Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have become a fanatic for building light weight teardrops. After
working with a few original modernistics and constructing one, I
have settled on the idea of designing an eight foot model on a
reinforced 1" angle iron frame with 600-1100lb dexter axel, 3/4"
square alluminum tubing framing, 1/4 baltic birch interior and
galley, 8 gallon onboard water tank, gravity fed sink, insulated ice
box, two burner propane stove, solar panels and battery box
including marine battery. The entire body will be riveted exactly as
the originals and the birch will only be a facade for cosmetic
purposes and insulation. We will use very tall tires on 16" wheels
for the retro look. Our very accurate estimated weight for the
finished trailer is slightly under 500 pounds with a 55 pound tongue
weight. The bed will be 78" long. It will have upper cabinets above
the headboard area and the usual shelf/cabinetry towards the galley.
To accomodate the ice box we are moving the galley hatch a few
inches further up on the roofline and also raising the level of the
galley counter, which has always seemed a bit too low to me anyway.
The modernistic style compartment door will be relocated to the
upper area of the sidewall and be sectioned off with an insulated
alluminum area for battery box and electrical fuses. I have uploaded
a composite image of the design concept above. It will also have two doors.
This design will be targeting the ultra mini auto market and also be suitable for larger motorcycle use.
What do you guys think of this idea?
As usual, all input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Deserthawk

Hi Deserthawk (& Family).
Make it so!
Yes, Ive seen what you can do, so you'll be able to pull it off. Looking forward to seeing you folks again. Take care, Joanie

When you say riveted design, I assume you mean blind (pop) rivets if you want to use square tubing? I've built a bunch of aircraft parts with traditional, solid rivets. If you want to go that route, you need to always think about access to the tail (back) of the rivet so you can reach it with a bucking bar to set it. Channel or Z members are going to work where a square tube will not.

Tell me your doing a 5 wide and I shall get in line to buy one.

G-force wrote: I've built a bunch of aircraft parts with traditional, solid rivets. If you want to go that route, you need to always think about access to the tail (back) of the rivet so you can reach it with a bucking bar to set it. Channel or Z members are going to work where a square tube will not.

One person can probably do a majority of the rivets but they will need help on the ones that they can't reach. At best, it will be a 2 man operation, one guy on the outside with the rivet gun and one guy inside holding the bucking bar. That is unless you some gorilla arms.

Looks good deserthawk,

Get going and start building! If it's anything like your last one, it'll be a beaut!

Mike...

Hey there, Luce!

You mean something like this:


... but with a more traditional Modernistic door & fenders ... and, oh yeah, rivets!


BTW - it was great meeting you and your family at the IRG2.0, and checking out your fabulous workmanship firsthand! Really appreciate all those photos you took and posted, too! (Lets me go back and remember cool and refreshing while I sit here cookin' & chokin' from the heat and more smoke from more fires!)

Good Luck with the new project! As always, my Friend ...

CHEERS!

Grant

grant whipp wrote:Hey there, Luce!

You mean something like this:


... but with a more traditional Modernistic door & fenders ... and, oh yeah, rivets!

Hi Grant,

I hooked the Modernistic up to a stock Suzuki Samurai today and had no trouble pulling it down the highway at 60mph. The tear was actually a few inches shorter than the Suzuki and the body of both the trailer and tow vehicle were the same width. The teardrop fenders could be easily seen in the side mirrors but they did not obstruct the view. My thoughts are, if the undercarriage of the 8' Cub is fabricated from welded aluminum and the only steel in the design is the axle, axle brackets, hitch and tow chains......this little trailer can be built under 400 pounds. What I have in mind is the ultimate po'boys recreational vehicle. A customized 1988 Samurai with 1.9 Turbo Diesel VW engine pulling an ultra light Mod/Cub. matching 15" wheels all around so the spare is interchangable. forward and aft interchangable winch brackets for getting out of tight spots. Estimated highway 38MPG, massive torque for offroad adventures. I am going to unveil two of these at the Quartzsite swapmeet this winter. Or...I could be just trippin'

It was great meeting you at the IRG. I had a lot of fun. Hey, I felt like a kid in a candy store with all those TDs for inspiration. Looks like I'll be needing a couple more sets of fenders from you before too long.

Happy trails,

Deserthawk