Pros and cons of "deck over" enclosed trailer

[vagari]

I have been looking at some enclosed trailers lately and see a $250 option to use a 6ft axle on 7ft trailer and put the deck over the wheels. What are the pros and cons of a deck over?

Pros: higher clearance, not as wide wheel-to-wheel 
Cons: more wind underneath, colder? tip easier? more sway? worse mpg?

 

[bullfrog]

Smaller tire size usually wears out sooner than a larger tire as it spins more and faster per mile traveled at same speed. Smaller trailer tires have had some availability and quality issues. Interior wheel wells can cause loading unloading problems and without them suspension travel is limited. Deck height is usually higher. You are most likely not going to pull that big of a trailer off road very far any way but increased clearance can always be had by flipping the wider axle. Basically I would rather replace a fender that fix a hole in the side of the trailer, there are not a lot of roads 7' wide in the woods.

 

[LeeRevell]

Can provide space underneath the box for tanks or stowage boxes.
Narrows the trailer for fitting the lane better.

 

[DLTooley]

Good question! I have no definitive answers save to second place the concept n regarding smaller tires. I do like the 7' width for better layout dynamics, but have yet to take the plugs. Wh n I do it will be a shorter model.

 

[John61CT]

I don't understand why they wouldn't go with normal sized wheels and wheel wells to drop the floor.

 

[vagari]

The trailer in question still has 15" wheels. They have three options. Wheels outside the box (normal). Wheels under the deck (deck over) and wheels half under and half outside the box with wheel wells inside (like normal travel trailers). The site did not have pictures so I posted a picture I found elsewhere. It unfortunately had smaller tires. I did not notice that earlier.

 

[highdesertranger]

there goes that "flipping the axle" again. DO NOT FLIP THE AXLE.

vagari they are made that way for ground clearance and to have a flat floor. that is a snow mobile trailer so think about driving over snow. I don't notice any big difference when towing one off road. I always thought it was a waste to have the wheels wider then the box, wasted space IMO. I like 16 inch rims for a trailer that way you can run heavy duty tires. btw the rim size has nothing to do with how tall the tire is. highdesertranger

 

[MrNoodly]

With a deck-over, the walls form your "sense of width." You don't need to learn that, oh yeah, there's the extra width of the fenders and wheels sticking out there. Also, you can get the trailer into narrower spaces.

 

[coj142]

I have been looking at some enclosed trailers lately and see a $250 option to use a 6ft axle on 7ft trailer and put the deck over the wheels. What are the pros and cons of a deck over?

Pros: higher clearance, not as wide wheel-to-wheel 
Cons: more wind underneath, colder? tip easier? more sway? worse mpg?

Vagari- I've been looking for an over-the-deck configuration in 7' or 7'6" width and can't seem to find it anywhere. What company did you find that offered this as an option? Do you have their web address or phone number? Thanks!   [email protected]

 

[vagari]

This company lists a "narrow axle" option for $125 extra
http://trailershowroom.com/master_enclosed_options.htm

This company lists "6' wide axle on 7' wide unit" for $135 extra
http://plainoltrailers.com/options-pricing/