T D wall height

[Bald Cypress]

Seams do not bother me since it will be covered in PMF. Question is, 4 ft or 4 ft 6in wall height ?

Will the extra 6 in allow kneeling and is that a major bonus or is it not worth it ?.

[tony.latham]

I've never had a hankering for kneeling inside. My ceiling height is 46" (plus a seven-inch mattress) and I think it's perfect of course. Any taller and one would lose heat where you need it on those crisp fall nights.

Put a piece of tape at 4' on a wall in your house and sit down and crawl around...

Tony

[kudzu]

The ability to kneel rather than sit is an advantage for me but that's accomplished with 48" walls, because I'm quite short. You would need to do a mock up to know how it would effect you. Is adding an extra 6" worth the effort? If you are camping primarily in the Southeast US then I'd say, yes it is. And that is for the same reason Tony thinks it could be a disadvantage. That extra air space can help keep cabin temps much more comfortable, much less warm & muggy. However, if you are using it to head north & escape Southeastern weather then you should listen to Tony.

PS Extra height means the chance to have more storage. It also means more weight & could effect fuel economy when towing. It's always a trade off.

[Roly Nelson]

All of the tears I've built, have 4 ft high ceilings. No problem, ever. If I can sit up to read and change clothes, OK, I'm good.
Roly ~~

[pchast]

45" - 5" mattress...

[JaggedEdges]

I have seen at one gathering that putting the hole sheet of plywood on top the frame gives you the best head room inside. slow

Yeah, I was looking at one design that dropped 3 inches below the frame to skirt the sides and I was all "No, no, no! NO!!" in my head....

... not only for headroom though, I think an edge of plywood hanging down like that is more vulnerable to damage, and may get water creeping up the end grain from road spray, and before you know it the whole side is rotten.

[Bald Cypress]

Well, thank all y'all for the advice. I went with the four foot height rather than fiddle with the extra work of adding six inches. Put a coating of thinned varnish on the bottom yesterday and started painting the bottom today. First coat of thinned $ 5.00 per gallon mis mixed paint. Will put a couple more full strength coats on it and call the floor done.

Am making a box rather than a tear and started to install some P M F on the lower portion of the front for rock protection although I am unsure if any will fly up through the frame tongue and storage box.

Again, Thanks for the opinions.

[mikeschn]

I've done 48", 52", 60", and a couple in between... all depends on what you are trying to achieve.

My current foamie is just a touch over 48", and it's strictly a sleeper...

My giant teardrop was 5' tall, and it had a porta potty inside... great for those get togethers where you drink lots of beer!

My winter warrior designs tow low and pop up high... so you can have your cake and eat it too!

Mike...

[Nobody]

Our TD is 45.5" floor to ceiling, max height. Outside walls are 54.5" 'cause we have 2.5" roof & a 1X6" (nominal) facade at the bottom of each side wall to cover the frame & floor. We use a 4" memory foam mattress covered with a 1.5" 'eggcrate' topper, & still have plenty of room inside for kneeling, or any other activity. Neither of us is very tall (5'2" & 5'9") & it fits us well; kneeling we still have lotsa room over our heads, taller folks might need different dimensions but I kinda doubt it...

[rowerwet]

Both of my tears are built with the 4 foot walls on top of the floor, we loose a few inches to the mattress and spars. Neither has ever felt too short, but we also have side tents that hang off the side of the tear, over each door to allow sitting and standing in privacy.