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Unhappy with 4' wide?

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 9:43 pm
by ScottH61
I'm still in the idea phase of a teardrop, and have been planning on a 4' wide TD. I was wondering if anyone that had built one 4' wide, did you wish that it was 5' wide now? Has anyone made a 5 footer on a HF 8X4 trailer?

Thanks! Great forum! Can't wait to get mine started!

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 10:11 pm
by SteveH
Scott,

You forgot one option in your poll....I built one 5' wide and I'm happy I did. :D

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 10:12 pm
by Boodro
Hey Scott, I almost have mine done, its 4 ft wide & 12 ft long . I have not used it yet , I will next week, but I have a feeling I should have gone 5 ft! :(
I'm 6' 3" 250 so I'm no Twiggy!! :lol: I 'm just glad mt best half will put up with me!! :applause: Oh well , shoulda ,coulda , woulda. God luck on your build. I will be adding some more pics to my album real soon.

PostPosted: Fri May 13, 2005 7:02 am
by larryl
Building the 5' wide. No regrets. Daughters wanted airconditioning and the only way I could add permanent a.c. and still have a galley was to go wider.

Negatives: more waste of building materials, more expensive trailer, but I feel well worth the price. I only plan on building one of these, this one.

LarryL

PostPosted: Fri May 13, 2005 7:10 am
by mikeschn
It took be 3 tries to get to the 5' width. To us, that is the right balance of width, weight, and comfort. I should have built it 5' the first time around!!! :BE

Mike...

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 1:47 am
by ScottH61
Thanks for all the responses! Now, just like the poll status, I'm 50-50... not sure which way to go. My thoughts are that a 4' wide would be cheaper, but 5' would offer more comfort... *sigh*... what to do? what to do? :?

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 1:59 am
by Gage
SteveH wrote:Scott,
You forgot one option in your poll....I built one 5' wide and I'm happy I did. :D

Me too, very happy. I have a Vintage Travel Trailer with a 4' wide mattress and it just doesn't do it. For me any ways. Also don't forget two doors. It's the pits getting up in the middle of the night to take a walk, climbing over your wife to get out and waking her up doing so, not a good thing :BE :rofl2:

Have a good day,
Gage

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 6:17 am
by nubwon
I'm still in the building stages of mine. I decided to go 5' wide and glad i did. It does cost more and you have more waste but i think 4' would just be too narrow. I also went 5' tall on mine. The wife sugested it would be easier to move around in, so thats how mine is. Only thing is... now it looks like the back body of a garbage truck lol. Oh well..... we will still enjoy it just as much......NUB.....

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 8:07 am
by TomS
I'm building mine 5' wide. I've heard from several folks on this forum who built four-footers and wish they'd built five-footers. I haven't heard anyone who built a five-footer who wished they'd built a four-footer. That should tell you something.

Sure, you'll spend more on materials, especially the trailer frame and plywood. Look at it this way, you're going to invest hundreds of hours of your time into this project. Why not spend the extra money to build something you know will be comfortable.

Just my $0.02 worth

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 8:13 am
by TomS
Oh, one more thing. 5x8 bolt together utility trailer frames are available from RedTrailers.com I have plenty of photos of the red trailer fame on my web site

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 10:47 am
by roadtrippin
We're going 5' wide 10.5' long and about 6' high (from ground).

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 12:05 pm
by darkroomsource
4' works well for us, and I'm no little guy.
We do sleep on a double bed at home - like to be cozy.

The advantages of 4' are not only in construction.
The narrower trailer tows well, has less wind resistance, doesn't affect gas mileage much.
The only thing I don't like is that the galley seems a little cramped. I'm used to tent camping, and can spread out all the stuff. I'm getting used to the 4' wide counter though.

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 12:09 pm
by campadk
We're happy with our 4fter.. if I won the lottery our new tear would be 4.5 ft maybe, but not 5ft.

What about length though? I'm certainly real glad ours is 10ft instead of 8ft. 8ft is just too small.

Should have a poll on length perhaps?

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 2:12 pm
by Denny Unfried
I love my four footer. Plenty of sleeping room and don't know what I'd do with a wider galley. Last year in the Sierra's after unhitching from the pick up it was narrow enough to wheel between the trees close to the stream where my Dakota couldn't squeeze through. One more advantage of having on-board RV battery.

Denny

PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 10:04 pm
by Joseph
campadk wrote:What about length though? I'm certainly real glad ours is 10ft instead of 8ft. 8ft is just too small.

I'm very happy with my 4x8 teardrop. But then, I'm an old submarine sailor... 8)

Joseph