More trailer stuff
Just sketched some more thoughts on expandable fifth-wheel motorhomes. I think I've figured out how to get the lower storey back up to 40' wide, although I'm limiting the upper one to about 24' and expanding the centre section to a full 53' trailer. If I pull the length of the slideouts back to 36', that will allow storage of the floor panels under the centre of the trailer between the rear wheels and the towing area.
This should give about 2440 sqft of floor space plus just over 400sqft of balconies and 540sqft of unused external space in the corners of the 55x40 space it will take up. Some of that external space will most likely be semi-reserved for the tractor unit and probably the car which would otherwise reside in the back of the trailer when on the move.
That's equivalent to about a 3-5 bedroom house, as far as I can tell, although this place in Vancouver is about the same area and has eight bedrooms and five bathrooms.
Given that the expanded trailer would be pretty much just open living space on both floors, would use RV/boat compact versions of most facilities, and would be designed with sleeping areas that didn't really double as personal playrooms, that leaves a heck of a lot of floor space.
On thing that bugs me is that even with the expanding kitchen, there isn't a whole lot of general storage space. Maybe 500 cuft, and that includes pantry, supplies, toolshed, collapsed furniture, and personal effects.
Of course, that's based on an earlier design, where most of the rest of the volume in travel mode was taken up with the noncollapsing amenities block (about 20%), the compressed kitchen gear (about 10%), the garage (20%), and a storage space for noncollapsing but stackable furniture (10%). With the new design, there should be an extra thousand cubic feet or so available. With careful packing and clever shelving, it should be enough.
The main issue is designing the lower floor so that all the amenities (kitchen, bathroom, storage areas) can still be used if only one side of the trailer is extended. I've kind of put these areas on a central spine with some passthroughs, but it's still a little fiddly making sure it will still work in all three deployment modes and pack away neatly for the travel mode. A secondary concern is breaking up the large areas of featureless open space away from the spine.
This should give about 2440 sqft of floor space plus just over 400sqft of balconies and 540sqft of unused external space in the corners of the 55x40 space it will take up. Some of that external space will most likely be semi-reserved for the tractor unit and probably the car which would otherwise reside in the back of the trailer when on the move.
That's equivalent to about a 3-5 bedroom house, as far as I can tell, although this place in Vancouver is about the same area and has eight bedrooms and five bathrooms.
Given that the expanded trailer would be pretty much just open living space on both floors, would use RV/boat compact versions of most facilities, and would be designed with sleeping areas that didn't really double as personal playrooms, that leaves a heck of a lot of floor space.
On thing that bugs me is that even with the expanding kitchen, there isn't a whole lot of general storage space. Maybe 500 cuft, and that includes pantry, supplies, toolshed, collapsed furniture, and personal effects.
Of course, that's based on an earlier design, where most of the rest of the volume in travel mode was taken up with the noncollapsing amenities block (about 20%), the compressed kitchen gear (about 10%), the garage (20%), and a storage space for noncollapsing but stackable furniture (10%). With the new design, there should be an extra thousand cubic feet or so available. With careful packing and clever shelving, it should be enough.
The main issue is designing the lower floor so that all the amenities (kitchen, bathroom, storage areas) can still be used if only one side of the trailer is extended. I've kind of put these areas on a central spine with some passthroughs, but it's still a little fiddly making sure it will still work in all three deployment modes and pack away neatly for the travel mode. A secondary concern is breaking up the large areas of featureless open space away from the spine.