Hello All

[mattpeffers]

Hi Guys,

Stumbled across the concept of DIY caravan building on YouTube recently and it's set off a few ideas rattling around my head. Naturally I found this forum shortly afterwards and I've been browsing with considerable interest.

To give some background as to where I'm coming from, I graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering a year ago and have started working. The crazy idea of owning my own house suddenly doesn't seem so far over the horizon and I would like to be able to do some of the (particularly woodwork) jobs myself competently. Or at least know where my limits are. A relatively inexpensive, medium-sized, primarily wood-based project seems like a good idea to gain some experience and expand my toolkit a bit.

Initially, a Teardrop project seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Lately, the excitement's receded a little and I sense there would be a few significant hurdles, but possibly not insurmountable ones.

Primarily the actual trailer part. I cannot weld, so making my own trailer chassis isn't even worth considering. I'm based in the UK, so the Harbor Freight/Northern Tool options are probably out too, and my initial searches for trailers in the UK have been slightly less than promising. The majority seem to have their axles right in the centre, and are a bit on the expensive side. The most promising idea I've had is to look for an old trailer tent being sold off cheap as spares/repair and strip it down, but I'm not sure if the trailer chassis on these are likely to be in as bad a condition as the tents above them...?

Ensuring I end up with something that's sufficiently waterproof and roadworthy also isn't completely guaranteed, but maybe that's not uncommon with first builds...? I'd like to think if I don't try and be too ambitious with my design, take my time and pay close attention to the advice on here, I'll be able to do a decent job.

In any case, I'm not in a house with a garage just yet, so I've got plenty of time to ponder and plan before I can even think about getting started anyway...

But hello, anyway,
Matthew

[deleted]

Greetings Matthew,

When I designed my trailer I was kind of in the same boat as you are now. I looked at the bolt together trailers, then watched online sites like Craigslist for a used utility trailer that could be converted to a camper, but ultimately knew (just for the sake of safety) I wanted a custom chassis welded just for the trailer. I did take a MIG welding class (and a metal shop and woodworking class) and quickly realized that since it is the foundation of the trailer I should find someone professional to do the welding. Inquiries went out but then I was able to convince Alaska Teardrop (here on the forum) to let me hire him to complete the entire build for me from start to finish. So that solved my chassis problem. If I hadn't found Fred I would have pursued locating a local welder to do this part for me first running all of the specs by members here on the forum to make sure it was designed properly.

I agree with your current plan, to keep it simple and do everything decently/correctly, and you'll end up with a trailer you'll enjoy using.

The beauty of the forum is it allows us all to learn through collective mistakes and successes when it comes to both designing and building.

Best wishes to you on your future project.