Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

well with the temps finally dropping enough for camping in the wild around here i decided to put the nose to the grindstone and get this thing ready to go!

only things remaining is to touch up the water deflectors and get some gas lifts in there.

this one has been a blast and very much a learning experience to build. i am certainly looking forward to the next one which will be a full size tear.


the final cost has yet to be calculated but i am guessing that the materials and stuff used to make this came out to some number i dont want to think about right now, the 100 for the trailer was a good deal, but the 80 for the lights was a bitter enough pill to swallow.

last night i took it to the local high school parking lot (nimitz in irving) to work on that thing called backwards driving,, after about 40 minutes i got to the point where i could back it in a straight line and also back it out of a parking space without hitting the stripes or going places where other cars would park. backing it in circles left and right was fun too.


today i took the hubs apart and regreased them.. one was freshly rebuilt and the other stunk to high heaven.. it was really bad i mean it was throw away the rags bad.. either way they are both rebuilt with moly grease, figured if the stuff was good enough for the wheels of fords and lincolns wheels then it would be good enough for a light duty trailer. the bearings and seals were fine, although the one that stunk was clearly run hot a few times before.


now without further adieu! Pics!


http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i253/ ... d/resized/

on the hatch yes that is the wood going all the way out,, i was thinking of putting some edging on there but after bending it to fit and putting it on there i saw that going without it worked alot better it just looks to crisp/clean to cover up. if it had a painted instead of vinyl top i woudnt have used it on the front portion either.

I still gotta get a shot of the pvc pipe fix for the ~ shaped back portion of the springs,, i put a std pvc pipe in there and added a band from the swelled end to it to close the gap further to reduce chatter. i will also be looking for a rubber sleeve for the bolt so i can close the gap completely and eliminate almost all spring chatter from it.


tongue weight empty is around 20lbs. overall i am guessing to be in the 200 275lb range i can pick up the rear corner with relative ease.

loaded with about hmm i guess about 120 lbs of stuff in a way that is front heavy the tongue weight jumps to 65lbs according to the bathroom scale

I like those Tail lights....where'd you get them? $80 is a kind of a lot, but they're nice looking...

Thanks

Looks good Bro, seems like yesterday you were asking questions on where to start. enjoy

I love it!

oregonguy wrote:I like those Tail lights....where'd you get them? $80 is a kind of a lot, but they're nice looking...

Thanks

i got them from ebay. the seller there randpcarriages is good to deal with and really do well to make the transaction right.

here is a link to their current items.

http://tinyurl.com/3mzbu5

satch wrote:Looks good Bro, seems like yesterday you were asking questions on where to start. enjoy

it feels like 'yesterday' to me as well,, when i was putting the plate on there i saw that it expires in march 09, it certainly doesnt seem like i started this in march.

this also explains why my friend has been riding me about wanting his garage back


next build i will pre buy the materials for a more speedy build.

decided to get some of the metal framed abs edging for the hatch. found a place that will sell it for 1$ a foot with free shipping. Added pics to my album here as well. will delete the links i put in the first one and replace them with a single url

I'm I correct in saying it has no door?

Just one big one in the back

I am guessing it is a mini tear cargo trailer.

My first attempt "Eggbert" was a 3x5 cargo on a 40 x 48 HF frame.

Yours is a lot "pertyer" though !!!

Jst83 wrote:I'm I correct in saying it has no door?

It just has the one in the back. i will be adding gas struts to it once i get done with the first trip. i will be going to alvarado texas with about 400 lbs of rc and camping gear in the trailer.

event info for those interested http://nitrooffroad.rcprosites.com/site ... entid/1079

here is a short vid from last year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5360aSc3Qbs

Well it made the first trip without a hitch, had between 400 and 600 lbs of rc & camping gear in there and it handled very well. no chatter, no sway and at 70mph the hubs barely got warm (within 15 degrees or so of outside temps) at 60-65mph the hubs showed no noticeable temperature rise.


driving on interstates and blue highways with a crosswind the trailer didnt dance at all, even when being passed by 18 wheelers the trailer stayed true.

MPG on the car was reduced by 2mpg, i think this is more to the overdrive being turned off than any real drag.

Since putting the poll on this thread i have noticed some interesting numbers pop up on the answers (3-3-1) I have not voted on it myself.

I welcome comments or discussion on the subject.


i have put edging on the hatch sides and plan to put some gas lifts on there and will then fully skin the inside of the hatch as well (thinking of coating it with ozite so it matches the rest of the inside.

Not as pressing but i also plan to get some vinyl that is a more pure blue shade and repaint it aiming for a more glass like finish as well (no more orange peel)

Well recently i got a new TV for the lil fart. this was brought about by my blowing out my l4 l5 disc, the camry became too hard to get in and out of. now i have a rav4 11 model. its more of a metallic black so its time to change the colors of the trailer from the blue darts on white and to change the vinyl as well. of course first i gotta get a hitch on the new car.


im thinking black with green/yellow true fire on it. for the top im thinking that met black diamond plate looking vinyl.