Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I was supposed to be building a normal teardrop this year but life has thrown me several curveballs. So instead I have had to demo our 13 ft hybrid and we are rebuilding it with a new design and layout. I plan on using many of the ideas that work in teardrops.

My question is the wall framing for a standy type, what are people using? I have finished the demo and now need to make a few repairs, move the steps and replace the grey water tank due to cracks in it. Once that is complete I will be laying out the floor and sub frame.

Thanks in advance.

I use 3/4" ply just as in teardrops. Start with a 4x8 sheet and a 2x4 sheet. Run a router along the long edge of the two pieces of ply with a 1/4" slot cutting bit, dead center, about 3/4" deep. Glue in a hardwood spline, 1 1/2" wide into one piece, then slide on the other piece. Walla...8 ft x 6 ft. Now you can do the same to the end, to make it 10-12ft long x 6 ft high. How big a standby do you want to make? I put the long seam down near the floor, and the cabinets and bed give stiffness to the walls. Any exposed seam can be covered with a piece of trim wood. I staple a reinforcing strip on the outside temporarily until I get the walls standing on the frame and tied together with my 2x2 spars. Then remove it before attaching the skins. This really becomes an incredibly strong wall, just a little unwieldly to handle by one person. In this pic I did the same only in a verticle manner. If you look closely you can see the seams.

Here's another method. Spline 2 pieces of 1/2" ply together, then glue on paneling on the inside, 90 degrees to the plywood seams. An even stronger wall system. You can see the horizontal seam of the ply on the outside, covered by tape, and the verticle seam of the paneling on the inside. As well as the seam on the end to make the panel longer. You could also skeletonize the 1/2" ply, fill the gaps with 1/2" foam board, which is then hidden by the paneling, and aluminum skins.

Thanks for the information. Right now I am still drafting the plans on autocad, but i am looking at making it about 13 or 14 feet long and 7 ft tall. due to the frame size of the trailer it will be close to 8 ft wide. the front will be an ellipical shape for aero purposes and because I do not need the height over the large bed. Additionally the rear will have a radius coming back down. only about 5 feet of the length will be at or close to full height. I was thinking of leaving the outside with a wood finish, just fiber glassing it for protection, but using aluminum for the roof. I have lots of trucking places in the area that do repairs and have been told they can get me up to 103" wide sheets. not sure of the cost of those yet but that will prevent any seems in the roof from showing.

Another question Prohandyman,

I saw your website and beautiful work you do but on the standy you have black door and windows. where do you find them, I want that look but keep seeing white or aluminum.