Survey of Garageable Trailers and Heights

[Mark Godfrey]

For various reasons, trailers that fit in a garage are desired by some. (Without resorting to dollies or small specialty wheels.)

With the pop-top trailers such as my Trails West we typically assume they are low enough, while fiberglass eggs are more of a mystery as to height -- unless you own it already.

In this thread I hope to get people to post the year, model and height of trailers that fit under a typical home garage door, perhaps a maximum of 6ft 9in.

If a trailer is something other than 13 feet long, please note that also.

Mark
Ojai, CA
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YEAR, MAKE MODEL, HEIGHT
1970 Trails West Campster : 6ft 6in

[Donna D.]

Wellllll, it's not just age of the trailer, but axle replacements that may have occured. My 1988 16' Scamp might have fit under a standard garage door with it's saggy, baggy axle... but since I replaced it with a 45 degree down axle... I need at least an 9' door. So, the original age of the trailer may be meaningless....

[WildBirder]

This was the #1 consideration during my trailer search. I ended up up with a "flat top" Boler. The '68 and '69's were not as tall as the later molds. Even though it has a new axle it still sits as low as original. To add to the difficulty the drive way slopes down which causes the trailer to angle in a bit higher.

Trailer height 7'
Door height 7'4"
Breathing room (or hold your breath room!) probably around 2" at the angle.

I realize you put 6'9" but thought the flat top was worth an honourable mention.

[Mark Godfrey]

Thanks for the input. The 6'9" is to give a general idea -- based only on one garage with a new roll-up door. Heights of "typical" garage openings appreciated.

I ask for the year made to help isolate running changes to frames, bodies, suspensions that may affect overall height. I would like to compile heights reflecting a trailer with fully functional suspension, of the type originally fitted. Manufactures' information could be used, when available.

Donna, the workings & design of torsion axles are new to me. (Trails West being of the leaf spring persuasion.) How much drop could one see, while still functional?

[Donna D.]

There again, it's not just axles etc. folks need to measure, but all the "stuff" sticking up from the roof from A/Cs to vent covers to added covers over power vents. etc. I really wish there was a standard measurement for a particular year or brand... but I truly don't think that will happen unless it's newly manufactured with stated heights with all that stuff (possibly) sticking up on the roof.

What I worry about, is a newbe looking to buy a trailer and thinks "okay, I can buy XX brand trailer that was built in XX year and it will fit under my garage door." ..... probably not in real life.

[sdhester]

The height to fit in my garage was a major factor in my choosing an Amerigo. My Amerigo has a built in air conditioner so there is nothing sticking up on top of the unit. My unit is only a fraction over 7 feet tall. Because the Amerigo is comparatively wide, there is more space inside than many FGRVs.

My Amerigo is a 1974 model, and is in very good condition. The all-fiberglass exterier really holds up. We have used our Amerigo for several years, and love it.

Dean Hester

[Mark Godfrey]

Dean, thanks for the info, is your Amerigo a 16?

Donna, the purpose of gathering height info is to give a general idea of make / model / years that may fit in garages, narrowing the search. There will be variations between individual trailer -- especially if AC units, solar panels & flood lamps are fitted to the roof.

W A R N I N G : Prospective owners should measure their garage / carport opening, and ask the seller to measure that trailers' highest point, then double check yourself when viewing.

Mark
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[rabbit]

Better plan on building a garage with overhead that accomodates the trailer imho.

jack

[Mike Magee]

You could compile a list of trailers that might fit, including Scamp 13 and Casita 13. But I don't think it's possible to ever say they will fit. That's because (without roof A/C) they come so close, it can easily go either way. It's Caveat Emptor, and each prospective buyer must measure their own garage opening and the trailer they contemplate purchasing.

[sdhester]

Yes. It is an FG-16. The brochures are here at
Fiberglass RV - Document Center - Amerigo

Dean

[Mark Godfrey]

At 7'8" and 7'6" the current Casita and Scamp 13s do not make the list.

[cpaharley2008]

Most modern standard doors are 7' or the older ones are 8'

[floyd]

Originally Posted by rabbit

Better plan on building a garage with overhead that accomodates the trailer imho.

jack

Many 13ft fiberglass trailers were designed to fit under a 7ft door, and did with caution.
At our former home , we raised the header and installed 8' doors, most 13ft Scamps and other small fiberglass trailers will fit under that even with roof air. Eggy-Sue(our 13 Scamp fit... with roof air, maxxair and a Delta antenna in place. A 16 would fit but not with roof air.

We have since moved and constructed a small building with 10 ft side walls and a 9ft door, now I hardly even need to be cautious, even with a 16 Scamp with roof air.

[steve dunham]

My 16 ft scamp measures 8 ft 3 in. from the ground to the top of the roof top Air conditioner It will not fit through an 8 ft garage door I tried to rent a garage but the ones in my area have mostly 7 ft and a few 8 ft doors . There are not many with 10 ft or 12 ft doors and they charge about double versus a 7 ft. door . (They know you want it for a travel trailer and charge accordingly)
There are places in my area with pole barn space to rent but they do not allow removal until April . They double and triple park boats and trailers in the bldg. and do not want to move everything in the pole barn just to dig yours out. If I ever build another garage it will have a 10 ft door and enough room to work on all sides of the trailer

Thanks Steve Dunham

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Mark Godfrey

For various reasons, trailers that fit in a garage are desired by some. (Without resorting to dollies or small specialty wheels.)

With the pop-top trailers such as my Trails West we typically assume they are low enough, while fiberglass eggs are more of a mystery as to height -- unless you own it already.

In this thread I hope to get people to post the year, model and height of trailers that fit under a typical home garage door, perhaps a maximum of 6ft 9in.

If a trailer is something other than 13 feet long, please note that also.

Mark
Ojai, CA
- - -

YEAR, MAKE MODEL, HEIGHT
1970 Trails West Campster : 6ft 6in

I have a TrailsWest and have had a Compact Jr, several Scamps and others. "My TrailsWest has the axle below the leaf springs"
The pop-up section is actually their way to address the height issue, where others addressed it by lowering the floor. So a stock boler or Scamp 13 is actuallyequal to or shorter than either of the aforementioned rear entry trailers with pop-ups Even when closed.
The new post fire Scamp 13 will no longer fit under a standard 7ft door.
A 16 Scamp will not fit under a 7ft door even without any roof gear.

[freddo411]

My garage door turns out to be 8ft.

The 1978 Trillium 4500 is ... hard to measure. The obvious roof line is 7 foot, but there is a headroom bulge plus another few inches of roof vent. I'd estimate it a 7'6''.

Having a garageable trailer is a very, very valuable feature

[Mark Godfrey]

Floyd, my Trails West #267 has the axle above the leaf spring and an overall height of 6ft 6in. (I just received a scan of a Trails West Brochure, no height dimension is given, and they listed *torsion spring suspension* in this brochure depicting an early frame type.)

In post #3 here, Mark (WildBirder) mentioned '68 / '69' "flat top" Boler at 7ft, were any lower than that?

The former owner of my Trails West stores his Perris Pacer in the garage, not sure if his is a 7ft door.

Thanks for the additions.

Mark
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A neighbor of ours has a height issue with this Van based RV.

[Mark Godfrey]

Over time I hope to get more real world heights added to this thread. Here are overall heights as listed in brochures from the Resources Document Center:

Compact Jr 6'9"
Burro 7'4"
1973 Playpac 7'4" (with dome)
1973 & 1977 Boler brochures list a height of 6'11"

N O T E : Measure twice before purchasing a trailer to fit in the garage of your Victorian row house on Haight St.

Mark
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BTW I added a Trails West Campster brochure to the Documents center yesterday.

[bobcaldwell]

We have a1999 Casita Patriot (13') and it will not fit in our 7' garage door. I know your looking for trailers that can fit through a standard garage door. But don't rule out some trailers that take just a little effort to be able to fit through a standard garage door. What we do for or Casita is pull off our 15" tires/rims and put on the original 13" rims with tires and it clears the 7' garage door by an inch. Works well for us in a HOA community that does not allow outside parking of RVs. Takes us maybe 10 minutes to do the process. Even if the HOA allowed outside parking, we like how it stays out of Florida hot sun!

Bob Caldwell

[Tom Trostel]

My Compact Jr fits thru the 7 ft door & inside the garage.

Compact :: trailer fits inside standard garage picture by tomNjo - Photobucket