Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Ha wife nixed my first design stating it looked too much like a horse trailer. Looking back I kind of have to agree. Soo here''s try 2.

This one is a 4x8x5w It leaves a lil of the frame from the back of my hf trailer to be cut off. Not a problem... but can anyone think of a good reason to leave it? I'm thinking it could hold a bumper nicely... But then I may have to wear shin guards.

The good part of building this way eliminates the need to move the wheels further back...& saves on extra sheets of plyfor a longer design. The bad part is the loss of 12 3/4" of floor space. I do like the shape though.

Why not just slide the body back? Then you could make a tongue box or, if you don't want a tongue box, shorten the tongue up a bit.

Do you plan on not having a galley in the back?

Jeff

not sure yet.... I slid it fwd because I already have an extremely long tounge on it. This trailer was used and abused. I welded the whole thing and installed a new 2.5x2.5" square stock hitch that starts at the 2 middle cross members andgoes 9' out from there leaving about 5' from the front ofthe trailer frame to the end of the hitch. There is more than plenty of room for a hitch box and propane tank. I built long so that when its done, I can cut the hitch down to whatever length I want.

Unsure about the galley and how in depth i'm going to go with that. I'd like to be able to carry a moped inside and acouple of kayaks on top.

and why don't you just do a 10 footer?

John

It leaves a lil of the frame from the back of my hf trailer to be cut off. Not a problem... but can anyone think of a good reason to leave it?

.....Maybe that little unused part of the frame would work for a rack for bikes or fold-up chairs?

Sharon

jdarkoregon wrote:and why don't you just do a 10 footer?

John

I'm going to be towing with a small 4 cylinder car. I dont want the extra weight. And, I dont have access to long sheets of ply... Any longer would greatly increase the overall # of sheets I would have to purchase. I'm trying to keep this inexpensive until I decide this is the way to go for me. Tear 2 can be larger.

S. Heisley wrote:.....Maybe that little unused part of the frame would work for a rack for bikes or fold-up chairs?
Sharon

That could work.... Won't need more than a couple of camping chairs and hoping to get scooter inside.

If you're pulling with a little 4 cyl, yeah, you've got to be really careful of the weight but it's do-able. If you have the car manual, you might want to check both the towing section and the brake section to see how many pounds can be towed.

Sharon

S. Heisley wrote:If you're pulling with a little 4 cyl, yeah, you've got to be really careful of the weight but it's do-able. If you have the car manual, you might want to check both the towing section and the brake section to see how many pounds can be towed.

Sharon

1500 lbs tow capacity. Already planned to keep it light. I'm hoping this simple design is as easy as it looks. I normally build boats as a hobby, so i'll be attacking this build from a boat building standpoint. Shouldnt be difficult to keep it strong and low weight.

Out of curiosity, does anyone elses 5x8 trailer weigh more than 1500 lbs?

What if the entire galley was on slid outs and pulls rearward
when the hatch was opened. The galley section could
support the open hatch and provide a couple feet more
leg room in the sleepy side.

P.S.

Scion xb 1000 Lbs towing ??? ( Depends on who you ask)



Chubby is a 5x10x5 wide Have 2 trips under our belt
800 and 300 miles respectfully. I will admit that while
highway towing is fantastic. Interstate speeds are limited
to 65 or just less.

Thats a good looking setup and I like the idea of the slide out kitchen. Other design ideas though make that a no go. I think i'm gonna chop the back end off and use the left over steel to add to the sides for the overage to make it 5' wide.

I'm probably going to make a removeable galley for a number of reasons. I used to travel and do contract work that required a huge amount of travel. I may eventually go back to that. I'd like to have a removeable galley so that I can slide a "office" in its place. Having it removeable would also enable me to throw a scooter inside when going from place to place. I like your swing out counters a lot and that could be an option too. No bulkheads but swing out kitchen without upper cabinets would allow for easy loading and unloading from the rear and would also allow cooking from inside when all your trying to fix is a cup of cocoa.

Ramble session out.

You'll be happy with the extra width,

so now, get to it!

We want to see what you make

John

jdarkoregon wrote:You'll be happy with the extra width,

so now, get to it!

We want to see what you make

John

got the strips on this tonight.... hurrying up on this to get the tear in the garage. It'll be a lil bit before I'll have floor space for the tear so I'm still in the design phase. hopefully by the time I get to building... all the steps in my mind will be in order. Trailer is done and ready.... too many projects.