From Nor Cal

[scmclark]

Hello from Northern California! Ive been on this and the other forum for awhile. I did a lot of lurking though and I do not have a teardrop ar a tiny trailer yet. I'm thinking about building my first teardrop really.
A few months ago I was over at a friends house who lives kind of in the hills, and we were walking down this old dirt road and I looked down the side of a hill and it looked to be an old travel trailer that was pushed over the side of the road. The trailer is upside down and looks like maybe a late 50's to early 60's trailer. I saw an old license plate with 6 digits and had the black background with the yellow letters. I will be looking at it again this Sunday to see if I want to pull it out and use the frame to build a teardrop. I want to do a kenskill style. Is there anything that I should look for that would help me out, Like axle width and placement and dimensions of trailer? I will be taking a tape measure and I will take some pictures. Any advise would be helpfull!!

[jeffmutch]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you've got the itch like the rest of us!

Be very thorough in your inspection of this trailer youre thinking of salvaging. The last thing you want is to invest time and money into a project only to find a crack in the frame, rust, or warping where it's not easy to fix. As for measurments and all, that's the great thing about building it yourself! The sky is the limit and anything you can imagine can be done with some careful planning and a lot of time and love to invest. One thing I hear people say is they wish they built a 5' wide instead of 4'. I like my 4' but It's just me and a Dog. Also, I'd make my plan first and see if this trailer will work for it rather than the other way around. It should help prevent some complications later. Looking forward to seeing some pics and following your build! Good Luck!

[Corwin C]

I would suggest that you go to every effort to find the owner before putting much into it. Just because it's "abandoned" doesn't mean that it's there for the taking. Getting the VIN and plate # and running a title search would be my first suggestion. If you can find the owner, offer to give them $1 for a bill of sale.

[scmclark]

Well, I went and looked at the trailer the other day and I don't think I will be using it. I do want to build a 5x10 and the frame is too small. I did find a tag on some siding, the tag says "The Terry Rambler" and the license plate is tagged "63" I did a search on a 1963 Terry Rambler, but found nothing.
Oh, this trailer is on my friends neighbors property who recently lost his house. My friend got in contact with his neighbor and said to have at it. Guess his parents tossed it years ago. The property is up for sale now!







Do you think I should at least grab the axle and springs? The axle is 4' from spring to spring. I was thinking that I could grab whats left of the siding and maybe there is some left for somebody that may want a pattern for this trailer.

[scmclark]

Here is the plate.