hi from akron, oh

[johnnyb121669]

just wanted to introduce myself. my name is john and my awsome (yes i am a product of the 80's) wifes name is mindy.we have 2 children 1 and 3 yrs old and i have 2 step children preteens-oof. anyways i have been inspired by your talents to plan a teardrop of our own. still in planning stages but will fill you guys in when i get a definate style decided on. would love to hear from any members in the northeast ohio area that maybe willing to let me check out thier rig. one thing that really challenges me is there is no real right way to build everyone does it different. where do i start? do i stick frame it, cookie cutter- insulation-sandwich style, or just start with 3/4" ply walls? how do you decide on where to start? thanks for a great site and im sure you'll hear from me soon
john

[Oldragbaggers]

Welcome John. Good luck on your build.

[Catherine+twins]

As the proud owner of a car (read ANY car, any van, any SUV), my first step was to look at what my car could tow. Unless you can afford to buy a new tow vehicle (TV) to pull what ever you build, you need to build to what the existing TV can pull. If your limit is 750 pounds without trailer brakes, 1200 pounds with trailer brakes, you do NOT use 3/4 inch ply for everything, and you might look at the foamies section. If your limit is 2000 pounds (probably with brakes), you can build like a tank (but do you really want or need to?). And try to build UNDER your limit. Many a time, people estimate 1000 pounds, but find they are at or over 1400 dry weight when they put the trailer on a scale.

I have rarely read a build thread where someone wished he had built heavier. You will see many references to overbuilding, though.

Catherine

[Shadow Catcher]

Greetings from Northwest Ohio and you're more than welcome to make the journey over and see ours. My suggestion is that you might want to join TearJerkers click the link above. The Buckeye chapter is quite active and you would have an opportunity to see what a number of people done. There are two teardrop manufacturers in Ohio that I know of Little Guy is in your neck of the woods and Lefty Originals which is in our neck of the woods.

Depending on what you plan on doing i.e. having the kids inside the trailer versus in their own tents next to the trailer ( they are usually happier that way anyway) you might want to consider a cargo trailer conversion. A good that depends on what you're going to be towing it with.

One other suggestion is start looking at people's albums and see what they've done.

[mikeschn]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum from Strongsville! (Born and raised there!)

Mike...