Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I've been working on this,on and off, for the best part of a year and I'm somewhere near done, so I thought I'd post what I've got as an incentive to get it all finished.

This trailer is a close copy of the Compact Jr fiberglass trailer from the 1970s and is a semi-standy - you can stand up in it after you've raised the lifting roof. It's 10ft long in the body and here it is with the all-solid (no fabric) insulated lifting roof down and up:





And here's a photo from the the original's brochure, showing it being towed by a Datsun 510 - I guess no-one would think that to be safe today:



I aim to provide a complete set of free plans with pretty much everything needed to build one - at present the plans to make all the parts of the trailer are available, but I will sometime be adding weight information, a material list, some final assembly drawings/instructions and a description for each of the current sets of plans.

I'm doing this so far just as a sets of multi-page PDF files to print on Letter paper - there isn't a CAD file available to download though if anyone really wants the 20-layer 1Mb CAD model the plans come from, they'll be welcome to have it emailed to them.

Have a look and see if you're interested - if so, start bugging me to finish them.....

Compact 3 TTT Plans

Andrew

Hey Andrew...

That's good. I'd like to see the huge cad file you have on that. Can you email me that.

The floorplan is like that of the WW.

Mike...

WOW.........cool TTT. Thanks for making those plans available.....................

Barb

I would offer one modest suggestion:

For the lifting roof: If the end panel was the one that lifted first (instead of the side panels), you could have it engage a track on the roof itself. This would help hold the roof down - but would also let the end panel act as the lifting mechanism for the roof. It's the same approach used in my Esterel (a hard sided pop-up caravan).

mkw

Mike, I tend to agree with you - but there's a reason I have designed it this way round, as I would prefer to do it the way you've suggested.

If you push up the rear panel first, you're trying to do so through the gap between the two side panels and that is very narrow at the back. There are some other detail reasons, but that's the main one. If the lifting section width is greater on your Esterel, this wouldn't be a problem, but I wanted to keep the lifting roof to 4ft wide.

Oh, and one more reason - I've designed it this way round so far and it's lots and lots of work to change it.

Andrew

That's strike 1 against solid modeling. You used to be so quick at changing things...

angib wrote:I've designed it this way round so far and it's lots and lots of work to change it.

This is so cool. Thanks.

I've been weighing the same idea for a straight up/down pop-top or an angled one like your design.

I've got that fiberglass ambulance box that is 10' and 69" wide. Its a little over 68" tall inside measurement. But due to the wedge floor design, I'll be lowering it onto a square taper base. Lowering will help with the wind drag behind the Wrangler. But then I would need a pop-top for a 'standy'. I have been looking at small pickup bed tonneau covers. Used prices are in the $150 area and I could probably get one a little cheaper. These are about 60" width overall for the small pickup and are 1-piece fiberglass. They would come with a seal already so leakage with be minimized as well as gas struts to help with lifting. Adding the sides I am weighing, either canvas or something else. Canvas, I was looking at military tent shelters. These would already be treat for mildew. For hardside, I was looking at home vinyl siding as it would be a 1-piece 4x8 sheet. I would like the sides to match the lower base area.

Edit: You may want to add accessibility through the interior and exterior to those floor storage areas under the benches and even cabinets. I had planned to layout access with the kitchen cabinet on the curb side so if I would need anything I wouldn't have to go back in. I also plan to have a protective top swing up from the siding as well as have a table come from underneath the floor in a flat basement area (4" of the floor). The top would be for authentics more than protection but would hold a light and be gas strut supported and a canvas weather protector could be added due to weather conditions, or I would cook inside. The table would be attached to the side through a hook bracket.

Andrew,

This is simply brilliant! Thanks for helping the TTT community with plans like these!!

Mike has kindly done some expert renderings of the Compact CAD model that I've added to the web page. Here's one of the inside:



Andrew

Andrew this is great TTT layout. The movable-roof is the problem I'm tring to solve as I build my fullsize model. The trailer I have started is about the same size. I have been playing with Sketch-up to look at all the angles and joints to seal and protect.


You and Mike Keep up the good work maybe I can get a solution to the standy movable roof section.

Pat

PS: Andrew I'm looking at the lifting section of the roof and the hinged area. I was going to use the raised "saddle area of the CURB" as you did just lower it as a gutter as some hatches are done that are flat....ie roof hatch on a Ferosa or Sporttrac F-300 series sunroof top

I used to live in Cirencester when I was stationed at RAF Fairford in the 60's married a girl from Ciren back then. Nice trailer thanks Gary Carpenter,

If anyone is interested I know where there is an original Compact trailer for sale. It in located just north of NYC and would be pretty cheap. It needs to be dragged out of a backyard a ways and then probably trailered as it hasn't on the road in many years.
Mark

This is interesting, I may have to build one of these next.

That is a great idea, I've owned a VW westfalia Vanagon before building my Teardrop and have really missed the poptop. I might have to build one of these in the future. I just looked at the plans and they are very detailed, great work, thanks for posting.

Thanks some more from a newby to sleeper designs. Great information.