Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

This is my first post after prolonged research of the site. Went down South to pick up my trailer and returned just before the Snowpocolipse hit the East coast mid January posting.php?mode=post&f=42#.

Now to plan the interior...

I will install an outdoor kitchen on the curbside gull wing opening and the roadside opening will be boxed in with an outdoor shower with a propane camping hot water heater for outdoor showers.

Remember, my first post which I am sure will get better with time.

Gary

Now the inside to be planed will have an indoor shower along with a Compost Toilet like "Over the Top" has. Keep it simple grandpa would say.

I am thinking about moving the back wall back toward the fold down door freeing up more space... The original idea was to have a 4' porch but space shrinks real fast...

Also will have a U berth dinning setup for extra sleeping space and inside lounging.

Camp Wags, Howdy;

Welcome to the madness! That is an interesting looking trailer you've got yourself.
What are the interior dimensions? How much is "Back Porch"? This will be an interesting
build to watch. Lookin' forward to watchin' it come together.

hank

You have the opportunity for a great project. But I wonder why you picked black. Are you not worried about the interior temps?

You have the opportunity for a great project. But I wonder why you picked black. Are you not worried about the interior temps?

Bob

This is not black paint, it's top secret DOD light absorbing stealth camo .....designed to be 100% invisible when parked inside the most expensive RV parks in the country, studying the nocturnal habits of RV'ers.

Cheers ottct

Oh!

This is not black paint, it's top secret DOD light absorbing stealth camo .....designed to be 100% invisible when parked inside the most expensive RV parks in the country, studying the nocturnal habits of RV'ers.

You guys "ARE SMART"!

First I live in New Hampshire and we have mostly tree covered campgrounds, but for the record, I'm so cool I have to wear shades. Really my diesel Dodge is black and I wanted the matching look and undercover stealth of a Cargo Trailer.

The inside is 15' to the beginning of the V and the V continues on 5' more. It is 8' wide and 7' tall. The back porch which is part of the 15', is 4' X 8', but I may move the wall back 3.5' back to give me more interior space. The plan is to have an outside kitchen on the curbside built into the gull wing opening on that side. The other side gull wing can be boxed in and used for mechanical stuff. I will have running water and grey water tanks along with 12 volt and 120 volt power. I have Solar at home and so I am use to batteries and 12 volt power and the systems needed to make it all work. My first question is on weight distribution, and where systems should go? Like water tanks, batteries and propane tanks etc.

I have been motivated and inspired by many of your builds, so I will be picking your brains. Living in New England, my progress will be slower than I would like at this time year.

First I will be taking the plywood off the walls and insulating with foam board like so many of you have. I plan to put some time and money into this build, and I am hopping for a professional quality out come. If you are old enough to remember the Customized Van craze, I grew up working in a Van shop building interiors.

My build might not be "Over the Top", but I have hope that it will be, "Out of the Park!"

Camp Wags, Howdy;

If you look at the side of the trailer you'll notice that the wheels are set slightly to the rear of center,
that is to help spread the load (if you were to fill it top to bottom side to side with identical units), to
a ratio of 60% front of the axles and 40% behind. So, just keep that in mind as a "General Rule". From
what you mentioned about the Mechanical space and kitchen being in the "Gull-wings" ...

Yep, remember the custom van time, almost to well

hank

a ratio of 60% front of the axles and 40% behind.

So battery bank up front, water tanks towards middle? Outdoor Kitchen rear curbside and bath towards the front?
These are the things I need for planning.

Thanks,
Gary

Because I have the refrigerator, shower, 11 gal water container, water heater and cabinets up in the front section, I tired to keep my batteries only a bit forward of the axle. But then again, I have a single axle. I will add galley stuff and the Yamaha generator in the very back and balanced as best I can to counter balance the front/battery weight.
On my tongue will be two 20 lb propane tanks and a tongue box for stuff.

Camp Wags wrote:

You guys "ARE SMART"!

My build might not be "Over the Top", but I have hope that it will be, "Out of the Park!" [/quote]

My new motto is "ultimate stealth parking".
Last weekend I spent some time inside LUX - RV park and NO ONE - even noticed I was there.
you gotta have some BIG - balls to try that, but i crapped my pants at how easy it was
i'm pretty sure they all thought, this was some big ass bus owner , just parking his extra trailer while he was in the RV park chillaxen.

Camp Wags, Howdy;

Can't say about what you need to put where ... you can weigh each item (excessively OCD),
or use some common sense. The area between your axles is a neutral zone, won't effect balance to
front nor rear. You can keep an eye on the tongue weight (12% - 15% of trailer Gross weight), by following
a link supplied by professorkx in this thread viewtopic.php?f=42&t=63274&p=1129284#p1129284
He pretty much spells out the process and you can do it with a bathroom scale. Here's the link that he attached
and how the originator did it. http://www.hildstrom.com/projects/tongu ... index.html
Hope this helps.

hank

Only in New England can it go from -16 and two and a half days later it is 50. It was warm enough in my pole barn to work on the trailer today.


I stated by placing sheets of warmed soundproofing material comparable to dynamat on the inside of the skin, staggered as total coverage is not needed.
Then I sprayed the ribs with a rust preventing underbody spray by Rustolume.



This made a huge difference in the reverberation of the side panels and will contribute greatly to the soundproofing of the finished trailer.

My trailer has a back wall that is installed 5' from the back door of the trailer that gives me a kind of porch. It has an RV door in the middle of the wall. I had planned to move the wall back 4' toward the back of the trailer... BUT when I took off the plywood I saw that it is actually steal framed welded to the trailer base and not stick framed like I originally thought..



I am surprised on the quality of the trailer build... other than the wiring.



I plan to soundproof all the walls and coat the ribs with the spray...

After much research and a little bickering on this site from others... I will be layering my insulation.

First foil-foam-foil to fill out the space than some type of thermal decoupler attached to the metal ribs to extend the wall cavity out another 2" for the pink or blue foam. Then I will replace the plywood followed by one more layer of foam covered with acoustical fabric for the finished wall. The end result I am working toward will be an exceptionally well insulated black trailer that will be easy to heat and cool and will be very quite. Because I might be hunt'n wrabitts!

Thoughts... Suggestions???

Nice build! Who did the bunk pop out for you? The CT mfg or you? I want to build an 8.5' wide x 18' long V-nose with no rear access. That is where I want to put a pop out bunk leaving the floor totally open for whatever. I'm thinking 8.5' wide should be enough for a pop out bunk.