Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi all.

Spring is near so work will begin nearly.

The frame is ready to received the cabin,my idea was to use 3/4 marine plywood for the floor and 1/2 for the walls to save on weight.

The doors will have a hardwood frame for rigidity.

Someone already use 1/2 plywood for the walls?

Best regards.

Starwatcher wrote:Hi all.
Spring is near so work will begin nearly.
The frame is ready to received the cabin,my idea was to use 3/4 marine plywood for the floor and 1/2 for the walls to save on weight.
The doors will have a hardwood frame for rigidity.
Someone already use 1/2 plywood for the walls?
Best regards.

Your choice is good. 3/4" floor and 1/2" sides. I asume you are talking teardrop trailer? And to save on time, the blank that you have when you cut your door opening, use it for your door.

My floor and walls ar 1/2 inch!

I used 1/2 ply for the floor and walls. 2 x 2's for framing and spars. 1/8" for the roof.

I made a less than good decision and used cheapy 3 ply stuff from the big orange store.

Results are satisfactory but would have been much better with a better grade of plywood at least for the walls.

My opinion

I had no trouble with 1/2" walls!

Barb

I'm planning on the same thing. 3/4" ply for the floor and 1/2" ply for the sides. I'm also going to insulate too. The kuffel creek plans called for 1/2" ply for the floor and 3/8" ply for the sides but I wanted to beef mine up alittle.-----Larry

Thanks for your replies.

Yes it's for a teardrop trailer. The Desert Teardrop plan use 3/4 plywood everywhere except for the roof,for my part it is too heavy. I will make a storage bin under the bed and probably put the batteries under the floor behind the axle, i want to use 3/4 plywood for the floor for more stenght.

Well, i have 18 inches from the floor to the ground, if i put the batteries under the floor i will end with 6-8 inches clearance. Of course i will not go off-road with it.

Regards.

Something to think about is that the cheap plywood gets the cheap glue.

Our has that chemical smell to it and it's been four months. I use it for cargo at this time.

Would be good if you could post a photo or link to a picture of what you are going to build for those not familiar with your design. Then we could figure out the configuration and sizes.

It wouldn't make any sense to overbuild with thicker ply on a small lightweight trailer.

Will your walls be sandwich or simple ply walls?

My floor is 1/2" ply and my walls a sandwich of 1/8" ply, 1" styrene foam and 1/4" ply. It is rock solid. As in mobile thermonuclear shelter.

You will be surprised how strong the trailer will become as it comes together with even with lighter materials. You will hear engineering types here talk of the strength of the monocoque.

Maybe one of our tame Engineers could offer some definitive advice?

I think 4, 5, or maybe even 6 layers of 3/4 ply should be good...

I used 1/2 for the floor and bulkhead with 3/8th for the walls. I have had no problems what so ever apart from the door aperture which i bulked up with a frame surround on inner and outer with a hollow double skinned door. Worked for me and I have a Benroy that weighs in between 200-250 kg thats 440-540 ish pounds.

I am using 1/2 in. on walls and on floor. on the floor I am using a 1x3 sub frame with a box in the cabin. I also am insulating the walls with 3/4 in. poly. Will use Luan on top and insulate. (We need the insulation here in Florida with a 5000 btu A/C in the Galley floor.) I am building Mike's "Weekender". Thanks Mike.
Rod

Floor where I'll be stepping or motorcycle will be riding: 2 layers of 3/8" ply.
Floor otherwise: 3/8" ply. No wood subframe...

Walls / roof: 1x3 frame with 1/2" foamular insulation sandwiched between two pieces of 5mm luaun.

I think my full TTT will be lighter than some tears here!