Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Well, we are still trying to figure out what we want to do. We were looking at a trailer at Tractor Supply here in town and I saw a 5 1/2 by 8 trailer that has the wire type floor and the gate on the back. The size would allow our son to sleep on a shelf bed sort of like the way they do the Compact and would allow a six foot bed with two feet at the end for porti-potti/storage. Is it possible to just keep the wire floor and put the plywood over it or would water get trapped between it and rot the plywood? Also, is it difficult to remove the gate in the back and is there a good use for that around the house or something? The price of everything just keeps going up. Thanks, Cathy

The wire grate will actually work to your advantage - you can virtually eliminate any sub floor and go with a thinner ply for the bottom. I built a small camper on a 5X7 TSC with a grated wire floor. I covered over the grating with some aluminum sheeting, then laid down the flooring. I did it this way because i planned to take the camper on and off the trailer and did not want the grating to marr the underside side of the floor

My opinion is to get a no floors trailer. You can get one cheaper (I think) than one with all that excess metal to weigh it down. Look on line if you can't get one local.......

Cathy
I purchased the TSC 4x8 trailer for this build, no floor or gate or side rails, but still with Cert of Origin, for around $350, and just built 6" out on either side for a 5x8. Seemed alot easier and better than building over the wire mesh. MHO

Nothing is ever easier for us. My husband is 6'2" about 200 lbs and our son with Down syndrome is 5'4" and about 140 lbs plus me so anything small just doesn't come together for us. We have a large LLBean tent and it looks like that will be the vacation dwelling this year. We have considered a number of smaller trailers but they don't sleep 3 unless the size and weight go up, up, up and my husband who is long-waisted can't sit up in them so....well, it is a nice tent I guess and you could have a banquet in it. Thanks, Cathy

Northern Tool has a 5 X 8 flatbed trailer with no flooring for around $509 a bit pricey. They no longer sell their regular 5 x 8 trailer. Do a google on 5 X 8 trailers and put a $ in the search and the name ofyour nearest city. It should bring up a lot of trailers.

Todah

I’d second the comment about seeing what a local can do for you. For a teardrop trailer you only need pretty much a bare bones affair, so it shouldn’t be so expensive to source locally. My guess is that you also probably get better bearings than the straight-from-China (which all of the Northern Tool/Harbor Freight/etc are). A phone call is cheap.