lightweight tear

[larryl]

The 5X8 Carry-on trailer I purchased through Tractor Supply has a weight of 250 lbs. listed on the title. This was ordered with no floor,side rails nor
gate. Not certain if an aluminum would be that much lighter.
Larry

[robert johnson]

Look into stick building like I built Serenity. the walls were only 60# each, and they're 6 1/2 ft tall x 9 1/2 ft long. I covered them with .025 aluminum, 3/4 foam insulation and 1/8 ply inside. as far as I'm concerned you don't have to build them like a tank. no one needs to sit on top of their trailer like I've heard some one bragg about. if you study old trailer construction they were built very light. ..........Bob

[jay]

i think "over engineered" could be misconstrued for "over built". the former, taken in the context of "thought out" cannot be emphasized enough.

get this free catalog, there's plenty to ponder and some real handy stuff, too.

www.aircraftspruce.com

depending on budget constraints, there are many lightweight products available to be substituted for the lumberyard variety. also, give some thought to assembly techniques and some simple wood joinery. this can take the place of hardware at a saving of weight and increase of strength. even paint adds weight; ever built a canoe or skiff and heft it before and after 3 or 4 coats of paint/ varnish?

[JunkMan]

If you are going rock hopping then ya might want to rethink the tow vehicle,, weight is gonna be an issue,,

Unless they have increased the ground clearance a whole bunch, you aren't going rock hopping in a new Beetle. A semi rough gravel driveway ripped a hole in the oil pan of ours We love it, but are very careful any time we get off of a paved road now.

TDI as a pull vehicle though? No need to worry about going lightweight at all! Should be able to do ~2,000 lbs. no problem while getting great mileage.

Ours is a 2000 and I think it is rated at 1000 pounds trailer weight. The new ones do have a little more power, but I don't think they increased it that much.

If you really want to go light weight, how about leaving off the outer plywood skin and attaching the aluminum right to the framing. This is how most factory built trailers were built before they all started using FRP. If you tear apart a factory built camper, you'll be surprised how little framing they use, and how thin the plywood and aluminum is.

[R Keller]

TDI as a pull vehicle though? No need to worry about going lightweight at all! Should be able to do ~2,000 lbs. no problem while getting great mileage.

Ours is a 2000 and I think it is rated at 1000 pounds trailer weight. The new ones do have a little more power, but I don't think they increased it that much.

OK, so maybe I was exaggerating a little bit. But U.S trailer ratings are very low. It's all part of the conspiracy to get us to buy big SUVs and trucks. And to avoid lawsuits, no doubt. As Andrew (AKA "angib") will tell you, in Great Britain they use "regular" cars all the time to tow "caravans" much bigger and heavier than teardrops. For example, check out these tow ratings for a variety of VW vehicles:

http://www.aa.co.nz/Section?Action=View&Section_id=257&Story_id=1593

A 2002 VW Golf diesel 1.9 is listed at a tow capacity of 600 kg (1,300lbs.) for a trailer without brakes, and 1,400 kg (3,100 lbs.) for a trailer with brakes. Of course, you'd want to make sure you didn't exceed the rated tongue weight (they usually come in at less than 10% for caravans in Europe) and that your hitch and hitch mounting were up to the task, but still!

If you really want to go light weight, how about leaving off the outer plywood skin and attaching the aluminum right to the framing. This is how most factory built trailers were built before they all started using FRP. If you tear apart a factory built camper, you'll be surprised how little framing they use, and how thin the plywood and aluminum is.

I agree. For lightest weight without considering strength and durability, this is the way to go. As our local RV guy says, if your old RV catches on fire, just walk through the wall! For simplicity in framing something as small as a teardrop, start with 3/4" plywood and use cut outs (probably want to leave plenty of wood around the door since they are close to the full height of a teardrop). Fill in cut outs with 3/4" insulation. Use 1/8" plywood on interior. Clad in overlapped aluminum (interlocked strips, not sheets) that is stapled to the frame.

Rik

[BILLYL]

I made the Cubby but had the same concern as you with regard to weight. I looked at various building techniques and ended up making the sides out of 3/4 inch and dramatically reducing the amount of cabinets inside the Cubby as well as the galley. Basically constructed shelves.

I like the idea of now battery and what Tom suggested about just using AC shore power would work well for the type of camping I will be doing.

I haven't weight the final product but I can still lift the unit up by the tongue and move it around.

Good Luck

Bill

[Roly Nelson]

Thobbs, be careful, when you say "you want to build it as light as possible". This can be done if you make it short (6ft), low (3ft) and a hollowcore door for the floor, 1/4" sides and 1/8" roof. I just finished my 1/4 Nelson Stacker and before bolting it to the HF frame, it weighed 95 lbs. Total weight so far, complete with tongue, fenders and mattress is just over 250 lbs. You have to leave out a lot of bells and whistles to make it "as light as possible", so be prepared to do with just the basics.

Roly.............just another light-weight tear builder

[Arne]

I think, speaking from personal experience, that we tend to think because a trailer is floppy (The metal portion) when we put it together, it will not be strong when it is completed. The 2x2 mentioned is really only a connecting device. I'm willing to bet that could easily be reduced to 1x1 with no problem as long as the suspension connection area is beefed up.

I also still think a v-shaped tongue made from high quality 2x4's is doable. Someone mentioned c channel bent... but 2x4s might deform with my 200 pound weight on them, but not much, and there would be 2 of them. And, usually the tongue weight is only about 100 pounds.

And things like channel do not fail in tension, they fail in compression; the top with wrinkle before the bottom tears..... My thought is most trailer frames are way over built if they are going to be used in a tear. The points where strength are needed are where the suspension and tongue are attached.

Think about 1/8 or 1/4 ply when just a single sheet, then think about the strength of a wall assembly constructed from 2 sheets of the same material separated by 3/4 inch foam....

[angib]

I also still think a v-shaped tongue made from high quality 2x4's is doable.

I feel the same, so I went googling for any data. The American Hardwood Export Council kindly has provided some, from which I chose White and Red Oak which are about the same strength.

A structural-grade oak 2x4 (actual 3.5"x1.5", yeah?) has just about the same ultimate strength in bending as a 2"x2"x1/8" square tube in steel. However the wood product is more variable and so a higher material factor (aka factor of safety) needs to be used. So we might take two oak 2x4s as equal to one 2x2x1/8 square tube- about the minimum tongue strength requirement for a light trailer.

For comparison, one steel 2x2x1/8 tube weighs 3.0lb/ft, where a white oak 2x4 will average 1.9lb/ft and a red oak 2x4 will average 1.6lb/ft. The stiffness of a single 2x4 will be about 80% of the steel tube.

So I'd say an A-frame tongue in structural-grade oak 2x4 is just fine for a light trailer.

Andrew

[Roly Nelson]

One thing that you must take into consideration, is the continuous straight grain in the desired piece of oak. If the grain runs out part way down the tongue, guess what? It can fail about 1/2 way down and you will have a run-away teardrop with a broken wooden tongue. The key is to be sure that you have a "straight grained" piece of oak, with the grain of the wood running the entire length of the tongue. Good luck, I think I will just cover my steel tongue with wood, making it look like it is made of wood.

Roly, of course building the second one, after all you can't build just one!

[trabant]

Hi all,

For the construction of a very lightwheight car please look on this site.

http://www.tante.nl/zzhugo/index.html

It is sadly in Dutch but pictures say more than a 1000 words.. Ik is a 220kg (485lbs). I have testet the trailer for our Trabantclub magazine and its a dream to tow. No problems on a short 8% climb. The towcar was a 26hp Trabant rated for a maximum towwheight of 300kg(661lb) unbraked trailer and 400kg(882lb) braked trailer.

Regards,

Michael Staats

[angib]

Michael, that's an excellent site. Viewing the text through the Babelfish translator which now works on Dutch, I get the following:

- Main chassis member is square tube 50x50x2mm - 2"x2"x14g(.083").
- Side and back of chassis is 30x30mm angle (a bit under 1-1/4") - no thickness given.
- Single tongue runs full length of trailer and has been welded to rubber torsion axle (no rubber in the middle, I guess).
- Angle frame around back of trailer is welded to the brackets of the axle and the back of the tongue tube.

I'm tempted to wonder whether that angle isn't too much.....!

Andrew

[JLaman]

I will be towing my 850 lb (caluclated weight) tear for the first time in two weeks with my 2003 VW Golf TDI. The car is rated at 1500lbs towing capacity. It has way more torque than any other 4 cylinder car. I don't anticipate a problem, but will report back after we make the 400mile round trip maiden voyage to NY from central PA. I'd rather have a little bit heavier trailer that is well engineered and built to last than engineer it to the point that durability comes into question. Unless of course I cant make it up the mountain north of Willliamsport......

More later.

JEff L.

[JLaman]

I posted this elsewhere in the forum, but thought it would be helpful here too, given the discussion of the VW TDI as a tow vehicle. I wouldn't over do the lightweight engineering after my experience:

I towed my teardrop for the first time this weekend with my 2003 VW Golf TDI 5 spd. We went from central PA up to Ithaca, NY, a 370 mile round trip. Those familiar with the area know that there are some pretty long, but gradual (5 to 6% grade) hills in this part of the country. Those from the area call them mountains, but that is another discussion...... Anyway, the TDI pulled the teardrop fine -- up the hills at 65mph without a sputter or even dropping speed. Temp gage held steady at 190 the entire trip. The trailer weighs about 850# by my estimate. Also, my owners manual specifically states that the vehicle will pull 1500#. That's what I went by when I decided to build a camping trailer. There are several manufacturers of hitches for the car, so somebody must be towing stuff with this car! I will mention that the fuel consumption dropped significantly from the normal 48 to 51 mpg down to the mid to low 30s (I can't tell exactly because my wife never fills the tank all the way, plus we made an additional trip up to Rochester from Ithaca without the trailer, another 200 mile round trip on the same tank). We almost made the 600 mile weekend trip on one tank, so who's complaining anyway.

Jeff L.

[toypusher]

Jeff,

I know first hand what the hills are like up through there. I go from York to Syracuse and points north a couple of times a year. Sounds like your Golf does alot better than my Toyota Tacoma 4x4 (4cyl)! How was the color for your trip?