Page 1 of 1

Skinning a 6ft wide body, are there issues

PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 9:15 am
by Gunguy05
Well, that is about the question I have.

We are planning a camp inn, raindrop style body. We want to stretch it to 6ft wide and 5ft high for a little extra room.

Will we have issues if we want to skin it in aluminum finding something that is 6ft wide, or close so as to minimize waste. I know Al isn't cheap stuff.

Re: Skinning a 6ft wide body, are there issues

PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 10:22 am
by Cary Winch
Make sure to measure between the mirrors on the tow vehicle. Most cars and SUVs cannot see around a 6' wide trailer. 5' wide is really the max for most vehicles short of a full sized pick up or van. I have seen some successful 5.5' wides, some people have been able to take it to the max of their mirror dimensions.

Cary

Re: Skinning a 6ft wide body, are there issues

PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 10:31 am
by Gunguy05
Cary Winch wrote:Make sure to measure between the mirrors on the tow vehicle. Most cars and SUVs cannot see around a 6' wide trailer. 5' wide is really the max for most vehicles short of a full sized pick up or van. I have seen some successful 5.5' wides, some people have been able to take it to the max of their mirror dimensions.

Cary


I measured the back of the car (a ford edge) and it is right at 6ft. I do wish I could keep it smaller, but we just feel like that extra room will help out.

Having said that I am gathering refrigerator boxes now for a full size mock up of the profile, height, width etc once we have it finalized.

Re: Skinning a 6ft wide body, are there issues

PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 10:42 am
by Gunguy05
Cary Winch wrote:Make sure to measure between the mirrors on the tow vehicle. Most cars and SUVs cannot see around a 6' wide trailer. 5' wide is really the max for most vehicles short of a full sized pick up or van. I have seen some successful 5.5' wides, some people have been able to take it to the max of their mirror dimensions.

Cary


I do respectfully heed to your wealth of knowledge here though.

You have my wheels turning here now, I may mock up a 5ft area and see how it fits. The kids are 1 and 4 now, and I just want to maximize the use for as long as we can with the bunks in the front.

Having said that I tend to over plan, over analyze things sometimes when I should just take the advice of the experienced person instead

Thanks for the input.

Brian

Re: Skinning a 6ft wide body, are there issues

PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 2:08 pm
by Cary Winch
Brian,

Measuring the back of the vehicle may not answer the towing question. Often the vehicle body runs a upwards taper. The only real way to know is to roll both front door windows down and measure between the inside of the side mirrors. Add about 4" minimum to make sure you can see around the trailer, there is a DOT spec for this that uses convergence points, so being flush with the side will certainly not get it legal. So, you would need no less than 6'4" from the inside of the mirrors. If the mirrors are fairly small it may need to more like 6'6" or better.

The Edge is a good sized vehicle so you may be in good shape. Maybe this will be one of those 5'6" wides or something.

As for how big the kids will fit. My 11 year son still sleeps in the bunk bed of my Raindrop, which is 5' wide. He is tall and absolutely a press fit so really won't be able to do it much longer. Your kids would be good for a long time yet.

5' tall makes sense. But, you will have to creative in the construction methods due to those dimensions. If using a plywood construction you are limited to 4' of course because 5' wide plywood is rare rare rare. So, you would either have a seam or have to use a stick built method. This also is true with the aluminum outside if you chose aluminum. 5' wide aluminum, as many people on this forum will tell you, it super rare and difficult to source. It is not impossible though, you will need to do your homework on this one. Once again, you would probably end up with a seam. Maybe some sort of creative looking belt line on the side of the trailer.

Cary

Re: Skinning a 6ft wide body, are there issues

PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 2:58 pm
by Gunguy05
Cary Winch wrote:Brian,

Measuring the back of the vehicle may not answer the towing question. Often the vehicle body runs a upwards taper. The only real way to know is to roll both front door windows down and measure between the inside of the side mirrors. Add about 4" minimum to make sure you can see around the trailer, there is a DOT spec for this that uses convergence points, so being flush with the side will certainly not get it legal. So, you would need no less than 6'4" from the inside of the mirrors. If the mirrors are fairly small it may need to more like 6'6" or better.

The Edge is a good sized vehicle so you may be in good shape. Maybe this will be one of those 5'6" wides or something.

As for how big the kids will fit. My 11 year son still sleeps in the bunk bed of my Raindrop, which is 5' wide. He is tall and absolutely a press fit so really won't be able to do it much longer. Your kids would be good for a long time yet.

5' tall makes sense. But, you will have to creative in the construction methods due to those dimensions. If using a plywood construction you are limited to 4' of course because 5' wide plywood is rare rare rare. So, you would either have a seam or have to use a stick built method. This also is true with the aluminum outside if you chose aluminum. 5' wide aluminum, as many people on this forum will tell you, it super rare and difficult to source. It is not impossible though, you will need to do your homework on this one. Once again, you would probably end up with a seam. Maybe some sort of creative looking belt line on the side of the trailer.

Cary


I will check out all of those aspect for sure. I'm a complete newbie to teardrop, but I'm fairly handy given the correct tool.

I'm sure we will probably be ready for something a little bigger by the time they both outgrow it, but given how fast they grow, I know that will be here quicker than I want it to be. :cry:

Thanks again for all of your help.

Brian

Re: Skinning a 6ft wide body, are there issues

PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 6:33 pm
by 48Rob
Brian,

While being able to use your tow cars mirrors is nice as Cary pointed out, if you really need/want a wider trailer, towing mirrors will solve the issue...

Rob