Canned ham dimensions question?

[lstyles]

Still working on my canned ham design...
My family is quite tall and so I am trying to build in standing height in the trailer since its larger than some. Right now I am planning on 4-6" drop floor which will give me a 6'4" standing room (with the drop). This gives me an trailer height of 72-74" measured from main floor to top (includes about 2" for roof thickness). I am not sure how high above the ground the trailer will sit but I will likely use 14" wheels. I am guessing that this will leave make the trailer about 84-86" high. I already know that I will have quite a bit of drag but do you think this is too high for a trailer....it seems that some of the modern small lightweight trailers are about this height.
Also, I could use some help on interior dimensions....how high does one make the seats for dinette and dinette itself? Rear gaucho bed height? Counter height?
Thanks
Lori

[aggie79]

Hi Lori,

I too am planning to build a standy (after my teardrop is finished) and have been doing some research. This is what I've found so far:

Counter height: 36" (This is a standard height and should be the same as the counters in your kitchen. With a tall family, you may want to go higher.)

Seating height: 18" seems to be the norm. This includes the cushion thickness.

Seat depth: The range is 17-20" not including the cushion.

Table height: 30" is typical.

Some other things I've discovered:

Seat back height: 36" from floor to top of seat cushion.

Seat back angle: 5-10 degrees

What I plan to do is measure the comfortable booth we sit in at our favorite restaurant to see what its seat height and depth are. You may want to try this too.

Good luck,
Tom

[doug hodder]

I don't know where you live, and how important the insulation is to you during your camping season, but you can cut down on the thickness of the ceiling. Scotties were like 1".

My approach was to make it user friendly for a variety of people. I'm only 6'2" and my counter is lower than a home unit as is the table and seat height. Chances are, I'll sell it down the road and if it's built for me...might not work for some others, just my approach to it. For as much time as I spend standing at the galley, or sitting in the dinette, it hasn't been an issue. I'd say, build what will fit for you. I robbed a lot of dimensions from a mid 60's Scotty.

I also took some milk crates and boards/and foam to determine what height I'd need to make the seats work with a table top. Is it as comfortable as the home kitchen and dining room?...nope...but then I'm not living in it all the time. 10 days at a time...no problem, it's camping after all.

On the Gaucho, which is just a bed in mine...15" to the bottom, not in the 5" dropped floor portion with a 6" mattress on it, storage drawers and exterior side storage hatch.

Also think about the location on your windows. I tried to make mine look appropriate on the front and rear and the sides are so that when sitting I can look through the middle of them. No real rules, just what works for you. Doug

[lstyles]

Thanks for the help with the dimensions. They are about what I thought and you are right I may end up adjusting them to fit a taller family.
Thanks for the tips about windows too.
So it seems that no one thinks my trailer will be too tall???
thanks,
Lori

[doug hodder]

I'm at 82", but I do have 14's on it, and an axle set at 0. I don't think it will be too tall...but for me...I'd try to keep it as short as possible. Like I mentioned, if you cut the ceiling thickness, you could pick up an inch. My garage entry sort of dictated my height. Check the tire info for profile height before you pick a wheel/tire combo. It's all those little things that can add up in the end.

I'd draw it up to scale and stare at it for a while before you decide how much is too high. I'm old school...did it up on paper with a scale, some french curves and a compass. I just try to make it look appropriate and have good curb appeal, then jam everything into it. You may find that if you want it taller, that you have to punch it out on the length a bit to make it all look good. Just my ideas. Doug

[lstyles]

Thanks for the help Doug! I have tried drawing everything out but since I am not too familiar with the torsion axles I am having trouble figuring out what sort of height the trailer will be from the ground. Here is what I have figured so far (please correct me if I am wrong):
14" C tire (I would prefer 13" but I want wide white walls too) gives 12.1" SLR so that means that the distance from ground to center of spindle will be 12.1" right?
I plan to use a torsion axle (3500/2500) in a top mount position (ie hanging from bottom of angle aluminum). The floor will sit on top of the angle which is 3" high vertically so that adds in 3" to distance from spindle to floor of trailer. In checking these out (flexiride and torflex axles) it seems you can sort of decide how far above or below the top of the axle bracket you want your spindle to be. You state you use a 0 degree offset so that would mean that loaded your trailer spindle is about 1" above the top of the bracket right?
Adding all these together you have 12.4" for tire SLR - 1" (for 0 offset) + 3" (for angle frame depth to floor) which gives me a height of the floor (not the drop floor) of 14.4" from the ground.
Adding in the trailer height from the floor (not the drop floor) of about 71" (76" height in drop floor - 6" drop floor + 1" for roof) makes the total height of my trailer 85.4". If I cant fit a 6" drop in there then it will be more.
I am not sure all my math is correct though. Is is possible to set up that axle so that the spindle sits up higher relative to the bracket and is that a good idea? Of course that will reduce clearance for the drop floor so maybe I will be robbing Peter to pay Paul.
I welcome any criticisms/suggestions/corrections to what I have outlined above!
thanks,
Lori

[doug hodder]

Maybe this'll help...in the following pic. I've got a 0 degree Flexiride, with 185R14's 2.5" Wide white tires. They are approx. 12"+ from spindle to ground. The drop floor in it is 5". The frame tubing is 2" .120 wall steel, cross members are 1.5" .125 angle steel, so at this point the upper floor is roughly 14+".

The beauty of the Flexiride axle is that when it's all said and done you can fine tune the ride height by removing the spindle and adjusting it on the splines, either up or down. It covers anything that you didn't count on in design. A regular torsion axle needs to be ordered in a 0, +15, -15 etc. start position. I'd think that a 2500# Flexiride ought to be fine for your situation. Some will think I'm oversprung, but that's what I'm using on a trailer of 1500# towing weight and it works fine for me.

The floor, not drop portion, rides right on top of the 2x framing, bare ply on it. I used some 2x spacers under the floor on the cross members and bolted the floor through them. The drop floor is directly on the 1x steel angle, with a VHB foam tape cushion. This is just what I came up with after copying a Scotty, had Andrew check my design prior to building...others opinions may vary. Doug

[lstyles]

Thanks for the details...its sounds like I am pretty close to yours and my numbers are close. Of course I know it will depend on loading and I will go with the flexiride axle as it gives me more "flexibility" later! It sounds like it is like an old VW with the splines...in the next month or so I am going to be lowering a VW bug that I am fixing up so maybe that will be informative.
I am sure I will have many questions to come but thats all for now!
thanks
Lori

[Jiminsav]

where do I find a girl that likes to build trailers...