ledge construction

[Zack]

On another forum, a friend and I had discussed mounting a [url ="http://www.capricamper.com/"]capri model 42[/url] on a 4X8 trailer.

You'll note that because the capri is designed to fit in a truck bed, it has an overhang (I estimate about 16"). This overhang allows for a full size crosswise bunk while minimizing the footprint.

When I begain researching Vardos and Gypsy wagons, I noticed that they also had a "ledge" design.

Doing this on a trailer would allow you to have a crosswise bunk, a space for a galley, and seating, all the while putting it on a small chassis.

This strikes me as such a good idea, that there MUST be a reason why everybody isn't doing it.

So I'm asking, is there anything about the "ledge" design that is wrong?

[angib]

Just the same thing has been discussed here too - Would this work?

We have also had several discussions about building bodies to slide onto utility trailers - but I can't for the life of me find any of them! For one of them I did this design to fit on a 6 x 4ft utility trailer - musta been owned by a 'Bob' from the look of it:



But the question about this type of design is how high it becomes and so whether it is stable - the design shown here assumes a fairly low-riding utility trailer - a normal HF trailer has a deck somewhat higher. Stability to a 30 degree angle is quite good enough (0.55g lateral acceleration) for cornering, but whether it's good enough for a typical accident-avoidance swerve, I don't know.

Incidentally the pick-up camper gets round this by being a (relatively!) light camper on a heavy truck, so it's the height of the truck's center of gravity that matters most.

Andrew