Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Weatherproofing a roll up door could be a challenge. I've considered it for the back door.

Here's a shot of the hatch showing the canvas on the inside. Still oversized so I'll cut it down and round over the outside edge to prepare for canvassing. Even now it's very stiff.

Hatch trimmed and covered with canvas. Fit is good!

Looks GOOD !!!

I started working on the doors. I built a frame of 1" wood to fit the opening and then glued the exterior skin to it. After trimming it flush with a router, I cut the window opening with a template and template attachment for the router base.


Next, I added additional blocking for the handles and hinges and filled the spaces with insulation. I glued on the exterior skins and routed them flush with the edges.


I cut the mortises for the door handles. I used ""Junior" Locking Stainless Steel Flush Door Latch with Inside Release" from Etrailer. http://www.etrailer.com/Enclosed-Trailer-Parts/Redline/L1833.html




I used the flush trimming bit to cut out the inside window openings and made the parts for the Wiley windows. I won't glue them in until I canvas the doors.


I had left the corners square for the side door to make measuring easier. Now I trimmed them to fit the opening. The doors are ready to canvas.

Nice. Looks good.

A substantial Door for sure ...

I made the stiles in the side door wide to simplify the door construction. They are wide enough to mortise in the handle, support the hinges and the sides of the Wiley window. The rounded corners also benefit from the wider stiles.

The big back door actually has lighter framing with blocks to support the hinges and the handle mortise.

Here's the trailer set for it's maiden voyage. I'm heading up to Itasca state park region for some fishing and canoeing with my buddies. Still a lot of details to finish but it's towable.

Some details. I underestimated the thickness of two layers of canvas, glue and paint so the side door is really tight. In fact, I had to sand down the canvas in places to get it to fit. Inside, the flange has 3/8" x 3/4" sticky back neoprene foam weather stripping. The door closes with a satisfying "thunk". However the tight gap means that it holds moisture between the door and sill at the bottom. I may have to remove the door and plane off a 1/4" or so and recanvas the bottom to get a gap big enough for water to drain properly.

The Yakima rack mounts are 1 x 2 x 1/8" aluminum box channel that I cut to make "J" channels. Yakima wanted too much for bolt on side mounts! As it turned out I had just enough space to mount everything. I didn't have an 1/8" to spare. I didn't measure everything in the planning stage so I could have had real problems. Sometimes you just get lucky.



The back barn door has several issues. I made it smaller to fit after the trouble I had with the side door. But the weight of it causes the box to rack a bit. I added a "ramp" of UHWPE screwed to the step to lift the door as it closes. It fits fine but I didn't figure out the hinges properly so I have to swing it 180 degrees to get the slide out RC airplane racks out. I'll need to fix that.

The Wiley windows worked great. We had a couple hours of heavy rain the other night and they didn't leak a drop inside.

I added some D-rings lagged to the floor (that was the reason for the heavy framing in the platform.)

It looks SUPER !!!! There’s always some “adjusting” to do later , or adding on more things ... That’s Great FUN !!!

It looks great. Nice work! Every foamie build teaches me something new so thanks for posting all this.

Nice job ! I am jealous - still have a ways to go before mine gets camping.