Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Yeah but thats the good thing about a teardrop. Even nicely built your only look at around 1500 lbs so there should be no problem. Most of them that i've seen have been under 1000. Which is where I'm shooting for.

ScubbaStv wrote:Well i used the trailer balance work sheet from the Design Library, and according to it, for an 120" tear the axle should be at 52". Is this wrong, should it be less?

Ah! You've caught me out (I made that spreadsheet).

52" on a 120" body gives you the minimum recommended hitch load with no weight in the galley - if you added, say, a loaded cooler in the galley, the hitch weight would drop into the unsafe range.

I would suggest 48" was a reasonable average axle position for a 120" body, but you could go down as far as 42" if you have a big tow vehicle.

Andrew

So i should go with 48"? Is that going to increase the tongue weight? I'm towing it with a 95 jeep wrangler...

OK, so what if I make it out of 3"x3" 1/4 wall steel? Will that be enough to hold it properly with the axle at 48" from rear?

scubba, thats the exact td im doing with 16" rims and at 265/70/r16 tires for offroad! my question, are you putting a fridge etc..in the galley?does that make a huge differance?

No I'm not putting in a fridge. I was just going to put a sliding drawer in one of the bottom cabinets for my cooler

ScubbaTV,

Nice drawing on the frame, what program did you use? Although people say Sketchup is easy to use, I stll have a learning curve to draw straight line. ha ha. I am sure many of the new builders are following this thread, at least I am. A 5 x10 frame build will be a common size that a majority of frame builds can be based on.

Axle placement will be the one of the most, if not the most important decision to make. My eventual build will include a tongue box to store a battery, and small propane tank, making the tongue a bit longer(?) in front. Not trying to hijack your thread, but hopefully along with your question for axle placement, someone can provide a suggestion with the front addition in mind as an alternative configuration.