Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

In the 1st Diagram, Lap Joint (Simple Benroy), has anyone used this design recently? if so, how does it not fall on itself if the walls are not "on" something like a lip? I'm curious.

Well, that isn't much of a joint. This is the way I do it:



The wall is glued on two plains to the floor, and pocket-screwed on the inside, and then screwed from the outside horizontally.

Rock solid.

Tony

tony.latham wrote:Well, that isn't much of a joint. This is the way I do it:



The wall is glued on two plains to the floor, and pocket-screwed on the inside, and then screwed from the outside horizontally.

Rock solid.

Tony

I agree Tony, but I'm sure it worked right? or else we wouldn't be seeing it. I'm sure the TD were heavier back then too. I'm wondering if the galley wall that separate the cabin from the galley helped keep it up sort of speak or am I wrong in thinking this?

That's a good technique Tony, how wide is your camper? I was thinking of doing it that way but thought of how much cabin room it would take up. At the moment, I'm aiming for a lip method where my walls will be on top of the bottom plywood.

The lap joint could work with sufficient fasteners but having some kind of "keyed" joint
like the dado or rabbit joint would not only be stronger but make assembly easier and more accurate.

A good design principle is to let the structure carry the loads. The fasteners should hold the load bearing members in place, not carry the loads themselves.

The galley wall, if properly fastened, would help "hold up" the sides by transferring some of the weight from the side fasteners to the inner wall.

Notice the cartoon appears to show a wall as a single sheet of plywood with the lap joint. Because of the single sheet, a lap joint may have been necessary.

What is the lifetime of a teardrop made with solid ply walls? Might have only been a few years. I don't know.

Folks have complained about condensation in un-insulated tears. Some only built them to test space requirements, camped in them a few times, and then went on to build more permanent tears out of sandwich walls. (Plywood was cheaper in the old days.) (And it was an uphill hike to the one room school; both ways!)

Anyway, my recollection is that the cartoon was made around the start of the forum to show what folks were thinking/doing then. Took a few years for the best ideas to percolate to the top.

Tom

how wide is your camper?

60" outside and 56.5" inside. It fits a queen mattress just fine.



Why do you think the older teardrops were heavier?

Tony

Pmullen503 wrote:The lap joint could work with sufficient fasteners but having some kind of "keyed" joint
like the dado or rabbit joint would not only be stronger but make assembly easier and more accurate.

A good design principle is to let the structure carry the loads. The fasteners should hold the load bearing members in place, not carry the loads themselves.

The galley wall, if properly fastened, would help "hold up" the sides by transferring some of the weight from the side fasteners to the inner wall.

Pmullen, its true, it would definitely need some sort of keyed joint for structural integrity. That galley wall must have had a bunch of supporting boards to hold up those wall and whatever they may have put on the roof.

Tom&Shelly wrote:Notice the cartoon appears to show a wall as a single sheet of plywood with the lap joint. Because of the single sheet, a lap joint may have been necessary.

What is the lifetime of a teardrop made with solid ply walls? Might have only been a few years. I don't know.

Folks have complained about condensation in un-insulated tears. Some only built them to test space requirements, camped in them a few times, and then went on to build more permanent tears out of sandwich walls. (Plywood was cheaper in the old days.) (And it was an uphill hike to the one room school; both ways!)

Anyway, my recollection is that the cartoon was made around the start of the forum to show what folks were thinking/doing then. Took a few years for the best ideas to percolate to the top.

Tom

Tom, good catch, I didn't notice the single ply for the wall, maybe it may have worked that way along with the galley wall screws. As for the un-insulated tears, the 3 season tears, I've heard about condensation too. I'm sure that its just a matter of opening a window and/or turning on the fan. I've heard quite a few people, whether its a DIY TD or a bought TD, that didn't mind the un-insulation. To each their own.

tony.latham wrote:

how wide is your camper?

60" outside and 56.5" inside. It fits a queen mattress just fine.



Why do you think the older teardrops were heavier?

Tony

Tony, a queen mattress inside the 56.5? awesome. I was thinking of a queen but didn't know how it would fit mine, there's hope!

23Sojourney45 wrote:

tony.latham wrote:

how wide is your camper?

60" outside and 56.5" inside. It fits a queen mattress just fine.



Why do you think the older teardrops were heavier?

Tony

Tony, a queen mattress inside the 56.5? awesome. I was thinking of a queen but didn't know how it would fit mine, there's hope!

Foam squeezes.

Tony