Hello Jeff, welcome to the forum. Those are the same questions that I asked 10 years ago when I became interested in teardrop trailers. First of all, are you planning on camping alone, or do you have a partner that will share the TD with you? Some folks feel that a 4 foot trailer suits them just fine, and those that build a second one, might elect to go for a 5 footer, to get a bit more comfort while sharing the bed with another person. As far as the length is concerned, I don't know if they sell plywood in the UK by the metric system, but I suppose they do. Here in the US, a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood often is the norm for the floor of the trailer, unless you want to go wider or longer.
The distance from the ball to the rear bumper, is unrelated to the length of the bed. If you want a 6 ft 4 in bed, that would leave you with 1 ft 8 in for the galley cabinets at the foot of the bed, if your floor is 8 ft long. That would make the overall length about 11 feet, ball to bumper. I suppose you might get a bit of foul weather over there, so I strongly suggest you consider an exterior material that is resistant to water. ( Here in sunny So Calif, I built a woody and it has held up well after 10 years). Check out the tips here on the board to aid in your buld. Good luck, remember, take pics, ask questions and when finished, ship it over here and take a shakedown trip across the US, where lots of friendly teardroppers would welcome you with open arms........I know, I keep meeting them all the time.
Roly, the li'l ol' teardrop designer, builder and user!
by Jeff57 » Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:01 am 
