Height of new storage garage

[maximo]

When Montana states the height of a 5th wheel is 12'9" is that with or with out a front air conditioner? A new RV does not have the front air conditioner on it unless you order it so I am wondering if 12'9" is with or without the front unit. I have a existing cement pad that is 24 ft wide by 50 ft long that I am puting a Steel RV garage on and I have the gabel on the new building at 14 ft. I have the front air on my 5th wheel and I am sure that is high enough but I will actualy check the height before they start the building. The building will be 24'x50' with a A Frame roof, vertical roofing, gabels on both ends 14' high, both sides and rear will have vertical siding down 6' from the top, front will be open. I will have a 25amp electrical service at the rear of the building to maintain my 2011 Big Sky 3580RL.

Frank

[bncinwv]

Ours was without and I measured to be sure of the height and ended up at 13'4.5" at the front air conditioner. I believe the height is measured as delivered from the factory without modifications. You are doing the right thing by measuring yourself. Be sure to measure with the rig hitched up since that is the way you will be putting it in the garage.
Bingo

[Rondo]

If you plan on working Monte on the top of the unit while it is in the shed or building, I would recommend a 16' height for walls. You may not be able to stand up completely when on the roof of the unit but at least you would be able to work up there and not be pinned down by the roof or anything else. When I put my building up for the Monte I used 16' walls and 14' entry doors and it works out perfect.

[Glenn the fifth]

I learned this this hard way (at least I did not break anything). We just bought a new place that has a nice 36X48 shop with a 3 stall covered area attached to it. I knew our Monty would not fit in the shop (only 36 feet deep and the trailer is 40 feet long), but the attached covered area had a high end built on to it and was covered for about 45 feet. I thought it would be good just to have it covered. I was going with the 12'9" measurement and even rounded up to 13' to be safe. I went out and measured the high end of the carport and it was about 13'2". I knew it would be close, but it should fit. I had a freind over and asked him to climb up on the back ladder while I was backing in slowly just to watch clearance. The rear AC cleared by about 3 inches, but when it came to the first vent cover...not so lucky. I had to get up and take all 3 vent covers off to get it in the spot. Not a big deal, but I liked having them on the trailer. Once I got it parked and unhooked I then hit the "auto level" button (I always leave the legs down when it is parked). I did not realize by looking at it that the rear of the trailer was as low as it was as it started coming up. I started to get a little worried about the rear AC (don't have the front one yet) as the trailer was leveling itself. I climbed up on the back ladder to watch and was happy to hear the beep telling me "auto level complete" as the AC stopped about an inch and a half from the rafter. Whew.....learned a cheap lesson there.

[RonD]

Ours with front AC unit is 13'3", I would think 14' will work just fine

[bethandkevin]

X2 on Bingo's reply. Our 2013 3402rl w/factory front A/C and G614's measures out at 13'-4-1/2" to clear the front A/C when hooked to the truck.

[Art-n-Marge]

Don't forget to consider that you have to lift and lower the rig when hitching and unhitching. Trying to make that measurement only a foot in difference would be cutting things so close. Do not measure only when the rig is sitting level, but at it's worse case (with the landing gear at full extension then add at least a foot). Then there's the rare possibility that you put on some slightly larger tires.

I'm liking the way Rondo thinks but I'd used 14.5 to 15 feet since it's only about getting it through the door without any problems.

[dieselguy]

I had one of the Carolina Carport RV ports put up last year. It's 18' wide by 40' long with 11' sides. The two sides are covered 9' down from the gable as that was what 3 sheets of siding came out to be. Since it was built on a graveled pad, I poured two slabs of wire reinforced concrete for the wheels to sit on to avoid settling in the rock and dirt. I purchased it as a storage structure with no intentions of working on the roof while under cover??? I can easily back my 3150RL into it and can extend all slides with room to spare. I have a low profile A/C up front which makes the fiver about 13' 4" hooked to the truck. I don't know what the ridge of the roof measurement is nor the roof pitch, but I have several inches up top to spare with the fiver sitting on the front landing gear. When I was talking to contractors about how high an RV storage shed needs to be most all mentioned that most people want to build them too tall. The taller the stucture, the more sun, rain, and snow can blow in on your unit from the ends even if you have covered sides. Thinking you can just fill in the height by gabled ends doesn't work ... you won't be able to back if through the gable.

[Captain Joe]

Here are the photos of our cover. We went with 16' wide because of a existing tree. All 5 slides can be extended except for one front living slide only comes out 90%. It the tree was not there, we would have went 18' wide to we could walk around the RV. We went with 46' long. We wanted the RV to be further back under the cover, since the front faces West. The evening sun barely hits it. We went with 16' high to ensure clearance and access to the roof. We have had repair folks up there three times (Rear camera, vent covers, and heat strip installation). All were done with the RV under the cover with plenty of room. The fill is 1/4" crushed stone and it compacts great. We have 50amp, water, and sewer close by. Here are the photos. http://x.co/v8SX

[NCFischers]

My barn has 14 foot doors and is 16 feet to the bottom of the trusses. We have the front AC unit and the trailer is 13'3''

[DTIEDEMAN]

You also have to think about the slope on the driveway.

[Bill-N-Donna]

Something to think about; if you pour a concrete floor later after the building is put up, just don’t forget about where the height of the floor will be.

[maximo]

I do not have to worry about the rv hitting anything when hitching or unhitching as the trusses are at 16ft.

Frank

[mmgeol]

I built a new pole barn last winter to house the Montana and used a 14' X 14' door with a 16' ceiling height. The 14' wide door makes it so much easier to back in, just make sure the door is ALL the way up or there will be a problem.

[mlh]

We have almost the exact buildng as Captian Joe. Ours is a 36 foot pull through. Works great for us.
Lynwood

[cdaniels]

We have an existing pole barn with 13 ft doors inside the garage to the header concrete to header is 14ft. We have the low profile front air which is 9 inches compared to 12 for the non profile. We make it in the doors and in the garage leveled with about 4 inches to spare. Our RV slopes down in the front and back which gives us a few inches more. All said and done even though ours fits if we where building it we would definitely go with the 16 ft sides and 14ft door. The first time we tried to back it in we where holding our breath and creeped in stop looked eased in inch by inch. Good luck.

[fauch]

Going back to this older thread, since we are getting ready to build a Carport for the camper. Captain Joe, What brand is your cover? Your post states that you built 16' height. When looking at your photos, I take it that this means height at center or ridge. 16' walls would be 4' higher than the trailer at sides and 18'+ at center. Am I correct?

I am leaning toward the 11' or 12' wall height on the premise of less sun/ weather exposure and giving up the luxury of being able to do work on the roof while under the cover for the sake of less exposure.

[HOOK]

You must also consider the height with it hooked to your TV as they vary.

[Rondo]

11 or 12 foot sidewalls is not tall enough for a Montana or any other of the Keystone fivers. When I put my Montana Home up it has 16' walls and 14' doors. With the 16' walls you can get up on top of the Montana and still have some height above it to work if need be. My building is all steel and has a flat ceiling and I have about 3 1/2 to 4 ft clearance to work on it while in the building. If you plan on opening the slides at all while it is in the shelter or building I recommend at least a 20 width with at least 14' walls.

[WeBeFulltime]

I gotta go with Rondo and NCFishers on this one. Would make it 16' to rafters with a 14' door clearance.