Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have been looking at the various methods that have been used to build T&TTT, and I am wondering if anyone has built or knows of a design where a 3/4" or so ply is used for the sides, but it is weight relieved, insulated and skinned? So the "framing" of the side is made of a single hollowed sheet of ply, like this:


Is this a dumb idea?

Cliff

Yep that has been done and nope it is not a dumb idea because it can make construction easier

Unless you want it there for some other reason, there is no need to have that big diagonal - the ply itself provides as much shear strength as you can possibly need - this isn't a house.....

Andrew

Andrew says:

Unless you want it there for some other reason, there is no need to have that big diagonal - the ply itself provides as much shear strength as you can possibly need - this isn't a house.....

Good point, Andrew. I do have a tendency to over engineer.

The more I wander around this site, the more interested I get in the Grasshopper design. I LOVE Joanne's Desert Dawg. There can't really be much more wind resistance with a grasshopper than a Benroy... Could there?

Cliff

Cliffmeister2000 wrote:I have been looking at the various methods that have been used to build T&TTT, and I am wondering if anyone has built or knows of a design where a 3/4" or so ply is used for the sides, but it is weight relieved, insulated and skinned? So the "framing" of the side is made of a single hollowed sheet of ply, like this:


Is this a dumb idea?

Cliff

The only issue I see is a lot of waste and extra cost.

Here's what I came up with. I would have removed more in the rear but I didn't know just how I was going to lay the galley out.





And with insulation

Like this...

Cliffmeister2000 wrote:.....Is this a dumb idea?

Cliff

I think it's brilliant! Thanks for posting that, I'm seriously considering using it for our popup conversion.

Dave & Kathleen

Thanks Cliff. You are making me blush!

Joanne

Cliffmeister2000 wrote:Andrew says:

Unless you want it there for some other reason, there is no need to have that big diagonal - the ply itself provides as much shear strength as you can possibly need - this isn't a house.....

Good point, Andrew. I do have a tendency to over engineer.

The more I wander around this site, the more interested I get in the Grasshopper design. I LOVE Joanne's Desert Dawg. There can't really be much more wind resistance with a grasshopper than a Benroy... Could there?

Cliff

ssrjim says:

The only issue I see is a lot of waste and extra cost.

Although there would be a lot of waste, not appreciably more than using solid plywood sides. They would probably still have to be skinned on the inside at least. Besides, the real reason is my lack of confidence in keeping the sides straight with thin plywood and a pine frame. By using this method, I am virually guaranteed a nice, smooth sidewall. As far as cost, relatively minor increase over using thin ply and pine, unless I used furring strips and hand selected them for straightness.

I have done some more drawing. I don't want to upload them, because the detail is lost at 640 x 480, so please follow my link. This design will allow me to put a 10 foot Weekender on an 8 foot trailer. Thanks, Mike, for the weekender design, and Joanne, for the great ideas from your build!

http://picasaweb.google.com/cliffneff/TeardropShots

Cliff

That's the way I plan to go on my next one. Oops did I say next one don't tell the wife
I went I stick framed mine and I think that would make it so much lighter mine is like a mini barn on wheels. I tend to over build.

Cliffmeister2000 wrote:I have been looking at the various methods that have been used to build T&TTT, and I am wondering if anyone has built or knows of a design where a 3/4" or so ply is used for the sides, but it is weight relieved, insulated and skinned?

I would add some 'solid wall' where the fenders will mount but otherwise, it looks great!

Don

To make this weekender, is going to require 2 sheets of 4 x 10 plywood. I can think of 3 jointing techniques:

1/2 lap, tongue and groove, and spline. With spline, I have been playing with different ways to do that, too.



Any good or bad experiences with any of these? I have never tried to lengthen a sheet of ply before.

Cliff

I would add some 'solid wall' where the fenders will mount but otherwise, it looks great!

Don

Good point! Of course, that means buying the trailer before I start, or deciding to blow away the current trailer.

Decisions, decisions...

Someone on the forum did a structure like that, and had the plywood cut with a waterjet for perfect cuts. Do a search -- or maybe somebody has a link they can post here.

G