Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Roger “starts” a build.
I have been playing with profiles- seems a teardrop is a nice profile separated by 4-6’ (?) stringers. Therefore step one- think about profile. I like the room/efficiency of the “Benroy” but it lacks a bit of teardroppieness- and the wife doesn’t care for it.

In the profile below the square represents a 4x8- there is a bump up front- only 6’ or so- I don’t fear a little complexity.
Light and inexpensive are important
It shall be the “mouseka-tear Mk2” in deference to any previous off the shelf T@B ‘mouseketear’.
It won’t entirely be a teardrop by public opinion but I will try to head warnings, take good advice/help, and avoid pitfalls.
Thank you in advance- Roger

get rid of the flat spot on the top and add a bit of rap around on the bottom of the hatch.

If you put a vent in, mount the front to the top of the curve and caulk the rest... it will only be about 1/8-1/4" at the most and will make it look more t/d like.

Look at pg 13 near the bottom and you will see what I mean. I wish I had thought of it when I built mine. I got the rap around the bottom of the hatch, but I have the dreaded 'flat roof' where I put the vent.

Looks good to me but then again who am I ¿

Arne wrote: I have the dreaded 'flat roof' where I put the vent.

Whut is that? I dont get it.

Roger, I have built the benroy profile and never had a problem with the flat roof, and yes, I had a vent in it.

As for the wrap around at the bottom for the rear profile.... well, the more curve you put in the hatch, the more challenging it becomes.

I like your profile!

Like Arne said, a "wrap" makes the teardrop look a little more attractive to me. I am rolling the front and back of my profile, but as Sid said, it will be a lot more work, and I'll lose some space doing it that way. If you do the wrap, I would suggest increasing the length to 10'.

That said the Grumman is one of my favorite profiles and the curves terminate at the floor like your design. Heck I like them all.

Flat roof- I thought that would Help with the vent?!?
I don't do much camping in inclement weather- in never rains in southern California. But if flat is an issue I’ll change it- so far one vote curve - one vote flat
I do like the curves at the bottom (wife joke) and thought a “skirt” that continues the profile and hides the frame might be nice- any thoughts?
Dr. Crash- thank you for the kind words about the profile- however your picture frightens me.

Oh yea- Arne, I do phone therapy

It was a bad hair day

I'm with Arne on this one, I'd loose the flat spot on the roof, or maybe slope the flat bit toward the rear.
Our flat spot collects the rain, and it often rains around here.


Cheers, Dave.

I'll slope the roof a bit- there may still be a "flat" spot but 2-3degrees of slope could keep the water flowing and make for easy vent install- that is if my ?oil bubble is level?

BTW 100+ views and few comments- Feel free/please chime in!

RogHodge wrote:Flat roof- I thought that would Help with the vent?

My profile does have a flat portion but it is only about 18 inches long. (This accounts for the flange of the vent.) To counter the sag tendency, I probably will glue 2 layers of 23/32 plywood 1 1/2" deep x the width of the teardrop.

RogHodge wrote:I do like the curves at the bottom (wife joke) and thought a “skirt” that continues the profile and hides the frame might be nice- any thoughts?

That's how most do it. My frame rails will be 2" deep and the floor is 1 1/2" thick, so the sidewalls will etend 3 1/2" beyond the top of the floor.

The curve at the top is extremely gentle, so almost flat... but a flat, even 18" long 'disturbs' the curve.... my curve at the bottom of the hatch is very small and non-complex, but just that tiny curve adds to it's t/d look.

RogHodge wrote:BTW 100+ views and few comments- Feel free/please chime in!

I'll chime in, but have no worthwhile comments. If it was me, it would be shorter in height, shorter in length, curvier in the right places with no flat spots for water to pool.

RogHodge wrote:I'll slope the roof a bit- there may still be a "flat" spot but 2-3degrees of slope could keep the water flowing and make for easy vent install- that is if my ?oil bubble is level?

BTW 100+ views and few comments- Feel free/please chime in!

Your bubble oil is fine. Flat spots are only a problem is they are really flat or sunken. If your flat is only where the vent is and you have no trim to hold the water in place, and the back drops off you can off set the bubble oil. Just crank it off level in the rain.



Oh and the curved hatch is a real head banger if you are tall.

I like the shape a lot just as it is!!!

As far as the flat part goes for the vent...if you have concerns, I would just park the trailer at a slant for storage so it drains or add a little trim to build up the vent mount. This isn't finished or my best trim job, but I epoxied a 1/4 inch thich picture frame onto the roof to set the vent on. I figure that the water can pond quite a bit before it gets past the trim...

I gotta admit...I wish I had curved the corners of the frame to match the vent, but I missed that detail..oops