Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have already started my trailer with alot of help from your site. The frame is built and the floor is on, I have the side profiles done but I am looking for some input on door opening sizes, what do you recommend? My gut feeling is 24" The trailer frame is 48" wide by 72" long, but the body will be 96" long and has a similar profile to a Little Guy. My frame is made out of strutural welded aluminum to keep the weight down. We will be pulling it with a New Beetle turbo diesel with a performance chip in it. I have taken pictures along the way and hope to post them here some day.
I hope to have it 90% completed by the begining of August.
How are most people finishing the door openings to achieve a proper seal?
I would like to have radiused corners but do not know how to finish the openings.
I have many other questions but I will not post them for now as I want to do this one step at a time.
Any one else from Ontario, Canada I would like to hear from you

Derek

Derek,

Welcome to T&TTT. There was a thread a while back about door opening sizes and if I remember correctly, 30" X 36" was a popular size.

About the door sealing, when I get mine sealed good, I'll tell you how I did it.

Derek wrote:I hope to have it 90% completed by the begining of August.

Derek, we all wish you the best of luck. But I think you should reexamine your timetable, based on where you are right now.

Are you going to have a galley? That's at least a month of work right there!

Standard door openings may not be what you need. With your frame only being 72" you'll have to watch for where your wheels are compared to the door opening. Read this thread on generic plans. http://tnttt.com/viewto ... sc&start=0
There is some good info on door size and axle placement.

Think I went with 32w x 36h... I find them just about right. Seemed big when I was cutting them in, but not when I'm using them.

Seems 24 will be tight....

Also, think about what might have to pass through the door. I've had my mattress out twice to do some interior work... it's tight with my doors.

Ontario is pretty big. I'm in Toronto, where are you?

Nice to see we have become international in flavor... would like to hear, especially from AU, if there are many tears and if they have a different intent?

I've seen a couple of outback station wagons that virtually become homes after all the canva is spread out and can sleep 10 people....

Not sure what they are called, but when in AU we visited a truck museum where one was on display.....

And, they have truck trains, the largest of which I belive had 10 trailers behind the pulling truck.... so many, when going down a hill, he could not put on the brakes for fear of piling up the trailers behind him....

In the outback of AU, lots of imaginative thinking went on....

I will not be putting in any galley other then some simple storage area so that will cut our build time. As this style of trailer is new to us I would rather install or change as I see will suit our travelling requirements. I am using this "KISS" theory for now and will work on the frills later.
I would like to get a source on those really nice teardrop fenders that I have seen on some of the trailers posted, all I can find locally is the standard trailer fenders. Can anyone help me out here?

Derek

...Derek, RWJohnsonalso Grant Whip at Lil Bear has the same profile available
madjack

Well I took the advice of more experienced builders and made my doors 32 X 34 and they do look big when you cut them out but I think it will look OK once things start going together. So far things are going smoothly and as planned. I work every evening I can and most of my weekends.

Derek

Nice! Great to see another Ontarian getting into Teardropping.

Where abouts are you Derek? We have teardroppers in Toronto, Cornwall, Ottawa and elsewhere I'm sure.

I am in the Kitchener/Waterloo region. We looked at a Little Guy here locally at a dealership and I started to do some research on the web about these trailers and found this site. After seeing what was being built and how I figured that I could build on also for a lot less then it was to purcahse a new one. I know this one will not be as fancy or complicated as some posted on this site but this is my first kick at it so I think I am doing ok.
I hope to have the walls up this weekend and the cross supports in. I would like to have it on the road in it's basic form in August. Some of the add-ons and modifications I will do thru the winter months.

Derek

Well it's July 24 and it's pouring rain, I have spent most evenings and weekend time on my tear and I am getting down to the end. At this point in time the interior is completed except for some finishing touches. The exterior is ready for paint and by the end of the week is should have a nice yellow paint job on it to match our yellow Beetle. I will be painting it with Sherwin Williams Sunfire paint to give it that automotive style finish ( I hope? ) After that I will install the door seals and exterior lighting, roll the front checkerplate stone guard, door drip guards etc. I think completed it weighs about 500 lbs due to the aluminum frame.
I purchased all LED lighting for the signals and marker lights. So far I figure I have spent about $1500.00 to build the trailer. My wife thinks this is great and can hardly wait to get out and use it. She has been cooped up inside going thru cancer treatments and this is my way of getting her out and about to get her strength back. We hope to take it on it's maiden voyage to Timmins Ontario in August which takes about 8 hrs to get there.

Derek

...the pics man, where are the pics
madjack

The pics are on the computer, just have to figure out how to re-size them to upload to the site

Derek