Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Here's my idea on building the trailer. It has to hold four people and my kids can't sleep next to each other without fighting. The trailer frame is about 6' by 10'. The front end would be like the Squidget and the back about the same except the wall would go straight up after the angle. The roof would be flat as that's easier to make.

Someone on the board suggested in camping in the trailer before deciding on everything in it so the only thing that I'm planning on in the interior is a raised bed for me and my wife. One kid will sleep below us and the other in the front. I should be able to finish the trailer quicker that way also.

The walls and roof will be a 2 x 2 framed with 1/8 inch plywood and polyurathene foam poured between the sheets. I was planning on making a brace using 3/4 plywood and drilling holes through the 2 x 2 and then bolting it together to keep the foam from deforming the thin plywood. The floor will be built the same way except the top part will be 1/2 inch plywood. The walls will be about 6' high.

Finishing will be with CPES and paint. The current family favorite for the color is metallic purple. http://tinyurl.com/qd3n4

Once I liberate the windows from my father-in-laws camper I can draw up some plans. The above is how I was planning on constructing the trailer. I"m also planning on putting in a vent fan and an air conditioner.

Does anybody see any problems with this? Will the floor be able to hold up? I weigh over 250 lbs and my wife weighs over 300 lbs so I'm a little worried about strength. My father-in-law is worried about racking. Is this something that I should be worried about?

First I would recommend, from what you have described, that you NOT have a child bunk under the adult bunk. Could be a big safety issue. Better safe than sorry.

Dewayne,

No 'answers' for you, but here are some thoughts:

- Pouring foam sounds like a lot of work for not that much benefit. As most of your panels are flat, it would make more sense to use sheet foam. If you have to put in many 2x2s, you won't need the foam for strength.

- If you use thin ply construction, remember that you need to build reinforcements into the walls and roof wherever important stuff will go on the inside.

- If you're trying to build light, then using 1x2s in the walls and roof will be strong enough. Closing up the spacing of the timbers will do more to make the structure stronger compared to making the individual timbers thicker.

- You'll probably want to add an extra of ply on the front outside where rocks may get thrown.

- Your dad needn't worry at all about racking! Trailers are only supported on three points - two wheels and a hitch - so they don't get racking forces applied to them (except a tiny bit from the inertia of their own weight). And once you've closed up the six faces of your body, you've got a great torsion-resisting box.

Andrew

dacrazyrn wrote:First I would recommend, from what you have described, that you NOT have a child bunk under the adult bunk. Could be a big safety issue. Better safe than sorry.

I agree. The other way around is usually a much better idea.

Ed

You might consider building something like the raindrop...

http://poplarhillrv.com/model560.html



It's got bunk beds in the front...



Mike...

Saw this on This Old House

Where it comes to the foam insulation, they have a spray on foam that goes on real thin and with in a couple of seconds, it puffs up and fills the space and seals everything up. You would have to spray this stuff on before you put the outter skin on the trailer, however it is easy to trim with a BIG scraping knife. The one I saw sat on the 2 studs and scraped the foam down to the level of the studs. I would run all of my wires and what ever you are going to run between the walls before you spray this stuff, and make sure all of the big holes (where you ran wire or ? through) are covered or sealed prior to spraying.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm not sure when I thought of having the kids under me instead of over. I've been thinking about this for months and I've gone through so many ideas I can't remember them all any more.

I took a look at this site to get an idea on how much foam sheets cost. http://tinyurl.com/emp53. (I can find things easier at this site the Home Depot or Lowes web sites). And I started to rethink why I was planning on insulation. The reasons for the pourable foam was to add strength like a SIP panel but I guess that isn't the case. Reason #2 was for sound deading in case we left the dog in the trailer while we went somewhere. Guess that will go to plan B. The third reason was in case we went somewhere in the winter. My son keeps going icky, icky cold at the thought. (I don't know where he gets that from. We live in MI). And if I don't put in the insultation I should have enough to buy some toys (er tools).

Anglib how far apart does the 1x need to be? I looked at the generic benroy plans and the spars for the roof

Mike thanks for showing that teardrop but the boss said no. She wants to be able to stand up in it.

I saw that spay on foam on the web. It looked like it was only available from the manufacturer and they wanted to train on how to use it first.

Polyurathene foam is very interesting. Several farmers in the area have had it sprayed on the inside of shops and barns to help hold in the heat.

One fella has a foam house. It was built about 20 years ago and is in pretty good shape. The biggest enemy is the woodpeckers who love to drill holes in it to nest. The house is a very unusual shpe and we call it the Flintstone house. I'll try to get a picture of it. He also has a double garage. Birds have really done a number on that.

The foam tends to get chalky with age. He does keep the house painted to give it UV protection. The frame is chicken wire and a few studs. Cost about $50 bucks a year to heat, has some moisture problem inside in the winter.

Dewayne, over a 6ft span, I reckon you should space 1x2 spars at 9-12" centres. This won't be strong enough to stand on in the middle - if you want to do that, you probably need a 3" deep roof.

Just to be clear, I'm suggesting you use 1x2s with the 2 dimension (actual 1-1/2") vertical and the 1 dimension (actual 3/4") horizontal. So the complete roof thickness will be the same as if you used 2x2s, but there will be half the amount of timber in it.

Andrew

Thanks for the help Anglib. I've got to get going on this very soon. I'm getting my first sabbatical this year and I'm taking August off. It's going to be years before I get anothe sabbatical.

Dewayne_Mellen wrote:Mike thanks for showing that teardrop but the boss said no. She wants to be able to stand up in it.

Ah, the boss wants a standie... so what have you decided on?

I see several possibilities...

1) The Winter Warrior
2) The Wild Goose
3) A Shasta clone like Len is building
4) A T@B clone
5) A Bambi like CampADK are getting...

So which one is it?

Mike...

I took a look at the design library again and I think that I like the Compact. Do you know if anybody has built that?

Dewayne_Mellen wrote:I took a look at the design library again and I think that I like the Compact. Do you know if anybody has built that?

Not yet, as far as I know. Several people have said they are interested, but it's a big step from there to doing it.

Several people have asked for more/better info on the Compact and I hope to produce that in the next few months.

Andrew

My daughter took a photo of the Flintstone House. Only got half of it. The owner abandoned it two years ago due to poor health. It is in a small town of 380 people. It is hard to see, but she counted several woodpecker and red squirrel holes bored into the house. I know he sprayed paint on it every coupla years and it sure needs it again.

If it goes back for taxes I may have to pick this one up.

I've got another question. If I use 5.2 mm luaun instead of 1/8 plywood would the spars still need to be 9-12 inches apart or can they be farther apart?

I'll get some pictures up as soon as my wife finds the cable for the camera. I told her that if I don't get pictures Madjack will get mad at me.