Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

OK, I'm hooked. Getting tired and broke hauling a 32' 6 ton Fiver to Maine and back for the summers and like the idea of down sizing but not willing to pay the RV piper. Just spent $1500.00 on a new AC and then read where GPW got his at WM for a little over a hundred. Been trying to absorb as much as I can, finished the Foamstream read and 190 pages of Thrifty Alternative. Ideas have been brewing and needed to get away from the computer so threw this model together. Not exactly a tiny travel trailer but is close to the minimum for my wife and I for a few months a year in Maine. Looking at an 8' x 20' dependent on what I can find in an old TT to use as a frame and parts. Not going to be doing much other than scrounging and hoarding thru the summer in Maine, and keeping up with this rapidly evolving method. There are some other images in the gallery. Putting this out for suggestions and comments.

Hey I figured it out. Not bad for a pre Sputnik baby.

Cool!!! That certainly looks doable ...

I like that very much. If you are going to be hauling it, some sort of windbreak for the flat surface would be a good idea.

bonnie wrote:If you are going to be hauling it, some sort of windbreak for the flat surface would be a good idea.

+1

GPW, y'all make it sound simple.

Bonnie, KC. We're hauling a wall down the road now in that fifth wheel. Well actually my wife does all the towing. I just get to back it up. Actually works out for good for us. I navigate, she doesn't realize that maps are oriented with north at the top and sometimes you need to turn the map upside down. Then there is my lack of patience with some of what the DMV's allow on the highways. I probably have less than 2000 miles and most of that on a return from the UP when she had to fly home. Wish I had kept track of it but she has well over 20,000 miles.

Hey I just stumbled upon some more pics of your model on the gallery page and have to say that you did a really nice job on that!

Not visible in the above pic is what appears to be a nicely contoured nose.

That is a pretty slick design.

KC, just putting that model together made me think that it would probably go together easier with 1/2" or 3/4" layers stacked on that radius nose piece. I believe putting the real thing together would be easier than the model.

Thanks WD, More than I would need but then I'm not just me and she's been around for 40+....but she did ask are you really thinking about building that?

Don't underestimate the effort that it takes to build. It seems easy until you start looking at logistics, tooling (not just bought tools, but jigs and fixtures, too), material sourcing, the physical building, applying finishes, the redoes, wiring, plumbing, HVAC, and the head scratching when you find out what you had in your mind's eye doesn't quite work out in the real world.

The model is a good start, but even in 2D/3D there is plenty there that is not to scale; lots of little details and parts, and you will need to 'touch' every one of them in multiple ways before you are through.

I'm not trying to discourage you at all, but the reality of it all should at least be considered before any serious commitment is made.

Have you seen Terry's garageable standy build?

Best of luck with your project, travelerilr!

Hi travelerilr,

Are you planning to tow this or just leave it as a 'home base' in Maine or
Florida? I.E., the Foamstead at one end of the journey, and the 5th wheel
at the other end? If it'd be "stationary" I'd forgo the rounded front for ease
of build and a little extra interior room.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

Oh, wow!

I just looked through the gallery. That's a folding deck we're looking at. It is a beautiful thing!

KC, I built a sailboat back in my earlier days and probably built every piece of it a few times over in my head before ever cutting the first piece of wood. Looking like materials will be the biggest thing. Very few places have the 2" foam down here, of course Lowes will order me a pallet of 20 sheets @ $40.00 per. Finding a frame would have been easy back when I was working and driving all over half the county doing phone work but now I've got to go beat the bushes. With the way they just fall apart down here in the heat and humidity one will show up. I had seen Terry's standy.

Thanks Shar.

Mezmo, it will be towed back and forth. We're never in a hurry going and coming and do some site seeing and visiting during our travels. My first thought was a stretched Foamstream but needed more room in the nose for the bath. The dropped roof and the rounded front will help some in the aerodynamics. A lot better than the frontal mass of the fifth wheel we're pulling now.

bonnie, that is a folding deck with a bimini top with curtain walls and screens. My wife likes to sit out on the porch with her coffee and books in the mornings. In the raised position there will be space for some folding rocking chairs and maybe even some drop in picket railings.

So in other words , you’re building your own RV ... yes , that could get quite complicated , but at least you’d end with something that would have a good chance of out surviving the warranty period ... unlike commercial RV’s


Imagine , no foam in Florida ... What the .... ? A place where you’d really Need it !!! Check around , if it’s not at the box stores , it IS somewhere else... REAL lumberyards , roofing contractors ...The Box stores have the WORST prices too ...!!! I paid $27/sheet for the 2” thick Blue sheets ...4’X8’ ... and NOT at a box store either...