Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

This is my sketchup design. Please use your imagination with regards to the final product (i.e. colors, ect). I do not know how to add the nifty colors and textures yet.







Here is some info regarding my design.

-HF heavy duty 4'x8'
-The camper is designed to be 5' wide, built over the wheels, 6" wider than HF frame
-24" x 40" wide drop floor, depth of the floor =9"
-5' 9" standing room (while in the drop floor)
-2' x 5' wide counter top w/ storage underneath
-5' x 6' bed
-14" high underneath the bed for storage (easy access to the storage space is to be determined)
-I plan to use 1/4" luan for the roof skin. The tightest radius of the roof skin is 22" at the front (I hope I can make this bend). I am pretty sure Steve W made a 24" bend for the Puffin with 1/4".
-Door should be around 20" wide, located on the right side and centered inline with the drop floor.
-Window placement to be determined (likely will be one on each side towards the rear and another in the door as well as across from the door)

Well thats all I can think of for now. Have fun finding flaws/critiquing my design. Feedback is appreciated.
-Joe

That's a baby TAB, aka the Widget and/or the Tidget. You'll find that information in the archives if you do a search.

Good design by the way Joe!!!

Mike...

That looks good. A few thoughts:

- It wouldn't be too hard to make it heavy enough to overload the HF trailer once stores/belongings/travel junk are added, so weight-conscious building will be required.

- That roof locker over the galley will be just where your forehead will bash it when cooking or washing up - not necessarily a problem, but could get annoying.

- 14" high bed base plus half of a 4" deep cushion plus a 9" drop floor means it will be about 25" from your thighs to the floor, so when sitting your feet will be way off the floor (just like being a little kid again!). Again it may be no problem, but it's not comfortable to sit like that for terribly long.

- 6 feet long is a short bed nowadays - you might want to rig up a board in that position on your bed at home and see if you get a good night's sleep. As the back end of the bed is in the curve of the body, it will probably be 1-2" short of 6'.

- A 24" deep counter is very generous - it's a normal depth at home, but anything over 14" can be found in some trailers and, where space is tight, 20" deep is plenty.

Andrew

That's a baby TAB, aka the Widget and/or the Tidget.

Mike,
Those designs have greatly influenced my design. I give them much credit!

Andrew,
If I end up building this, I certainly plan to keep weight in mind as I have read that many individuals have regretted over building their trailers.

I have thought some about your roof locker concerns. I may consider pushing it back a few inches to give my head more room.

I agree with you in that I think the bed is too high. I don't want to have my feet dangling b/c I may endup having a small foldable table over the drop floor so I can eat sitting off the side of the bed. I think I'll decrease the under-bed storage area to 11 or 12" (I'll have to experiment with my computer chair-i.e. raising and lowering it to different heights). I don't want to go too much b/c that would sacrifice storage space.

I am comfortable with the 6ft length bed as I am not all that tall. I know for a fact that I will sleep well with 6ft of length ( I have tested this).

-I guess the 24" deep counter may be too big however, I made it big not so much for the large counter space but for the large storage space underneath. It's always a comprimise between space and storage with these little campers (thats the fun though).

Well thanks for the feedback. I will certainly consider your input.
-Joe [/quote]

pELF28p wrote:I am pretty sure Steve W made a 24" bend for the Puffin with 1/4".

Yup, I'm pretty sure he did too.

Thanks Steve. By the way, you just reminded me of that Seinfeld episode where the guy only talked in 3rd person.
-Joe

That profile looks like one these...


The interior is similar to alotta projects here. (Including my own) :-)

And currently, my design uses 1/8" thick material inside and I've purchased 1/8" luan for the outside.[/img]




Album: http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/album_personal.php?user_id=5360

Another 'standy' design begins!

Les, Very NICE !!! Coming along ...

Looks great Lester. I am very impressed. I see you built approx. 6" off the sides of the HF frame. Can you share how built the framing for the floor (i.e. what materials, dimensions of framing ect. ) I am particularly curious about what supports you made underneath the part of the floor that hangs off the side of the frame. Thanks!
-Joe

How'd the floor (and sub floor) go in?

In the 'lighter is better' category, I went with NO sub floor, and cantilevered flooring outside the frame.

Well, the 'No sub floor' comment isn't exactly true - the sub floor is flush with the HF trailer frame, so to no add any extra height to the design.

The flooring is plain 1/2" (really 15/32nds) plywood. And it is laid directly on the HF trailer frame. (With relief holes where the bolts are). I reinforced the floor with 1x2 'beams' fitted to inside the HF frame where there wasn't a regular steel cross member, and glued to the underside of the plywood. That of course left about 8" of unsupported material around the outside of the floor.

The perimeter of the flooring was then framed from the underside with 1x2's all the way around, then front and back the floor was supported all the way across with 1x2 'beams'. The one 'beam' right in front of the dropwell, was actually a 1x3; so it could carry just bit more weight without flexing. (And the drop well actually come right out to the HF frame.)

The side walls were laid out where the bottom of each wall (another 1x2) would lay all the way up the edge of the floor. This joint was glued the full length, and was pre-drilled and secured with 3" screws at about 2 ft intervals. That meant the edge of the floor was a sandwiched beam... 1x2 on edge on top of 1/2" ply and 1x2 on edge underneath, all glued and screwed.

Additional stiffness comes from the little 'bulkheads' that were cut to create the shapes to form the rocker panels. They were cut from scrap 1/2" ply, but probably could have been made from lighter material.

The sides of the trailer (the walls) that support the overhang, and the other individual pieces will work together to tie the floor to the sides as a very solid joint. Loads from the upper portion will be spread out along the whole base (plywood floor) which is supported by the HF trailer frame.

The obvious question here, of course is... "How does the floor not 'oil-can' right along the metal HF frame, since the support is 8" from the edge?"

Well again the rocker frames distribute the weight inward some, but they are not actually tied to the HF metal frame. (They only rest against it really). In the back interior section, (the bed/dinette), the seat frames tie to the walls and to the floors, creating a large truss. The same goes for the forward section; the galley counter & potty walls combo make another truss. And lastly the wheel well boxes add additional strength.

All in all, the effect here was to create a build that worked like a monocoque (uni-body) design.

The irony here is that even this is probably OVER built.

Here are some photos that might help some...





And more in the album...
http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/album_personal.php?user_id=5360

Thanks for the info Lester. I have decided to go with no subfloor as well. Thanks for the tips.
-Joe