new from Colorado

[ladiesrace]

We are a couple of campers who got tired of sleeping in the ground, in a tent, in the cold...etc, etc. So we came across a "vintage" 10' Shasta trailer that we couldn't pass up (spelled free )
With a real bed (more or less) and heat, we're having a great time visting the hot springs in Colorado
However, when we saw the Sunset mag cover with the little teardrop, I came to the great conclusion, with my wife's encouragement, that it would be fun to build something similar. And so off we go..

Thus far I have built a 8'x5' frame from 14 ga 2"x2" steel, with 1"x2" 14 ga intermediates at 24" o.c. and have mounted a Rockwell 2000# axle to the frame. Everything is square and flat.

Now for my question about the tongue. The 14 ga 2x2 steel, from the tongue design calculations on this site, is too light duty for a 1000# GVW a 42" single tongue, but will that size material work on an A frame tongue, which would have 2 pieces of 2x2 14ga? Also, I'm not certain of how to determine the tongue lenght for a composite tongue. I'm going for light weight, but it's gotta be safe.

Thanks

[Vedette]

Welcome to the Forum and to taking the plung.
Since I started our build I have been hooked.
I used .125 wall 2"x3" as my main tounge extending half way back into the main frame with 2"x2" .125 wall tubing angling back from just behind the hitch to the outside front of the frame rails to complete the A frame.
May sound like overkill but I thought that was the lightest I should go for safety sake.
Good Luck with your build.
There is a lot of great information here
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[Oldragbaggers]

Welcome!! The teardrop building bug bites hard for sure. We're happy to have you here and anxious to follow your build. Please be sure and post lots of pictures because we love them and we all learn from them.

Have fun!!

[Forrest747]

+1 what vedette said. Have fun and we love pics. Whhere in Colorado are you spent some time in Littleton

[bc toys]

Welcome to site and good luck with your build but I have to ask if you got a free shasta why build a tear drop would love to have a vintage shasta myself. Sorry can't help with the steel problem.