Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Gentlemen , I was fortunate to obtain a boat trailer at a good price , I'll only have to make some small mods to it and sand and paint ... new bearings , wheels , lights . wiring , license , title , etc. etc.....
I plan to bolt down a 2x4 hardwood frame , half lapped as has been indicated by so many ...and screw and glue down a 1/2" ply floor , in three cross pieces 4'X6' to accomidate the 6'x12' plan for the floor... seams joing across frame...
Sides will be 3/4" Birch , spliced(biscuits?) to make 12'LX5'H...1"x4" battens over splices and critical areas, door, windows , etc.... Bows ? spars are 2"x2" joined to a 1" x4" in a T shape .... these will be installed along the roof line with the 2"x2" at the bottom and the 4" part at the top ... 4 screws each side...16" on center...plenty of area for roof attachment , one would think ... There will be no blocking between the spars attached to the sides...interior ceiling will be attached at the spar bottoms only ... ceiling panel edges will be trimmed with vinyl edge trim...
Insulation... sheet foam or bagged Fglas (Foam... sprayed in urethane would be great and add significant strength to the sprayed areas... messy though ... ) , wiring , and then I'll be attaching the roofing .... planning on at least a couple layers of material , ending up with somewhere > 3/8"(I'm really wondering how well that ply /whatever is going to attach to the 3/4" ply side end grain ... I was gonna' use ring shank nails and adhesive for the attachment, screws at stress points ) .. will probably get the roof sprayed locally with this white roof material ... sorta' like a Line-x roof , in white ... that or will go aluminum , like others, trimmed in alum at the edges...
The whole cabin is braced vertically , with the 3/4" cabinets , which run full width .....simple Galley /Storage / Traditional TD shape . The rest is in the future , when I get this far , hopefully I'll have some ideas (or your ideas for the finish ).... 97 days left ... TIME!!!

ANY HELP , IDEAS , SUGGESTIONS , TIPS , WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!!

GPW wrote:

ANY HELP , IDEAS, SUGGESTIONS...

Just one:

Paragraph breaks.

Just kidding. Glad to see you're getting as excited as the rest of us.

I think this is the second time that you (?) mentioned your concern about attaching the sides and roof, but I don't get it. What are you worried about here? With your spars connecting your sides, and your roof skin going over the spars, this tightens the whole thing up. The roof skin isn't really attached to the sidewalls.

Not sure I understand your ceiling to side connection. You say ceiling supports (bows, spars, joists) are 2x2s under a 1x4 side batten. Are you actually going to butt joint the two with the 2x2 flush with bottom of the 1x4 horizontal batten? You mentioned attaching them with 4 screws each side. I suspect that 2 pocket screws would be more than sufficient for attaching top to side. I have used pocket screws to attach 2x2s to many butt joints with unqualified success.

GB

hey all,
yeah i got 4 suggestions 1 use screws everywhere,2pre drill everything,3git er done,4have fun

GPW,

100 days...ambitious plan...

If you are using 2 layers of paneling to end up with your final roof thickness, a bead of polyurethane sealant, and small nails, ringshank, or something with similar gripping power will work quite well.

I'm with Critter on the use of screws, and predrilling everywhere possible, but since you'll have two rows of nails in 3/4" ply, screws would be too much.

I would personally make a jig for marking nail locations, so they are not all in a straight line, or you could "split" the ply's apart.

The 1 x 4 on top of the roof supports sounds like a good idea...though I'm not sure it is needed, or will be easy/possible to follow the contour?

The area you might need a little "extra" is at the paneling joints over the roof ribs.
2 X 2 (1.5 x 1.5) is a decent area to splice, though bear in mind that with multiple layers you really don't want the splices to line up.

Rob

Ira, I'm starting to accept the "unibody" concept...The skin strength is enormous, I probably as a first timer, am tending to way overbuild....hahahaha I'll learn !!!
GB, Yes , but may be overkill as Rob has stated...I just have to get some pocket screw thingies' , and a biscuit joiner too ...
Critter, Got it !!!! Clear thinking!!!
Rob .... two rows of nails ??? too much ??? should I go with one piece 1/ 4" top ... I had been thinking of tacking on one piece, then smearing some really nasty adhesive over that and gluing on the second(or third layer) and then come in and really nail it down , seams staggered , of course...followed by fiberglassing(tape over the seams) or aluminum trim .
Gotta' be ready by June 1... the goal !!! Since I'm an old retired guy , I can work on it every day ...and I can empty my art studio and build inside ....

This is crazy !!!! I told you guys about the boat trailer I bought .... Today on the way to the dentist , one of my flying buddies pulled up in my driveway with ...... another boat trailer .... This plan may backfire yet

OK , went to the HD on Sat . All the lumberyards were closed ???? The only day I can get some help , and they're closed ???
Picked up 10 sheets of 3/4" Birch and 8 sheets 1/4" luan .... I was looking for poplar for a frame (floor ) but none was available there... decided to get Pine 2x4 for the floor frame ... will this work or is it too soft ... got the best Pine I could ... ???
Got the sides cut out ... used my trusty Craftsman jig/scroll saw .... no problems ...so much waste .... enough for an 8 footer ...

How many TDs are you building??? That's a ton of lumber!!!

Pine is fine for the floor frame. A lot of us just use 2 by 2's.

BUT 10 SHEETS OF 3/4 PLY? 8 SHEETS OF LUAN?

I'm confused.

Ira... The floor is 6x12 so 3 sheets 4x6 go for that ... 4 sheets for the sides and side top ... 5'High... 1 sheet 4x6 for the rear wall(galley ) leaving 2 sheets and some scrap for the assorted cabinets and shelves ..... any leftovers(lots ) will be used to construct a more normal sized (8' ) TD... Makes sense to me ... poured over the materials/cut list for a long while figuring the least waste ... I dunno ' , I did my best ??? 2 TDs gotta' be better than one , eh ?

Thanks for the 2x4 comments , I tend to over do it and one would think I'm building a TANK !!!!!

Wow. I didn't remember/realize you were building one so large!!!

My bad.

You know you're talking really heavy, right? I can see the 3/4" ply for the floor, but with good spar set-up, do you really need 3/4" for your walls?

If you don't plan to frame and insulate at all, if it's only the 3/4 ply wall, okay, I guess. But that kind of lumber can build a tank that's gonna weigh a ton.

My 4 by 8 TD is tiny, the walls are only 3/8 ply. But adding two feet in one direction and four feet in the other doesn't necessarily mean you need heavier ply.

Believe me--I'm not an expert here. Just passing on what I've seen done before.

a couple construction questions have come up , and your sage advice would be certainly appreciated...
1. Attaching the sidewalls to the floor frame ... I notice some glue/screw the side onto the floor frame , leaving a bit of the side to overhang the side of the trailer... while some let the side rest directly on the floor , the floor frame being inset the width of the ply ... this leaves the floor ply exposed on the side , requiring trim .... which is stronger /more acceptable among the building community...
2. Where in the heck can you see an assortment of windows??? Only limited types on the TD sites(retail) , And only planning on a curb side door , do I have to get special egress windows...???? So many questions , so little time .
3 . I picked up a cheap Kenmore ac unit today 5K btu ... should I shock mount it somehow or use the sliding mount thingie' ....mount high or low .... your opinions Please !!!!!!

GPW wrote:a couple construction questions have come up , and your sage advice would be certainly appreciated...
1. Attaching the sidewalls to the floor frame ... I notice some glue/screw the side onto the floor frame , leaving a bit of the side to overhang the side of the trailer... while some let the side rest directly on the floor , the floor frame being inset the width of the ply ... this leaves the floor ply exposed on the side , requiring trim .... which is stronger /more acceptable among the building community...
2. Where in the heck can you see an assortment of windows??? Only limited types on the TD sites(retail) , And only planning on a curb side door , do I have to get special egress windows...???? So many questions , so little time .
3 . I picked up a cheap Kenmore ac unit today 5K btu ... should I shock mount it somehow or use the sliding mount thingie' ....mount high or low .... your opinions Please !!!!!!

1) The "right" way to do it is to rest the sidewalls on the floor. Which of course means I didn't do it that way--mine hang over. Trim is not an issue if you're skinning--know what I mean? Whether you skin your ply with wood (like mine) or aluminum, there's no exposed plywood edge to worry about. And even if you did have to trim it, with a TD, TRIM IS YOUR FRIEND! EMBRACE IT! LOVE IT! USE IT!

2) Windows:

Ahhhhh, Grasshopper. (After 9 months here, I'm allowed to say that Jack, right?) Good luck.

See MY windows? They look really cool...but totally impractical...but also CHEAP and followed my theme. This is what separates the men from the boys. You're on your own but don't get an ulcer over it.

3) Air conditioning:

A smart man, because you bought a REAL air conditioner, like me and a ot of others. (And I'm impressed--a KENMORE!)

Forget the window mounting unit with those accordian sliders that it came with. Depending on where you want to mount it (I mounted mine over the tongue), this is what I did:

I bought L-shaped alumiunm channel. Know what I'm talking about? Just a length of strong aluminum with two sides, an L-shape.

On two exterior sides of the AC (let's say the left and right verticals), once the hole was cut and the AC was in position, I 2-part epoxied two cut pieces of the channel to the AC. I let it dry, drilled holes through the other part of that L, and screwed it in with deck screws. Did the same thing to the inside, again, two sides only.

I thought it unecessary to do this with all 4 sides, let alone both inside and OUTSIDE.

It's not like the thing can ever fall out and onto the road. As you know, there's that flange/edge to it, and since you're inserting it from the inside of the cabin OUT, there's really nowhere for it to ever go anyway. Worst came to worst and it didn't hold, it would just tip a little back into the cabin.

But with aluminum channel epoxied to the unit, screwed into your spars, it's REALLY not going anywhere.

Hey Ira,

Do you have documentation of your build on the web?
I would really like to see some of the things you have done.
Thanks!

Thanks for the compliment, Bandit. But I'm not being humble by saying I'm the LAST one you want to follow as the best example on building these things.

My skills STINK, and I basically just followed instructions from others--and IGNORED a bunch of them too.

As you see, I'm now the only guy here who used simple T-hinges on the doors. There were a few others in months past who did the same, but they haven't been around for awhile.

I guess the point is that yeah, you can build it like a Mercedes, but are you really BUILDING a Mercedes? In my mind, it's something small to tow, to build to what you need, to not fall apart, and to eventually ENJOY. So there ain't one right way to do everything, and I bet you'lll come up with some ideas that others may poo-poo, but that will work just fine.

As far as my ownbuild photos, they're all over the place on my drive. I used to have my beginning build photos in my album here, I quit this site because of some political and personal differences, deleted those shots, returned here, but never reposted them.

But there are a ton of guys here who have done unbelievably clean and wonderful work, and that have photos in their albums.

Me--I'm just building the damn thing.

Ira wrote:My skills STINK, and I basically just followed instructions from others--and IGNORED a bunch of them too.

At least you can speak from experience.