Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Just another drawing for your consideration ... All straight edges , sides are full sheets ,no cutting ... plus the nose piece ... 5’ + wide is more roomy ... 6’ would be even better ... easy to do , the roof is just two sheets cut to length and applied cross ways ... Just a simple box , not very aerodynamic , but not so bad either , not being tall ... Rounding the edges (optional ) would help even more ... Just foam sheets and canvas , doors and windows of your choice ...
...simple , roomy , Light !!! All for Fun ,and Fun for All !!!

GPW wrote:Just another drawing for your consideration ... All straight edges , sides are full sheets ,no cutting ... plus the nose piece ... 5’ + wide is more roomy ... 6’ would be even better ... easy to do , the roof is just two sheets cut to length and applied cross ways ... Just a simple box , not very aerodynamic , but not so bad either , not being tall ... Rounding the edges (optional ) would help even more ... Just foam sheets and canvas , doors and windows of your choice ...
...simple , roomy , Light !!! All for Fun ,and Fun for All !!!

This is so cool. It would be tons of fun.

Thanks Bonnie ... !!! Trying to make it Easy for anybody to build ...!!!

Trailer is min. 5’W X 11’L inside , which is over the “magic“ number of 50 sq. ft. for a comfortable floor space .. 6’ wide would be even Bigger ... and for those that feel a 6’ unsupported roof is on the edge, we’d suggest the use of a foam arch in the center... which adds much strength ... with no weight or space penalty ... that or a couple roof ribs (wood) ...
With just foam and fabric , it would be a very easy build ... minimum of cutting , all cuts straight, no curves, no bending .. covering would be easy as covering a box ... About as easy as it gets ... That was the Goal !!!

Ps. We’ve been thinking if you use the commercial windows and doors with inner trim/mounting rings , then you probably don’t need any extra wood framing ... That saves a lot of work in itself ... Maybe more pricy , but Simple ... or one could search for recycled RV windows and doors ... there’s always a boneyard around eh ?

Here’s yet another drawing ... (sorry, I know you’re getting tired of all these drawings ) ... just a way to wrap the covering (skin) around a window or door opening , which should supply sufficient strength for any commercial window or door application ... (using 2” foam)
Thinking of reinforcing alternatives (if needed? ) like fiberglass drywall tape , which is Cheap and plentiful , and if applied in progressive layers , under a skin , would be Extremely Strong (Fiberglass eh ! ) .... although you’d still need some wood or similar hard points for hinging doors , handles etc. Something already “done" on the commercial units ... Just saying ... cut it out , skin the opening , pop in the window or door unit , done ... fait accompli !!! ...

GPW , I for one never get tired of pictures or drawings . I'm learning lots of stuff on these other threads . There can never be too many pictures , keep sharing .

Raz, Thanks !!! ideas just pop up and I have to draw them before I forget ...
We're Always searching for something Simpler... Simple I can go is a Box ... but that’s not so attractive.... practical , Yes... just plain vanilla ... The nose angle on the Foamie’ above ^ , gives a slight aerodynamic benefit over a box and looks better too ... yet elementary to build ... and while the shape isn’t “pretty” , a creative paint job would make it look Cool ... like one of those “military" style camo jobs...

paint ideas ...

In a way a foamie with some curves would be simpler , because then you would be getting strength from the curves and therefore need less reinforcing . I'm not sure how clear I am on that . It seems that a hot wire foam cutter might make things a little easier for cutting and kerfing also . Of course I'm only up to page 66 in the big thrifty thread so it may be covered there . I've been checking other types of foam building and as near as I can tell you can cover it with anything you can get to stick to it . Paper , plastic , cloth , fiberglass , Formica , wood , carbon , concrete they all will work and have already been used successfully . I think one thing that people keep saying that is incorrect is that the foam itself has no strength . For it's weight it is very strong , it just has a very low impact resistance . So you put any type of skin over it to spread out the force . Kind of like putting armor on the soft squishy human body like they did in the middle ages . After all if the strength was in the skin we wouldn't need the foam . OOPS man did I talk too much . And it probably makes no sense .

And I forgot to say I liked your paint idea .

That first paint scheme makes me think of the classic board game "Risk".

razzer wrote: For it's weight it is very strong , it just has a very low impact resistance . So you put any type of skin over it to spread out the force . Kind of like putting armor on the soft squishy human body like they did in the middle ages . After all if the strength was in the skin we wouldn't need the foam . OOPS man did I talk too much . And it probably makes no sense .

Nope. We all talk. The strength thing is so true. While I was cutting the foam for my cushions, I was using a coffee table top for the template. With that wood on top and spreading my weight across the entire surface of the foam, it didn't compress. Same principle. That's why I'm not worried about my foam/fiberglass sandwich walls. They are sturdy.

Yes, Foam is really Strong when used right !!! We may have talked... a Lot , but it was just to promote the idea of Foam trailer building ... Now , everybody has realized that this works , so we have to do much less explaining !!
Razz, Curves would be Nice (and prettier too), but are more difficult to do ... The intention of the “VSF” was to design a trailer that Grandma could make with kitchen utensils ... No curves, no kerfing , all straight cuts , save that one angle cut (bevel) on the nose sheet where it meets the roof ...the sides are just a full uncut sheet of foam laid sideways, nose triangle glued on (simple ) ... and actually that sloped nose does act somewhat like a curved surface , adding stiffness to the box .... it’s the angle (theoretically 45 deg. angle would be “ideal” )... With the angle on the nose and the rear wall in place, it should be Plenty strong enough ... when built to the proportions shown... Bigger builds might require some inner bracing , easily done with shelves and cabinets built in ... Gotta’ remember , every time you span between two points (like putting a shelf between two walls) You connect those parts together as a unit , which substantially strengthens that whole “unit” and prevents any flexing between those two points... and in reality , we do tend to build things Much stronger than they need to be ...but that’s Good as long as the finished trailer is light enough to tow comfortably ... and carry the 500# of Beer and gear ...

Ps. i believe the optional "Beer Ballast" was mentioned later on in the Big Thread !!! Keep reading !!!

Chuckle , I've run into the comments about 500 lbs of beer ballast a few times now . Even sharing I probably only need about 17 lbs at a time . " 2 gallons "
The funny thing about this design is that it would probably work nicely for my bicycle trailer if I scaled it down ... except that I have a good collection of random pieces of insulation and they just won't work out that simple . It's the old use what you have thing . I'm up to page 94 now and I've gotten many really interesting and useful ideas that will be used in my little project . The other thing that has helped is finding out what I don't need . For this very simple plan you're talking about over building and I keep running into that in my own planing . I need to use a KISS variation that I'll let " uhm never mind this is a family forum " keep it simple and light weight . " that's better and more acurate " No over building allowed cause I'm pulling it .

Raz... you know about Atomic Zombie ? Bicycle re-cycler heaven .. cut up the old ones , make new ones ... right up your alley , er , bikepath ...