Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Curious what the thoughts here are from those who will answer...

If going with a box shaped trailer and using 2x4 to build the frame of the box, would say 1/4" birch or ply be strong enough for the walls and roof?

I would use 2x2 to frame out the door and window opening for added strength

Any thoughts?

You could speed up your build and maybe not add much weight by just using 3/4" for your sides and 1/4' for the roof. My last teardrop had a 1" X 1" frame work and 1/4" skins all over.
Not sure this helps but here are a couple pictures
Here is the frame work.




Here is the inside with the 1/4" skin on the outside....

IF going to be just a living enclosure 2x4 is way over kill..... Either 2x2 ir 1x2 will have enough strength once you use glue and screws to fasten inside and out side sheeting to framework....

Dale

Mine is 1/4" outside, 3/4" pine board framing with foam insulation with 1/4" inside. The roof/front/hatch is 2"x2" stringers 12" apart with 1/8" birch inside and out. It is extremely strong and has close to 2000 miles on it at this point.

I built mine with 2x4 framing and 1/2" Plywood inside and out. Insulated the floor and ceiling. Window AC up front 2 14x21 windows on each side and two 12x18 windows in the back. Cut a full size solid door down to 32x32. Imbedded the same wood in the wall opposite the door to balance the weight of the side walls. It's heavy and not a carpenters dream build but I am enjoying what I managed to put together. Tows great on my HF trailer.

I'm thinking of using 3/4" plywood for the structural panels (skeletonized / cut into chords & webs with triangulation), 1/8" interior skin & ceiling panels, 1/8" exterior & 1/4" for the roof. Skinned with aluminum, this should be more than enough with 1 1/2" x 3/4" spars for a 5' x 10' on a good trailer frame. 0.032" aluminum skins set in Sikaflex would be the exterior finish, don't see how this wouldn't be a winning combination for light, strong, tough and weatherproof. Any comments on this for a system? tim

noseoil wrote:I'm thinking of using 3/4" plywood for the structural panels (skeletonized / cut into chords & webs with triangulation), 1/8" interior skin & ceiling panels, 1/8" exterior & 1/4" for the roof. Skinned with aluminum, this should be more than enough with 1 1/2" x 3/4" spars for a 5' x 10' on a good trailer frame. 0.032" aluminum skins set in Sikaflex would be the exterior finish, don't see how this wouldn't be a winning combination for light, strong, tough and weatherproof. Any comments on this for a system? tim

Sounds about right and mostly what I did. If you fill the space between the roof spars with rigid insulation you'll only need 1/8" Baltic Birch for the roof skin especially if you use .040 aluminum. 0.032 might be fine if you go with anodized. I'm not sure; Grant at Little Bear would be the go to guy for that. With the skeletonized 3/4" and the two layers of 1/8" you don't save much on weight maybe 30 lbs a wall but, you'll gain a ton of strength.

All the Best,

Dave

mine is stick built 1/4" ply 1x2" sticks and another layer of 1/4" with foam insulation in the walls, my room is 1x2 spars and 1/4" ply, no inner roof. 1/4" is plenty, keep your wood small 1x2" will save weight and still give you enough of a target to drive screws into. The big deal, I think, is to fully glue all seams with a good glue (I used PLpremium) this makes the joints stronger than the wood, and waterproofs every joint.

2x framing is massively overbuilt.

3/4" is plenty. I would be completely confident in 3/4" framing with 1/4" inside. Outside you may want to use 3/8" or some type of metal, just to take the dents and dings better.

There are generations of larger trailers built with 3/4" stick built frames and staples!

Mine is ¾ ply walls and ⅛ plywood bent over 1x2 for crossbars for the forr. The ⅛ ply did take a beating and got two crack in it from hail. I just repolyed the whole camper and she is good to go.

Junkboy999 wrote:Mine is ¾ ply walls and ⅛ plywood bent over 1x2 for crossbars for the forr. The ⅛ ply did take a beating and got two crack in it from hail. I just repolyed the whole camper and she is good to go.

That was one of the primary reasons for me not to attempt a true teardrop shape, besides my amateur woodworking status...I've seen several hail-damaged trailers, back in the day, and dozens of cars. It'd take a big hailstone to crash thru 3/4" ply (or small tree branches, for that matter). But for the "teardrop" look, you must bend the thinner material, and hope for the best.

A good practice is to use two layers of 1/8 baltic birch for the top skin - installing one layer first and then gluing the second layer to that one.