Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

WOW!
Can't wait to see what you do with the inside.

attomica, Howdy;

WOW! Great work from your friend with the Fabrication. Truly puts an
exclamation mark on the project, that's fer sure.

I do question the placement of the spare tire, I would anyone's in that
location. Having had a flat along the interstate in the past. Not all
highways have ample shoulders and the oncoming traffic does NOT always
move over. In my case I had roughly 12" to the white line and that (driver's side),
was where the flat was. Had to literally do the change from under the trailer.
NOT fun!

hank

Karebru wrote:WOW!
Can't wait to see what you do with the inside.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to it too. Now that the exterior is mostly done, I can concentrate on the interior. Wiring is the next phase. I need to do a layout and determine the draw of all of the lights, plugs, pumps, etc. we'll have in the electrical system to know what kind of battery and wire gauge I need to get. I think we're going to have a 12v system with 110V only to charge the battery when we're not using solar. I know a little bit about wiring and electricity, like a little bit, so any recommendations or suggestions to start are certainly welcome.

hankaye wrote:...I do question the placement of the spare tire,...

Hmm, you're right, hank. It's not great. Your scenario is one I neglected to consider. Still, there really isn't a better place for it. The other side has the RV door in the way and the barn doors prevent a simple back-mounted solution. So, we're going to hope that A) We never have to deal with a flat and, B) There'll be plenty of space to deal with it if we do.

Hi,
Have, you made any more progress on your build? The exterior is gorgeous. We're looking forward to the interior.
Take care,
Tom

aggie79 wrote:Hi,
Have, you made any more progress on your build? The exterior is gorgeous. We're looking forward to the interior.
Take care,
Tom

Hi, Tom. Thanks for asking. Nashville’s winter was uncharacteristically ill-suited to working on outside projects. I spent the whole time looking at the trailer, longing to get going on it while it was either too wet or cold to log any time. The past two weekends, we finally got the floor frame undercoating fully applied and have replaced the factory OSB floor boards with pressure treated plywood. I’ve created a kick-ass propane tank bracket for our 11lb tank on the exterior side of the trailer and will cover that soon. And we’ve been gathering parts and components so when we get to the different stages, we’ll have them here at the ready. We’ve got most of the solar system components, the MaxxFan, windows, etc. I have a set of aluminum tubing on order to build the roof set-up that will support the solar panels and the side and back awnings. Today, I’m getting some plywood to start laying out the electrical system components.

I will certainly get back to chronicling the build when progress resumes in earnest.

Reminder if you have forgot...

While everything they installed inside is out, don't forget a substantial hose down from every possible angle. My "screw less" side walls leaked substantially when you sprayed water into the seams from the rear.

This was happening right after I gutted it and had the tongue way down. Rain ran off the roof, and down the side walls right into the seams.

Okay, I have clearly not achieved my goal to maintain a consistent account of progress. Sorry for that.

Here's my propane tank mount. I fashioned it after some other similar side-mount style brackets I've seen made by other companies. I designed in on the computer and made a couple cardboard models before having if finally made of steel. It's laser-cut, then bent, then reinforcement elements were welded in, and then it was powder coated black. I also adhered four rubber pads for the tank to rest against. I intend to secure the tank to the bracket with a lock of some kind so we can be away from the trailer rand not worry about thieves. I was thinking about plumbing some sort of line, but we'll be using the tank for either a stove or a grill with will each be placed in different areas, so I' guess I'll just use a long hose.




Here it is with the 11lb. tank in. It has a flat floor with a semi-circular lip welded in that fits inside the tank's bottom and holds it in place. There's just one strap in place in the pics, but I designed the bracket to have slots for three straps, which is what I'll have in place when we're actually on the move.




I made an inside brace that bridges two studs for the bracket to mount to. You can see the four holes to which the bracket mounts. Those black circles between the brace and the trailer wall are rubber washers. I used those both inside and outside. The tightened mounting bolts will compress them and be good for keeping moisture out. It worked out beautifully. The whole set-up is super solid.

I spent a good bit of time learning about electrical systems for RVs. Turns out it's not all that complicated. Of course, you have to pay attention to details and have a bit of mechanical aptitude, but it's totally understandable. My system will be located up in the V-nose and the components are all attached to a piece of plywood.

The power requirements we will have are pretty light (again with the puns). Inside, we'll have four LED puck lights in the cabin, an LED strip in the galley, and a couple 12v automotive sockets in the cabin and also in the galley. From the inverter, I'll have one 120v outlet in the cabin and also one in the galley. Outside, we'll have LED string lights hung under both the side and the back awnings. I honestly don't know how much any 120v devices will be used, but it seems like that system should be included.

The heart of the system is an SOK 206aH LiFePo4 battery. I used YouTube videos by Will Prowse as a guide for my electrics and he seemed to really like this one. It's well-built and has important features.



I may have mentioned earlier that I have my solar panels and components. We bought an assembled kit from Renogy during a black Friday sale. From that kit, I mounted the solar charge controller to the board in the top left, then the inverter in the middle, and the 12v fuse block on the right.



Here's the assembly test fit in the V-nose.



I wanted to be able to remove the battery from the trailer without too much effort, so I installed Anderson connectors on the battery cables.




Wiring the trailer is currently under way. That will also include mounting the solar panels so I can run the cabling down to the charge controller, but before I can mount the panels, I have to mount the roof bars. So, it's clearly a very involved phase of the project. That, coupled with the fact that it's going to be "hotter-n-Hell" for a while means I will have to get to it when I can. Once that is all completed, we can move on to insulating and interior construction.

It's looking great.

I was able to get my solar panel assemblies (SPAs) put together this weekend. There are two SPAs, a front one and a back one, with the Max Fan between them.

Here's the roof layout:



A SPA is composed of two roof bars and two solar panels, attached to make it one cohesive unit. This will make getting them on the roof and mounting them an easier process, but with the ability to remove a panel if needed. The roof bars are 1.5" square aluminum tube with welded-on footpads of 3" square aluminum tube, cut at 45° to give it a better look and allow access to the bottom to drill through and run attachment hardware. On the driver's side, I installed plugs in the end of the tubes to keep debris out and give a more finished look. On the passenger side, I'm leaving the tubes open because I will be using a "slide-in bar awning" design. The roof bar at the back of the trailer has a different footpad design because the same sort of "slide-in bar awning" will be used there to cover the back galley area.





I've made some progress in wiring the trailer for both the 12V and 120V systems, and that can continue as soon as I get the SPAs mounted so I can get the cabling routed down to the electrical center.

Your panel mounting system looks great, especially the angle cut feet. So does your work table with the routed edges and beveled table leg attachments. Much attention to detail!

attomica wrote: So, we're going to hope that A) We never have to deal with a flat and, B) There'll be plenty of space to deal with it if we do.

Reminds me to finish my spare mount in the same area;

As for changing tire.
My last flat was 1/2 Hour? into the drive from a motel just did a walk around tires were fine.
Had it been conveniently placed such as your’s, Would have be so much easer to change it
As it was I drove that rental trailer on a narrow freeway, flashers on at a safe speed Till there was a turn off!
No tire at all.
Job payed well, load was very small and very valuable as was I

Same story every day of the week don’t feel safe don’t do it!

Midway USA with

Rack feet idea may get stolen The 11lb mount, this is a reminder where the picture was fits in this category

Much thanks for your compliments and comments!

I got the SPAs assembled and onto the top of the trailer. It all fits just right! I love it when things work. I still need to tidy the wiring, but that should be fairly easy since I gave myself enough room under the panels to work on that.




I'm going to hopefully use the coming three-day weekend to make some good progress. I say "hopefully" because it looks like rain chances are pretty high.

Questioning the direction of your front air vent. Might be a rain catcher.