Intro:
I am building a teardrop trailer because I am “thrifty” and cannot find anything prefab that I like or want to spend my money on. After sleeping in a tent all weekend at a Cub Scout event and then tent camping the next weekend at the Grand Canyon NP and Joshua Tree NP the wife finally has agreed that we need some type of trailer. To get her to agree to this concept, a lot of research had to be done on the prefab trailers. She has now finally agreed.
Requirements:
The trailer must be lighter then 2,000 lbs the towing capacity of her Jeep Patriot (my JKU has 3500lb towing capacity, for just in case). Must have room for 2 adults and 1 child (child in separate tent not option/ tried), plus two dogs. It must have a sink for washing hands, face and/or teeth. The color and finish of the trailer is not an issue for her.
Results:
We are taking the Wanderer 10, in the design library, and morphing two designs together. We are taking the layout A1 and combining it with layout B. There will not be a galley or toilet internal to the trailer. If weight allows, we will install a small pullout / chuck box. The bed in layout B will not be a table, but a couch in the daytime and a bed in the evenings. Not sure if we are going to make the bed the same width as the design or shrink it down to fit a Therm-a-rest mattress that we already have. This will give us more floor space. There will not be a dropped floor. This is to increase ease of build and offset a small amount of weight. This may change after the build, as most things tend to do. The sides will be built to specifications within the designs accept for the skin. I am choosing (after many debates) to skin the outside and inside with 1/8” plywood and foam board sandwich in between. My team believes this will be strong enough to do what we want. A rock guard (aluminum skin ) maybe applied to the lower area for increase durability. For cost and added strength the floor will be ¼” plywood sheet doubled but overlapped at the joints. The total depth of the floor will still be ½”.
Team:
Wife, will help with the build, approve all final decisions and pick final colors.
Son will help where and when he can, 8 yo , and has already given his input multiple times about having a tv for the gaming systems. This has been vetoed by the parents.
Maddie, eldest dog , will approve final bed comfort. She is the princess of the bunch.
Jessie, youngest dog, will verify I am still moving in the desert heat. She has already proven that she can perform watches and checks all progress on the trailer. She gives updates to Maddie, who then comes out of the air conditioned house for final verification.
Technical support is coming from you all on the forum, an avid wood worker (Dad), an engineer (CEC), two welders and my past CIO for connectivity issues and spare tools.
Experience: In the past several years I have modified a 2000 Montero Sport and then a 2010 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon JKU for off road exploration. Living in the desert gives me a lot of opportunities on the weekends. Last time I did wood work would have been 1997 when I built the furniture for our first apartment when we got married.
Already bought the trailer (HF 4x8 heavy duty), roof vent, shore power connector, and various other items. This weekend will buy the windows and maybe the wood. Everything will be bought (until I figured out that I either broke something or missed it) within the next two weeks.
Standing by for the intial rock throughing.....
Do you know if anyone has built a tear drop kitchen/cargo trailer on a 4x4 trailer? Would love it for Cub Scout camping.
