Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

In these bad economic times I have thought of another source of revenue for the teardrop manufacturers. You build the trailer, we'll build the box to put on it.

A lot of us want to build a teardrop trailer, but don't have the metal working tools or welder. By the time I buy a welder, tools, metal, axles, and all the other stuff, I'll be well into the price of a good new trailer.

We also want a welded trailer with square tubing, not a bolt together sheet metal trailer (no offense to H/F, etc..). So here's my question, why doesn't CampInn, Little Guy, or any other teardrop manufacturer build trailers (frame, axle, and wheels only - no body) for the teardrop home builder? There's already a market for it. Look at the number of people already building on Red, Harbor Freight, and Northern Tool trailers. These people will probably not buy a whole teardrop, but may be willing to buy the trailer portion and get a better quality product.

You know what we need that we are not getting when we buy a trailer and bolt it together. We want:

--FRAME--
*Welded frames with square metal tubing, not bolt together sheet metal.
*Option of trailer sizes 4 x 8, 5 x 8, 5 x 10, 6 x 10...
*Already welded on angles for bolting the teardrop to the trailer.
*Welded plates in all 4 corners to add the stabilizer jacks.
*Choice of adding stabilizer jacks or not.
*Option of a wire mesh platform on the front to put a storage box on.
*Option of a battery box support.
*Powder coated trailer.
*A hitch for a 2" ball.
*A 2" receiver in the back to hold bikes.
*A fold-up front jack
*Option to have a metal box sunk below the floor in the sleeping area for storage like so many teardrops have built in.
*An "A" frame tongue that's long enough to not interfere with the tow vehicle when turning corners.
*Removable Safety chains with the welded on connectors. Somewhere on this web site I saw that someone had welded on a loop that was threaded to install chains. Like welding a locking carabiner to the trailer and then opening the carabiner to install the chains.

--AXLES--
*Option of 3500 lb or 2000 lb axles
*Option of spring rate of axle springs.
*Option of brakes or not
*Option of Torsion axle or spring axle
*Optional Torsion axle starting angle (more height for the off-road builders, less height for the low riders)
*Axles located at optimal forward/aft position for most trailer loading, or maybe make the position adjustable?

--WHEELS--
*Normal sized tires (13" or bigger, no 12" tires)
*Option of aluminum rims on the wheels.
*Option of a spare tire mount and spare tire.

--OTHER--
*Lights on the sides of the trailer and flush in cutouts in the rear bumper/frame of the trailer.
*A 7 pin connector
*Fenders and support brackets that are welded or bolted onto the side of the trailer frame (no holes in the wall of the teardrop to let in water)
*Shipping
*A discount to me for coming up with this great source of revenue.

Did I miss anything?

The web site could have check boxes where we check off the items that we want and it shows us the price. We could E-mail for any other specifics.

I know this would cost more than the bolt together models, but should be cheaper than buying a bolt together and modifying it. I have my own guesses on price, but you may want opinions from others that have already built teardrops as to what they would be willing to pay to not have to build the trailer portion.

Dale

You mean like this?:

http://www.teardropparts.com/sub-pages/ ... -frame.htm

-or-

http://www.teardroptrailers.net/parts/t ... ailers.htm

-or-

http://www.socalteardrops.com/kit_frame.html

-or-

http://www.lilbear.teardrops.net/parts6.html#frames

Cheers,

Coop

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that there were some trailer kits out there. The SoCalTeardrops kit looks very interesting, but the price seems to be higher than I expected, but since I haven't built a teardrop I don't know what the percentage of the total cost the trailer is.

There are welding/trailer shops all over that will make a trailer exactly to your specs. I have no skill in welding, but wanted something beefier than an HF, so I drew up exactly the specs I wanted, then took it to one of our local shops. They were more than happy to take my money, and I got exactly what I wanted.

My recommendation has always been the same as Dean's on this subject. We do offer our frames for those who want to buy a prebuilt one from us. However no one ever has.

Several reasons why. One, our trailer really doesn't have a conventional frame under since our trailers are of a unibody construction method and the frame is mostly non structural. So, basically our frame only works for our design. You would have to design your teardrop around our frame.

The next reason has always been the price. Though I notice we sell our frame for about half of what SoCal sells their's. Their frame has fenders and spare tire and such too so not really comparable. What we run into is people try and compare our frame to a Harbor Freight frame or something and say we are charging too much. Not that they are in anyway near comparable so it is a rather silly thing to do.

The third reason is unless you are within driving distance of Necedah WI (I know, everything is within driving distance, but you know what I mean) shipping on a complete frame is just too unreasonable. That narrows down the list of who would buy the frame tremendously.

I still am with Dean. Design your teardrop. Draw the frame up. Order the axle and other trailer components (not the steel, get that from the welding shop) to match your needs. Then take it all to your local welding shop and have them make it up. Heck, have them paint it too if they have the capability. This will cost more than a Harbor Freight frame, but it will be exactly what you want and utilizing a better axle, better hubs (not speed rated) and decent 5 bolt wheels and tires.

Hope it helps. Anyone have any questions on sourcing some of these component let me know, I can probably help.

Cary

Sounds like the best option is for me to find someone locally to weld it, or buy a welder and weld it myself. I have a lot of time to decide which to do as I probably won't start until summer.

The price of yours being half of the SoCal seemed more in line with what I was thinking. I was guessing $1000 - $1500 knowing that it would be more to make than the bolt together ones.

As noted, shipping complete frames is cost prohibitive and it's hard to have a one size fits all design. The frames we do are only available for local pickup

Having one built locally is good option, although there are a few considerations. When taking a drawing to a "welding shop" and having them make one, you're responsible for the design, does it meet DOT requirements and getting it registerable. Going with a "trailer shop", you'll pay more but they can take your basic needs and design a suitable frame. They can get parts substantially cheaper than you can and make sure it meets DOT requirements. Finally you'll get a MCO and VIN that will make registering it a breeze.

schaney wrote:As noted, shipping complete frames is cost prohibitive and it's hard to have a one size fits all design. The frames we do are only available for local pickup

Having one built locally is good option, although there are a few considerations. When taking a drawing to a "welding shop" and having them make one, you're responsible for the design, does it meet DOT requirements and getting it registerable. Going with a "trailer shop", you'll pay more but they can take your basic needs and design a suitable frame. They can get parts substantially cheaper than you can and make sure it meets DOT requirements. Finally you'll get a MCO and VIN that will make registering it a breeze.

Agreed. I went to a shop that specializes in welding/repairs for trailers, so it was sort of a trailer welding shop. They had all the parts on hand, made some tweaks to my design to make it road-ready, and got it registered and stamped it with a VIN. Much better than going to a general-purpose welding shop.

In the fall of 2007 I had a local welding shop fabricate a 5' x 10' frame of my design for $500. They supplied all the labor, steel, a coupler and chains.

The main frame was made from 2" x 2" x 1/8" square tube with 2" x 2" x 1/8" "L" angle cross supports every two feet. The 48" long A-frame tongue was made of 2" x 3" x 1/8" rectangular tube. All corners have gussets for attaching the floor. Brackets were welded on for installing rear and tongue jacks and to attache the floor.

I separately purchased a Dexter #9 axle, wheels, tires, fenders, jacks, lights, wiring and painted the frame.

I'm very pleased with the custom built frailer frame.

This last week I went to a nearby utility trailer dealer. Their 5' x 10' flat bed trailers with 2-by lumber wood floors were about $1,775. Made in Mexico. Looked to be very stout and heavy.

I'd be happy to put a frame together for anyone too but it comes right back to cost and shipping, it's only worthwhile to someone local. The price of the materials here compared to the price of materials in China makes for a considerable difference in final price of the trailer.
Even doing it for a very minimal labor cost I absolutely can't touch the price of a HF trailer, closer to double or even triple depending on the market price of steel at the time.
Granted I can put together a much better trailer than the HF, Northern ect trailers it's all in what someone wants to pay and it seems like the part that does the most work gets the least $'s spent on it??

We build these Modernistic Cub frames for $1000

This frame weighs 165lbs minus wheels and tires and is painted with four coats of rust-resistant undercarriage paint in a variety of color choices.

Resonable modifications are welcomed at no additional cost. More photos in gallery.

I snagged this off of a post here on the forum for future use. We have a metal fabrication shop right downtown in our fair city , town naw maybe hamlet of 1800 folks. I would very much like to duplicate this frame for a build. Many thanks to whomever I stole it from , it will be a picture model for the welding shops use.

Recently our company was aproached to make a number of aluminum frames in kit form for boats. We are adapting these to provide a near perfect fit for a TD with all the known advantages of aluminum, weight, corrosion resistance, blah, blah, blah.

The kits are bolt together to help eliminate stress cracking and breaks not to mention easy to assemble. They can be shipped easily and come preformed (tongue). We've not priced this configuration yet but wanted to know if there is any interest in these kits. I know I'm not providing much information but could provide more detail with your requirements.

Contact me if you have an interest. Thanks Folks. TA

KayaknKamper

We also offer a frame in the kit form that can be shipped assembled or unassembled depending on what the customer wants. These frames are doubled welded 2" x 3" aluminum tube frames and come in a variety of sizes and options.

Check them out at: www.mega-minis.webs.com under the DIY-Kits section.

We have DIY kits available for our fiberglass molded teardrop models and also provide the custom fit all welded rubber torsion trailers. Whatever you like. We take care of the hard and messy work and provide a super light, areodynamic shell that can be finished inside by owner or sell them complete to a couple floorplans.
[url]http://sites.google.com/site/teardrop720camper/
sites under construction but still worth your time.
Darian Busby,
DAB Glassworks, LLC[/url]