Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi all, My wife and I decided that we did not want to pay the outrageous price for a travel trailer that would still not meet our needs. We currently have an older 20' TT (Damon Hornet) that has the back rotted out of it, and would need some serious remodeling to meet our needs. So after some serious thought and hand wringing, we have decided to take the plunge into the world of cargo conversion. So far, we have ordered an 8.5 x 22 v nose and started the planning process. The old Damon Hornet will donate the roof AC, propane stove, stainless steel sink, Propane furnace, inverter, and maybe the windows. I hope to get feedback from everyone on my layout, as one of my biggest concerns is weight distribution. I have already gleaned a great deal of information from reading about all of the builds everyone has done. Thanks in advance for your input.

Looks good. I will be converting a 7x16 into a toy hauler. I have a 5th wheel that is suffering from roof rot and will be using quite a bit of stuff from it like you. The beauty of converting your own is you get what you want where you want it. After you have stripped the old trailer, haul it to a metal salvage yard and get some green in your pocket to make up for dollars spent on your CT. My old 5th wheel is HEAVY so I am looking forward to that. Good luck!

Hauling the old TT to the scrap yard is a good idea. I have also toyed with the idea of converting it to a utility trailer. But I have no idea how much work that would take or if I even have the tools to do it. The other benefit that I have found for this project is that it is something that my wife and I can do together. She wants to be a part of the build, something that she has never been interested in before.

Does anyone see anything about my layout that would possibly cause weight distribution concerns? I will also probably be asking about wiring when we get to that point in the build. I can read the books to find out, but book knowledge only goes so far.

Jeff

You may have an issue running the toilet there, if there is a 3x3 running through the middle you'll be pooched, but overall the plan looks great
The kitchen just ahead of center axel is best for weight distribution

Nice layout planned!

Barb

Thanks Chris. I do have some ability to move things around in the bathroom to accommodate for just those types of potential issues. I won't know for sure until i am able to get into the build. We hope to get the trailer sometime mid-month. For now we will be planning, and pulling parts out of the old TT.

Barb, your opinion is appreciated.

Jeff

And don't forget to pull your holding tanks, water pump, even the entry door, hinges, drawer slides, lights. Be best to be able to keep the old girl arounf while you build, it would be like having a your own parts store.

I agree, having your own personal parts trailer is great and am planning on doing the same. There is just about everything I need in my 5th wheel to build my CT. Looking forward to watching the build.

roadinspector wrote:I agree, having your own personal parts trailer is great and am planning on doing the same. There is just about everything I need in my 5th wheel to build my CT. Looking forward to watching the build.

Or, somebody else's old trailer. Today for my CT conversion I bought 2 16x26" crank out windows, 2 4x12" crank out vent windows, two dome lights, a fuse holder and a trailer jack wheel... all for $26! The only reason I bought the smaller windows was because they had perfectly operating gear boxes, while the larger window gearboxes were shot. Will do a swap out. I like cheap!

crumvoc wrote:

roadinspector wrote:I agree, having your own personal parts trailer is great and am planning on doing the same. There is just about everything I need in my 5th wheel to build my CT. Looking forward to watching the build.

Or, somebody else's old trailer. Today for my CT conversion I bought 2 16x26" crank out windows, 2 4x12" crank out vent windows, two dome lights, a fuse holder and a trailer jack wheel... all for $26! The only reason I bought the smaller windows was because they had perfectly operating gear boxes, while the larger window gearboxes were shot. Will do a swap out. I like cheap!

Cheap is good!! I found a shower pan, bathroom sink with faucet, and bathroom door for $25 total at my local Habitat store. Sometimes you can find some good deals in those salvage stores.

Thanks for the reminder on the holding tanks Chris. I am sure that there are many other things that I will be able to use from the old TT to save some cash.

Jeff

JJ92 wrote:Thanks for the reminder on the holding tanks Chris. I am sure that there are many other things that I will be able to use from the old TT to save some cash.

Jeff

Yup, once you rinse them out they're as good as poo....oops, did I say that

Just found out that my trailer won't be ready until the end of the month. Bummer. I guess that will force me to do more planning.
That's probably better anyway. I never have planned very well.

Jeff

Planning is for the birds.
Winging it is more fun

,,, Oh wait, winging it is for the birds too, whats a guy to do????

I think haveing a nice bath room is well worth the time and effort I just wish I had done things a little different.
my Idea was to have the portable toilet in the shower but the back of the shower is a door so I can get into the V nose area and I found the toilet to be in the way and I also found out I didn't like haveing to dump the toilet.
I didn't put in a holding tank but I did put in a drain from the bottom of the portable toilet and it is alot better to just uncap the drain and let it go and flushing it out than takeing the toilet out to empty.
But if I had thought it out better I would have got a RV toilet from the start for not much more money than the portable toilet was.
The other thing I thought I would make a tile base for the shower and it looks nice but it dosen't drain right so I am haveing to tear it out and put in a shower base which I am sure I will like alot better.

That's just my after thoughts.

While I wait for my trailer to be built, I have been pulling out the parts from the old travel trailer. Most of the expensive stuff is still in good working order, but I discovered that the black and grey water holding tanks are both cracked. Not just a little bit cracked, but major cracks. So I started working out how I could use the PVC pipe holding tank Idea that I have seen others on the forum use. I have a plan to use 6" PVC pipe for both tanks to get a respectable size tank. And as luck would have it, I discovered a seller on Craigslist that had 12' lengths of 6" pipe for $10 each.