Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have a chance to buy a pop up camper for 75 bucks. The frame, wheels and tires look good, the rest is shot.

How much trouble is it to strip all the old junk off right down to the frame? Best tools to use? Thanks!

I just finished doing that (pics in album). Same price, too.

It wasn't hard to tear it apart, although it was three days work for just me ... then again, I was carefully trying to save everything that could be reused. And I took the aluminum down to the scrap metal yard and got $32 back for it. Plus I got to rip into it with the recip saw and the sledgehammer! Besides that, screwdriver, pry bar, hammer, pliers & bolt cutter.

Hardest part (for me) has been sanding the surface rust off the trailer. Just back-breaking when it's on the ground. I really should've gotten some cinder blocks to put it up on, but hindsight is 20/20, ya know? And I'm still waiting for my POR-15 to arrive. Nobody sells it locally.

But all in all a very inexpensive and stable base for my project. Hope that helps.

Hey Loy, that does help, thanks!

yes.

Forgot to mention a drill for the rivets. There were a lot of those ... but I think you only need to do that if you're saving pieces, like I was. Otherwise, you can just yank it apart.
I also used a dust mask and gloves because of all the mouse terds inside

As said here, yes! Good frame, good axle, stable base to build on (keep the data plate and the title so you can register it!).

Also, all the little goodies for power, lights and the like can add up to big $$$ when you have to buy them new - used off another camper is a very good deal.

Alan

EffieRover wrote:Forgot to mention a drill for the rivets. There were a lot of those ... but I think you only need to do that if you're saving pieces, like I was. Otherwise, you can just yank it apart.
I also used a dust mask and gloves because of all the mouse terds inside

HANTAVIRUS!!

Built mine on an old popup frame, no trouble to tear down. Sadley I threw everything out as I didn't by it to build a tear then I caught the bug.

kennyrayandersen wrote:

EffieRover wrote:I also used a dust mask and gloves because of all the mouse terds inside

HANTAVIRUS!!

That's what the dust mask & gloves were for ... once I got it torn down and those parts disposed of, we could breathe while working on it.

I would say yes, IF the trailer dimensions fit your vision for the finished project.
Check out some of the tears and TTT's built on PU frames for some ideas. Loy's for example, I believe Auntie Em's is a PU and mine and the Powder Puffin are.
If you have to modify the frame dimensions much you might want to start from scratch. That said I would do it over again in a heart beat. Got alot of good stuff to reuse and some that was sold for cash, like the bent up alumunum siding and trim.

Good luck
Jack

Hey thanks for the replies. I just bought it, tried to get them down to 50 but they wouldn't budge. It even has a spare tire and wheel. I'll pick it up this afternoon. Here is my plan...How about a VERY small house built on it? It won't be pulled much on the highway, I plan on just taking it to my deer lease (18 miles away) and leaving it for the season. The trailer will give me the flexiblity to haul it back home to work on it and to take it to a different place in the future. Maybe park it by the lake for a week of fishing. Doable?? I found a plan (on here I think) of a tiny house with a sleeping loft, a very cool structure.

Be careful with leaving it unused. My uncles "hunting" trailer got ransacked by red squirrels...had to trash it. I'm sure the frame would have been good but he didn't want to bother after they got ahold of it.

Our friends want to give us their old beat up pop-up. I guess I should consider taking it for a future project...hummmm....let the kids tear it apart slowly.

Hmmmmm, man those are some wild squirrels. Kids, yep a couple of them and a couple of sledge hammers would go a long way.

2old2tent: I adjusted my project dimensions to match the trailer frame. Couple of inches, at that price it's not a big deal.

texasrecurve: how about a vardo? There's a couple built in threads here. (Also search for gypsy wagon or gypsy vardo). I'll also second sixtotwo on leaving it unmanned in the woods. Even something as small as bees moving in could be a problem ...

you never gave the actual dimensions of the frame -- may have a bit of impact on what you can get away with.