Greetings from NW Missouri

[MonteQuest]

Monte here. I have decided that my days of tent camping are over. A teardrop is calling me. I am a retired general contractor with all the skills and tools required. A few years ago, I converted a 35' 1966 Bluebird bus into a motorhome. It got 5 miles to a gallon but was useful for me during my NPS ranger days. I'm going to make my frame from scratch and even the door. I'm working on getting an idea of the weight for the plans I have in mind. I will be towing it behind a 2006 Toyota Solara, so it must be light. I know everyone says go 5' wide, but I only need it for me, so it will be 4' wide and 8' long. I'll spend some time perusing the posts before posting.

[pchast]

Welcome!

[TimC]

... so it must be light. I know everyone says go 5' wide, but I only need it for me, so it will be 4' wide and 8' long. I'll spend some time perusing the posts before posting.

Welcome Monte. I'm looking forward to following your build progress. I hope someday there are enough 4x8 teardrops with build journals for us lone campers to have a tnttt category dedicated to those designs. They serve a purpose and as vehicles get smaller and solo campers get more minimalistic they'll become more popular.

I too am building a light weight 4x8 foamie on a fairly light bolt together trailer. It'll have one door (curb side), an egress window (road side) and a twin mattress with a full length storage cabinet along the road side of the cabin next to the bed to utilize that space. Wiring will run from tongue box to galley through the floor of this storage space and provide some storage above as well as a small number of electrical ports for electronics. The storage cabinet will be 6" wide by 75" long and 6" tall from headboard to my waist and 12" from there to the footboard. A small footboard cabinet will house extra necessities such as an extra blanket, book storage, and miscellaneous items.

The camper will be pulled with a Hyundai Kona Electric with no published tow capacity. I know it has more than enough torque to handle the job. And the weight of the car is enough and the brakes are good enough to make me feel safe towing (and stopping) a trailer that I hope will max out at under 800 lbs loaded. I am at the point of having just installed the foam roof and will be doing canvas and paint (PMF) in the next couple days. I've been paying attention to material weight and I don't think it will exceed my weight goal.

In an attempt to just keep building and save some time I'm not publishing a build journal for this build but I'm happy to share details if anyone is interested. I'll probably shoot some photos of the finished camper and post those at some point. I'm hoping to have it finished for a maiden voyage by the end of August.

Tim

[MonteQuest]

Thanks, Tim. One thing I am looking at for gaining space and reducing weight is the floor. With a good support frame, I see no need for the 2 x floor framing or plywood thicker than 1/2" to build on. I know some people use this space for insulation, but with 4" of high-density foam for the mattress, I don't see a need for floor insulation. I plan to bolt the sides to the 2" frame. Where is the best place to upload photos for posting to the forum. Monte

[TimC]

Thanks, Tim. One thing I am looking at for gaining space and reducing weight is the floor. With a good support frame, I see no need for the 2 x floor framing or plywood thicker than 1/2" to build on. I know some people use this space for insulation, but with 4" of high-density foam for the mattress, I don't see a need for floor insulation. I plan to bolt the sides to the 2" frame. Where is the best place to upload photos for posting to the forum. Monte

Last question first... tnttt hosts their own photos. It's a bit cumbersome the way I do it. Ask for a link to that process in a question to the forum... there are probably better ways than my method. You'll get a quick answer from the experts.

There are countless ways to build a floor. I have 24" on-center trailer framing so here is a rough drawing of what I did. 1" XPS sandwiched by 1/4" CDX. I cut the outside frame from 2x6 treated SPF lumber. There's a little bounce but not when I'm kneeling or sitting on the floor. Just when I was installing the floor. The cleat under the 2" XPS is 3/4" x 1 1/4" (not 3/4 x 3/4 as drawn). I undercoated the bottom with a generous layer of Black Jack and then used 2" wide aluminum duct tape where it sits on the frame so it wouldn't stick. I intend to prop the cabin up to tuck in the PMF under the cabin frame.

Trailer is the Sterling 4x8. I ordered it through Tractor Supply but it is offered by the Orange store, Lowes and others. I chose to insulate the floor because it was suggested that condensation under the mattress is less likely. I can't argue for or against that. I just went with that advice.

[MonteQuest]

I chose to insulate the floor because it was suggested that condensation under the mattress is less likely. I can't argue for or against that. I just went with that advice.

Ah, yes. Condensation. Adding 1" rigid foam won't add much weight. As for the underside of the floor, I hope to use Bituthene. It is a self-adhesive, puncture-resistant rubberized asphalt/polyethylene waterproofing membrane used to waterproof foundations. Got the photo thing all figured out. Monte

[MonteQuest]

Welcome!

Thanks, Pete!