New 8ft wide 5th wheelers?

[Nifty]

Hi this is Nifty from Australia. We are wanting to buy a new or near new 5th wheeler and travel around some of the States before shipping the unit back to Australia where our maximum allowed trailer width is 8ft. Does anyone know of any manufacturers or brands that are still made as 8ft (not wide body 8ft 6") in a Toy Hauler layout?
Ideal for us would be 30ft max length with 2 or 3 slide outs and have an aluminium rather than a timber frame. Any information gratefully accepted.

[cpaulsen]

As far as I know.....they are all 8' or less......most highways are 102" wide.

[Stripit]

Most US driving lanes are anywhere from 9 ft to 12 ft wide according to the National Highway information. The rv's I'm aware of are starting at 96 inches wide and then they can grow to 102 inches wide depending on manufacturer. Plus you have to take in the fact that the awnings and other items hanging on the sides may let it grow even farther in actual width. Depending on how strict the rules or laws are where you wanting to use one of our US built rigs, your going to have a pretty difficult time finding one to be lawful. They may be out there but I don't know of any.

[wingnut60]

I'm with Stripit on this--going to be hard to find a 30' anything that is not actually wider than 96" (8') when the fender extensions/some ladders/awnings are taken into account.
There are smaller TTs, maybe some fivers that are 7' wide, but I don't keep up with them.
Joe

[Nifty]

Thanks for the prompt feedback guys. Although our width laws in Australia are pretty strict, we can get away with such things as awnings projecting out a little bit more as long as the exterior of the body panels measures no more that 8ft.

With this in mind are there any likely manufacturers you know of that I could contact?

Best regards
Nifty

[Stripit]

Hi Nifty;
I just searched RVtrader.com and they had zero toyhaulers listed below 30 ft long. Here is the nation wide search link for Craig's list. If you write in what it is your looking for any person having that listed anywhere in the United States that listing will show up. Sometime makes it easier to find something that might not be in your general area but also opens up the distance your made to travel to go see that item. I don't know of any manufacturer of toy haulers that is the best, or worst so can't help on what to look at. Wish I could, if you find something your interested in that happens to be close to me i would go look and photograph it for you. I'm in Arizona.
http://www.my-craigs-finder.com/

[Nifty]

Thanks for your effort Stripit. I appreciate the Craigslist tip and will try that.
I will be back in your beautiful country from July 5 to August 1 in an effort to see some more of it while riding our Harleys, so just maybe we will nail down something while we are there as we have no fixed itinerary except making it to the plane on time to fly home.
Thanks again for the tip.

[Stripit]

How do you get the Harley's here and back?

[Nifty]

We keep two bikes in storage in Seattle where some friends live.

[wingnut60]

Nifty,
Just about any TH will be 96" wide, unless it is listed wider--the specs should be listed in the brochures for the manufacturers. You should be able to find several THs in the travel trailer models that are 30'--friend of mine had one he carried an ATV in it, but I forget the brand.
Joe

[Nifty]

Hi mate,
Many thanks for your input. I have already done quite a bit of digging around and it seems probably just about all manufacturers have now shifted up the body widths from 96" to 102" which makes a lot of sense to give you folks more room inside, but no good for our Australian road laws.
Every time I look at brochures / specs of some great 30ft 5th wheeler I get pulled up short because of the body width. There are some travel trailers with regular pull hitches still on offer with 96" bodies but I have my heart set on a 5th wheeler. There are plenty of older second hand 96" wide units too but all the ones I have come across so far have had timber frames and with our Australian roads we need aluminium frames.
Never mind, that's life and thanks again for your input. I'll just keep digging.
Cheers
Nifty