After introducing myself in the newbies section, I came upon reasonable price on a steel teardrop frame complete with wall frames and roof cross members. This was close to the benroy size and general shape I had planned to build but slightly different some key ways that has made me rethink some key aspects. The original owner’s plan was to have bed that was perpendicular to the length of the trailer and have the hatch open on the entire rear half with fabric walls so that people could stand inside it and maybe step out the rear. I think it’s called a Wild Goose. This wouldn’t work for me since I’m 6’ tall and the inside can be only 5’ 9 ½” wide. My plan is use it for a more traditional layout with the bed running lengthwise and a shape close to a benroy.
I got this frame on Craigslist and it was in Bend, OR but I am north of Seattle about 340 miles away, so we agreed to meet half way in Gresham, OR. After inspecting and paying, and lots of talk, I towed it home up I-5 about 180 miles – it runs nice and straight but bounces like crazy whenever I don’ t have a solid forward pulling force on it, although it had no weight other than a hollow frame. While I had my temporary WA State trailer permit I went straight to Home Depot to get some sheets of plywood and its ride was much improved with a stack of materials tied down in it. Here are some pictures from what was in the original craigslist ad and some extras from when he build the frame.
The frame is really stiff, despite the main frame tube being only 1” x 2” on their sides – it seems that the arch framed walls acts like a truss to stiffen the whole thing. The tongue, however, had more flex to it than I’d like and this was also noted by the original owner.
The suspension is a leaf spring system and appears to be in good condition, clean with no corrosion. The original owner made the axle himself to with a 5 ½” drop and mounted it under the leaf springs. He said this was to make the trailer sit lower for a car or minivan to tow but allow for a quick 30-minute flip of the axle to raise the trailer by a huge amount (twice the drop plus the 2” axle thickness = 13”) for more ground clearance (presumably to tow with a tall truck). The clearance under the axle in its present state is only about 6”, clearly the lowest part of the trailer and I think it would be troublesome on a 2-rut road in the forest on the way to or from a campsite.
I had a local welder add a 2x2 tube down the center of the tongue in a T shape to stiffen the tongue, add a 2” receiver in the back for a bike rack, and add some square gussets in the rear corners to mount stabilizer jacks and side table leg brackets. Since the 2” receiver for the bike rack needed to run to the next cross member for stiffness, we figured we use one piece the whole length. We also added a 4th cross member between the walls so there would be good structure where the galley hatch hinge will be. The original frame had only one door opening on the right side but I want doors on both sides, and the one door had a low cross-member over it so that I’d have to crouch down and not be able to comfortably sit in the doorway. I had the welder rearrange the 1x1s to give me 2 tall door openings and use the leftovers to reinforce the corners.
Despite all the thought and effort he put into this suspension, I plan to change it to a torsion axle to get a smoother ride, improve ground clearance and add brakes. The frame will need some more welding modifications to have a solid place to mount the axle then I’ll see if I can sell the old suspension. My neighbor said today that he might have some nice alloy wheels in storage, so I’ll hold off on the torsion axle order until I know the specifics of the wheel dimensions. I hope to cover this and my plan for the floor in my next entry.
At first I thought it was kinda nutty, but the more I think about it and see the various regrets that people have mentioned in other threads regarding width, axle type, or something else I figure I should do it now or never so I don't carry forward a regret. 
