Over the Wheel Cabin

[greenchicken]

This weekend the project has officially begun.

My son and I assembled our 5x8 Trailer.

Based on what I now have I see an opportunity to increase the width to go OVER the wheel. In all my searching TTT like this appear to be very rare.

Is this because of additional construction complications or structural integrity concerns?

[John61CT]

Added build cost and lower mpg.

Or for off-roaders, narrow is actually better for navigating trails in many places.

[Wolfgang92025]

Quickest and least expensive is a 4 x 8 design.
Bigger and over the wheel wells adds material cost and design/build time.
My build is bigger and has wheels wells.
It took quite a bit more time than I estimated, but that is what I wanted.
In the end it only matters what you want and are willing to try to accomplish.
And once yo start using it, the time and money spend becomes much less important as time goes by.

[swoody126]

if my 'rithmatic is working this morning a 5' wide frame will provide adequate floor space for a regular full sized double bed mattress by the time you frame the walls in from the 60" you begin with

if you go over the fenders you can frame the walls leaving floor space for a regular queen mattress(knot one of those dinky "RV queens" which is really snugg for OLD Larduss Bottomuss Maximuss ME & a lardus bottomus missuss)

as for off roading it is the width of the tire track more than the width of the box that hinders navigating in tight situations

and w/ some forethought axle placement/tongue length and hitch design it is actually possible to have a trailer track in the TV's track

¿ INSIDE/OVER ?

you gots2 decide what your ultimate goal is and work t'ward/around it

sw

[aggie79]

It's not often done on teardrops because the "wheel wells" you have to incorporate result in "humps" in your otherwise flat floor.

It has been done on standies because they can accomodate the wheel wells in benches or cabinets. Jerry's Retro-Kamper build is an excellent example of extending the floor over the wheels: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?p=611416#p611416.

[greenchicken]

Perhaps my goals differ for most. Often my desired dimension are compared to the size of a mattress.

I want more then a bed on wheels. Maybe it is my luck but I feel like every time I go tent camping it rains.

I want to have enough space in the cabin for the mattress AND floor space to to get out of my wet clothes without having to be kneeling on my bed.

In fact I am looking for nice twin mattress that fold so I can flip them back and have a large floor space to use.

[John61CT]

I Like the idea of a full "flatbed" plane level over top of the fenders.

But that isn't "the floor", because I want all the storage capacity below, and if a standy, go low to minimize the roof height from the roadbed.

The point where the axles attach is midway between those two levels.

Thus I'm thinking I'm modding the original trailer frame so much might as well do a custom chassis from scratch.

As a 3D "cage frame", and just make sure maximum strength around the bottom crossbars near the axle mount points.

[greenchicken]

Yea... exactly.

My trailer... or at least it's wheels appear to be smaller and/or lower.

Here is my trailer with a 1/2 board, a 2x6, and then another `/1 board. The gap will be accessible from the sides for storing things like a folding table, chairs, etc.

I think is will be plenty of clearance for the wheels without having to to mold an interior hump.

[John61CT]

Yes, use side openings and shallow trays, maybe drawer slides to make use of the underfloor if you go that way.

Lifting floor panels under a mattress is no good.

But you see how much more space there'd be with a dropped under floor?

avoiding where the structural bits need to be higher for mounting the suspension and maybe cross-bracing.

I'm looking at the Timbren non-axles for flexibility, minimum framing needing to be up high.

Maybe even a design that makes it easy to lift the whole chassis from a 4" clearance up to 12+".

[aggie79]

Based on what I now have I see an opportunity to increase the width to go OVER the wheel. In all my searching TTT like this appear to be very rare.

Is this because of additional construction complications or structural integrity concerns?

Another consideration is entry into and out of the teardrop. The higher storage deck height is going to make that a bigger challenge. You may want to mock up the height of the door sill to see if you can get in and out without having to use a step or portable stoop.


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[jaysul]

Mine is over the wheels and the only problem I had was the wheels bottoming out on the fenders. A quick block between the axle and springs took care of that. I am planning on moving my wheels out to the sides come summer just ran short of funds! As far as mpg is concerned..... I drive a hemi so thats not really a worry!! Lol


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[swoody126]

jaysul, you could use longer spring shackles to raise the rig above the tires which wouldn't be likely to alter the ride

this could be done for very little expense and is absolutely reversible if you're not satisfied

$12 @ O'reilly Auto Parts

$16 @ Tractor Supply

justa thought and darn little effort...

sw

[jaysul]

I did try longer shackles and my darn springs are so long 32” that they were almost straight at that point. Come spring/summer i plan on ditching the axle and springs all together and doing torsion on each side. Should ride better and it will do better on all these utah back country roads due to independent suspension at that point. Oh and bigger tires of course!


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