Downside to 7' wide trailers?

[memilanuk]

Hello there,

New member here... about a year and a half ago we picked up our first TT, a 2000 Nash 22H that the price was right on (turns out, for a reason... ). Now we're reasonably sure that we do like RV'ing and plan on sticking with it, we're looking for something a little easier to tow with my '05 Tundra 4.7L. It does okay with the 22H as is, so long as I keep the speed down (50-55mph) and take it easy - no problem. Our existing trailer is a bit heavy, especially on the tongue, which makes it a major pita to get maneuvered into its spot in our drive (have to use a tow dolly to make the turn).

All this is leading up to... a few of the newer models I've been looking at have been similar length, add a slide-out, but are 7' wide instead of 8', and seem to be a fair bit lighter all around in dry weight/ GVWR/ tongue weight - enough so that the Tundra should be able to pull it with ease, and seeing 'around' the trailer should be (hopefully) much easier. I realize that a foot is a foot is a foot... but with a queen bed up front, turned length-wise instead of side-ways (like in the Nash), and a fully enclosed rear bath, and a tipout couch/dinette - i.e. everything we really want/need... what am I missing here? *Is* there a significant downside that I need to be aware of?

TIA,

Monte

[skipnchar]

I have significant doubts that a heavy tongue would have any effect on maneuvering and loosing a foot of width will not make a HUGE difference there either. I think if those are your issues what you REALLY need to do is buy a good set of tow mirrors and practice maneuvering. Of course EVERYONE always finds it a good idea to buy a new trailer 🙂 If that's you goal then go for it and enjoy it.
Good luck / Skip

[rightyouareken]

Our trailer is 8' (96") wide and has a 60"x74" bed lengthwise in the front of the trailer. This is sometimes called a walk around bed since you can walk around either side of it to get in. There isn't a ton of room on either side in our trailer (18" on each side doing the math... 96-60 = 36/2 = 18"). With a 7' wide trailer you'd reduce that quite a bit. Looks like it would leave you maximum 12" either side of the bed, maybe even less allowing for the thickness of the walls. Any wardrobes next to the bed would also be smaller. Might be pretty tight.

[Campfire_Time]

Our previous HTT was 7 ft wide and 17 ft long. As someone said, not much room to pass on the inside. The new HTT is 8 ft wide and 21 ft long. Aside from about a 1mph drop in mileage I notice no difference in towing, which really surprised me. I thought I would feel a major difference because of the additional frontal area. Without a slide I would not consider a 7 ft wide trailer again.

[JiminDenver]

You will notice it when trying to pass one another inside, and it may have a effect on the cabin fever feeling when it rains. We have a narrower trailer w/o a slide and I'd take more comfortable seating over more room any day.

[Redterpos3]

We are in the middle of our 2 1/2 week trip with our 2011 Nash 27T. Ours is 8' wide. When we were looking I noticed that some trailers were going to 8.5', and I didn't want to go wider than 8', especially with being new to towing. I didn't realize there were 7' ones. If it has a slide you probably won't notice, and it would be nicer to see backwards in your mirrors, i would think. Maneuvering may have to do with length. People here say the longer the trailer the easier it is to maneuver. My 30' seems to do well for me. I was even able to back up at a rest area where the trucks pull in back to back, and the one in front of me hadn't left yet.

[Francesca_Knowl]

Dropping that foot of in-transit width brings with it significant gains in aerodynamic efficiency.

Trailer frontal area is the main factor governing drag, and reducing width by one foot represents an automatic improvement of more than 10%.

[PAThwacker]

7FtX21FT bh htt. easy to tow, opens up on the front and side for the nonMRI effect.

[Jayco254]

Not all 8 footers have the bed length-ways although an 8 footer will give you a longer bed even cross-ways than a 7 footer. My wife would rather sleep on the couch than the bed so the cross-ways bed works for us. If you can work out something that is comfortable for the two of you, you've' got a good trailer, as long as your Tundra isn't straining too bad I'd keep what you've got, you know what it is. I like my Jayco but a Nash is a good trailer. And you can get a lemon in any brand.

[memilanuk]

Thanks for the replies, folks.

The Nash we have is a solid unit - everything works - but the more I look around it, the more I'm convinced someone a couple owners back must have wrecked it - literally, possibly even flopping it over on one side. There's been a lot of 'fixing' done on it, but still some structural concerns that I didn't notice before. It's still sound - I pulled it from Washington state to northern New Mexico last summer, and will do so again in about four weeks unless I get something newer before then. For the most part I can't honestly believe I *missed* much of what I've either fixed thus far or have on a list for if we keep it... but needless to say I'll be giving the next RV we look at a *lot* closer scrutiny!

I think Bruce kind of hit on what I was hoping for... that having the slider would make up for the lack of width when inside, as well as being easier to tow.

[Bruce_H_]

We have a 7' wide trailer and we love it. 7' is so much easier to tow than 8'. It has a large slide and windows on all 4 sides, and feels quite spacious for such a small trailer.

But it has a queen bed cross ways in the front. Would be nice to have the same trailer stretched so that the queen bed ran north and south. I am not aware of any 7-footers with such a bed arrangement.

Bruce

[APT]

Downside? The Nash is a well built TT, and pretty much anything else is not designed/built as stable. They are still good enough for most RVers.

Size wise, a foot narrower, but gaining a slide will feel probably bigger.

[boosTT]

I also agree. My trailer is 8.5' wide now.... thats like small slide on the entire length of the trailer.

[JJBIRISH]

whatever turns you on… it is an individual thing…

I would feel like I was camping in an enclosed MRI with the 7’s that I have been in…
I would be willing to give up some length but no width…