Tiny Teardrop Cargo Trailer

[Joe G]

Hey everyone,

I've been hanging around the forum for about a year trying to soak up the wisdom and expertise of the members here. I've been dreaming of the day when I can begin building a teardrop camping trailer for myself. Sadly, for a multitude of reasons, it appears that I will have to wait a while longer.

Here in Minnesota, classic cars and street rods are very popular. I have been fortunate enough to make a successful business of building, repairing and restoring classic cars and street rods.

Recently, one of my customers, knowing of my desire to build a teardrop trailer, asked me if I could build a teardrop cargo trailer to haul spare tires and other miscellaneous road tripping essentials behind a '32 Ford Victoria street rod I am building for him. Of course I jumped at the chance.

He has made his expectations very clear:
1. It needs to have a traditional teardrop camping trailer profile.
2. The trailer has to use the same wheels and tires as the front axle of the car (215-60R17 with 17 x 6" wire spoke wheels)
3. It needs to be able to carry at least one rear tire (28" dia. by 10" wide), a floor jack, lug wrench, and the two hood side panels (34" w x 23" h).
4. The fenders have to match the car.
5. There can be absolutely no wood structure in the trailer.

So with that in mind, I have decided that the profile will be similar to the Grumman 2. The profile will be scaled down and the flat section in the roof will be eliminated. That will make the trailer body 64" long, 34" high, and about 36" wide which should be just large enough to haul the necessary cargo. 8" of ground clearance will make the overall height about 42".

I am a newbie to Sketchup, but here is the basic profile I'm shooting for:


I plan to make the body completely from aluminum, with square tubing forming the profile and aluminum skin welded or bonded to it. The frame will be steel and only the tongue will be exposed. The trailer body will also have an aluminum diamond plate belly skin. The hatch will be hinged much further forward than a traditional teardrop galley hatch to provide easy access to the cargo. The fenders will be original steel '32 Ford pick-up fenders which will be widened as necessary. The hood side panels will be stored cross-wise in the nose of the trailer ahead of the spare wheel(s). I'm toying with the idea of a door in the side of the trailer and a slide out rack for the hood panels. Upon completion, the trailer and wheels will be painted to match the tow vehicle.

There are a few design hurdles I need help with.

First and foremost, the axles. I need to come up with a suspension setup that has stout enough spindles and bearings to handle the huge heavy wheels, yet still have a low enough capacity to allow the trailer to tow smoothly. I don't expect the weight of the trailer to be more than about 300# loaded, but the wheels are 27" tall and weigh about 40# each. I am not a fan of slipper springs, because they tend to be noisy. I would prefer torsion stub axles, but I would have to have them custom built - if that is even possible. There must be some options that I am overlooking. Any suggestions on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Cost is not a factor

The other quandary that weighs heavily on my mind is how I will bend the aluminum tubing into the elliptical profile of the body. My plan for now is to build a heavy wooden form and bend the tubing around it using muscle, clamps and heat as necessary. I am very open to suggestions on this subject as well.

With the wealth of knowledge and experience you, the members of this forum have, I am sure I will find the answers I need.

Thanks.

Joe G.

P.S. Just in case anyone is wondering what a '32 Ford Victoria looks like, here's what it looked like when I received it. The finished product will sit much lower, have modern wheels and tires, and a 354 Chrysler hemi with 3 deuces, 6 speed manual trans, custom tubular chassis, 4 wheel independent suspension, disc brakes, electric power steering, air, cruise, etc, etc. etc.... and, of course, a trailer hitch.

[bobhenry]

Save yourself a lot of time and heartache by mocking this thing up in plywood 1 st and get the customers opinion. I think you will find the 28" tires and full size fenders will start to make the tiny 3x3x5 trailer look like a flea with elephant hemroids. With your background and talents this project will flow along but your customer needs to see that the full size parts on such a small trailer will look out of scale.

Here is eggbert he is 3x3x5 . I used an 18" semi circle for the nose and a 5'6" arc from the 12 o clock position at top and the rear point of the trailer then bobbed the pointy end with an 18" radius again.

i would put on a fairly long tongue and mount the spare on the nose for best towing but you know what ....a swing away continental kit on the rear would be Oh So Kool!



Here is Marge's swing away spare continental kit ( more pic's in my album about pg 13)

[brian_bp]

Since the trailer is already sharing components with the car, and cost is not a major factor (cost is always a factor), how about the same type of suspension as the car has at the front, but with much softer springs?

If the car has a leaf-spring suspension, any matching leaf may be too stiff, so a coil-sprung beam axle with the same hubs (and again very soft springs) is an alternative. Any front suspension would need track rods to replace the tie rods and keep the wheels straight; this is a normal feature of vehicles using front suspension components in the rear (e.g. the Pontiac Fiero, which had Citation front running gear in the back).

Front suspension beams are commonly dropped, which could help to keep the floor low, compared to a straight beam.

In the world of trailer suspensions, a beam axle can be had at just about any width, but the leaf spring stiffness concern is still an issue.

Both Dexter Torflex and UCF Flexiride rubber suspensions can be built at any width, but I see the concern in sizing: the hubs which will work for the wheels only come with rubber suited to much higher loads.

[Joe G]

Since the trailer is already sharing components with the car, and cost is not a major factor (cost is always a factor), how about the same type of suspension as the car has at the front, but with much softer springs?

Now you got me thinking.... The front suspension on the car is an aftermarket style based similar to a Mustang II but with full lower A-arms and coil-over shocks. Finding a soft enough spring for the trailer will be the trick. But I could make my own cross member and A-arms and use coil-overs from an ATV or snowmobile. Then use the same spindles and hubs as the car has.

It would be a lot of work, and it might take a few tries to get it perfect, but the customer really likes these kinds of unique custom touches on his vehicles. And I like a good challenge.

Another thought is to use a drop axle and a single transverse leaf spring with radius rods and a panhard rod, like the car had originally. But excessive body roll could be an issue with that setup unless I could come up with a sway bar.

Hmmmmm. Guess I'll keep thinking.

Thanks for the responses.


Joe G.

[brian_bp]

Now you got me thinking.... The front suspension on the car is an aftermarket style based similar to a Mustang II but with full lower A-arms and coil-over shocks. Finding a soft enough spring for the trailer will be the trick. But I could make my own cross member and A-arms and use coil-overs from an ATV or snowmobile. Then use the same spindles and hubs as the car has...

I like that... if the suspension packages well (can the trailer floor be over the suspension, because if not the suspension will force the wheels a long way from the body). "Overload" shocks (with coil springs on them) or air shocks might work, too; they are normally just additions to the main spring, but could serve as the only spring at a light load.

Another thought is to use a drop axle and a single transverse leaf spring with radius rods and a panhard rod, like the car had originally. But excessive body roll could be an issue with that setup unless I could come up with a sway bar.

Common trailer suspensions have only a spring on each side, and no additional (anti)sway bar... they depend on the springs being stiff enough to get enough roll stiffness. More roll stiffness would be good, especially if the springs are kept soft enough for good ride; an antisway bar would be required if the transverse leaf is a "swing spring", but I assume that this would be mounted solidly in the middle, not pivoted in swing setup.