Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Well I planed to start building a few months ago I had purchased a few of the HF 1740lb Trailer kits, My plan was to to start to build 2 at the same time, the reason I planed on doing this is because my Black VegasTeardrop that I built last year when we took it out on it's first journey to the San Jaun Islands I had a gentleman that wanted to buy it from me, cash in hand I'll tell you it was realy tempting but it was only the second day into a 4 week journey, So I told him that I could not sell it & I told him I planed on building a couple more in the near future so he gave me his info.

So that night I told my better half Jan, I would not sell my TD until I have anotherone built + I have had alot of people that want me to build a few more including one of the biggest RV dealers here Las Vegas.

So that kind of explains why multipul Trailers, (Well kind of)


Well my plan was to use the HF axels & a few of the other parts & widen the frame to 5'5"X 10' so I went down & picked up some 3" tubeing & 3" channel about a month ago, But the more I thought about it I decided to use 2"sq tubeing to make a 5'4" X 9' frame for one TD.
(Useing 2" tubeing will lighten my frame approx. a 100lbs.)

I still plan to make a TD with one of the Harbor fraight Trailer kits it will be 4' X 9'or10'.

I also decided to make a 5'5"X14' flatbed trailer w/side rails & loading ramp out of the 3" angle & tubeing.
So yesterday I went down & picked up a 3500lb. Dexter Axel & enough iorn for side rails & the 2"sq tubeing for my 5'4"X9' TD & 15" 5 on 5 tires & rims for the flatbed.

Yesterday I cut & notched most of my iorn for the flatbed trailer.
So I am hopeing to have the Flatbed Trailer built within the next week weather permitting.
then the plan is to sell it & the proceeds will help with the building of the 2 other TD's.
I will post pics as I go, But I am not sure if you folks want me to post picks of the flatbed build or not. (Please Respond!)



I will also create a couple of new build pages on my web site within the next day or two.

And will be putting my black VeagasTeardrop up for sale at the Perris Lake Gathering, & probably put it on E-Bay or Craigs list. At this time I am not sure what I'll be saleing it for.

I do have one question all polished stainless steel TD what do you think yes or no??

Well it's time for the fun to begin.

The Sin City Teardropper.
Ken F.
( www.VegasTeardrop.com )

Ken,
I don't see any reason why you shouldn't post the photos of your flatbed construction, it's pretty much the same procedures used in teardrop frames. I say go for it... I'd like to see them.

Thanks Kevin
I did not want to cause any problems.
I did not plan on building a flatbed trailer, We already have a 16 footer, & we just sold our toy hauler wensday & a couple weeks before that sold a 7000lb capacity trailer.
It is sure nice to have the 80'+double gated driveway area cleared off going to rear shop & casieta, Well so much for that idea its time to build.



The Sin City Teardropper.
Ken F.
( www.VegasTeardrop.com )

Ken, I really like the look of your all black TD. Have not seen any in black like that. I'll bet the Harley guys like it as well.

Stainless Steel would look great but it would also be heavy compared to AL. I would think it would also be rather expensive.

Jim

Jim
Thanks, & I am sure that most TD owners know if you have to stop anywhere while you are out traveling & mother nature calls when you pull over to take care of buiseness you better get right out of your vehicle & head for the hills or the public restroom as qiuck as possible & do not look back, Or all of the looky lou's will stop you for a guided tour & a gab session (I have had many close calls )

(I like looky lou's You never know what they are going to say)

So for you folks out there that are building or are going to build a TD you may want to make a mental note on this.

Well I am going to try to post a few pics.
(TEST PIC)
Here is a pick of the steel origanaly for TD (now it's for my flatbed)


Here is a couple of pics showing how I notched tubing so that the tubing will be flush with the channel & also give the frame alot more strength once it is welded.



And here I laid out some of the iorn


And here is the Dexter Axel I picked up


The same day I picked up the axel I also picked the iorn for the side rails & tailgate and some smaller tubing to build my 5'4" X 9' or 10' Teardrop.

I will post some more pics later today or tommarow.

The Sin City Teardropper.
Ken F.
( www.VegasTeardrop.com )[/img]

When I was building mine I priced 18 guage brushed stainless steel (through work)and it was about the same price as polished aluminum. I went with mill finish aluminum instead.

Ken, I've got "work area invy" looks like you've got a nice area to work.
You've got to be an alright guy, rust stains on the concrete and a Lincoln 225 Keep the pics coming I like the way you tie in your welds.

Aaron
I have just been pondering on a polished(Mirror Finish) stainless steel TD I do have access to some .025 for about the same price as .040 painted alum.& the weight is not that much different then the .040 painted Alum.
(It dose help having famialy & friends here & in SLC that are in the commercial heating & air conditioning trade.) I was also a sheet metal worker for a few years.
& in reguards to brushed stainless I plan on doing a rear hatch area counter & the counter area around the countertop out of the stuff I'm not sure if it will be in the TD's I'm building now, But you never know, I do not realy use plans. ( Maybe a few scribbles on a notepad ) They will be built as I go with the ideas & plans in my head, My builds are kind of like a government prodject, It will ultimatly change as I go.

Madprinter (I should of enterd the dirtiest shop contest)
A couple of weeks ago you could hardly move around in the garage I almost have it cleaned up, Hopfully I will have a cover built within the next month or two on the side of the rear garage, I may even inclose it.
and I'll tell ya that Lincoln welder is realy a good little unit, I had the ac/dc one just like it but a friend needed it worse then I did, So we picked up the AC one

And in reguards to the rust stains, You know it never rains in Vegas
well I laid some iorn out & what do you know it rains for a couple of days so yesterday morning I stacked it up on some wood luckily the driveway dose not look as bad as the iorn


This don't look like Vegas.

& yesterday it was almost 80 degrees, it was a nice day, So I snapped some lines & squared them up, Then I took a marker & traced a short line about every 4' & crossed my corners so if the rain came back I would still have some mark to use.

I hope you can see the lines!

This pic below shows a 3500lb axel & springs that was a freebee
Someone had wrecked thier trailer & dumped it out in the desert awhile back, The tounge & the front of the trailer looked like a pretzel, So needless to say I loaded it up & took it home & canibalized it.


Well this axel is a little shorter then needed for the flatbed trailer so I will take both hubs off replace all of the bearings & inerds, I plan on cleaning up both the hubs & springs & painting them.




Well it is getting late it's about 1:05 AM the time never seems to match the time on my post.

Well it's time to hit the sack.

The Sin Cityteardropper.
Ken F.
( www.VegasTeardroper.com )

Code: Select all

Well it is getting late it's about 1:05 AM the time never seems to match the time on my post

If you want the time of your posts to match your local time, you have to go into your profile and change the Timezone. The forum defaults to Eastern time, so you should have your timezone set for GMT-8, I belive.

Thanks Kerry

Sometimes I tend to procrastinate on the simple things, Thanks for the kickstart.

Well lets see if the time setting I used is the correct it is now 1:10 PM

The setting here in Vegas was GMT-8
Kerry you are correct

The Sin City Teardropper.
Ken F.
( www.VegasTeardrop.com )

Ken,

The time here in Indiana is GMT -5. I think Kerry is correct, you should be GMT -8.

Jim

Thanks for showing us wannabees how it is done. GMT-6 in MO.

A little more progress.

Here I am Cleaning up my free-bee spring set up.



After cleaning them up I painted them.


Here I cut both ends of both side channels.


This picture shows how nice the two channels fit together.



This picture shows one of the trailer frame side rails after it has been extended and welded up,Picture still has a channel I used to keep welded pieces square while it was welded .


Here The frame has been all leveled and squared up, Once this was done
the end pieces we're tacked on (this is a small weld) reason for tacking it is part of the process of keeping the frame square if I we're to make a
finished weld at this time there would be a good chance that the
welds would pull frame out of square. After tacking the corners I made
sure the frame was level and square and it was perfect.


After tacking the ends all of the center trusses we're also tacked into place.



After tacking the center trusses the frame was checked again to make sure that it was still square, It was off by 1/16th of an inch. We can live with that. (If it was out of square much more then that, By only tacking the frame I could have hammered on the frame or maybe used a pry bar or a cumalong and the tack welds would have made it possible to flex the frame a bit.) Now a piece of tubing has been welded corner to corner
with real welds not a tack weld, welded at both ends and one in the center, This will keep the frame square when real welds are applied.
(Welds on this tubing are on one side only, that way after the frame is
all welded up I will take a big pipe wrench and break off the piece
of tubing then grind of the welds on the trailer frame.)


I hope to make alot more progress this weekend & possibaly start on my 5'X10' Teardrop frame I will post pictures soon as they are available.

And you can also follow my new prodjects & my last TD build on my Web Site http://vegasteardrop.com/flatbed_trailer_build_08p1.html

If there are any questions feel free to ask, If I can not answer your question I am sure with all of the great people on this great forum we will be able to find you an answer.

The Sin City Teardropper.
Ken F.
( www.VegasTeardrop.com )

Here we are welding up the tongue


After welding the tongue on I started to primer frame


Here we decided not to use the spring assembly that I showed in previous pictures we will use the (4 leaf) springs,But we will not use the mounting shackles I will show you why in a future picture.
So I picked up some new mounting shackles & welded them on.



Also welded on some tubing to run the electrical through.


Here is a pic showing the axle after it was mounted.


This next picture shows why I decided not to use this spring set up
I did not like the gap that you can see.
If I would have made this trailer out of tubing there would not of been
any gap, So this is why I used different spring shackles.



Now I am starting to run the electrical wiring.


Well it will not be long before this prodject done.
I will have more pic's up soon.
You can also follow this build and my NEW 5X10 TEARDROP BUILD
At http://vegasteardrop.com/TD_and_Misc_Const_.html
At this web page address It will have alot more pic's & descriptions.

The Sin City Teardropper.
Ken F.
( www.VegasTeardrop.com )

Well here is a few more pictures

Here I have cut the steel for the side rails.


Here the side rail uprights have been welded on and painted.


Also welded brackets on the rear of the frame,These are for the tail lights.


In this pic you can see that the side rail top pieces have been welded on and painted and I also painted the fenders.


After 3 coats of primer I put a couple coats of gloss black paint on the frame.


I will have a few more pics of the Flatbed trailer build up hopefully later today.

And I have some picks of my new teardrop build that I will also start to post.

You can also follow my new trailer builds or see other builds on my web site, Just go to my Construction Page ( www.VegasTeardrop.com )

The Sin City Teardropper.
Ken F.