Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

The rule of thumb we used in submarines was one time use during construction, but post delivery was okay to reuse as long as you could not spin it by hand, or a limit of 5 uses, max. (but who's keeping count?)... so I'm not sure what the correlates to for a hand tightened application. Maybe the insert is less stiff than a hex nut?

QUOTE: "The plan is to allow the teardrop to be a removable unit so that I can construct it at any height and then bolt it down when done and remove it in the future.”

So we guess the real question is ....How many times do you plan on removing it ... Once a season ... More ??? Maybe for you , there’s a better way to secure the cabin to the trailer , yet be able to pop it off in a jiffy ...

Thanks for all the thoughts about lock wing nuts.

1) They are cheap enough that I can use them until they spin off too easily and then replace them - 1/4"-20 lock wing nuts cost under $10 for more than the total needed. Most roads to places we go are poorly maintained dirt/gravel, generating lots of vibration. Lock nuts are going to be required and I am open to suggestions on something better that I can just reach under to remove. I only have basic manual & electric hand tools; just bought a few cheap ones from harbor freight for this project.

2) The idea of being able to take the teardrop off was for two reasons:
a) use the trailer as a flatbed when I need to (which will not be all that often - an example I needed to buy a new pre-hung entry door for the garage - the trailer made it very easy to bring it home vs loading it on the Rav4 roof rack)
b) be able to replace the teardrop with a superior one since I have poor building skills and it shows already. Hopefully this will still be a useful teardrop but it's possible that I will need to replace it sooner rather than later, even before it is done because of some big mistake.

I don't expect I will remove the teardrop more than once or twice a camping season, if that. Same for the spare tire - I have not had a flat in years, so the most removal it will hopefully see is when I rotate the tires.

Will be posting the latest pix here from recent work later this evening. Need to get back out there now.

my goodness, your build is looking great. In the begining I was going to build mine for removal........Ha Ha Ha it will never happen the trailers are not that expensive just buy another trailer....... I only used 6 bolts on mine ............so far so good.

Mary C.

Thanks, Mary, very kind. But when you look a tad closer, you can see where I can not cut a straight line, put a screw in straight, assemble everything out of square, and so on. I always look at everybody's skills shown here with admiration & envy and am thankful for all the great ideas and help available here.

Like Dirty Harry says "A man has to know his limitations"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVDGgphmcX8

New pix !!!

Support for front of teardrop, the floor cut to size & mix applied to top (need to do bottom, will be exposed), 1 inch styrofoam insulation under the floor

Found this 36x18 screened slider window for the 'drivers side' for $30 but it's kind of weird with the nailing strip in the center. Window is thermal-pane with the pressure bleeders still intact - I think I will leave them that way even with the chance of fogging rather than pressure changes going up and down mountains exploding the window. Can tuck them under the window top trim. Window weighs 18 pounds.

The only way I can see the installation with a more or less smooth exterior is to
- cut out the overall window dimension,
- glue in the support structure 1" deep on inside of panel
- screw in window to support structure
- glue in 1" foam to fill the outside cutout so the 1" is covered
- fair it all in smooth & cover with canvas

Suggestions always appreciated. Pix below

I'm not sure how that will mount up smoothly, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. The only thing I would suggest is to put either some tint film or security film on the inside of the glass to prevent a bed full of large sharp shards and slivers should the glass break.

Thanks for the good advice, wagondude.

Will be sure to do that with tint film to get some security & privacy as well. Pix a given, of course.

Waiting for the temps to go above 50 today...

Cut the front angle in the foam and have been working on the layout. Black vertical line is 1/2 inch OSB galley bulkhead position. Pix of what the current idea is:

Cut out the door (crooked as usual ) and the window opening which came out surprisingly decent. Routed out the slots for the wood 'nailing strips' to be embedded in the wall. Made a moderate mess as expected - she who must be obeyed rerouted my entry directly to the washer for decontamination

Just a quick note .... That wood really should be treated to the Mix before gluing in the wall ... And , of all the wood we choose to use for framing , there is wood available that is more water/Rot resistant , rather than Home Depot pine or fir ... Just sayin’ ... One of the big reasons for using foam in the first place is , it doesn’t ROT ... No use adding something that does ...

Already done, GPW, has mix coats AND a final pure urethane coat on top. Will be Gorilla glued in, Great Stuff faired in place to cover all my router mistakes, inside covered with canvas on the flat before the walls are assembled. Once wall, roof, OSB bulkhead assembly, window installation, and outside GS fairing is complete, the outer canvas gets laid over the whole thing. All required because the window nailing strip is 1" from both sides (weird window build).

If anything would be water resistant, this foam embedded package should be. Considering the teardrop will be garaged when not camping, it should do ok, with condensation from going out camping only an rare issue. SW Montana is high desert, usually less than 20" precip a year and most of that is snow. It's COLD here GPW, so rot is minimal; I have pulled up 30 year old untreated cheap pine 1x4" used as garden border that was pretty much intact.

Seems like I am always waiting for something to finish - GG to cure, rain, cold, Great Stuff to cure, paint / mix / urethane to dry, and so on.
Slows everything down, doesn't it ?

Anyway, got the test fit done for the window inset and it fits well, so repaired all the larger divots and router oopsies with Great Stuff now I gotta wait for that to dry/cure before routing the bulkhead dado, fair the street-side wall and apply the canvas.

Window won't get screwed in place until walls are up and canvas ready to be applied on exterior.

Patience is a virtue ... even with Foamies ... But imagine if you were building with wood ...

Coming along nicely Fred.... don’t rush things ...

Thanks, GPW, I am in no particular rush but sometimes it seems like I could go faster ... It takes time to get into the routine and become more efficient but I am sure that will improve as it goes along. Just beginning now, trying to decide what can be skipped because there is a better way. Should be fairing and applying my first canvas on the flat this weekend; looking forward to learning how by doing.

Cut the bulkhead & figured out how it's going to be installed. Bought the 1/2" OSB for it and the back of the cabin & galley cabinets along with the 2" foam for the roof today. Lots of OSB prep with "the mix" to do while I work on the interior canvas.

It's been way unsettled weather here with thunderstorms every day so I can't work outside and spread out. Slows things down but it is expected.