Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Finally finished cleaning out the garage.

Two trips to the closest dumpsters, 2 trips to the recycling bins, two weeks of an extra full garbage can to piss off the garbage men

Tomorrow I start work on the teardrop floor ! Should move along a bit more quickly now, hopefully.

After rearranging the garage a bit, cut and assembled the subfloor frame. Looks about right considering my pitiful woodworking skills and recycled slightly warped 2x4 lumber from the dumpsters.

Good enough for me - fits inside the angle iron which is a real accomplishment. You can see from the side view that the top of the 2x2s clears the angle iron so that the 1/2 inch OSB floor can hang 2 inches wider the trailer frame on each side. The OSB gets cut and attached to the frame tomorrow and then a couple of coats of the waterproofing mix. I will sand where the walls will be attached before they get mounted but I might do a bit of work on the walls before they go vertical like running the wiring raceways & perhaps canvassing the interior.

I reread George's #1 foamy thread in preparation; lots of good schooling in there for me.

That’s a good fit !!!

GPW, question for you:

How many floor bolts would be minimum to connect the teardrop to the trailer frame ? I am thinking 4 to 6 around the edges total, 2 front, 2 back 2 half way near midway-edges

Fred, I’m no Engineer , but I tend to err on the side of more bolts than less...

GPW, Thanks - I suppose watching the teardrop flying off the trailer would not be all that much fun

Would be nice to get some idea of how much is overkill though ...

Supposed to rain, thunder, and blow for the next few days, so it's good that I can work in the garage. Spring in Montana is always iffy & looks like snow in the mountains too.

9 is a good number... 12 might be better looking at how your frame is laid out Wing nuts on the bottom for quicker removal ..

Noted, thanks. Wing nuts already on the spare tire carriage bolts as well but need to find some of those plastic insert lock wingnuts - you can spend hours poking around the fittings & hardware section at the lumber yard and end up spending pocket change

Three bolts on the front rail for sure since that is where I would think the most wind pressure will impact, although the slipstream and angle in front should minimize that.

I got the wiring holes drilled on the frame and the first two pieces of 1/2 inch OSB screwed down. Need to figure out how to extend the front out to make some extra room up front & incorporate the front storage box into the "system". Will work on that tomorrow in between coats of 'the mix'.

Was almost tropical today with a high of 57 F - tomorrow a predicted high of 47 F and 100% chance of rain Should be some fresh snow in the mountains Sunday morning !

"plastic insert lock wingnuts” .... Good luck .... Ever tried safety wire ?

Sorry, don't know what to call things sometimes, but need these kinds so that the vibration does not unbolt them so easily and no thread-lock compound is required:

http://www.amazon.com/Plated-Finish-Sel ... B0093ODRIG

Well, there ya’ go !!! That’s Cool !!!

Picture is worth a thousand words - speaking of which, my floor (the 2+inch overhang shows good) with a couple of coats of "the mix" applied:

Very NICE !!! The mix does make a difference...

OSB really soaks "the mix" up with some wood chips going shiny and others yelling at you "moar !!". I think I will add a couple coats of pure urethane on top since those chips pop-off when you look at them sideways. I learned the hard way not to bother removing the stickers you see on there - the wood chips come up with em

It all gets covered over one way or another' I can use paint, spackle & duct tape to cover some of my mistakes

Will stick in my cardboard model in here - should look something like this or an order of magnitude close to this or with a wing and a prayer on a good day ...

The Nylock wing nuts may be harder to install and remove by hand that you would think (the first time, at least). I would just go with standard hex nuts and a small electric impact wrench for quick removal. For what it is worth, you may also want to consider that the nylon in those nuts is only rated to work the first time. The vibration resistance drops each time they are removed/reinstalled. For a removable tear, you will be fine through several uses, but if you were building an aircraft, they would be a one time only fastener.