Hello all Teardroppers and Tiny Travel Trailer Enthusiasts!
I've been scouring these forums for over 3 years now, have watched countless YouTube videos related to teardrops and woodworking in general, and purchased several plans (Frederick, Kuffel Creek, etc), to prepare myself for my own build. So thank you so very much to all the contributors and comments, to help me gain the necessary knowledge. Admittedly, because I ultimately didn't know what I was doing, I think anxiety has kept me from delaying my build for so long. But I now am moving confidently forward!
I started my build with an aluminum utility trailer, trying to keep the weight light. I was initially hoping that I could keep it light enough to tow with my 1984 Jeep CJ-7, but I think the short wheel base would make towing (and truly the braking aspect) somewhat dangerous.
My utility trailer mostly stripped:
My CJ that I wanted to tow with:
To get started, I had to remove all the utility hooks, etc from the inside of the bed:
I then cleaned, degreased, lightly sanded, and cleaned again the surface to prepare for sealing. I started by filling the gaps with silicone caulking, which I chose because I knew I was using silicone to seal the trailer floor. Painted the trailer bed with Henry 887 Tropi-Cool 100% Silicone White Roof Coating.
The backed up picture doesn't show it well, but this is after one coat:
So I applied 2 coats.
Next up was the stick floor frame, complete with holes drilled for the wires to pass through:
Fit into place, with 4 scrap pieces of 3/4" ply to verify fit:
I ended up shaving off a bit from the edges of the frame, because I thought at the time I would want the aluminum siding to drop down passed the lip of the utility trailer.