the idea of the greater space a FG trailer might lend over the kind of tiny compact truck campers that fit although overload a mid size truck like mine... AND I love the idea of dropping camp off and being able to explore and four wheel truly off road without the extra weight easier than a two hour truck camper extraction and later reinstallation.
But it's a no go if I won't be able to cross a fast moving non-river but healthy stream or ride on an unimproved boulder strewn (even at 5-10 mph) forest service road or a section of washboard graded road that got badly rutted with a FG egg. I remember some of the roads we took to favorite childhood sacred spots do have some steep downhills followed immediately by steep uphills too so don't know if I can't make it with a towing Tacoma with a trailer attached (what is a vertical z axis jack knife called?) and am looking for advice.
In my ideal world (I can't see buying a full size towing vehicle as the sole purpose of a truck for me is having one to help move things and the occasional rock or dirt or pavers or tile for landscaping for family and friends and getting away from other people into nature), I'd be able to mod a 19' scamp fifth wheel with a multi axis coupler or equivalent of a max hitch in the bed to enable extreme angles but minimize jack knife possibility.
Can someone here give me some real advice from experience?
It seems a lot of people share opinions that are not based on direct first hand experience so I'd especially appreciate responses from anyone out there who: (a) have done off roading with fiberglass trailers or (b) else have Tacos and have put the hardside camper in and have made it to 300 or 400 K miles without serious axle frame or brake issues, or (c) anyone who has won the lottery and is feeling particularly generous (lol, jk)...
In short, can I mod a Scamp 19' 5th wheel (my first preference) or 16' Scamp (my second preference)--or competitor equivalent--to enable me to safely get off road (no extreme four wheeling but some moderately sticky situations)?
By off road, I mean nothing extreme (no rock crawling or cliff base hugging) but more than washboard roads. For example, I'd like to get on rutted Jeep trail roads a few miles to get to a camping spot off a better road, and I may want to take old ranch roads or unimproved boulder strewn forest service roads that are good in parts but rutted in others, and possibly need to cross a stream here and there. I'm also wondering if roads are muddy after a camping weekend where the weather person was wrong as they usually are in WY with its winds.
My issue is that I bought a 2011 Tacoma TRD Sport ext cab 4x4 long box with the towing package thinking it would be no problem to find a truck camper that would not exceed its payload. I also didn't want to drive around a full size truck all year unable to afford two vehicles (one for commuting and work/play vehicle). I'm a fourth generation WY native and I've been dying to get away from the transplants and their four-wheelers/ATVs for real peace and quiet which is requiring one gets more and more remote. I just may have to move to AK!
I've considered a Travelite 625 (1200 lbs), Livinlite Camplite 5.7 (1200 lbs), and Capris Retreat (1050 lbs). I wish I could find a used Northern Lite 6'10" used in great shape and hardly used as those were supposed to be around 900 lbs. Those are all the base weights. Throw options and gear in plus my family in my extended cab (plus 500 lbs for my family's weight) and I'll easily exceed a payload of 1,100 lbs by 500-1000 lbs.
I really *don't* want a pop up (I want to go into bear country frequently and there's something about a hard side that makes me feel safer if only illusion, have had some encounters that leave me weary in AK) either. I've read Taco forums voraciously to learn that some have put one of these in their trucks with air bags and/or upgraded leaf springs with LT tires and have had no issues, claiming they've done so for years and years and thousands of miles.
But I've asked engineering friends and they say doing so is unsmart even for the occasional weekend expedition and even if I'm not cruising around all year with a truck camper on. It's unsafe all the way around, especially other drivers on the road and a recipe for an out of control vehicle and a broken axle and bent frame and consequent power train issues. Yet lots of these Taco enthusiasts cry foul and alarmism. They say upgrade suspension and drive slower and increase following distance and I'd be fine.
I have considered a hard shell topper too and customizing the bed for just sleeping with a rolling kitchen galley but I really like the idea of a living space for when the weather looks good and one goes out into a deluge where you can sit and talk over tea or play cards or charades. And heaven forbid if we see catastrophic collapse in our lives worst case having some mobile living space when we get out of dodge. That's why I find a trailer more appealing but I truly want the best of both worlds.
So then I stumbled upon fiberglass egg trailers which is what led me eventually to post here as I got very mixed (and strong opinions on both sides) responses inquiring about if a Scamp 16' or 19' or equivalent could get me as far off road as I want to go. Part of this is that experience of "rough road" is so relative.
I've considered tear drops too and expedition trailers but as a middle aged teacher with a spinal fusion am still awaiting Ed McMahon at my door and have not yet won the lottery and although I descend from colonial old money on both sides, our line keeps getting disowned and disinherited for marrying down. Lol. My middle name is downgrade.
As to the FG trailers, some users say aside from vibration issues on hundreds of miles of rough washboard roads they've handled rough road even boulder strewn, unimproved and rutted forest roads with a Scamp like a champ. They say just slow down and a few lifted 4" and added 15" tires. But manufacturers are clear the FG egg trailers are not designed for off road like I want and it is ill advised. Yet there's a definite community of off road FG egg enthusiasts going back to the seventies who INSIST they can get almost anywhere a truck camper can. Unfortunately I've wanted to hear more from them on zombie old posts and none have chimed in. Others suggest they're crazy and they wouldn't. Which leaves me confused.
I really really like the idea of the greater space a FG trailer might lend over the kind of tiny compact truck campers that fit although overload a mid size truck like mine... AND I love the idea of dropping camp off and being able to explore and four wheel truly off road without the extra weight easier than a two hour truck camper extraction and later reinstallation.
But it's a no go if I won't be able to cross a fast moving non-river but healthy stream or ride on an unimproved boulder strewn (even at 5-10 mph) forest service road or a section of washboard graded road that got badly rutted with a FG egg. I remember some of the roads we took to favorite childhood sacred spots do have some steep downhills followed immediately by steep uphills too so don't know if I can't make it with a towing Tacoma with a trailer attached (what is a vertical z axis jack knife called?) and am looking for advice.
In my ideal world (I can't see buying a full size towing vehicle as the sole purpose of a truck for me is having one to help move things and the occasional rock or dirt or pavers or tile for landscaping for family and friends and getting away from other people into nature), I'd be able to mod a 19' scamp fifth wheel with a multi axis coupler or equivalent of a max hitch in the bed to enable extreme angles but minimize jack knife possibility.
Can someone here give me some real advice from experience?
It seems a lot of people share opinions that are not based on direct first hand experience so I'd especially appreciate responses from anyone out there who: (a) have done off roading with fiberglass trailers or (b) else have Tacos and have put the hardside camper in and have made it to 300 or 400 K miles without serious axle frame or brake issues, or (c) anyone who has won the lottery and is feeling particularly generous (lol, jk)...
