Trailer Weight

General Discussion about almost anything Teardrop or camping related

Re: Trailer Weight

Postby noseoil » Tue Nov 05, 2019 8:06 am

I was aiming at 1200# & ended up at 1660# dry on the scale (oops!). Your frame is stout, but if you build with an eye to weight & strength, it should be possible. Where lots of us get in trouble, we think in terms of house building not trailer building. Take a look at the framing used in older trailers to see what works. I'm amazed at what has worked with 1x2's, staples, 1/8" panelling & glue. Not in a teardrop, but in full size standys which still roll along well enough. Take a look at some of the build logs to see how different people approach the weight issue & see where they ended up.

I overbuilt my cabinets, extra panels weren't necessary, 1/2" where 1/4" would have worked well, but as a former cabinetmaker, it's what I knew that worked. Should have thrown away about 1/3 of the panels, but I wanted a strong build (I got it, 20,000 miles & no problems) so I chose to err on the side of strength. There's no right or wrong here, just compromises which add up to a build in the end.
Build log: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=60248
The time you spend planning is more important than the time you spend building.........

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Re: Trailer Weight

Postby booyah » Tue Nov 05, 2019 8:38 am

For my modified benroy "smiles to go" (build journal in the sig) I used 3/8" BCX for the outside walls, 1/4" lauan for the inside walls, with 1x2 spacers and R5 3/4" foam board sandwiched in the middle for the walls. Roof was 1/8" birch two layers more r5 foamboard in the middle.
Everything was glued, and stapled, then staples removed. Outside was epoxied with fiberglass tape on any and all seams.

So far 4 years later its till water tight, gets at least 1k miles a year if not more, and has been stored outside its entire life.

Weight was 860 lbs loaded for war, and pulled by a small hatch back for the first two years. Never had issues with wind, or strength.
My build, 5x8 modified benroy "Smiles to go". Started April 2nd 2015, first trip August 2nd 2015.

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