New to this, First attempt

[stephenhaas55]

Greetings, I am new to this site, and teardrops in general. I have been doing a lot of research on this, and may eventually contemplate building one.

Below is my first draft of a "plan" It should be 8-10' long, 5ft wide, and 5ft high.....roughly. ...but for now here is my "design"...

All you experts, let me know what you think. I am really liking this forum, lots of good advice and ideas!!!

[toypusher]

Welcome to the forum. Looks like a doable setup. Have you looked at the 'Genric Benroy Plans' at the top of the page. It could save you some time and effort. Just modify them to suit you needs.

You planning on building on a HF or TSC trailer?? Or building your own?

[stephenhaas55]

Very nice, that's a pretty complete guide...how didn't I notice it before? As you can see, I plan to eliminate the curves of a traditional teardrop, simply, because it seems complex to make the bends with plywood and such, maybe if I feel brave I will curve the front of it.....

Right now, I am searching (ebay, craigslist, etc) looking to pick up an old trailer or frame cheap, however, if I don't find anything I will most likely foot the $300 for the heaviest HF model.... in PA, I'll have to deal with the "homemade trailer" title, which looks to be a hassle (paperwork, inspection, and weight at a certified weight station, etc), so if I can find something already titled i'd prefer it.

[theis655]

Welcome Good luck with your build. I would also look at redtrailers.com for trailers they are located in Quakertown, pa which is about 45min to an hour away from you I believe.

[mikeschn]

Welcome to the forum.

Len is in PA and he only buys HF trailers BECAUSE it comes with a title.

Also check out the weekender design...

Here
http://www.mikenchell.com/weekender/

or how about something like this...


Mike...

[toypusher]

............... I'll have to deal with the "homemade trailer" title, which looks to be a hassle (paperwork, inspection, and weight at a certified weight station, etc), so if I can find something already titled i'd prefer it.

I used an HF trailer and it was not as bad as it may seem. I put a sheet of 1/2" plywood on the trailer and got it weighed and inspected that way (as a utility trailer). Took the weight and inspection along with the certificate of orgin that came with the trailer to a license place (Runkel's here abouts) and it took about 3 weeks to get the VIN placte, title and tags! Really it is not that bad. OH, I forgot that I had to take pictures of it, but with my digital camera, that was easy too!!

I belive that if you buy a TSC trailer that it comes with a title and is a piece of cake to register.

BTW: I would recommend licensing it as a utility trailer and building your tear on top of it.

[stephenhaas55]

Where do you get it weighed? Do you actually tow it around on the street without a license plate while getting it weighed and inspected?

It seems like the TSC and redtrailers are more expensive than the HF, although, they are probobly a better quality. I suppose I'll have to look around,

[toypusher]

Where do you get it weighed? Do you actually tow it around on the street without a license plate while getting it weighed and inspected?

I knew of a couple places close to me that weigh trucks and took it to one of them. You might check with your local recycle center, they have to weigh everything.

A state cop told me to just make sure that I had the certificate of Origin and the paperwork from the DMV (you can download it) with me in case I got stopped and could explain that I was just towing it to get it weighed/inspected.

[goldcoop]

Len is in PA and he only buys HF trailers BECAUSE it comes with a title.

TSC frames come with a title (made in good 'ole USA).

HF comes with a certificate of orgin (made in China, Russia, Poland, etc.).

Either way DON'T tell PennDot you are building a TD (like Kerry said).

Just get the frame registered & licensed

Cheers,

Coop

[Mike C.]

Hi Stephen,

Welcome to the forum. It looks like you've already gotten a lot of good information, so I will just give you one suggestion. Before you build, you might check out "The Hall of Fame" at the top right of each page, so you can see what others have built.

See you around.