Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **Mikedaub** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:21 pm

Well, with much help from this forum and LOTS of thinking, the wife and
I decided that I should give it a crack and build one of these little
guys. I have the time, so we thought it would be a fun little project
and save us some cash (if it all works out right or we bought some
expensive firewood

)

I am going to show and take as many pictures as I can....so here we go.

The plan was to get the most heavy duty trailer from Harbor Freight and
do a mix of the simple/weekender design. After looking at the size and
shape of the wood compared to the Wrangler it will be towing, we decided
to just make it completely square, almost like a cargo trailer. Being
sheets of ply are 4x8, this take a lot of the guess work out of it.
:thumbsup:

First up was the trailer:
The box showed up a little beat up, but I had to dive right into it that
night.

All the parts:

Starting to come together, the front end:

Complete frame:

Adding the axle:

Complete trailer, ready to roll, if I can get it out of my basement:

Time for some wood. Went to the local Home Depot to pick up some 1x2
pine strapping, some 1x8 pine for supports and 15/32 BC pine ply. I
figured that would be strong enough to hold it all together:

Trying out my own design...this stuff is easy:

I don't think that will stand up to wind or rain much, so I tried it
with wood:

Not much room in it for 2 plus the puppy:

Back to the original plans, the floor. I actually used more wood
bracing it then I would have imagined, but the stronger the better.....I
guess:

The Mrs. decided we should put the drop floor in:

On the trailer:

The box:

WOOOHOO!! It actually fits:

So that was the first night and day of the build. My next step is to
make sure all the seams are sealed tightly on the bottom of the box then
hitting it with the roofing tar. I probably won't get to that until
later this week, possibly next week. The major problem with building
this trailer is I need it to carry my race gear to my mountain bike
races, but I need to train to race....so do I build or do I train.
Racing pays the bills, so training is more important, so I will only get
a chance to build when I get some extra time.

Feel free to check out all of the pictures (I only posted some to give you
all an idea of what I am doing) on websites galley,
http://outdooraddict.org/gallery/v/Trailer/.

by **Outlaw** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:08 pm

Congrats on your progress. And, I love the humor in your pics :lol:

by **Miriam C.** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:16 pm

It's all up from here! Now you get to do the evil smelling black goo.

by **48Rob** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:19 pm

Congratulations!

Building your own trailer can be a lot of fun, and a neat way to learn new skills.

Keep those great pictures coming! :thumbsup:

Rob

by **Beachbuggy** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:24 pm

I dunno, I'm really liking the mobile pup tent idea :drofl:

by **mikeschn** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:37 pm

A bit of a comedian eh?

How far is that dropped floor from the ground?

Other than that, it appears you are off to a decent start.

Mike...

by **Mikedaub** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:07 pm

mikeschn wrote:A bit of a comedian eh?

Gotta have fun while there doing it. Sometimes, it feels like the "Red Green Show" if any of you know what that is. I think I need me some more duct tape.

mikeschn wrote:How far is that dropped floor from the ground?

I didn't measure it to the ground. When I looked at where to put it, I just went by the axle. From the top of the floor to the top of the axle is about 12". I used 1x10's to make the box, so under theory, it is about an inch or so higher than the top of the axle. I figured if I hit the box, then I would hit the axle, and then I am in some trouble. (let's hope my theory works out

)

by **joe43952** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:13 pm

Beachbuggy wrote:I dunno, I'm really liking the mobile pup tent idea

I have to agree, If i only knew It would have saved me alot of work and money. :thinking:

by **mikeschn** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:46 pm

Mikedaub wrote:I didn't measure it to the ground. When I looked at where to put it, I just went by the axle. From the top of the floor to the top of the axle is about 12". I used 1x10's to make the box, so under theory, it is about an inch or so higher than the top of the axle. I figured if I hit the box, then I would hit the axle, and then I am in some trouble. (let's hope my theory works out )

It looks fine, of course... It's probably got about 10" of clearance or so...

Mike...

by **halfdome, Danny** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:18 pm

One thing to take into consideration with a low mounted under mattress box is those driveways that rise above the street and then drop down like many strip malls have. I had a low box and the leading edge would scrape and even after protecting it with aluminum angle I finally tore it out and put in a box that's 10 3/4" above the street when the teardrop is level. My original box on TD#1 was I think 8" above the pavement and just under the doors.

Danny