Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I need some help figure this out. I'm planning on building Grants/Andrews Campster12 and have been studying the plans alot....building it in my mind first as I like to do. I can't figure out how the side walls attach securely to the floor.

As I read it, the design calls for 3/4 inch plywood floor attached directly to the 2.5 x 1.5 inch steel tube frame members with what looks like a 1.25 inch overhang on both sides. Then the 3/4 inch plywood frame (with cutouts) placed on the floor flush on the outside edges. An optional skirt (which I plan to include) attaches under the floor to continue the curves of the profile.

I know there will be bulk head walls and other interior framing that will firm things up but I'm concerned that for the length of the side walls along the floor there doesn't appear to be a means of a strong connection to the floor.

Maybe I'm misreading the plans. How would I connect the 2 perpendicular plywoods? Thanks...

Jerry in Michigan

Jerry, I may be wrong but most people people build a frame work for the floor (I recommend 1" by ) See http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=3142. Disclaimer; you will have to change the dimensions. The walls are secured with glue and screws to the frame work.

hope this helps del

Here is the underside of mine. I cut my frame down 3" front to back and side to side to allow a halo of 2x4 to attach the sides to . It beats drilling and bolting the side to the tubing. I bolted thru the bottom plate of the galley wall to the frame later and 2 bolts near the front.

You're quite right, Jerry, that's a grey area. The 3/4" ply that forms the core of the sidewall sits on top of the edge of the floor and #8x1-1/2 woodscrews are driven up through the floor into (predrilled holes in) the sidewall. The frame is narrower than the floor by 2-1/2", so there's a 1/2" gap between the outside of the frame and the inside of the sidewall.

Then all you need to do is attach the side skirts, up to 6" deep to the underside of the floor. On his teardrops, Grant screws up through the skirt with a long screw, but that ain't gonna work on the Campster. How about pocket screws? Remember there is still an outer skin (ply, alum, Filon) to go over the joint.

Andrew

del wrote:Jerry, I may be wrong but most people people build a frame work for the floor (I recommend 1" by ) See http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=3142. Disclaimer; you will have to change the dimensions. The walls are secured with glue and screws to the frame work.

hope this helps del

Thanks Del. I could do that. I was / am reluctant to change from Grant's design without thinking thru this. I appreciate your help. I was surprised that there were no 1x's between the frame and plywood floor. I do like the floor insulation technique in the post you referred me to. Still thinking on it...thanks again...Jerry

Thanks Bob. That's a good idea. Appreciate the tip...Jerry

angib wrote:You're quite right, Jerry, that's a grey area. The 3/4" ply that forms the core of the sidewall sits on top of the edge of the floor and #8x1-1/2 woodscrews are driven up through the floor into (predrilled holes in) the sidewall.

Thanks Andrew. Well at least I read the design correctly. I usually try to avoid screwing into the face edge of plywood....but....OK, I could do that as described... if that's what Grant does, it gives me some confidence. Maybe I could add some glue might help too a little.

angib wrote:Remember there is still an outer skin (ply, alum, Filon) to go over the joint.

I'll probably glue ply skin on the outside so that will help to strengthen it as well as hide the joint.

Speaking of the 1/2" space between the metal trailer frame and the plywood sidewall, there is very little space between the outside of the tire sidewall and the plywood side wall in the wheel well. I don't know how much, but looking at your drawing, it appears to be 1/4" or 1/2". Isn't this a bit risky? Of course, I could cut it out and put a narrow and cool looking fender over it.

Oh, and I should have said this in the first place, it is very generous of you and extremely helpful to folks like me for you to have put all these designs into cad and make them available. They are great! Thank you!

Jerry

jerryf wrote:

angib wrote:You're quite right, Jerry, that's a grey area. The 3/4" ply that forms the core of the sidewall sits on top of the edge of the floor and #8x1-1/2 woodscrews are driven up through the floor into (predrilled holes in) the sidewall.

Thanks Andrew. Well at least I read the design correctly. I usually try to avoid screwing into the face edge of plywood....but....OK, I could do that as described... if that's what Grant does, it gives me some confidence. Maybe I could add some glue might help too a little.

Hi, Jerry!

Looks like Andrew got you pointed in the right direction, but yeah ... definitely add glue to the wall/floor/skirt joints! I use Titebond II, but you might like something just as well or better. I do like Andrew's suggestion of using pocketscrews to help attach the skirts (finally, a place I can use a pocketscrew jig in my construction ... ...!)

jerryf wrote:

angib wrote:Remember there is still an outer skin (ply, alum, Filon) to go over the joint.

I'll probably glue ply skin on the outside so that will help to strengthen it as well as hide the joint.

Yes, this design specs an overlay of 1/4" plywood that also covers the wall/floor/skirt joints, and yes the plywood should be glued on with an extra bit of glue over the wall/floor/skirt joints.

For the naysayers: I've been building teardrops like this for over 20 years, and have never had a problem with the wall/floor/skirt joints (or any other joints for that matter) ... these puppies are rock solid! The icing on the cake is that the method is stone simple ...

jerryf wrote:Speaking of the 1/2" space between the metal trailer frame and the plywood sidewall, there is very little space between the outside of the tire sidewall and the plywood side wall in the wheel well. I don't know how much, but looking at your drawing, it appears to be 1/4" or 1/2". Isn't this a bit risky? Of course, I could cut it out and put a narrow and cool looking fender over it.

The wheelwell opening is one of those places where you are required to use your own "artistic license", as no specific wheel/tire combo is suggested ... you'll need to adjust as your choice in wheels/tires dictates. In the pictures, my "former associate" has used negative-offset wheels and shows a good portion of the tire outside the wall ... if he had used a more typical wheel with, say, a 6" wide with a 3-3/4" to 4" backspace (slightly positive offset), then the wheel & tire would have tucked inside the wheelwell quite nicely ...

Remember, these plans are simply guidelines with some specific shapes and dimensions ... the rest is open to interpretation and customization ...!

Good Luck on the build, Jerry! Remember, too ... you can always e-mail me, directly, with specific questions or comments about this design! As always, my friend ...

CHEERS!

Grant

grant whipp wrote:Hi, Jerry!

Looks like Andrew got you pointed in the right direction, but yeah ... definitely add glue to the wall/floor/skirt joints! I use Titebond II, but you might like something just as well or better. I do like Andrew's suggestion of using pocketscrews to help attach the skirts (finally, a place I can use a pocketscrew jig in my construction ... ...!)

Yes, this design specs an overlay of 1/4" plywood that also covers the wall/floor/skirt joints, and yes the plywood should be glued on with an extra bit of glue over the wall/floor/skirt joints.

For the naysayers: I've been building teardrops like this for over 20 years, and have never had a problem with the wall/floor/skirt joints (or any other joints for that matter) ... these puppies are rock solid! The icing on the cake is that the method is stone simple ...

The wheelwell opening is one of those places where you are required to use your own "artistic license", as no specific wheel/tire combo is suggested ... you'll need to adjust as your choice in wheels/tires dictates. ...

Remember, these plans are simply guidelines with some specific shapes and dimensions ... the rest is open to interpretation and customization ...!

Good Luck on the build, Jerry! Remember, too ... you can always e-mail me, directly, with specific questions or comments about this design! As always, my friend ...

CHEERS!

Grant

Thanks Grant. I'm feeling better about the whole thing. All these tips and explanations really help.

I may even be almost sort of getting ready to leaning towards getting the garage cleaned up and getting started. Almost.

............Jerry