Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

This is the ultra quick build of my "Race Coffin" as the brother-in-law and i are calling it. it's quick, easy and durable. It is made of 3/8 BC grade ply and 1x4 framing. the base is stout, it is 2x6 with 3/4 cdx so i can pull it off the trailer and still use it to haul around a 4 wheeler or snowmobile.



Note the hole in back by the floor. those are poles for a carport canopy that we pit under on race weekends. that is one reason i went with such a stout floor. and for the ability to pull the box off if i need just the trailer.



I will be adding some more framing to walls today. then i will add some 3/4 insulation, the inside will be luan finished with carpet, but that can happen after the exterior is done.



Thought of putting in a small lexan window here to let in some light.



Here is a question what type of resin do i use to fiberglas to wood? i plan on fiberglassing the corners and seams then coating the whole thing in a paint or durbak. This winter when i build the weekender i'll paint both trailer frames.(one mess two projects).

To the point you now see the trailer i have 5hrs into it. and i hope to finsh it with 15hrs total. it helps that i spend all day building homes and this is as simple a design as you can get. But it has to be ready to go the weekend after labor day on a trip up the north shore of lake superior. the wife said this is what she wants to sleep in instead of a tent. so that will be its madien voyage.

Any and all opinons welocme.

Felix

Felix, a lot of the strength in a TD come from the internal bulheads of which you only have a front one...it looks like you have a pretty stout build but I would consider putting a couple of 8-12 inch gussets...these would help offset the "racking" forces a TD experiences while travelling down the road...one set in the middle and one set in the rear...I would also recommend epoxy resin witha standard hardner from www.raka.com
madjack

I was planning on building an aluminum square with an x-brace out of 1 1/2 inch tubes that i could rotate up to the ceiling so it was out of the way when i use it to sleep and rotate down during transport for side to side support. just behind the roof vent as close to center as possible.

moto403 wrote:I was planning on building an aluminum square with an x-brace out of 1 1/2 inch tubes that i could rotate up to the ceiling so it was out of the way when i use it to sleep and rotate down during transport for side to side support. just behind the roof vent as close to center as possible.

...that oughtta work..............................

It looks like you have a good start. Five hours, wow, at this rate you will be ready for the big weekend. Way to go!!

Wow, you got that going in a hurry. Looks good. Are you putting in cabinetry or a galley. CRS is getting the better of me.

no galley or cabinets. I was planning on a flip down shelf in the front. This is more of a cargo trailer than a camping trailer, but it will be used to sleep in on race weekends.
The trip up the north shore is more of a trial run , we'll bring a tarp along to throw over the top just in case. But the wife is excited about it. when she got home from work tonight she crawled inside an said it was "cute an cozy with enough room to play games in at night". You can take that statement however you want to.
I'm sure it won't be a problem getting her to let me build the "weekender" this winter.
Now that she was inside i have to put in an outlet for some rope light and to be able to plug in a small ceramic heater. it can get a little chilli at night camping right off lake superior and it won't hurt to have a power source, i might even put in a couple of exterior outlets for charging batteries at the races.
Seems like i'm putting alot into this simple little trailer all of sudden! is this how it starts? cuz i'm having alot more fun building this than any of the homes i've built in the last 10 years.
The weekender might have to start a little earlier than i planned just to get all the amenities in it before spring. Can't wait to get started on that.

Today's progress was just getting the roof on and getting the side spars in
(or what ever there called). running low on material and the funding. So it will be a couple of weeks before i can get the exterior finished.

I'll get some more pics up soon.

Felix

Moto , that aluminum square thingie sounds complicated and cumbersome to use ...what if it comes loose in the middle of the night and knocks all the pieces off your Parchesi board ??? .... Mad Jack's gusset idea is so much simpler and secure... we used a curved arch across the middle of ours , great strength and allows hanging a curtain for privacy ...

I went with two 8 inch gussets in the rear. i may add your arch idea to the center. Thank you i never tought of that.

I have been filling and sanding screw holes for the past two nights. It should be ready for some epoxy on the corners after tommarow night.
The one thing i learned from this is you should fasten all your framing from the inside because i am sick of filling holes. But it was a good lesson learned for the next time.

I will post some pics tommarow night.

Felix

Moto, we're intensely following your build , because we HAVE to build a similar cargo hauler in the very near future...Thanks for the 3/8" ply idea...ours would have been too heavy with scrap 3/4"

moto403 wrote:The one thing i learned from this is you should fasten all your framing from the inside because i am sick of filling holes.

That's why they invented skins.

Looks like it's gonna be cool!!!

I forgot the camera last night so i don't have any pics yet. and ai just got home from laying sod for the past 12 hours., so i didn't get any thing done tonight.

Pics tommarow if i can rember the camera and maybe a coat of paint this weekend.

felix

The Race coffin is as ready as its gonna be for this week end.
I have some concerns on some things. mainly the exterior. I have not been working for the past week and a half and money has become an issue so i just used a primer (glidden gripper) and a standard ext. house paint (latex).
i have got six coats total between the primer and paint so hopefully it holds up till next year, then i'll strip it and redo it with something more durable.
But till then i have got the ceiling insulated and a beadboard looking panel on and it looks pretty nice.
My wife is excited to try it out this weekend, sez it's got to be better than sleepin in the tent even if it's a little small.

i promise to post some pics tommarow night as soon as i figure out how to resize the pics. just got photoshop and don't know how to use it yet.


felix

Felix, you can use paint to resize pictures too. I put mine in Photo Bucket and it resizes as I import them. Makes it real easy to post. Photo Bucket is free so it fits my likes too.

Well i finally got photoshop figured out here are the pics as of now. more to come after i can get it completed.


Here is a side shot. it is in need of some sort of graphic.


I didn't have time or money for a front window but i do have it framed for one.


The back door is a simple cargo door style but it works great.


For the ceiling i used beadboard looking stuff. it looks nice and was only $17.00. it was backed with 3/4inch pink foam, glued and shot up with a brad nailer.


The inside is still unfinished but i put a small shelf in front (it can be removed) and that is where i located my outlet. the white wire is to the rope light i mounted by the ceiling on the left. it offers a nice soft light. and i also mounted two L.E.D tap lights front and rear of the vent for non-electric situations.

Last weekends excursion was a blast. it was so nice to be able to pull in at dusk, unhook and be setup in five minutes.

We stayed warm and dry which is more than i could say about being in the tent. We still had our !st outing mishaps , but they were minimal.

My only regret was not making it 5 or 6 foot wide, but it will be just fine as a race trailer.



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here's one of my wife brandy and i at the High Falls at the minnesota /canadian border.


here is beautiful Split Rock Light House. I love this place. we finally took the tour this time and it was a blast.


This is the lift bridge at Duluth Canal. The size of the ships they squeeze under there is amazing. Some are more than 1000 feet long. Unfortunatly there were none coming through at that time.

I've also posted a couple of our wedding pictures from last summer. We never had the "white wedding" so we decided to do a Blessing of a Civil Service last year.

Hope you enjoy. I should be putting more up as i finish the inside.

Felix