Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

From td to cargo trailer to travel trailer. I'm back posting here again. Last June drove 12,00 miles roundtrip to spend 10 wents in Alaska pulling my 24' travel trailer. Great trip and all around adventure! Still have the travel trailer but it's stayed in storage due to Covid.

After completing lots of home projects I decided it would be fun to have a little camper I could keep in the driveway and ready to go at a moments notice. And the bonus was to be able to walk into it.

Drove to Michigan to pick up a 5 x 10 Neo Nav in August. RV side door is standard and I wanted barn doors in the rear. Bonus was an extra 6" of headroom inside.

Meant to be a simple project so I'll post pics. Had first campout the other day and forgot how much I missed a little camper............
Barb from Ohio

Hi Barb! It's good to hear from you! I'll be following your newest project.

Thanks Tom!



Most tedious part of the project. Taking off plywood walls, cutting trailer light wiring, and adding rigid insulation. After walls came the ceiling.

Besides insulation I coated roof with Henry's Tropi-Cool White. Not so much for waterproofing but more for reducing roof temperature.

And those are shed windows with safety glass. Used them in another project and they worked great. If I have problems I can swap them out for traditional rv windows since current ones are small.

Feels weird cutting into the roof on a new trailer but have had roof vents in all my other trailers.

Since I used Henry's Tropi-Cool for the roof they have matching silicone for caulking. It's been through a lot of rain already and no issues

Added a MaxxAir vent cover.

Finished interior ceiling with FRP panels and painted trim. I used FRP for the walls in a previous cargo conversion and decided to try it on ceiling. For the time being the plywood walls and floor are just painted.

Shed windows with screens. Picked 18' w x 21' l.

Towed trailer a few times, even in rain, and no issues with windows.

Spray painted an aluminum awning rail black. Had a local canvas company make 4 awnings. 2 are just for the windows. In the rain or a quick overnight stop.
I use bungee chords to the fenders so they stay in place.

In addition to the window awnings I had them make me a 5 x 5(driver side) and a 4 x 5(passenger side). The side door is too tall to have extended the awning over it.

And added a grab handle to the side door.

When the walls were off I added wood blocking/framing to all the areas I was going to attach something: windows, grab handle, power and blank inlets and awning rails. Also the trick was to carefully mark where the trailer wiring came down as to not screw into that!

So my 5 x 10 gave me an additional 15" in the soft v nose.

Decided to add a galley up front so I could have proper tongue weight for towing safety.

I've got everything but the kitchen sink





Microwave, fridge, and Portta Potti stored under bed(for night time).

(2) 15Amp Marinco power inlets were added. Inside they each go to a heavy duty power strip w it's own circuit breaker. Outside I used a 30Amp to (2) 15 amp adapter. Added a GFCI adapter. Simple and all bases covered.

Just camped at a state park and this setup was perfect. Normally I would only use one of the inlets but having the second strip with power allowed me to run a small ceramic heater on it's own circuit.

I also added (2) blank inlets: for propane line in for my Mr. Heater(while boon docking) or for my cable for TV antennae.

There's nothing like a nice 8" memory foam mattress. Have had good luck with all my campers getting them from Walmart. The twin would take up too much width wise so I clamped length between 2 boards and ran an electric carving knife to trim extra.

Found a nice folding camp chair with 3 back positions. If it was going to be a rainy day wanted another alternative to just laying in bed. Nice to have a chair I could use to have a meal and watch tv from too! And the chair is a perfect height to enjoy the view out the window!

So the first trip has come and gone. In a nutshell I've posted the progress on this build. Just like teardrops you are always thinking of what might work better.

Right now this little trailer will help me to get away for quick and easy trips without pulling out my larger 24' travel trailer in and out of storage.

Lets all stay safe and healthy out there!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome Back, Barbara!

Looks nice. We also just painted the plywood walls and ceilings. Have fun. It sounds like you love adventure.

Richard

Nice! I'm glad to see someone else with a 5x10. I'm waiting for mine to be built.

Nice looking rig! The Max Air vent covers in my opinion are one of the best purchases one can make. I added them to all of my commercial built Rv's that had roof vents. Being able to keep those vents open in all types of weather can be a lifesaver! Plus they extend the life of the cheap vent lids by keeping the UV off them. Worth every penny.

What are those wall mounted bags?