Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Wouldn't an angle iron wall frame with wood and foam filler be more sturdy than a totally wooden wall? The weight increase from using a framework of angle iron would not concern me that much, but the strength, I think, would be so much better.
(1) Will the different expansion rates of wood and metal tear the thing apart in time?
(2) Doesn't the bouncing and twisting of a wooden tear tear it apart anyway?
I am no professional woodworker by any stretch of the imagination and I've seen some very nice wooden trailers, but I don't have the skills nor the tools to do most of what I've seen done.

You are over complicating things.... If you glue/screw plywood and studs, in box shape, it will be incredibly strong....

Hey Warpony...

Arne is right... don't make things harder than they really are... A teardrop is nothing more than a simple wooden box with a cabinet or two inside...

And a wooden box is very strong.

And if you use pine, it can be very strong and light at the same time!!!



Mike...

I do tend to "over engineer" things and drive myself crazy trying to get it right the first time. I just wondered if any one had used metal for the walls, that's all.

WarPony wrote:I just wondered if any one had used metal for the walls, that's all.

Check out Sumner's site:

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... epage.html

He's done a great job of creating an awesome tear!

I've got a TIG welder and was wondering if there would be enough of a weight savings to justify an aluminum frame.

Yea, I'm an engineer - can't stand to leave well enough alone.

I'm going the all aluminum route on my design. But I'm going with aluminum wire MIG to save time. I figure there are just too many joints at too many odd angles in variuos places to TIG in any reasonable amount of time.

The weight savings with aluminum seem worth the extra effort and you can rivet the skin right to the frame.

Steel tubing, like Sumner's, would work great too. He has some great framing ideas on his site. But he has such an awesome tow vehicle he probably boes not worry too much about weight. D. Tillery

D. Tillery wrote:I'm going the all aluminum route on my design. But I'm going with aluminum wire MIG to save time. I figure there are just too many joints at too many odd angles in variuos places to TIG in any reasonable amount of time.

I've got a Sears Craftman (low end) Mig welder but I've not tried aluminum with it. Is it tough to do?

From what I can see it appear that most of the structural strength comes from the frame (trailer) itself. Above that point its just necessary to have something rigid enough to not flex excessively from wind deflection or forces such as doors opening and closing..

You know, it almost seems like a space frame of pvc tubing would work just fine. The stuff is cheap, light and easy to work. It will flex so triangulation would be important. The only down side I can see is that it might deteriorate with age.

Eric

I used to do it with a 100 Amp Snap-On (made by Century) that I bought in a pawn shop about 15 years ago. I wish I still had that little welder.

It can be done with a welder that size. I would suggest putting a new liner in it first. You will need straight Argon shielding gas. Loosen your drive wheels so they will barely push the wire and they slip with minimum resistance. Keep the hose and gun as straignt as possible because aluminum wire breaks very easily. If you can rig your machine to use a 10# spool it will also feed better bacause it is rolled on a larger diameter roll. It is also much cheaper by the pound that way.

Aluminum rod electrodes are also available if you have a stick welder. Hold on to your wallet. They cost about $1ea. in small quantities and burn up like a plastic straw on a red hot skillet. But it is still cheaper than a trip to the welder.

About PVC. I'm all in favor of using "modern" materials and methods for tears. I know little about woodworking so I'm useing aluminum. I don't know why you could not use a PVC frame and then lay fiberglass over it. Other than the mess!
Good luck with your aluminum welding, D. Tillery