Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Total budget so far as I have been able to keep track of is under 4000$ including the price of the trailer

Picked up a 16' v nose from my brother, he just put new tires on it.

We gutted all wood from it (floor cabinets walls everything). We put in new drop axles, trailer light wiring, break away box, brakes, etc.

Big expenses were:
wood and fasteners, many 100$ of dollars more than I planned
Insulation, I decided to use 1 1/2" silverboard instead of just 3/4
Electrical. I could have just bought a 30-20 amp converter and used a power strip but I splurged
Time. I'm really not sure what I was thinking. I've never done this before so my estimation of what it would take was WAY off.

Anyways. I won't bore you with the during and before pictures. Just a little info and a couple of pictures from a few weeks ago. I'll try to post completed pictures this weekend when I finish painting, trim work and a few other odds and ends.
I build the murphy style bed, it didn't turn out as good as I hopped but it works. I plan to mount a bicycle parking thing for the 4 kids bikes where the bed would lay down and just use thumb screws to hold it to the floor. Then take the bikes and parking thing out when we get to the camp site. I was going to use the 12v/110v dometic fridge that we have in the camper but came across a free mini fridge with freezer. I also was going to build all the cabinets square, flush and without obvious wood working mistakes but apparently decided against that too. But I'm learning. The window install was easier than I though and the used RV window fits great. I did 12/2 stranded for my outlets, 10/2 for my service plug and wiring and am using a PD4135 for my power. Flooring install should be this weekend and by then I should be done with trim, paint and buttoning up the last things.

Thanks for sharing. Looks good!

"...someone who doesn't carpenter..."

Are you kidding me? It looks great!

Lools great. You are going to enjoy that!


Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

Good job! Better than I could do.

Went camping with the kids. Figured out a few things I want to change or modify. But all in all I slept well, we were far more comfortable, it's paid for and we had much more room than camping out of the truck. So far it's a win

Here is a picture of the flooring added

It looks Great!! Good Job!!


Ken

Well, the short of it is that it looks really nice to me!

Been camping a few times since building. Has kept us dry and warm. Working on that warm part next for some possible warm weather camping.

Added a powered roof vent, another window, some small things here and there. Slept 6 nights in it this month.

Complaints so far: mattress is terrible.
Bed is too close to the floor, and would be better if it pivoted closer to driver side wall
Need an outside electrical outlet
Wife wants cabinet doors by microwave
Wife wants a larger sink and for me to look into a larger water system
I want to camp more

So far I've spent around $5000 including the initial trailer cost. Have learned a lot, mostly what not to do. But I AM learning

You should warn a guy who is sneaking a peek at the forum at work before you say something like: I also was going to build all the cabinets square, flush and without obvious wood working mistakes but apparently decided against that too. because I laughed out loud and attracted way too much attention!

Trailer looks great, thank you for taking the time to share it with us.

Tell us more about the grey cabinet with the sliding trays - that looks interesting. Do you have to secure them to keep from moving during travel? What size/brand/source for the trays?

Bezoar wrote:Tell us more about the grey cabinet with the sliding trays - that looks interesting.[/color] Do you have to secure them to keep from moving during travel? What size/brand/source for the trays?

Those grey "drawers" are grey rubbermaid commercial utility boxes.
about 20.5" x 16.5" x 5" (just under 5 gallons)

They were 10$, are great because if you have something that leaked it will contain that liquid.

Wife wanted drawers, and it was easier and cheaper to just put in a tool box.

Hid the camp toilet in a box. Gives me a seat to use, hides the toilet and keeps it contained and in place

My reason for a cargo trailer. We take 5 bikes with us for the kids. When we get to camp we remove this parking rack and fold the bed down. Kids sleep in a tent (sorry kids, dads too broken to sleep in an air bed)


And I have more sanding, painting etc to do. Its def a work in progress