Max Width of a camper?

[ssutton]

I know that this is a forum for "Tears and TINY travel trailers" but as I continue in the design phase I am wondering about the max road width that is reasonable/legal for a TT. My spartan measures close to 7' 6" wide. I am thinking about pushing the limit and would like to get close to 8' wide and 15' long.

What are the thoughts/advise about this?

Scott

[ValerieP]

Interesting, our cargo trailer is 7 wide. We are just about ready to take it for a trial run-after we do, I will let you know how it is. I will be doing most of the driving on our adventure, and I haven't done much driving towing anything since I was a kid! My sons, who are in their 30's are going to give me lessons before I go!

[MtnDon]

Depends on the road and the state. Some have an 8 foot limit and some are 8'6"

list of state maximum lengths and widths

[Dale M.]

Depends on the road and the state. Some have an 8 foot limit and some are 8'6"

[urlhttp://drivinglaws.aaa.com/laws/trailer-dimensions/]list of state maximum lengths and widths[/url]

list of state maximum lengths and widths

[MtnDon]

Thanks Dale. There's where I need the hitting myself on the head with a hammer smiley


I never looked after I clicked 'submit'

[PKCSPT]

I am thinking like Slow here, hard to see around. Harder to maneuver. But if you are comfortable with it and it is legal enjoy.

[ssutton]

I have went to several of the big white box companies websites and looked at the specs for their campers and 97 inches seems to be the normal. Having never towed anything that large before I will have to consider this in the design, BUT the wife wants maximum room in our TINY camper.......go figure that one out. I have even considered designing a slide out for it......but I had to draw the line somewhere. Attached are a few pics of the basic concept out of SolidWorks, the frame and flat floor area measure 8' X 10'. The body will extend out for a max length of 15 ft. Height comes in around 7 ft. Floor plan will have a bath with toilet/shower combo, and couch in the nose that will make into bunk beds and a rear dinette that makes into a queen bed for a sleeping capacity of 4. I have the steel here and the axle so I could start welding as soon as I finalize the plans.

MAIN BODY PIC3.JPG (103.99 KiB) Viewed 1223 times

MAIN BODY PIC 1.JPG (187.32 KiB) Viewed 1223 times

[MtnDon]

I have in the past towed 8 foot wide travel trailers as well as driven 8 foot wide class C motorhomes. They push a lot of air! That is one of the reasons we decided on a 6 foot wide trailer. That is wider than out Tacoma but not too bad. But an extra foot on each side is wide. At that one definitely needs special towing mirrors. But to each there own; maybe build a cardboard and stick mockup behind the tow vehicle to simply emulate the frontal area. Walk around it, view from head on and so on.

[Alfred]

Hi All,

Funny this came up as a question today, because as I was driving home from our camping trip I was thinking that 5' wide really is an ideal width for driving anyway. You can still see around it on both sides fairly easily and it is not difficult to keep it in the lanes. Not a legal issue, but I don't think I would want to go much wider than 5' for ease of driving, anyway.

AL

[Redgloves]

First you need to consider your experience towing, your tow vehicle, and consider width, height, length and weight.


I tow a CampInn teardrop, which is considered a 5 wide with a 2010 Subaru Outback. To me the ideal tow vehcile!
The Outback might be considered a compact car, and probably the No 1, Camp-Inn tow vehicle.
Teardrop Specs: Length 11ft (hitch to bumber), body length is 8 feet, body width is 5 feet, fender width is 6'6". Weight around 1100 pounds.

ShadowCatcher pulls with a Subaru Outback, his teardrop is wider and longer.

[ssutton]

All good thoughts and much appreciated! I will be towing with a full size F150 crew cab. I am also an electronics guy at my day job so I am seriously thinking about side view cameras and a rear viewing camera. I can feed the video streams into a monitor in the cab that could be viewed just like the rear view mirror. A rear view camera would be helpful when backing into a camping spot or just backing up period. I have towed many things for many years...........but nothing that wide and tall before.

Thanks again,

Scott

FRAME

MAIN BODY PIC4.JPG (182.75 KiB) Viewed 1107 times