Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm getting tempted to throw together a Weekender for the October gathering in NC. Where can I find 4x10 ply? Our local Lowes and HD don't stock it.

I know I can get it from our local plywood specialty shop. But it was tough finding them. I ended up calling 3 lumber yards before one of them told me about Pontiac Plywood.

Pontiac Plywood has it shipped in from a distrubutor, as I imagine someone in your area might. You might want to call around and ask who sells speciality plywood or oversized plywood.

As for building a weekender for the Oct gathering it's do-able. Here's what I see...

You already have the trailer with running lights and brakes...

You build a body out of 3/4" plywood and gorilla glue, re-inforced with wood strips on the ceiling where necessary, and aluminum angle brackets if you feel it's necessary. I ended up with 1 wood strip on the mockup.

Paint it with CPES and Uniflex 255.

Install a battery powered closet light and you're ready to go.

Am I close? Do you have a trailer already?

Mike...

P.S. You can always come back and make it lighter!!!

P.P.S. If you built it out of birch plywood, you're looking at $344 for the body. That's not too bad... I wonder if one could use 5/8" BC fir plywood?

P.P.P.S. If you can't find 4x10, then use 4x8 and use a batten.

Mike,
That CPES and Uniflex 255 sounds like the way to go. How much would it price out at on a 4'x8' weekender?

Thank you for adding the option concerning PVC. I'd like to clarify a few things about our using this method.

We had one big hurdle to jump when building our trailer. Putting it bluntly, it was MONEY. Yet, all we really wanted was a tiny trailer, didn't care much about the shape or cosmetics...just something small to tow, but not a tent.

Aluminum skin was what we wanted, but we really didn't have the funds.
Along comes our friend the roofer who has the pvc material and glue needed. He even said he would help us install it.

Cost being minimal for us and pvc being a good waterproof cover... perfect.

Ours does have ripples/bubbles in places. In other places it's perfectly flat. It appears to be a matter of the type of glue used, etc. I would say go with the pvc if you can get it cheap... but be prepared for a less than perfect finish. Otherwise, paint is probably going to be the better way to go.

If we hadn't been able to get the pvc, we would have probably just painted the trailer with some good outside paint at the time.

Bev

The Uniflex is about $87 a gallon, so figure 2 gallons or $174.

If you did nothing else but use the Uniflex I think you would be fine. A Uniflex teardrop will probably many years.

Using CPES will probably extend the life of a teardrop but if funds are tight, you could probably skip it if you didn't need to use any filler.

Anyways, thanks for the note... I added it to the page.

Mike...

Mike, Thanks for the link to JC Whitney's decal page I had not seen it.
Have looked at http://www.decalzone.com/ ?
This company has a large variety of decals that you may want to check out. I think they are less expensive if cost is a factor.
Clancy

Just added the air conditioning page...

http://www.mikenchell.com/weekender/ac.html

Mike...

Mike,

Looking at the ac in the front design, couldn't you move the axle toward the front to decrease the tongue weight? If so, where would you need to axle, measuring from the back, to get around #100 for the tongue weight?

Still DREAMING!!!

Thanks,

Eagle

Eagle,

You are constrained by the location of the door, and the amount of space required for the fender.

Mike...

I thought about that after I submitted the post. I guess there would be some folks that would insist on getting IN their weekender.

Eagle

Has anyone else actually built a 'weekender'? If so, do we have any picture pages of completed projects?

Frank is finishing the insulated weekender. I don't know of anyone else who has started one.

I thought Eagle would have started by now...

Mike...

Pictures of the weekender progress. Click on building the weekender. http://photos.yahoo.com/merccp

Frank

Frank and Mike:

I am excited about my VW Bug Teardrop project! I am getting some great ideas from the Weekender!


Please tell me an approximate finished weight and approximate cabin interior dimensions.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all

I was looking for a quicker build and had decided to forego the curves on my first teardrop (I want to get out there) and then I found this WOW

I really want insulation though but without the framing soooo....

My initial idea is to sandwich 2 pces 1/2" luan with 1" foil backed insulation (Kingspan) before the sides are made, some edges would require a wooden batten ( for screwing into ) but most edges would be sandwich alone.

Here is some 40 mm I used in my old bus project



What do you all think? its pretty strong stuff.

Hey Frank:

Have you finnished your Weekender yet? Can't wait to see how it looks!