Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Just recently took our build out on it's trial run, posted a pile of pictures in my Gallery, unfortunately they aren't exactly in order. I am seeing if this picture attachment works for me. We started with the old camper on the trailer, and ended up with a 7x14 foamie camper with PMF.

Here is my first pic, the floor is 1 1/2 x 2 on two foot centers, with extra supports where we would be walking, with half inch ply, I started framing the walls using 2x2 and 2x3 and skinning with birch ply, they said it was 1/4 inch but closer to 3/16th

Using interior framing [5/8 plywood x 2ft] for additional strength.

I cut a 2x6 on a slope for the top plate so it slopes back to front,





Then we put a steeper slope on the front with a little bull nose, got the rest of the birch sheathing on and added a detail on the back, wasn't sure if it was needed but the old camper had one and it turned out convenient for mounting lights.

We started gluing on the 1 1/2 foam

You can see how I trussed the roof with 2x3 and 1x3 to sandwich the top of the plywood bracewalls.




The whole camper is sheathed, we will cut the window and other holes out after the glue is all good and dry.

Furring out all the window/vent and other accessories holes we are making. Po,D after when I found out the local lumber yards sold us a mix of 2x2s some were 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 others were 1 3/8 x 1 3/8 which meant I had to palm sand down all the styro around some spots to smooth out the 1/8th of missing wood.

using lap stryo so gluing all the joints with carpenters glue






using the lap on the bullnose to create the 'drip edge' I read about while studying everyone else's builds


being creative to avoid making holes in the roof styro

Canvas being glued on, we use a PVA glue and 2 gal of TB111 as that's what was available here, we tested it first and it worked far better than I was expecting

Canvas is all glued on and painted with a waterproof stain, took 3 coats to really cover up the weave

windows and other openings all getting filled in


The door didn't seem sturdy when I installed it, so took it off and did some investigating, it's now rebuilt and fully insulated...did you know they use cardboard for insulation in those doors?

I literally used a saws all to cut the whole lower kitchen unit out of the old camper I used for parts and installed it whole, we reframed the upper cabinets and used the old camper doors. The front bedroom and roof were all painted white and the rest was painted with a grey melamine paint.





While paint and glue was drying we worked on interior details, like propane lines, led lights, painting, installing table etc..


I had a 3 way fridge I bought years ago when I first started to talk about building my own camper, probably about the same time I found the foamies forum.


The battery storage and all the wiring are all hidden in a storage compartment framed in under the front bed, we use 2 6 volt batteries and have a built in charger. The bed can expand from 38x80 to 54x80 when I need a bigger bed.

The space under the fridge I decided to build my first set of drawer ever! They aren't perfect but work well, the next time I build drawers they will be much better as I learned a lot from my mistakes. You can see the front bed platform in it's narrow stage in this pic.


I added a slide out shelf to the top drawer for more counter space if needed, turns out it's just a little to high to use as a table top

used some of the alum roof off the old camper for a rock guard

big day, the camper comes out of the shop on a floor dolly and some round fence posts, slow and easy....






Before we lifted it onto the trailer we added a vent cover over the roof vent and an awning track for hanging a tarp off the side.

Here she is on her maiden voyage....a successful fishing trip. We had below zero, hail, rain, snow, sun, wind and good fishing enjoying the fruits of our labour. My thanks to all the previous posters that let me study how you did things, I can say it worked out very very good and I wouldn't hesitate to encourage others to build their own foamie with pmf.





A friend of mine makes these Boat Totes...nice for fishing!



Thanks for looking, there are more pics in my gallery if you want to see some more. CS

WOW !!! Very Nice !!!