Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

The trailer frame that you use for your teardrop is one of the most important purchases you will make. To build a strong and lasting TD, you need a strong trailer. They cost more than the ones you can buy that bolt together, but they are worth it in the long run. Bolt together frames are good if you use them for what they are really designed to be, which is utility trailers, not TD's. The problem is that pot holes in rough roads and off-road terrain will cause the bolts in the frame to work loose and the frame itself will flex - neither of which is good for the floor and the body of the TD. You might pay as much as $400 to get a good welded trailer frame, but save yourself the headaches and expense of added maintenance in the future and JUST DO IT.

Rick

Sorry, Rick, but I just can't agree with you on this one. Not sure where your $400 comes from but a custom trailer frame is significantly more expensive than a parts kit and, in my opinion, is not worth the extra cost unless you need something really heavy duty for off-roading. Much of the strength of the trailer comes from the walls of the cabin and that concept has been discussed at length on the Forum. I have used a folding type HF trailer as a utility trailer for nearly 20 years and I have never seen a bolt come loose or any failure or damage to the frame parts. I have put thousands of miles on it and have loaded it to its maximum load rating hauling construction debris and moving furniture for various family household moves. The only real maintenance it has required is the occasional re-packing of the bearings and some touch up paint, not from rust but where the factory red turned pink sitting in the sun. It is on its third set of stock 12" tires mainly because the old ones cracked in the sidewalls from age. I used a NT 5X8 for my weekender and I consider it to be as strong as needed for any casual camping. I think it is pretty much accepted on the Forum that kit trailers hold up as well as any for normal use in teardrop construction. I'm sure this thread will resurrect some discussion.
Larry S.

I have to agree with Les. If the body of the teardrop is constructed well and designed to survive the rigors of the highway the trailers only function is to have enough capacity to carry the load and track straight. It I not a "foundation" it is just a platform with wheels. I built a couple of my tiny trailers and lifted them into the air and backed the trailer under them after completion.

And I've built a 5x8 unibody-type teardrop without a frame - just a 3/4in marine ply floor with the tongue and torsion axle bolted to it. At 5 years old and over 20,000 miles on it it's still going strong.

I paid over $600 for my trailer, used, and am pleased with what I got. The down-side is that it's built like a tank & weighs over 500# stripped & ready to build. Is it a good frame? Yes, amazing welds, workmanship & steel. I would never have bought it new, as it must have been pretty spendy. A well made "custom" job will cost you upwards of $1,000 at least, more if there's a lot of detail work involved.

The frame has to support the axle & springs, the hitch & body of the shell, but the shell itself is a major component when it comes to the overall strength. There's no right or wrong answer here, unless one of the parts isn't up to the task it's doing & fails. Any one item (nut, bolt, axle, spindle, bearing, hitch, frame member) can cause a bad build failure. All of them together make for a good build with plenty of miles to go for years.

You lost me at $400, not around here! I agree with The responses, never had a loose bolt in thirty years.

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I started with an old pop up camper, they have a frame designed and manufactured for strength and light weight.
The best part was that the trailer was free, as it had been ruined by mice.
the only trailers that I see need a welded frame are off road specific ones.

Graniterich wrote:You lost me at $400, not around here! I agree with The responses, never had a loose bolt in thirty years.

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Around here, a decently welded trailer costs only about $400 MORE (is what I meant to say - sorry about that) than one from HF. So total cost would be about $800 - $850. That would be the price for a "decent" trailer. Naturally, we have to use more than just decent trailers in our builds because we have customer safety and liability issues to be concerned about and the trailers we use cost more than $850.

I don't think that $400 is a bad additional investment to make in the cost of the build, especially if you think about what that adds up to over the lifespan of the trailer. I'd still go with a better trailer and look for other ways to save money in the build.

Rick

noseoil wrote:. . . the shell itself is a major component when it comes to the overall strength.

Granted. A strong shell is probably equally as important as a strong trailer.

Its the flimsy shells coupled with the bolt-together frames that are going to have the most problems. I think most people in this group already know what they're doing or they do the research and figure it out. In the public at large, though, there are some pretty sad stories about some pretty sad home builds.

Rick

PeeWee Campers wrote:

noseoil wrote:. . . the shell itself is a major component when it comes to the overall strength.

Granted. A strong shell is probably equally as important as a strong trailer.

Its the flimsy shells coupled with the bolt-together frames that are going to have the most problems. I think most people in this group already know what they're doing or they do the research and figure it out. In the public at large, though, there are some pretty sad stories about some pretty sad home builds.

Rick

There is two schools of thought in design. One is build things rigid with little or no flex.(Solid trailer) The 2nd school of thought is to allow is to flex and build it to flex(airplanes).
As far as sad stories. The most heard stories is water causing wood to rot.(my Teardrop is almost wood-less) I have not heard of any foamie on HF trailers failing in any big way or at all(they flex).
On this form there is high dollar builds and low cost builds. It is all in what one wants. If building a higher dollar build by all means do it on a welded frame trailer.
But if you just want to get out camping or road tripping the bolt together trailer will work fine.

Yep, wood is probably the worst! Even heard of some breaking in two.

Rick