Show me your 5 wide floor on 4 wide frame

[BillZ]

I have a good 4' wide frame with torsion axle and want to build a 5 wide. Got my plates today and have 30 days to take it to inspection. In the meantime, I will be taking it to a welder to have the axle moved back. Just wondering if I need to add some extensions to the sides or if building the floor out over the frame is OK. If I do build out past the frame, should I use hardwood beams for extra strength?

Pic of underside. Old floor will be removed after inspection. The floor shown is 8' long by 4' wide and you can see that it goes over where the frame narrows to meet the tongue. My main concern is how far a 5 wide will stick out away from the frame at the front corners.

[len19070]

I built a 2X structure and mounted it on top of the 4' section of frame and sheathed it with 1/2" plywood.

This meant that the overhang was sitting on something stable and I had no fear of it dipping.



By raising the the deck it also allowed me to make a flat floor w/no wheel wells popping up into the cabin area.



Also this trailer was 65" wide so no exterior fenders were needed.



http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/ ... 382b43.pbw

Happy Trails

Len

[Toytaco2]

Here's my 5 wide x 9 long on a 4x8 HF frame. Lots of build pics are in my album.

Good Luck,

Mike

[CliffinGA]

Hey Mike,

How much did you drop out of your inside to cover the raised floor?

Cliff

[Toytaco2]

Cliff, Perhaps I don't understand your question, but maybe this pic will help. I ended up with wheel wells in the cabin but once I made up the mattress with 5 inch thick foam and notched it around and over the wheel wells, you don't even know they are there when laying down (or even see them for that matter). The walls drop down over the side by about 3 or 4 inches to hide/cover the frame. PM if you need more info or if I missed the point of your question.

Mike

[CliffinGA]

Thanks Mike,

You did answer it!! You dropped your side walls down 3-4 inches so you lost 3-4 inches out of your inside height in the TD. Thats what I was trying to figure out.

Cliff

[Nobody]

My 5' wide X 9' 6" (outside dimensions) is built on a 4x8 HF trailer. I didn't 'lose' any inside height since the bottom of my sides were 'notched' for the very low height wheel wells, & then fastened to the top of the floor using construction adhesive & loooong (3 1/2" or 4") deck screws vertically thru the bottom wall frame members into the floor (10 screws each side). 'Caveat' - I only had about 1 1/2" clearance between top of my tires & bottom of the wheel wells & over 5K miles I never experienced any 'contact' between tires & body but, I became uncomfortable with the clearance & a couple of years ago I added 1" steel blocks between the springs & spring seats on the axle. Probably not necessary but I tow over some pretty rough roads at times & my 'comfort' level is now much greater






Lots more pix in my album...

[bobhenry]

Wound up 5' 7" out to out side to side



Later removed fenders and built up floor with 2 layers of 3/4 blue foam and a sub floor of 7/16 osb to eliminate wheel bumps.



other frame picks in the album pg 39 - 40

[BillZ]

Great examples! Thanks for the posts and keep them coming!
They are really helping me figure out how to do my floor. I also see that it isn't necessary to have side extensions welded on the frame.

[bobhenry]

FYI In the picture above there was not enough room to change the tire. It turned into a nightmare. Thank God I found out at home.

Here is a much later ( 2 years ) pic of the same trailer note the tiny wheel wells.



Lesson to be learned , try changing the tire to check for clearance

Just my 2 cents worth !

[wannabefree]

I went up 4 inches so as not to have bumps in my floor for wheel clearance. Makes for a high trailer.

Look close and you'll see some allthread run crosswise near the wheel well. I got to worrying about having the box cantilevered over the wheel there and decided it would be best to keep the floor framing under compression.

[Jerry Bleeg]

I used 1/2" baltic birch with a 1 x 2 Poplar perimeter. No extra framing or floor build up. I glued and screwed the walls to this poplar. I also used ripped down 2 x 4's bolted to the front at the front and back frame members and bolted everything down well. The front and back bulkheads transfer most of the load to the side walls, so the cantalevered floor has not been a issue yet. See my WWW for detailed pics. I feel most people over build in this area. But to each is own.

Jerry