Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

hello everyone, I have a quick question. How can I build a teardrop for cheap, I know that question has been asked a million times on here but I was thinking that I need nothing but a bed and a door and some way to pull it around, the galley hatch is pretty neat but I was thinking of a "TD" with out the back hatch, what do you guys think? after I get used to the Idea I may move on and build a bigger and better one but for now I am looking for a minimalist approch to the Idea.

There are several ways to go about what you want. Look over the Hall of Fame at the upper right hand corner of this web page near the top orJust Click Here to get there. You also might checkout Mikes Ultra Lite Tear here.






Good hunting lots of good information found in this WEB Forum. Ask lots of questions and take lots of pictures; AKA Madjack "Luv those pictures".




Pat

P.S. Mikes Weekender is real simple to build and you can modify it without or later add the galley in the back. Just leave the galley out and use it for a storage hole for now and then later you could build in the galley if you like. Just a thought.

Yea, what Pat said!

You are talking about a simple box with wheels. Also look at what Smoky Bob did in the hall of fame!

Mike...

Widegauge (name?), what are you doing the weekend of November 10 thru 12? A bunch of us are going to be in St. Augustine, at Anastasia State Park.

Cheap Teardrop.
Go to Louisanna at the end of the month. Visit Madjack and say happy birthday. Eat, look around and be merry. Or go to Anastaisia and get ideas.

Buy cheap Lousianna boat trailer. (or other) $50
Buy cheap plywood ( )
Find glue at flea market (NOT)
Get used screws (NOT)
Make own window
Camp

Truth is you can do it, do you really want to. Look around for an inexpensive trailer or PM GPW about trailers . Make it small. A big freebee will cost you more in materials. Then Make any shape you like. The weekender is easy but any shape using 4x8 sheets is good. (4' high and wide)

If you need light weight too you can make your framing members by splitting 2x6's. It is a lot cheaper than buying 1x2's. Watch for large knots or wavy grain patterns. Your cut offs will curve. (clamp pieces back together after cut to minimize warping.)

Buy good glue---Tight bond 3 is great.

Luan sides and roof = $40 Check each piece carefully.
or 1/2 sides and luan roof not much difference.
1/2 bottom=$16-$20
2' x 6' = 3-4 @ $4ea.
interior layer is choice.
glue = $28 gallon (you might not need that much, but I did)
screws = 2@ $6 (you may not need that many)
trailer = $50+
Primer = $ ?
Paint = get the good stuff (porch or Sears has a 30+ year house that will probably be good. Urathane based)
Gardners fiber coating (brushable)=$7
Hinges and windows
Brushes and squeegys
Bolts, washers and nuts, to bolt it down
Galley hinge = Aluminum piano hinge is cheap. A galley hatch isn't as hard as it looks. You can leave it closed up and cut it away later.

Trick is to put your money into good materials and cover with good finish. Try to not make waistful mistakes. Planning every step and reviewing just before you do it will help a lot.
Enjoy

widegauge
If you want cheap check out my album. Don't insulate the walls like I did. Just build one door, and maybe a window. You definitely will need a vent, a plain vent, no fan, doesn't cost much. I bought the good paint but if you want to save money buy the cheap stuff.

Whatever you deside to build just do it your way and have fun.

What's cheap? I got carried away and still spent less than a grand. I could have easily cut that in half if I were just replacing a tent like I said I was going to. The trailer at $190 was the most expensive item, after that it was $10 here and $20 there.

Ed

i just started a project a few weeks ago with the help of this forum. I have already spent $1400.00. $550.00 was on the 5x8 redtrailer with shipping. $50.00 on kuffel creek plans. $0.0 Generic Benroy plans About $600.00 on tools and clamps. The rest was on wood and the rest of the basic materials (Glue, roofing tar, screws, bolts). I still need to buy more wood and some electrical equipment. I estimate the total cost with tools and trailer to be close to $2500.00. After the build is over I will also have a nice wood working studio in my garage. Table saw, circular saw, lots of clamps, jig saw, belt sander, drill, cordless drill, along with other odds and ends.
Total Cost >$2,500.00
Time spent with the kids building. Priceless

Thanks to everyone on this site I will soon have a Teardrop. I have been taking lots of pictures I just need to figure out how to post them.

This weekend I plan to cut out the sides and mount them to the trailer. I get excited to get home to my project everyday.

Few more months I'll be camping with the family.

Widegauge
Check out what Roly Nelson did with his 1/4 Nelson. http://tnttt.com/viewto ... highlight=
Scroll down and you will find his post. He used a small HF frame, hollow core door, 1/4" ply for the walls and 1/8" ply for the roof. He does have a hatch and basic galley shelves. There also is a picture of Roly lifting his 1/4 Nelson on this thread http://tnttt.com/viewto ... highlight=

well I have just spent about 4 1/2 hours just surfing around in here and I must say I am realy excited about building one. I think that I like the weekender the best, looks easy to buld and about the right size for me. but thanks for the warm welcomes and I will have to see what the wifes ideas are about.

P.S. see ya in st. augustine.

widegauge wrote:
P.S. see ya in st. augustine.

Cool! Here's the layout where we're gonna be: