Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi - I have an interesting question for all of you "experienced" teardroppers . My car can only tow 1,000 pounds (a very fuel-efficient but weak Ford staion wagon). The Kuffel Creek 8' Cubby plans, if followed exactly, will produce a 910 lb trailer. That's a little too close for comfort to my weight limit. I would really like to shave 100 pounds (or more) off to allow for a full cooler, bedding, gear, etc.

I had originally planned to eliminate the galley alltogether, skip the additional battery (run minimal stuff from the car battery), and skip the water tank. Then, I started having second thoughts - I really like the galley - I'm OK with no water tank... but I also like the lights. HMMM, tough decisions.

So, my question is what you think the best tradeoff between weight and features?

I'm new to this forum - just getting started on my teardrop - I've been reading these posts for hours each day, trying to soak up as much information as possible. My HF trailer is on backorder so the progress will be slow until that comes in.

On the upside, I found a supplier for marine-grade plywood (I'm planning a woodie design so the extra protection in the plywood will probably be worth it) that isn't too far from my home. I'm going to head there this weekend to pick up supplies - http://www.boulterplywood.com/

Lindsey

Eliminating the battery will take care of probably 40-50 lbs. That's a pretty good place to start and while you have to make compromises electricity is something you can live without. After all, a lot of us use a teardrop as a step up from a tent, and how many tents have a built-in electrical system!?!

You will need to have water, but it doesn't have to be in your trailer. A jug carried in the car will work, but then you're still carrying the weight, just not in the trailer.

Small propane bottles can also be carried in the car instead of in the trailer, which, again, doesn't reduce the total weight but does move it out of the trailer. If you replace a bulk tank with small disposables you do reduce total weight.

I wouldn't skip the galley all together, but you can save weight by minimalizing it (is that a word?). So, basic shelves and counters, but not a lot of drawers and built-in cubbies.

Does the plan call for aluminum skin? You can eliminate that and just paint the outside plywood. That will save some weight with the only trade-off being looks and a very minimal increase in routine maintenance.

Good luck!

Hi Lindsey,

Welcome to the forum... you want to make it lighter... sounds good to me. Start with stick built walls...

This 4x10' wall, for example, weighs 36 pounds as seen in the photo...


A battery weighs a lot. You could shave off roughly 50 pounds removing a battery. You could use closet lights with AA batteries in them instead. Although I would probably just use one of those ultra small, trolling batteries.

Don't store water in your tear. Bring a blue poly bottle, and fill it up at the campground.

Don't use any solid plywood in your build. Use pine sticks with 1/8" plywood skins.

Stick with the smaller wheels, ie. 12". Hopefully the spare from your car matches the hub bolt pattern.

Eliminate any thoughts of a tongue chest ... Although I think it's one of the best storage additions one can have on a teardrop, if you are cutting it that close, it has to go...


Eliminate the cabinets above the head of the bed. It doesn't give you much storage, and it adds tongue weight and total weight. If you really think you need something up there, put in a small pine shelf, with a rail.

Aluminum is heavy... but since you are building a woodie, that's not an issue. Keep your protective covering thin so you don't add too much weight.

Consider bringing your axle a little farther forward. Although it won't help much with the total weight, it will help with the tongue weight. Your car will probably appreciate that.

And last but not least, I'm not sure where you got the weight figure from... I built a Benroy that is very similar in size and construction to the cubby you want to build. The Benroy weighed only 840 pounds.

Mike...

mikeschn wrote:Hi Lindsey,

you want to make it lighter... Start with stick built walls...

This 4x10' wall, for example, weighs 36 pounds as seen in the photo...


A battery weighs a lot. You could shave off roughly 50 pounds removing a battery. You could use closet lights with AA batteries in them instead. Although I would probably just use one of those ultra small, trolling batteries.

Don't store water in your tear. Bring a blue poly bottle, and fill it up at the campground.

Don't use any solid plywood in your build. Use pine sticks with 1/8" plywood skins.

Stick with the smaller wheels, ie. 12". Hopefully the spare from your car matches the hub bolt pattern.

Eliminate any thoughts of a tongue chest ... Although I think it's one of the best storage additions one can have on a teardrop, if you are cutting it tha

Eliminate the cabinets above the head of the bed. It doesn't give you much storage, and it adds tongue weight and total weight. If you really think you need something up there, put in a small pine shelf, with a rail.

Aluminum is heavy... but since you are building a woodie, that's not an issue.

Consider bringing your axle a little farther forward. Although it won't help much with the total weight, it will help with the tongue weight. Your car will probably appreciate that.

And last but not least, I'm not sure where you got the weight figure from... I built a Benroy that is very similar in size and construction to the cubby you want to build. The Benroy weighed only 840 pounds.

Mike...

Thanks mike that answers questions for me too.
Ron D.

Mike, wow - great ideas. I had sort of thought about stick built walls - that is a GREAT photo - it really explains exactly what I'll need to know to do the walls.

I'll also probably plan on the stick wall because I had a bit of a "crazy" idea for the exterior side of the walls. I want to start with an outer layer of light wood (say, white birch for example). Then, I'll take a 1/8" piece of darker wood (maybe maple) and use my rotozip tool to cut out a really detailed mural. It wouldn't be painted or anything, just a silouhette (I'm thinking a VT farm scene with rolling hills and mountains for one side and an ocean scene with a tall ship under a full moon for the other). Then, I wanted to use contact cement to join the two layers together.

The second layer of 1/8" really seems to make the stick frame even more applicable because if I didn't do that, I'd be adding the 1/8" mural to 1/2" plywood - it seemed like overkill and extra weight but I wasn't sure how else to go about it.

We had been sleeping on an air mattress inside the station wagon so we actually had the overhead lights before, just not much room. One of the reasons that I'm making the tear is so that we can sleep 4 people total between the station wagon and the teardrop. We travel to folk music festivals quite a bit (sea music and traditional new england and european folk). Most of the time, we just sleep in the parking lot or the festival will designate a field that people can camp in if they want to.

Anyway, that gives you a bit of an idea of how we'll be using it. We really won't spend much time by the trailer and usually carry a backpacking stove into the festival to heat up lunch "on the go".


Would you do a single layer of 1/8" for the exterior roof? I heard some people recommending a double layer. I'm going to use marine poly or epoxy and leave it wooden rather than cover it with aluminum.

Lindsey

I'm new to this also, so I'm no expert to give advice, but...

What trailer chaisis are you're using/going to buy?

I'm starting to build a Cubby too, and I bought the lighter capacity Harbor Freight 90154. (Plus, it was only $199.)

I'm sure we're talking a big weight differnce between this trailer and the originally recommended Harbor freight one in Kuffel''s plans. Plus, there's a link on their "home page" that will bring you to great info on this trailer.

Hmmm, I just bought the 1175 capacity for $219 (darn, looks like I missed the $199 sale!) but it is on backorder. I ordered it about a week ago. Their automated phone service still says "estimated ship date unknown" I'm dying to get started but I suppose it is better that I do all of my research without completely rushing into things. I've learned so much in the past few days that I'm glad that I didn't just run out and buy a bunch of materials right away.

Lindsey

lmh222 wrote:Hmmm, I just bought the 1175 capacity for $219 (darn, looks like I missed the $199 sale!) but it is on backorder. I ordered it about a week ago. Their automated phone service still says "estimated ship date unknown" I'm dying to get started but I suppose it is better that I do all of my research without completely rushing into things. I've learned so much in the past few days that I'm glad that I didn't just run out and buy a bunch of materials right away.

Lindsey

We're both at the exact same stage with this, so let's continue to compare notes.

I paid $199, plus tax, because I picked it up at a local Harbor Freight store in my area (in South Florida). You're not paying shipping, right? Or tax? So it's really a wash. (Something tells me we're both going to be buying a TON of stuff before we're done, so what the heck.)

Additionally, there's something about these weight ratings that I don't understand. Kuffel's site says tis model has a 1175 lb. capacity, but the trailer is actually rated at 1450 lb. Model 90154, correct?

Anyway, I just contacted Kevin at Kuffel to make sure that the Cubby plans identically match our usage of this "later added" lighter weight trailer, and he said yes. Totally identical, except that there are two little legs that can be cut off which would normally attach to the coasters (rollers), used when you wanted to fold the trailer in half and move it on its wheels.

Final note:

If you saw the link on their site about our trailer, they make a good point of saying we should replace all of their included nuts and bolds with better quality ones, to avoid rusting. I'm jumping right over galvinized ones and going all the way up to stainless steel. So that's how I'm spending Saturday MORNING. Just buying the fasteners and reading the plans throughly before I start actually constructing anything.

Yeah, I'm going to order the stainless grade 5 fasteners from McMasterCarr (www.mcmaster.com) or Fastenal (www.fastenal.com). I haven't compared prices yet but I've worked with both companies before and they have great quality and service. I used to have a Fastenal near my home (when I lived in NH) and their staff was incredibly helpful and knowlegible.

I'm kind of out in the middle of nowhere in VT now so it is MUCH easier for me to order stuff online than go out and buy it. Harbor Freight has the pdf manual for this trailer available for download so I'll just have to make a list of the fasteners that I need (I'll probably have the fasteners before the trailer!).

My first camping trip of the year will be a music festival June 9-12 in Mystic CT. My goal is to be done well before that trip (just in case things run behind schedule and it ends up getting closer). What kind of timeline do you have planned for your project IraRat?

Lindsey

IraRat wrote:If you saw the link on their site about our trailer, they make a good point of saying we should replace all of their included nuts and bolds with better quality ones, to avoid rusting. I'm jumping right over galvinized ones and going all the way up to stainless steel. So that's how I'm spending Saturday MORNING. Just buying the fasteners and reading the plans throughly before I start actually constructing anything.

The nuts included with the trailer are nylock nuts. Once you tighten them up they are not going to come off. Do not replace them with regular nuts. That's all you need is for your nuts to come off while driving down the highway. If you want to replace the bolts with a higher grade bolt, or a galvanized bolt, go for it. The higher the grade, the better.

Mike...

P.S. Some people will chip in here and say that you can use locktite... yes you can. All I'm saying is make sure your frame doesn't come apart while you are driving.

Lindsey,
Hello! We built a Cubby and without water, and with a large marine battery, weighed in at 820 pounds at finish.
Weight was an issue for us too since I wanted to tow it with my VW New Beetle.

I think where we lost the most weight in the galley. Like to cook much? If so, you might not go for quite so simple a galley. It is mainly just a shelf for resting the stove, etc.. two small cupboards for dishes and silverware and a couple of pull-out work surfaces.

Ours pretty much consists of the back wall of two different pieces of wood, and the shelf that runs from outside the galley straight inside to form the bottom of the inside cupboards.

Other than the galley, we stuck pretty close to the plans.
Good luck!



Bev

Understood about the nuts, Mike, but isn't there like a higher grade of nylock to buy?

It's not a strength issue, it's the rusting/aesthetic thing. So are all of the nuts basically hidden away, so if they discolor, it's no big deal because they're out of sight? I'm in wet, humid South Florida, and after just one year I can see how crappy the bolt heads llok on the coupler of my boat trailer.

And as far a timeline, Lindsey, I have no idea. I'm not giving myself one, because I think that's just asking for trouble. I want to take my time, and get it done as close to perfect as my skills will allow.

Plus, what I THINK I want to do now may not be the same in 3 months, so why rush? Hell, I'm a graphic designer working a 9 to 5, and I've even considered turning this into a mobile OFFICE to do frrelance work while staring at the beach.

Not a bad plan, huh? Do work and have case of beer in that icebox?

IraRat wrote:Understood, but there isn't like a higher grade of nylock to buy?

Is there? I don't know... I've never looked. But all the nuts are inside the c-channel, so you'd never see them.

If you find a better set of nuts and bolts at a place like McMaster Carr or something, please let us know...

Mike...

P.S. Larwyn, what did you end up using?

Mike,

The picture of the wall that weighs 36 pounds is not complete. It does not include the insulation or the inner skin. Have you ever weighed a simular wall with all included? Granted, the insulation would not weigh much, but some, and so would the inner skin. Just curious about what the complete wall would weigh.

mikeschn wrote:The nuts included with the trailer are nylock nuts.

Some people will chip in here and say that you can use locktite... yes you can.

my 1800lb HF didn't come with nylock nuts I wished it would have.

I did use 242 Med strength locktite on the supplied galvanized bolts. On any additional bolts I had to furnish for for the frame changes, I did go with stainless with nylock nuts