Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Well we finished the frame today. I just need to mount the rear jacks when they come in and paint the frame. I made the axle adjustable so I can balance the tear after the build is compete. I have 6” of adjustment. It was a lot of extra work, but it makes me feel better that I can get the tongue weight where I want it. I will be driving to Industrial Plywood in Pa. next week to get my 5' x 10' sheets of plywood for my floor and my side walls.

Looks like a great frame!! What profile are you putting on it?

Sorry, but I don't like slots... unless, after you get it in place you put in some through bolts. Almost no matter how tight you make them, a big pot hole will make it slip..

For me, I would have clamped it in place till done, then balanced the trailer, drilled holes and bolted it in place.

The design is innovative, but like Arne I'm not a fan of the slots. Rather than doing anything permanent (such as welding) after adjustment, I would consider making a row of closely-spaced holes, rather than the slots; adjustment would only be in distinct steps (rather than continuouly variable), but that should still be fine enough for balance adjustment, and nothing would slip once the bolts were in.

I suppose one consideration might be that access to install the bolts would be difficult (or impossible) once the body is on (and the balancing adjustment will be after the body is mounted and complete), but the bolts could go horizontally through the frame rails (which would be better structurally, anyway).

Another bolting option could be to weld nuts to the frame, and insert the bolts from the bottom when the axle is in position.

Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. Thats what makes this a great site. All of you guys and girls have given me the confidence that I needed to start the project.

The tear is going to be a Benroy. The adjustment will be made to the axle after the build is done,and I load it as I would for camping. The bolts and slots are just holding the axle on during the build. When I have the axle adjusted to my desired tongue weight I will drill through the frame and put two bolts into the side of the angle on each side. Along with the original bolts the axle will never go anywhere. Thats 4 1/2" grade eight bolts per side. I feel very secure that the axle will never move once the horizontal bolts are in place.

As for brakes, I expect the trailer to come on somewhere around 1300 Lbs. My tow vehicle is a Ford F350 with 6.0 Turbo Diesel. I don't think that I will even know that its back there.

joe43952 wrote:As for brakes, I expect the trailer to come on somewhere around 1300 Lbs. My tow vehicle is a Ford F350 with 6.0 Turbo Diesel. I don't think that I will even know that its back there.

I felt the same on my first teardrop and drove it for a year without brakes . After installing brakes it made controlling the teardrop so much easier and safer. I put brakes on all my teardrops since they fall into about same weight as yours . If you order the axle with brakes it's about an extra $80. Just my opinion, Danny

I value everyones opinion that has walked the road before me. Tell me, do I have to buy another axle or can I retrofit this one for my brakes? The big flatbed trailers I have are all axle and spring type with a plate welded on the axle for the brake assembly. This is the first time I have ever worked with this type of axle. Also Danny just for the heck of it where do you place the axle on your builds and what is the finished tongue weight ? Thanks again everyone for your help and wise words

Joe

joe43952 wrote:I value everyones opinion that has walked the road before me. Tell me, do I have to buy another axle or can I retrofit this one for my brakes? The big flatbed trailers I have are all axle and spring type with a plate welded on the axle for the brake assembly. This is the first time I have ever worked with this type of axle. Also Danny just for the heck of it where do you place the axle on your builds and what is the finished tongue weight ? Thanks again everyone for your help and wise words

Joe

Joe, Wherever you bought your Dexter Torsion axle they would be able to order new hubs and electric brakes. It's not cheap. I spent about $400 on my first TD but I think that included the controller on the tow vehicle. I'd give them a call for an estimate of cost. This is why I add brakes for an additional $80. Now all you'd do is replace the hub and install and adjust the brakes. You'll need a breakaway switch and a brake controller on the tow vehicle. You'll need to run the power wire from the breakaway switch to your 12 volt battery. I use the 60/40 weight ratio formula like others have used on this forum.
My TD is 13' 6" overall with a 10' (120") teardrop box that overhangs the rear of the chassis 6". My spindle is 41" from the rear of the chassis and with the 6" overhang makes it 47" from the rear of a 120" teardrop box. I have headboard cabinets but my batteries are behind and below the axle. With a 50# tongue box and a 1350# teardrop my tongue weight with an empty tongue box is, if I remember correctly, about 170#. It's all kinda a guessing game Danny

Just to revisit the slots in case anyone else is thinking of it... you are far better off, time-wise, to just drill a couple of holes on each side and bolt on the axle. It doesn't have to be right on as it is only for temporary use......

after the trailer is done, and before the fenders are put in, it is easy to use the tongue wheel and a couple of jacks at the back to lift the trailer off the axle, and move the axle to another position, drop the jacks and check tongue weight.....

Then drill the mounting holes and bolt it up when you have it right..

joe43952

I would tend to agree with your original assessment regarding brakes. I drive a full size van that would be the equivalent of a Ford 150 class rig. I have it usually loaded close to GVWR with tools and such. I have a small 4x6 cargo trailer that I sometimes use for additional payload. I notice very little effect on the braking with the trailer at 1200-1500 pounds. With the brakes that are on your 350 (which are a lot bigger than mine) I don't think you'd have any problem. I wouldn't want to dissuade you and have you get into a pickle somewhere down the road but I think you've got enough brakes working right now.

What do your other trailers weigh empty? If they have brakes you might just disable the controller and see how the truck brakes the load.

One factor is how much the tow vehicle weighs. Your brakes on the tow vehicle are plenty unless maybe your also carrying two tons of iron ingot around in the bed for fun. Without looking it up, I would imagine an F-350 with diesel would tip the scales at at least 6000# empty, no fuel, no driver. That can't be a light truck. If so, a 1200# teardrop only adds about 20% more to the combination. Peanuts!

Danny has a considerably lighter tow vehicle that isn't in the category of "work truck" and I think he's right about brakes for his situation. One consideration, though, on adding brakes from the start would be whether or not you might sell the trailer to someone else in the future. Brakes might be a good selling point. But if you look at the bulk of the trailers on this forum, I'd guess less than 5-10% have brakes.

I'm working on a cargo trailer conversion and will be adding brakes to mine....but I know that I'm already using about all the brakes that Dodge provided me with.

So, I'm not anti brake, just consider your tow vehicle in the equation.

Bruce

I have a half ton Silverado that I used to pull a 6000 pound 5th wheel trailer with. I pulled into the storage yard one day with the 5er in tow and only when I reached to unplug the pigtail did I realize that it had fallen out of the socket. Not sure when it happened, surprised nobody waved me down for not having brake lights and turn signals. But even with that heavy trailer back there I was not aware that the brakes were not working. Could be that they never really worked all that well. I did always allow plenty of room to stop as the truck, though not overloaded, was loaded to near full capacity.

I have pulled my 10 foot flat bed trailer, which has no brakes, loaded beyond what my teardrop could ever weigh with no braking problems.

I have pulled my not yet complete teardrop and the only way I knew it was back there was to look in the mirror and see it. It had absolutely zero effect on the performance of the truck whether accelerating or decelerating. And it was loaded down with more weight than it will ever have to carry camping, I was moving at the time and since I was pulling the teardrop on that trip it was loaded down with boxes full of stuff.

Brakes are a good idea, I'm sure they will decrease stopping distance in a panic stop. If you are pulling a trailer, brakes or not, you should be extra cautious to avoid a panic stop situation in the first place.

To me putting brakes on a 1300 pound teardrop behind a F350, is kind of like putting racing stripes on a pedal car.

Danny,

Sorry, I haven't seen you Blazer so I assumed. My bad, it just looked lighter than that. GM must have been getting liberal with the water and fertilizer! It takes a pretty good sized vehicle to have an unladen curb weight in the 5's and 6's. I just looked at your photo with the aftermarket shocks...they gave you some brakes on that rear axle!

Your trailer is one fine piece of craftsmanship.

Bruce

Just a heads up.... Here in NY I do believe, I could be wrong but I think our DMV requires brakes on any trailer that has a empty weight of 1,000 lbs. Ya don't want to get her built and then find out that you need brakes to get her registered. Good luck!