47" Frame width to narrow on a hard side off road trailer?

[lacofdfireman]

Well after being gone to work for the past 8 days I finally got home today. I've been wanting to start my expo Hard side teardrop style trailer this week and am wondering if my axle width is to short. I figure the widest I can go is 47" for an outside frame width between the tires. From outside edge of tire to outside edge of tire I have 72" and my Jeep Grand Cherokee has a 73" track width. So I'm not sure if my build is going to be to narrow now. I was planning on doing a 60" floor. I still can but I'd have to get my sleeping surface above my tires. My original plan was to build a side profile of 5ft high and 9-10ft long. I figure if I made about a 1 foot platform for my Bed to be on and did under storage I could have a 60" wide sleeping surface. Just wondering what you think. And I'm also wondering how you guys have 5ft wide trailers and aren't a foot or two over on your track widths? What should I do. The way I figure is if I have a 47" outside frame width then add in 3/4" Birch Ply then 1/2 insulation and another 1/4" interior wall I'm down to 45.5" or so sleeping area between the wheel wells. I almost hesitate to make the platform for the bed because it raises my center of gravity and I will loose my side storage. Was planning on putting stuff on my fenders etc. What do you guys think I should do? Here's a pic of my axle behind my jeep. I also think I'm going to be doing a spring over axle for better clearance. But at 5' tall for my side profile maybe I'm gonna be to high?

 

[brian90744]

cut the axle and slide a tube over it , will increase the width. just FYI

 

[Sb_Moto]

First off check out my build and I think it will give you tons of ideas.

Where you will really want more room is up by your head for your arms to move around. Around your waist 45" or so would probably be ok. I wouldn't do a raised platform primarily due to COG reasons, and if you want any decent sort of interior height you will have a towering monster.

What I did was run my main rails at 48" then I have extensions on the front and back that stick out roughly 8" so that I have closer to 61" of width by me head and at the back of the trailer for the galley. keep in mind you will probably have 5 or so inches of bed foam so you could possible raise the frame with some shackles up a couple inches so that the bed foam sat on top of the inner fender a little. I plan on using my inner fenders for shelves.

 

[elmo_4_vt]

I've always liked the idea of building over the tires with storage underneath. A lot of people make due with a wider trailer, but it makes a BIG difference in the trees or on the beach. I don't think the center of gravity will change that much if you raise the bed a couple feet off of the floor. You just have to decide what's more important. My opinion was that keeping the track width the same was most important, followed by space for 3-4 people, so I went bigger on my trailer.

Good luck.

Don

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[lacofdfireman]

cut the axle and slide a tube over it , will increase the width. just FYI

I like this idea. I'll go tomorrow to our Steel yard and see if they have something that fits over the tube. If not I will do the SB Moto Method and live with it. How much sleeve overlap would I want to do? Also what's the odds of finding something with a 2.38" inside diameter like my axle is. I'm worried it's going to be like a half inch to big. Could you just weld like 2 or 3 pieces of angle iron or is that ghetto?

 

[Ozarker]

Well, I wouldn't cut the axle. Your COG is influenced by weight not the height, water, storage or whatever below the bed platform will dictate more of the COG than the platform with bedding on it. A sailboat doesn't roll over because the mast is high, but when the sail is loaded. Your sleeping platform will be close to the top of your vehicle seat and the trailer overall less than the height of your vehicle, you shouldn't have any issues.

 

[jwiereng]

This is how you should spell too in your title

Example

Two birds tried to fly away but they were too fat.

 

[lacofdfireman]

This is how you should spell too in your title

Example

Two birds tried to fly away but they were too fat.

Obviously your a kid that got picked on in school. Go back to being an idiot and get on with your miserable life. This is the third time you've come on my posts to make a comment about a spelling mistake. I couldn't give a crap if I misspelled a word or don't have the correct sentence structure. This isn't a college course. Go bother someone else.

 

[IdaSHO]

lol


Hey, your track width on that trailer looks fine.

Actually better than many. I prefer the track width to be as similar to the tow rig as possible.

It aids in off road travels, sand, bud, and snow a bunch.

 

[brian90744]

How much sleeve overlap would I want to do?
I would buy a piece about 1ft long, if you only need 6" more in width. Just FYI

 

[Haf-E]

First off check out my build and I think it will give you tons of ideas.

Where you will really want more room is up by your head for your arms to move around. Around your waist 45" or so would probably be ok. I wouldn't do a raised platform primarily due to COG reasons, and if you want any decent sort of interior height you will have a towering monster.

What I did was run my main rails at 48" then I have extensions on the front and back that stick out roughly 8" so that I have closer to 61" of width by me head and at the back of the trailer for the galley. keep in mind you will probably have 5 or so inches of bed foam so you could possible raise the frame with some shackles up a couple inches so that the bed foam sat on top of the inner fender a little. I plan on using my inner fenders for shelves.

Agree with this idea - put the walls so that the wheel wells are half inside / half outside - this would give you more room for you arms and still allow storage of items on the outside over the fenders. a 50 inch + width inside between the walls after insulation and interior paneling is the minimum for two people from my experience - more is better. The mattress can be either the width of the space between the fenders or cut to fit around around it (I don't think that is necessary - its actually nice to have a hard surface area on each side of the bed to put things like beers or cups that you dont want to have fall over).

having the wheel track as close as possible to the tow vehicles is extremely useful off road. Don't extend the axle.

 

[Sb_Moto]

Agree with this idea - put the walls so that the wheel wells are half inside / half outside - this would give you more room for you arms and still allow storage of items on the outside over the fenders. a 50 inch + width inside between the walls after insulation and interior paneling is the minimum for two people from my experience - more is better. The mattress can be either the width of the space between the fenders or cut to fit around around it (I don't think that is necessary - its actually nice to have a hard surface area on each side of the bed to put things like beers or cups that you dont want to have fall over).

having the wheel track as close as possible to the tow vehicles is extremely useful off road. Don't extend the axle.

I plan on using the wheel wells as my cup holders! I want the mattress all the way to the door so my flying arms dont hit the floor. I like to move a lot when I sleep lol..

 

[lacofdfireman]

Well I did end up cutting the axle but I am only going to do a temp sleeve. We are going to order a new axle at the correct length but I need to get this trailer going as I'm pressed for time as I am only able to do it on my days off. So sleeving this axle will allow me to keep on working and get my spring hangers etc set up. I am only extending my axle enough to fit a full size bed between the wheel wells. Last thing I want to do is build a trailer for me that feels like I'm sleeping in a mummy bag. So I should only be outide my track length by by about 3" per side. I don't think that will be a big deal. I'd at 95% of the time this trailer will be on paved and improved dirt roads. So for the other 5% I'll just have to be super careful.

 

[silvrzuki77]

You will be fine with that extra width. Just be cautious on your turns gives your self a little extra room. Glad you ordered another axle also.


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