Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I can't decide which way I want to build, 3/4" plywood wall, or sandwich wall construction. I would ask responses from those who have built Teardrops and are satisfied with the type of construction, and those that have built and are dissatisfied with the type of construction, and of course, why.

Thanks for your inputs.

Anyone?

Sandwich walls seem to be the way to go. I think if you're out camping and the mercury drops, you'll really appreciate the added insulation you get from a sandwich wall.

I built my sidewalls from 1/2" exterior plywood and have no regrets about doing so. It is very strong and it does add weight. The sandwich construction method has it's merits with strength vs weight. But I am happy with plywood for the ease of application and once cut, the wall is essentially done unless you want to insulate then mount some furring strips, install the insulation, and the skin application for the interior. I guess you could call that " sandwich" method as well. It was alot less labor intensive. Besides I want to mount a roof rack and it provides a stable support that requires not alot of engineering

I just skinned my walls and floor. It was a lot of work and a lot of new territory for me. Looking at my 1st wall and the floor, I think they came out all right there are a few voids but I think they will be fine. They weigh a little more than I thought they would but they are still lighter than 3/4in ply. I think I may have used more resin than I needed to on the floor.

All were constructed on a pine frame with rigid insulation for the core and skinned with 1/8 birch (floor) or 1/8 luan (walls). I rolled epoxy on the surfaces then used a notched scraper to apply epoxy thickened with micro fibers. Even though it was a lot of work, I would make another trailer using this method.

After they were skinned they weighed:
1in X 5ft X 9ft floor is 71lbs
1in X 4ft X 10ft walls are 57lbs

That is a good looking frame....

Brian, Woody, Asianflava,

Thanks for your inputs. At the point I'm at, (scheeming in my head) I need all the inputs I can get. I've seen from the searches I've done here the current prefered method of wall construction seems to be sandwich with foam insulation. The problems that I see with that type of construction is the amount of labor involved and the cost. The advantages are a small weight savings and better insulation, as I see it.

I guess my original post on the thread was easy to misunderstand. My question, as Woody answered, should have been, if you've built a Teardrop with plywood walls, are there any regrets or problems associated with doing so?

I live in South Texas, and cold is the least of my worries, as it never gets very cold for very long, and I don't intend to go camping when it is not comfortable weather, i.e. above 50 degrees. So based on that, I seriously doubt the insulation thing is a real issue for me.

Any others with input on the subject?

SteveH wrote:Brian, Woody, Asianflava,
The problems that I see with that type of construction is the amount of labor involved and the cost. The advantages are a small weight savings and better insulation, as I see it.

My main reason was the weight savings. My truck and my wife's Highlander are both 4-cyl so we are limited in towing. With a low profile tear and lightweight we should be OK. I have towed U-hauls with my truck but it was tough on it. It went from a slow truck to being an even slower truck. I also plan on (so far) using sandwich panels for the cabinets as well.

I suspect it has something to do with my age, but I do not think I would build without insulation. My recent trip had low temps in the 40s and high about 85.

The heater worked fine, but a/c is definitely in my spring upgrade. Trying to get a decent night's sleep when the temp is 80 and high humidity is difficult.

My sandwich wall had nothing to do with weight (it was all about comfort; temp and noise). If it added 50 pounds, I still would have done it. And if I build a second tear, it will not have 3/4 inch foam, it will have 1-1/2 inch foam. The additional cost is small and there is basically no weight penalty to more foam....

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I suppose this should go in another spot, but I'll just mention it here. I have 2 saw horses. I put 3 2x4's across the s/horses. I piled all my plywood on top of this, about 14 pieces to start (in the order they would be used), and it bacame my building table. Each time I needed another piece of ply, it was right there... as a wall was completed, it was taken off the stack and leaned against the wall.... I did use a second garage bay for assembly, as things got a bit crowded near the end.... and it was nice to get to the bottom of the pile of plywood../g/..

Im insulating all sides, top, and bottom. Main reason is because I don't wanna be limited to camping in nice weather only, the way I was with tent camping. I expect to be cozy in the coldest TN weather.

I insulated my teardrop for two reasons. (One) for comfort since I built it with A/C. due to the Florida summers. There is nothing worse than a 90 degree trailer at night with two people in there generating additional heat if you know what I mean. And (two) the furring strips really stiffened up the wall and provided a cavity for wiring as well. A big plus was the bottom horizontal furring strip gave additional attach points to the floor from the side wall ,so I am attached the sidewall from the side and to the top of the floor. Then insulated and interior skin installed (semi sandwich method I guess). A side benefit was it is dead quiet in there and comfortable like you would not believe. I guess you could say I did it the conventional way I saw a majority of teardrops that I saw on the internet built prior to building mine. Not to take anything away from other building methods, weight in my case was not a consideration for towing. I would recommend considering insulating your trailer, It does make a difference with the heat I found ,unless you use an EZ-up canopy or something similiar to shade it from the direct sun. Just my thoughts

Arne has a good point, 1 1/2" insulation in the walls would not increase the weight significantly, and would really up the R value, as well as allowing you to add an electrical outlet in one of the side walls if you wanted, without any problem.

Would it be worth making 1 1/2" insulated side walls (would you notice the difference)? Although I never plan to camp in cold weather, I have been surprised when I awoke to snow a few times. I plan to make my TD wide enough for a full sized mattress (54") inside. Using 5' wide aluminum, I could make 1 1/2" insulated side walls just as easily as 3/4" insulated side walls.

This could also slove another one of my possible "problems". I have an old truck sleeper that has some nice doors on it, that I might try to use on the TD, but they are thicker than 1". I don't know what they weigh yet, hopefully I will get them pulled off the sleeper this week, and see if it is feasable to use them. They are about the right size, not to mention, they have a nice frame with hinges, and locking latches on them.

Jeff

Steve,
I had the same questions as you do. until I looked at the Camp-Inn tears on Cary's web site. they have 3/4" ply walls. Those are some nice tears. I think the solid ply wall would make construction easier and hopefully faster. For my first shot at a tear, I think those is the most important things.

Steven,

Thanks for your input. That's what I'm considering for the ease and simplicity. In my opinion, insulation from the cold is not the issue down here, it is the heat and then only a night, because that's when I will be in the bed.

I'm going to PM you.

Thanks,

I seem to be in the minority here, but I built my tear with solid 3/4 plywood walls. KISS, man. I built the trailer in about two months, evenings and weekends.