Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi!

I am very new to wood working; I have read many threads in this fantastic forum and have studied the generic plans and some other plans posted by different builders. However, there are a lot of things that I do not know hpw to do; the most important one is to fit a design on my trailer bed!
Here is the trailer:

It's a square frame (no metal can be stripped of it to achieve an 8x4) and the dims are 112"x76".

Got the inspiration from WEEKENDER and ended up with this:
(note that for now, my wife and I will only need a rom to sleep in, no cabinets and gallery for the moment; but next year, yes! we should think of building a real teardrop trailer!)(This one can also teach us how to do stuff!)



The spars and supports are 2x3 and the plywood is 1/2".

Do you think this is feasible?
If I had an 8x4 frame, I would have loved to build the weekender......

Your help is highly appreciated!

Please note, I live in an apartment and should do the stuff with minimal tools and freedom!

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

That platform would make a good base for a standy, which is probably what it once was!

I see nothing wrong with your design. Except maybe that one diagonal spar. Don't see much value in that piece.

If you want a teardrop shape, why not start with one? It really isn't any harder than a squared off one.

Are you going to skip the hatch?

It seems like a fine plan, however, if I had that big of a frame, I might be looking at building the dinette, or compact, midgit, or even a version of the
campster from the design library. Whatever you do, enjoy the process and learn.

Cliffmeister2000 wrote:That platform would make a good base for a standy, which is probably what it once was!

I see nothing wrong with your design. Except maybe that one diagonal spar. Don't see much value in that piece.

If you want a teardrop shape, why not start with one? It really isn't any harder than a squared off one.

Thanks for your comments. I thought maybe the diagonal member may help reducing the vibrations of the 22.5" wide 76" long skin on that area (since I have no idea a). I 'll remove it! It saves me work, weight and wood!

As for the round shape, I am so scared to start such a thing with no experience, and also really love to build this before Canada gets so cold....

Cliffmeister2000 wrote:Are you going to skip the hatch?

That was not my plan first; but realized the build process will progress a lot faster if I eliminated the hatch and furnish the room with cabinets and a table during the winter.

ashkanr wrote:

Cliffmeister2000 wrote:Are you going to skip the hatch?

That was not my plan first; but realized the build process will progress a lot faster if I eliminated the hatch and furnish the room with cabinets and a table during the winter.

If you are going to skip the hatch, you might consider a "Canned Ham" shape, or something a littler taller in back. If you plan to use that area back there for living, you will appreciate a little more height.

Check out some of the standies, as has already been suggested. It will be worth your time. You could get the shell pretty much done in short order, and finish the inside as you have time, money, and heat.

Lou Park wrote:It seems like a fine plan, however, if I had that big of a frame, I might be looking at building the dinette, or compact, midgit, or even a version of the
campster from the design library. Whatever you do, enjoy the process and learn.

Thank you!
These plans are very nice but I have to limit the weight to 1000lb since I have a small car. The designs have very nice features inside that I will consider them when furnishing the trailer in winter....

I was going to say, check out the Puffin, but for some reason all his photos are gone.

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... &start=735

This is it, small, light, very functional.

Mine is 5' high, 8' (extended to10') long and 76" wide. It works fine and a weekender shape will look nice. I used spars that I cut and they are a real measure of 1"x2". Working out great.

The thing is you have to camp in it so make it what you want!!!

Miriam, just curious. I just noticed your door is by the gally, do you sleep "backwards"?

These look very nice and spacious! I will go and play with the cad model to see how I can raise the ceiling and keep the tongue weight around 10%....I hope to come up with a higher ceiling

Thanks for all your comments

Very nice design! I wish that I had done some more pre-planning rather than figure things out as I went along.

Here are a couple of random thoughts:

1. You have a very large volume - almost enough room for two - full-size mattresses. I would put that space to use. Instead of a hatch, you may want to make a compartment at the back with a rear door so that you can use it for storage of chairs, camping gear, etc.

2. The roof spars do not need to be 2x3s. I would think that 1x2s on edge would be sufficient, but you may want to double them up or use 2x2s. It is hard to get straight lumber so if your lumber is not straight, on the spars I would place the crown or bow up.

3. Plywood and other sheet goods usually come in 1-foot increments. To better use materials, and not have so many wasted cuts, you may want to make the spacing of your spars and framing at 12 or 16 inches on center. You will need to have framing at your angle points.

4. You show a 14-inch space at what appears to be framing for the roof vent or fan. Most vents and fans are 14 inches square, but you may want to increase the spacing to 14 1/2 inches to allow "wiggle" room. The flanges of the vent/fan extend 1 to 1 1/2 inches out from the base.

Good luck!

if you build it light I think you could do a small standy. If I remember right the puffin was only about 700 Lb and it had a small toilet to boot. Curved ain't that big of a deal -- just pic the one you ant and there is plenty of help here on how to do it. Lots of inexperienced folks started out that way but end up neing experts in no time. Plus you peobably have someone you know that wood works and can give you a little advice now and again.

Cliffmeister2000 wrote:I was going to say, check out the Puffin, but for some reason all his photos are gone.

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... &start=735

This is it, small, light, very functional.

Burke ("bve" on the forum) compiled the Puffin build thread and several other build threads in PDF format. This is the link to his PDFs:

http://www3.telus.net/public/bve/