Forum Discussion

VentureVan's avatar
VentureVan
Explorer
May 09, 2015

Why so much ground clearance?

Why are almost all of the new travel trailers built so high off the road? I have had several travel trailers in the past and they all were closer to the ground so they had less wind resistance and a lower center of gravity. Most of the new travel trailers have the bottom of the body almost above the top of the tires. Are they built this way to save $$$?
  • Thus the Flipping the axle popularity. It does help tow into places you might not consider if it were too low.
  • The higher they are, the better they can go places.
  • I wish my trailer was higher... I drag my sewer drain pipe just leaving my drive way if I'm not careful. It drags on low spots in the road and sometimes un-screws the drain cap.
    Will need to flip the axles to fix it.
  • Older trailers used to have a wheel well so they were lower. About 1/2 of the tire/wheel was above the trailer floor.

    The newer ones, have the entire floor above the wheel, thus they are higher.
  • I think it is mainly to allow flush floor slides. I have a steep driveway and without such a tall trailer it would drag the rear end pulling out and backing in.
  • I like a higher body so that I can get to boondocking sites easier.
  • elidodge@msn.com wrote:
    On mine it allows clearance for the slide


    Same with mine. The flat floor carries out to the slide room, so the whole thing has to be high enough to clear the tires while the suspension is at full compression.