Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

DustinS wrote:Just curious, what are you doing to secure those shelving units from tipping over?

Nothing fancy there - just going to screw them right into the wall studs through the bottoms of the shelves. The big one isn't completely dialed in for location, though - has to wait for the folding bed, so it's going to be held with cargo bars on the next outing.

mutineer wrote:Flipping those shelves over and reinstalling gives you a lip the keeps,stuff from sliding about

That would be nice but for two things - the structural ribbing would get in the way and the post mount holes are slightly conical - they depend on being right way up to make the structure of the unit. One good thing about the shelving, though - infinite bungee cord mounting points. Everything will be locked down in some form or other for transport.

I would LIKE to think that a microwave oven strapped to a piece of plywood with camo bungee cords is going to be the most redneck-engineered thing about this trailer, but honestly I'm not certain of that yet.

(I'm going to paint the plywood, and there will be a forward-restraining bungee cord while driving although it's already in there really good. You can shake the whole trailer with the microwave door).

I love it. "Unlimited bungee" shelves are practical and simple. That's how I'd do a microwave if I had one! I said to myself I would paint the interior of mine when I got it five years ago. It's still just fine and I've grown accustomed to the "natural" wood look. I now think a camper should have that wood look, not be painted or "domestic."

Wait until it's dirty to paint it.

Ready to Roll!



I actually came out with more space than I'd expected. When I get the back done with the folding bed I'll have even tons more space.

I'm going to bolt the shelves in but wanted to hold off until I get the rest of the interior locked in. I'm not in a super big hurry now, though, because the cargo bars are awaesome, plus they solve how to secure the air conditioner and I have a hanging bar for clothes across the back when I get where I'm going.

Went over to a local welding shop today to talk to them about the folding bed. I was going to do it myself in wood but it struck me that steel would be lighter.

Neat shop - looking forward to it - we sketched and poked and prodded and came up with a plan and the initial estimate is $200! So I'm definitely going that route. I think doing it in lumber and plywood would be pushing half that and I should have a better system.

One corner done! Paint and flooring-wise, anyway. I'm going to stain the hardwood doors with a pecan stain/poly.

I got the back 2/3 painted (so I wouldn't have to empty it completely). I'm pleased with how it turned out. Next I'm putting in the flooring - got all the whole pieces done on one side - going to start tomorrow trimming the pieces for the other side and then moving my shelves back to the back and starting the front.

Nice color combo.

looks good

rebapuck wrote:Nice color combo.

Heh. I'm such a guy. I'll tell you how I arrived at the colors.

Ollie's has paint-N-primer for $17/gallon. One of the colors is not white. (I went on to put a coat of good Behr over it because I decided I wanted Semi Gloss, but I color matched it to what I already had).

The floor, after ruling out laminate because I was too lazy/floor space greedy to put in baseboards to cover the required gap, I went to the second cheapest option - peel and stick vinyl. I looked up at the display and picked the one that hid the seams best.

Paint and floor done!

And yes - it HAS taken me a month - but really a month on trying to wait for a day that wasn't almost 100 degrees or raining... or both.

Straightened up and cleaned up some before putting the bed back in. (I just had the shelving on sliders to move them around while I was working)

I'm super pleased with it.