Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi all –
I just wanted to thank everyone who posts to this forum – without it I would never have considered building my own teardrop. Since those lovely Camp-Inns are FAR out of my budget, that means I would have remained teardrop-less. (had to try one of these!)

Here is a first attempt at a design (subject to many, many changes). It will be 9’10” X 5’. I have the manuals from Steve Fredericks and Kuffel Creek, which are both extremely helpful, but I still manage to come up with questions.



First question (of many to follow)
We want to have the sides resting on the frame, so they will not be covering the frame. Are there any problems with having the aluminum siding alone hang down past the floor enough to cover the frame? It would mean that the aluminum trim along the bottom would have to attach to the frame rather than the wall or floor.

Thanks,
Katie

K & C, My tear is also 5 x 10 and I set the sides on top of the frame. I did the same way with the aluminum sides. I'll trim it out with some decrative aluminum trim from HD, I'm hoping this will keep out water from seeping between the frame and wall/floor. This is the way I did it and it worked for me. Others may have an Idea or two for you. When I do my next tear, I'll cover the frame like the Benroy.

Have a great time building and have Katie get involved, she'll love it . . . .

Jim,

katie,, one problem you might run into is alum is typically 4' wide x 10' long,, unless you run the alum. vertically with 2 joints in it, you will not be able to have it hang down over the frame,,, If the box of your trailer is 4' wide there just isnt any left over,,, now if you are one of the lucky ones and run across a 5' wide piece of alum then it might just work,,, ,, looks like you have a good start on your design,,,

chipper

My plan is to have a 4" strip of alum diamond plate along the bottom. And for changes, expect alot of them. Heres my first plan.



It evolved to this.



And here's what I'm building.

Katie,
Look at SteveH's tear he did the same thing just ran the alum down to cover the frame. I built my body to sit on top of the frame as well but I have wood sides so you can see the frame, it looks fine to me.

Well it looks like I won't be messing anything up by just covering it with aluminum.

Thanks for the reminder about aluminum width. There was a post about sources for wide aluminum in Seattle, so hopefully I am good. If not, using a wide lower trim piece will probably work (and might spruce up the exterior a bit).

Sonetpro -
Very nice! I wish mine could morph into such a nice looking profile by the second draft! Unfortunately that would push the galley too far back for me to use, so functionality has to win out over my personal aethetic.

Katie