I didn't know of anyone else making a DIY Vistabule-style build, until I ran into Hannah (memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=32582) on IG.
I'd known about tnttt.com for a while, but hadn't spent much time here until I was poking around for some reason, and ran across John's Cape Build Journal just about a week ago. (viewtopic.php?p=1277269#p1277269). Holey Moley!!! I was shocked at the build quality, and the number of commonalities with my own build.
So, this seems to be THE PLACE TO BE for teardrop builds, and has already answered a few other open questions I had. Therefore, I figured I'd document my build here as well, as it keeps everything in one thread (a bit better than Facebook), and allows for better question/answers and details than IG. Bear with me as I experiment a bit with embedded links, attaching photos, etc.
CONTEXT and GOALS of my build
1) I wanted something that could 'most likely' be towed by my existing small hatchback or possibly a slightly-larger upgraded tow vehicle
2) While I'll initially use it for traditional weekend and weeks-long vacations, I aspire to possibly work from this teardrop while traveling for many-weeks, or months at a time (I'm a software engineer, currently working fully remotely)
3) My goal was to have a final all-up weight of less than 1000 lbs, with a stretch goal of ~750 lbs.
4) Therefore, many of the build choices were driven by this goal.
Building the TRAILER frame
So, with weight in mind, I decided to build an aluminum frame. I spent somewhere around 6-7 months learning to TIG weld aluminum. I had a mentor, my father's friend, who is a retired master welder, give me some instruction, inspecting my work, and giving design suggestions. I practiced on test joints, and destructively tested them, until they would reliably not fail at the weld, but along the parent material. Then I began welding the actual trailer frame.
-Adam