Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

All right building a trailer frame is not totaly out of the books after seeing the timple frame of the road toads trailer frame.

I know what the good parts were. But What those with basic knowledge need to know is.

What mistakes did you make and how did you correct them.

And next time would you have a pro make it if you could afford it.

Are there any places make trailers on a regular basis?

safty tips

look under polls for more. http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 4778#34778

Good times(I did this part right)
worst times (my worst bobo)

just worndering

Ron D.

Ron Dickey wrote:All right building a trailer frame is not totaly out of the books after seeing the timple frame of the road toads trailer frame.

I know what the good parts were. But What those with basic knowledge need to know is.

What mistakes did you make and how did you correct them.

And next time would you have a pro make it if you could afford it.

Are there any places make trailers on a regular basis?

safty tips

look under polls for more. http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 4778#34778

Good times(I did this part right)
worst times (my worst bobo)

just worndering

Ron D.

Let's see,

I started with an *old* boat trailer that needed to be completely rebuilt in order to work for a camping trailer. Still, I figured that I would save time and money starting with it. In retrospect, it took a *lot* longer and more money than I expected. I also had delays trying to find parts for it. I tried to buy new hubs but they don't make them any more. Then I had to track down new seals, bearings, races, dustcaps and lugnuts. I spent almost as much as buying a new axle. If I were to do it again I would buy raw steel and start from scratch. It may cost a bit more but it would certainly take less time.

That said, I still think a boat trailer is a good starting point if it's close to the correct size and isn't in bad shape.

Would I have a "pro" do it? No, I really enjoy saying, "I built that trailer!".

Joanne

I would build one from scratch again. my biggest head ache was I had no were to plug my welder in at I could find 220v but it would be 20 or 30 amps not the 50A I needed. so I rented a welder and went to work cost break down was 70.00 for the steel, 230+- for the axle and 60 for the welder for the weekend. I spent about 7 hours cutting it and welding and another 1 painting it. The biggest thing to remember is to measure twice and cut once.

TRAIL-OF-TEARS, I agree (a voice of experience) The biggest thing to remember is to measure twice and cut once.

Since I don't have a pic of my frame yet (it's not finished), I'll use one that Jerome (dguff) just posted on another thread


I really like the diagonal braces for the tounge, they strengthen the tongue as well as remove a lot of the flex from the frame because they attach to the crossmembers. I usually bring mine all the way out to the side rails. They are also a nice place to mount your side marker lights, and keep them out of the way. I think you can get away with a thinner walled tounge if you use braces.

Don't know why the pic isn't displaying

The forum can't handle bmp. If you can change it to anything else, it will display...

Mike...

P.S. BMPs are huge, that's why they are not allowed. That was the decision of the authors of phpBB!!!

mikeschn wrote:The forum can't handle bmp. If you can change it to anything else, it will display...

Mike...

Thanks Mike,

I guess that's what I get for trying to use someone elses picture

For some reason I can save my own pics as gif's but can't change this one from a bmp. Guess I'll have to finish my frame this weekend so I can use my own pic

Here ya go...



Mike...

Thanks Mike

TRAIL-OF-TEARS wrote:I would build one from scratch again. my biggest head ache was I had no were to plug my welder in at I could find 220v but it would be 20 or 30 amps not the 50A I needed. so I rented a welder and went to work cost break down was 70.00 for the steel, 230+- for the axle and 60 for the welder for the weekend. I spent about 7 hours cutting it and welding and another 1 painting it. The biggest thing to remember is to measure twice and cut once.

Or do it like we do... measure with a micrometer, mark it with chalk and cut it with an axe.

Or do it like we do... measure with a micrometer, mark it with chalk and cut it with an axe.

Sounds like you worked for Boeing !!

Jeff,

Did you try to use MS Paint to resave the BMP file to a GIF or JPG? If that won't work, I have an old graphics that I found years ago that has low memory usage, but has lots of features to modify graphics. Email me at [email protected] and I'll send it to you. There is no documentation, but some help built in.

Dale