Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

O.K. I read a lot of the topic's here in the past week. What I'm reading is 2"X2"X1/8" square tubeing is good enough for the frame. Does the tounge need to be larger? I bought my welder, chopsaw and drill press last week and I'll hopefully buy the metal and a router table today. Next is the axle. Dexter #9? You'll be hearing a lot from in the future I suspect. If I can figure it out, I'll post pictures along the way.

You definitely want to consider at least 3/16" for the tongue.

check out why, here:
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... =7679#7679

Mike...

Thanks Mike! I will buy the bigger stuff today at the steel yard.

I think that how heavy the metal in the tongue needs to be depends on the design and the stresses you intend to put it through. A single, straight tongue needs to be made of heavier material than an A-frame tongue. A trailer that's going to be pulled off-road needs to be made sturdier than one that will only see paved highways.

The folks at Glen-L do real engineering on their plans (as opposed to most of us who just do by-guess-and-by-golly). Here is the closest thing they have to our tears:



Here is the frame for this trailer, made of 2"x2"x1/8" steel tube:



Now, this is NOT a frame made for off-roading, so I would recommend something stronger if that's in your plan. If your tear is only going to see paved roads, though, I am sure that a frame like the one shown would be more than adequate.

O.K. I've got the frame built. Now I'm going to attach the tongue. Is there a standard length for it. I'm not building an a-frame style. Thanks again.

The tounge is usually at least 3' long. It should be long enough that if you jacknife your trailer the tounge is the only thing that touches your back bumper (the corner of the trailer doesn't hit the bumper). On larger trailers that are towed with pick-up trucks (large tandem axel flatbed trailers) I usually make the tounge 3 1/2" - 4' long.

Here is the basic frame. I used a 3 foot tongue as suggested.



I used 2"X2"X1/8" for the frame and 2"X3"X3/16 for the tongue. I think it looks O.K. for a rookie. It's even square!

Frame looks good!

I opted not to put the rear cross member because the axle will serve that purpose. It won't support the floor but it will tie the sides together. It's only a 15lb difference.

That tongue failed because of the design of the trailer. 1/8 is fine. Look at the hf trailers. They aren't any more than 1/8.


braces were added to strengthen mine.

I added some diagonal braces to the tounge of my frame to strengthen it.

JunkMan, I'm putting in braces just like those as we speak. I'm also puting in some 2"X2" angle iron 6" pieces on the inside of the frame to attach the floor to.

igofshn wrote:That tongue failed because of the design of the trailer. 1/8 is fine. Look at the hf trailers. They aren't any more than 1/8.

Not to mention quite a bit of offroad use.

Just a question , I have looked at a few of the old prints from the origional magzines & they show the frames made from pipe. Is pipe stronger than angle ? Is it cheaper ? Is it easier to work with? If pipe is stronger than angle , could you go smaller on the pipe size and still have a strong frame? Like maybe 1 1/2 inch pipe or 2 inch ? Any thouoghtrs out there from you steel workers or engineers?

If I remember correctly, round tube is stronger than square or rectangular in the same given area. But I think one of round tube's advantages is that it has uniform strength from any direction. Retangular tubing does not.

If you have a notcher, tubing wouldn't be that bad I imagine.

Boodro wrote:Just a question , I have looked at a few of the old prints from the origional magzines & they show the frames made from pipe. Is pipe stronger than angle ? Is it cheaper ? Is it easier to work with? If pipe is stronger than angle , could you go smaller on the pipe size and still have a strong frame? Like maybe 1 1/2 inch pipe or 2 inch ? Any thouoghtrs out there from you steel workers or engineers?

I think one of the reasons that pipe was used, is that it was easier to get. Round pipe should be cheaper than square tubing, also stronger (notice that you never see a square tubing roll bar). Square tubing has a better mounting surface to bolt/screw your floor and walls onto, with round pipe, you would probably have to add tabs to attach the body. Fitting square tubing is easier than fitting round pipe, unless you have access to a notcher.

There are actually several motorcycle trailers currently being manufactured that use round tubing frames with expanded steel mesh for the floors, in an effort to keep the weight down.