Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

..of my trailer. I'm building a tiny teardrop luggage trailer to pull behind my hotrod, and I'm wondering what to do about sealing the bottom of the trailer from the elements. What is the general thinking on this?

Hi Lee. I'm in Shawnee. Mostly people use asphalt emulsion from Home Depot to waterproof the bottom. Good luck on your build and welcome to the forum.

Well Lee in KC, welcome aboard...many here use asphalt emulsion (roofing tar) and mop it on the bottom, we used several coats of MinWax ClearSheild Polyurethane on the bottom of our tear, some have made belly pans, some have fiberglassed, some have epoxied, basically use something that will seal it up really good and you should be good to go...you say you are a 'rodder, well we have many a 'rodder here on the board and we would all like to see/know more about your "Hot Rod" (no gutter remarks please ) si if ya can post us ome pics cause we really do luv da pics
madjack

Thanks for the welcome, guys!

Well, the hot rod's under construction, too! Just getting started, but I'm using mostly pre-fabbed parts, so it should go together pretty quickly. Gonna be a '23 T-Bucket with a blown Chivvy 350. Primary use will be cruisin to the Sonic for the Friday night rod meet and just generally showin off.

Definitely going to the national T-Bucket meet this summer, and prolly do some road trips from time to time. That's why I want the trailer. Just gonna do a little luggage carrier first, but may do a camper after the T is completely finished.

You gotta make your teardrop big enough to sleep in. Even if you don't put a galley in it would give you a place fo your luggage and take a nap or spend the night on the road.

The small trailer would be nice to see.....BUT the blown small block T bucket would be rather nice as well.

Well, Gerdo, that occured to me, so I'm makin it 6 foot long by 3 foot wide. Should hold a lotta gear and also allow "indoor" sleepin when necessary. I'm in the process of putting together a website to document both the hot rod build and the trailer build. I'll post a link when it's ready.

I think you will be glad you did.

Lee in KC wrote:..of my trailer. I'm building a tiny teardrop luggage trailer to pull behind my hotrod, and I'm wondering what to do about sealing the bottom of the trailer from the elements. What is the general thinking on this?

If you're building a rod...I can't imagine that you are going to be out in really nasty weather or going off road....for me...just a good coat of oil based primer and paint....but then I don't camp in really wet weather....don't get it here in NO. Cal in the summer...my original 49 Kit just had some paint on the ply....worked well into the 90's when I sold it...just my opinion...doug

Okay, as long as we're sealing bottoms here...

We're putting the asphalt on the bottom of our rig. The directions say to put 3-gal per 100 sq feet. Our trailer is 5 wide by about 7 long or 35 sq feet or about a third of what the directions discuss. So, about a gallon should do the trick.

One of the things we noticed is that if we apply that much, it will be thick on the under side of the trailer. We plan on following the instructions (imagine that!) to the letter. Does anyone else put this stuff on that thick? Anyone else with experience in this area?

I don't think it has to go on THAT thick. I wouldn't worry though about trying to thin it out like paint when you're applyin.

Are you using the Gardner's brand from HD in the green can?

No, we're using Harvey brand in the blue can from HD.

What about just using a riberized undercoating from a spray can? Anyone try that?

hey all,
yup. i got that on mine but i also have fiberglass under it.im still in the construction fase but it seamed to rub off real easy.it doesent seam to hold up very well.jmho

Bucko6 wrote:What about just using a riberized undercoating from a spray can? Anyone try that?

That may take many cans to get it thick enough. A gallon of the Gardners is cheap, don't remember exactly but under $10.