Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi everyone. I'm new here so I figure I should introduce myself and get some imput. I'm currently designing a small standy trailer that I'm trying to keep under 1500 lbs, including the trailer. I'm curious if anyone would be willing to look over my design and tell me what I'm missing. I'm doing my best to not overbuild it, since I see many people say they would build lighter if they were to do it again. My question is if I'm under building it now.

My plan is to use 1x2's for all of the framing, including the roof spars, and sandwich that with 1/4 ply, along with 1.5" foam insulation. The build is going to be on a 5x8 Northern Tools trailer.

A few other notes:

1. I plan on including a shower and toilet.
2. According to Fusion 360, with all of the material information loaded, the build (not including trailer) is coming in at about 550 lbs so far. I figure with added materials, electrical, finishes, etc I can easily come in under my goal weight.
3. I'm leaning toward skinning the outside with PMF for cost purposes.

Take a look and let me know what you all think. I'm happy to share the Fusion file too, just drop my a line.

Thanks!

Hi Swissters, welcome to the forum. I believe that making a 3D model is an excellent approach that will save time, materials, reduce rework and should make your build more enjoyable. To answer your main question: I think you are definitely not under building with 1/4 ply and 2" overall walls and ceiling sandwich. If you check Andrew Gibson's design library that can still be found in web.archive.org (his website is down since 2016) you will find that Andrew's Compact 3 trailer design is using 1/8" ply inside and out and that appears normal.
In my build I have experimented with even lighter wall and roof sandwich and so far no issues, but I did not put the trailer through various tests yet. Some members here built PMF covered "foamie" trailers similar to your design in size ( search "big pink", "canned ham in foam", "camp capsule foamy"). Trailers can be build lighter, if wanted. It depends how and where the trailer is used, any trailer can be damaged, tanks included. On the water tanks location, I saw them located around trailer's axle in one commercial trailer I used to own.
I will be following your progress, good work!

Thanks so much! I’m glad I used these forums in the early design stages because I definitely would have overbuilt. I really appreciate your input. I’ll keep you posted along the way with updates. I have a few projects that need to get finished first, but then it’s on to the camper.


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My plan is to use 1x2's for all of the framing, including the roof spars, and sandwich that with 1/4 ply...

I think you're over-building.

I would suggest an 1/8" headliner and the same with the roof. That raduis might be a challenge with 1/4". If you'd like the roof a bit stronger, give it a second layer of 1/8".

I'm a fan of sandwiched walls using heavily skeletonized 3/4" plywood for the core. It's much quicker and stronger (because of the joints) than using boards for framing. I've found that 1/8" is fine for the interior. For the exterior, I like 1/4" for a little more beef since I put a few screws through it to draw in the cross members.







"Stretching" plywood for the core is easy to do with a slot cutting router bit for a spline joint. The skins cover the joint for added strength.



Food for thought.

Tony

And instead of that routed slot for the headliner, you might consider a ledge on the wall.



The spars are then laid on the headliner:



Note the trouble-light I have sitting on the headliner so I can see where to shoot the crown staples in from below.



Tony

Tony, thanks to the input! You reminded me that I was planning on using 1/8 ply for the roof so I could get it to bend.

I like the idea of the sidewall framing being made from ply, but the reason I decided against it was weight, cost, and the ability to fit 1.5” insulation since .75” insulation wasn’t readily available. I still may consider it because it does look like it makes things easier. The curve at the top is going to be cut from 3/4 ply since that seamed easiest.


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Just wanted to say what a nice design that is!

Thanks, Don! I’m excited to get started on it.


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Your plans look really good.
I also think you might be overbuilding. That's a lot of 1x's in your roof.
The Big Pink only has about 6 in the roof with kerfed 2" foam on top of them and has worked really well.

look here for roof details:
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=44091&start=285

I added an exterior hatch to access my under the bed rear storage.
look here :
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=56441&start=363

Tac

I like your design, I'm looking at something similar - was originally thinking of a galley in back, but now leaning toward a dinette in rear and counter/cabinets in front too. Any progress to report?

Bezoar wrote:I like your design, I'm looking at something similar - was originally thinking of a galley in back, but now leaning toward a dinette in rear and counter/cabinets in front too. Any progress to report?

Not yet. I had a few other projects come up. Then winter hit and my motivation for building a camper started to wane. I’m hoping to pick this project back up in the spring.


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Love it! I'm ordering my Ironton trailer today, can't wait to get started on mine.

Are you doing your floor framing with 1x2's as well? I wondered about not using 2x4's to save weight. Mine will be a temporary live-in, so not sure if I want to cut corners there...

Love all the storage bunks that are incorporated. May be changing my plan a bit now.

Twila

I like the look of your plan.

Watching for updates!

TwilaR wrote:Are you doing your floor framing with 1x2's as well? I wondered about not using 2x4's to save weight. Mine will be a temporary live-in, so not sure if I want to cut corners there...
Twila

Using 2x4 in a trailer is almost never necessary. If you are making a sandwich floor of some sort and gluing/screwing the components together, you will absolutely have adequate strength with 1x lumber.

Swissters, did you look into these plans by Andrew Gibson for some ideas?