Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Door side tire: 149.5
Port side tire: 150.0
Tongue: 40.5

Total weight: 340.0

That's without the mattress and battery. I can live with that.

tinksdad wrote:Total weight: 340.0

That's without the mattress and battery. I can live with that.

Very nice!

I imagine not too many campers out there can be weighed using bathroom scales.

I got the door trimmed in aluminum. I installed the drip cap. I trimmed the innertube seal. I installed the window. I installed the door handle/latch.

All this stuff has to come back off (except the drip cap) so I can put the second coat of paint on the door now.

steve wolverton wrote:That sounds like that would work. How would you seal the canvas to the hole in the bottom of the camper? Velcro? Snaps? Another item to consider it rain. If it rains a lot and there is quite a bit of water under the trailer it may get the canvas wet. I guess you could waterproof it. You may want to lower the canvas piece down on some small legs to keep it directly off the ground. Just a few thoughts - I also thought about doing something like this awhile back.

I would build a frame out of angle aluminum to fit the opening.... then with some flat aluminum bar I would bolt to the outside of the frame that hung below the camper... stick the canvas or pvc material between the angle and the flat stock and crimp it in place. The frame would just set in the hole in the floor. Yes you could put small legs on the bottom so it stood up off the ground a few inches. The whole shebang would just set down from the inside down and would be just big enough to not drop through the hole. The stuff they make rigid inflatable boats with would be perfect to keep the water out.

steve wolverton wrote:I got the door trimmed in aluminum. I installed the drip cap. I trimmed the innertube seal. I installed the window. I installed the door handle/latch.

Steve, We're already impressed with Puffin 2, but with each additional step of your build, we're even more impressed!

By the way, did you use T-molding to trim the door?

Steve, once again I am very impressed with you craftsmanship!!

Ya know, Your Puffin Logo would make a great Stained Glass Port Hole Window. Just a thought.

Wimperdink - Have you seen that somewhere, or is that something you came up with?

aggie79 - I didn't use T-molding - that's 1/4" angle. It's the same setup that I used on the Puffin 1. Never had any leaks with the first Puffin, and it saw a lot of camp/rain time.

Mary K - The stained glass thing is a great idea. I'll have to look in to that!

steve wolverton wrote:Wimperdink - Have you seen that somewhere, or is that something you came up with?

A combination of a collection of ideas seen in other projects. I saw one with a drop floor that had a mechanism to raise the floor up and down. I thought to myself that that was really cool but too much work. Then there's been a few with a hard mounted drop floor which I thought was cool but too much work also. I also tow in the mountians of east tn and there are a few driveways I visit that are pretty radical climbs and drop boxes could drag if too low. My laziness combined with ideas from other builds and boat building projects combine to some strange things I guess.

I also thought about just dropping a 2' x 2' spot as I am 6' and my wife is under 5'. She could walk around in Puffin without a drop floor. I only need to stand up to get dressed so no need for a large area of dropped floor. If I did a 2'x2' hole, it would leave room to the side to stand while putting the drop floor in place without getting out of the camper.

Another thought I had was width. Extra width means its that much harder on my small car to tow. I really like having the extra room by putting the bed in sideways. A small counter with drawers or cutouts like yours gives a lot of extra storage inside. I love good gas mileage as it means I can go that much farther on my minimal funds. Slide outs are nice but wow what a bunch of extra work. Once again I am 6' tall so my idea is to build a 5 wide standy and instead of a slide out, build a box that once you get there, open a door on the side and slip a 1.5' deep x 1' tall box in the hole that would esentially just hang on the side. The door for the opening would lay on top of the box like the thing they put over slide outs keeping the water off the top. Put a cushion inside the box and you instantly have a long enough bed to lay sideways. The box would just have your feet in it so it doesnt need to be tall. 12" tall should house the cushion and your feet comfortably. Laziness breeds ingenuity no matter how wacky. Could even design the popout box to look like a flower box with a faux or tinted window over it.

I also designed a floating motorized teardrop with a convertible top for water camping at one point. I started on it but ended up using the wood for another project. Not gonna get into that here as this thread is sposed to be about puffin 2. Keep up the good work... I've got my eye on every picture and/or idea.

only one window? Can't tell from the pic if it opens?
No roof vent?

Mark

Elumia wrote:only one window? Can't tell from the pic if it opens?
No roof vent?

I bought three and installed one. Fixed window. No roof vent.

Wimperdink wrote:I also designed a floating motorized teardrop with a convertible top for water camping at one point.

Wait...what!?

Floating motorized teardrop? You have piqued my interest there!

Is it stuffy in there without ventilation? Worries about condensation?

No Pork and beans at your campfire!

Mark

Elumia wrote:Is it stuffy in there without ventilation? Worries about condensation?

Dunno, never camped in it. Can't imagine it would be. A buddy and I stayed in the original Puffin during winter for a week, and we did fine without vents. We ran the heater (small 110v. electric unit) and didn't have any condensation problems.

I'm building it the way I want it. If it doesn't sell, then I'm going to keep it and take it to the Grand Canyon. I don't like windows because I like a lot of privacy. I don't want people seeing what's going on in my camper at night!

(I don't want people seeing what's going on in my camper at night!)

I'm with Steve on that I can think of a few reasons What happens in the camper Stays in the camper

Hi Steve, I am John; a newbie

I have downloaded a few free CAD drawing programs to use for my trailer and for the first time in my life I seem unable to figure how to use a software program out on my own. Hunting and pecking around just confuses me and would take forever. I see your drawings (blue and red) and wonder what program you used to do that. Any help would be appreciated as I want to begin my trailer soon.