Building a budget TD... what corners I can/cannot cut!?

[NHJeff]

Hi tntt world! I am eager to start building a TD for a summer road trip. I have 2 limitations--- I can only spend about $500 and I want to keep it under 500lbs. My wife is not sold on the idea, so hopefully I can upgrade in the future! Here are a list of ideas that I have had to cut cost and weight. Please give me your thoughts/wisdom on where I can and cannot cut corners:

Harbor Freight trailer (4' x 8')

1/2" plywood sides with 2"x 2" studs

Priming and painting the sides with traditional exterior house paint.

No insulation or interior skin.

Pressure treated plywood floor with PT 2" x 2" joists. No floor insulation or roofing tar.

FRP top without 1/8" plywood behind it. I imagine using adhesive and gasketed screws to keep it in place.

Not installing exterior corner moulding. I would overhang the FRP about 1/2" on the sides and seal the crack.

Lexan windows. I imagine framing it out and attaching hinges so it can open for ventilation. A drip moulding above it would keep the majority of the rain out.

Building my own doors. Once again I would install drip moulding above and drip edge around the door opening to keep out most of the rain.


Obviously I am anticipating a bear-bones build. In the future I could install insulation, interior skin, re-skin the outside, add a well-built door, install better windows, etc. I hope that I can have a trailer the is as waterproof as a good tent (which is not perfectly water tight). My wife wants to tent everywhere we go, and I want to not have the hassle as well as bring a mattress that will be comfortable. Unfortunately, spending even $500 is hard for us, or else I would build it the "right way" the first time.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions! Thanks in advanced for any ideas you can give me.

[mikeschn]

Hi tntt world! I am eager to start building a TD for a summer road trip. I have 2 limitations--- I can only spend about $500 and I want to keep it under 500lbs. My wife is not sold on the idea, so hopefully I can upgrade in the future! Here are a list of ideas that I have had to cut cost and weight. Please give me your thoughts/wisdom on where I can and cannot cut corners:

Harbor Freight trailer (4' x 8')

Yep, that'll work!

1/2" plywood sides with 2"x 2" studs

No need to use such heavy studs. Try 1x2's!

Priming and painting the sides with traditional exterior house paint.

I did that on my Escape Hatch which was built with baltic birch, and it delaminated within 2 years. You might want to rethink that.

No insulation or interior skin.

Absolutely, you can always add that down the road if there is an interest.

Pressure treated plywood floor with PT 2" x 2" joists. No floor insulation or roofing tar.

I wouldn't use PT plywood. You have to breath that. Use a normal clean moisture resistant plywood. Roofing tar is only $5. Don't skimp on the important stuff, especially with it being that cheap!

FRP top without 1/8" plywood behind it. I imagine using adhesive and gasketed screws to keep it in place.

FRP won't hold it's shape with out a plywood backing. You're better off with a plywood top, and a good skin. Maybe even epoxy paint!

Not installing exterior corner moulding. I would overhang the FRP about 1/2" on the sides and seal the crack.

You don't need exterior molding. If you do the woodie roof, just round over the corners and paint with a good epoxy paint.

Lexan windows. I imagine framing it out and attaching hinges so it can open for ventilation. A drip moulding above it would keep the majority of the rain out.

Framing windows like that are bound to make them warp. Andrew has a good idea for ship windows. Wiley Windows! viewtopic.php?p=1062120#p1062120

Building my own doors. Once again I would install drip moulding above and drip edge around the door opening to keep out most of the rain.

See my nano weekender thread for really affordable doors! viewtopic.php?p=1069527#p1069527

Obviously I am anticipating a bear-bones build. In the future I could install insulation, interior skin, re-skin the outside, add a well-built door, install better windows, etc. I hope that I can have a trailer the is as waterproof as a good tent (which is not perfectly water tight). My wife wants to tent everywhere we go, and I want to not have the hassle as well as bring a mattress that will be comfortable. Unfortunately, spending even $500 is hard for us, or else I would build it the "right way" the first time.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions! Thanks in advanced for any ideas you can give me.

[Jdw2717]

I will add that my wife thought I was a little crazy for wanting to build mine until she sat in a Little Guy teardrop at a local dealer. After that she realized they actually have more room then you think and can have an actual mattress / bed feel. Try to find a dealer near you and let her see what you have in mind. I know it worked for me. Good luck with your project.

p.s. I painted mine with oil based primer and then used good quality latex house paint. It has held up great, but mine lives in the garage so it is not in the sun and rain all year long. If I had to leave it outside I would probably seal it with epoxy and then paint it as others have done.

[wagondude]

Go back over what Mike said then scroll down to the faomie section. Building with foam and canvas will solve water proofing, weight, and insulation all at the same time without worries of delaminating cheap plywood. If you do decide to use plywood, do yourself a favor and go to a real lumber yard and get top quality stuff rather than the big box stores. Or better yet, spring the extra dough for marine plywood. The extra money spent there will pay big dividends in the lasting quality and less maintenance costs later.

[citylights]

tires wheels axles trailer frame. enough said. slow

Put a tent on that trailer with a foam mattress. Done!

Build right later when you can.

[MtnDon]

As mentioned do not use PT wood of any kind where you will be breathing the air adjacent to the wood. Not even if you paint it to 'seal' it.

[Mary C]

Build a foamie, use sheets to cover, it will work!! and use 2 inch for sides and one inch for top and build a weekender and you can build that really quickly,

Mary C.

[Alfred]

Hey Jeff,

Don't wire it. Just cut a hole to feed a powerstrip through. My 12v system failed a few years ago, and I just use extension cord with power strip now. Works fine.

AL

[ctstaas]

$500 and 500# sure. I don't know what your frame is going to weight but the cabin can't weight that much? My cabin(bare bones) is made from 4 sheets of 3/4" exterior grade plywood with two sheets of 1/4' plywood, 1/2 sheet of 1/2" plywood and 1 eight foot long 2x4. How much could that weight? Maybe an extra sheet of 3/4" plywood for the hatch frame? How much could that cost? I trimmed my door and door opening with aluminum angle. With the window and latch and hinge, $100 max. Roof vent $35. Hurricane hinge and galley latches, $50. Paint, glue , and screws, $75. It adds up quick so be careful.

[eggsalad]

Priming and painting the sides with traditional exterior house paint.

Oil-based paint. Bit more of a pain to work with, but tons more durable. I used Rustoleum High-Performance Enamel.

Take a look at my build thread, linked in my signature. It's everything you have in mind except the shape. But I will warn you... I used the same materials you have in mind, and in a much smaller shape, and my build ran well over $1000 including the trailer. Plywood and lumber has gotten really expensive. I set out with an $800 goal, and missed it by a mile. $500 is truly very ambitious, if you're including the cost of a $250 trailer!

[glenpinpat]

As many have said use an oil based paint like rustoleum it will last way longer. You can easily stay on budget. As far as electric goes just use what you would in a tent.

[KennethW]

I used 2 of these windows http://www.menards.com/main/doors-windo ... c-9956.htm
On the hatch hinge I used strap hinges with a piece of aluminum flashing bent in a inverted W With the ends caulked and screwed down.
To seal the wall to roof seam I used a good bead of polyurethane sealant ( yes it is hard to work with and is slow to cure).
I sealed the wood with wood conditioner and Deft Defthane polyurethane clear gloss. (yes it will not last forever)

Click to enlarge.
To make the build easy. I built a camper as a one piece then cut the hatch and doors out.
The door latches are screen door handles.
It just my thoughts hope it helps.

[rowerwet]

if the budget is that tight, your HF trailer will eat about half right from the start...
unless you are a great scrounger (case out construction site dumpsters, they pay by the pound to dump) you won't get much more than a plywood box. Even with a painted foamie you would be stretching hard to make a basic 4x8 tear.

I had two ruined tent trailers given to me, all I had to do was haul them away. one is a utility trailer now, the other is waiting to be torn down for the frame. If you can get an old trailer and invest the effort to tear it down, scrap the metal parts, clean up the rust, you could avoid the big outlay for a trailer and might even come out ahead on that end cash wise.

[rowerwet]

Hope we haven't ruined your dreams, I did think of how to do the super budget build, it is an idea that has been talked about often here, but not really built as it would negate the whole point of a tear to most of us.
look into how a dope and fabric airplane is built, a tube skeleton with a fabric envelope covering the skeleton, then the fabric is painted to waterproof and UV protect it.
I would suggest you make the walls fabric and a skeleton frame of 1x2"s (rip 2x4"s down if you have a table saw) and the roof of 1x4" plywood with minimal spars, as it is the part that sees the air load when towing. Then cover the whole tear with painted canvas (poor mans fiberglass link in my signature). If you want a galley I would recommend the "live plastic hinge" it is cheaper than hurricane hinge and very durable, I got mine off of Ebay in a 5 foot length. Use polyurethane adhesive to stick the joints together, they will be waterproof and stronger than the wood.
you will have a basic hard tent for real. The only other guy who built something like this that I know of made his frame of PVC pipe and the skin out of duct tape (look for the "duck tear" thread) I'm not sure what it cost him or how long it will last.

[Roly Nelson]

My 6 ft Stacker TD weighs 245 lbs, has an inch and 3/8 hollow-core door floor, 1/4 inch sides and 1/8 inch laun roof. Interior ribs are only inch and a half by 3/4 inch, has homemade wooden doors and doesn't leak a drop. 3 coats of house paint, roofing pitch on the bottom, has made it last for the last 6 years. Check out my album to see build pics of this cheap, light-weight TD. Many may not agree with my build methods, but it works for me. BTW, I keep my tears inside, out of the weather when not in use. Good luck.
Roly