Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

It turns out that the new lens for my phone was lost in shipping, so I have no photos again today. Soon!

I painted more exterior this morning. I think three sides are completely done being painted. I got sucked back into "work" halfway through the last side. I'll be tempted to sand, polish, and potentially clear-coat later.

When I came back, I installed the drip guards on the side doors, repositioned the trailer, and started on the cabinets. Both cabinet fronts are done, and the rear-most face is installed. The idea is to get this structure in ASAP so that the trailer is that much stronger before possibly hitting the road. I probably only worked on the trailer for 3-4 hours today.

Another ~4 hours today, but they felt productive. Two photos.

First, I worked on the cupboard. The bottom and both sides are done. I'm waiting for hinges and pulls before adding the doors. There's a little pass-through in the middle where paper towels and other things will live. When I was done with that, I hit the usual gaps with wood filler.

After lunch, I did some more painting. The left side still needs a second coat, but that's all. Then I decided to cover up the worst of the surface imperfections by cutting down some thick steel flat bar, pre-drilling, priming, and painting. I only had enough material for the left side, so this is a test. The black trim down by the diamond plate in the photo is new. While I had everything out, I finally started working on the motorcycle tray, something I've been putting off for a loooong time.

I only tack-welded everything together, but the part I'd been dreading was figuring out the structure - something that needed solving before the storage boxes at the front of the trailer could be built. I ended up tacking together a little tray and then tacking it to the trailer. I stuck a single 1.5"x1.5" square tube on the bottom of the tray and then sandwiched it in with two square tubes on the trailer. I'll drill through all three pieces and put a pin or bolts through there so that the tray is removable. When I was done, I just broke the tray free of the trailer and carried it into the garage.

Obviously, all the welds need to be completed, the ends of tubes closed up, and rough edges smoothed out. But I think it's going to work! The steel structure for the front storage boxes will connect to the motorcycle tray mount, adding rigidity. I'll probably build a matching ramp that hooks onto the tray and somehow mounts to the trailer. I might also brace the structure back to the trailer in the front to reinforce that. And the propane needs to go up there somewhere. Oh, and tie-downs for the motorcycle.

I wonder what the turning radius is going to be when the motorcycle tray is on?

I spent about 6 hours on the trailer today, getting ready for rain starting tonight. I spent almost the entire time welding - waiting for the welder's cycle time. So in 5-10-minute spurts, I cleaned up the edges of the rubber roof, waited for that to dry, and then put adhesive silicone over the staples. I'm opting not to put silicone around the actual edges of the rubber roof because it's already got redundancies built in. I also taped around all of the even slightly suspicious looking screws holding the plexiglass in, and then sealed around those with silicone sealant too.

I also found some interference between the rear hatch lift support and the cupboard face, so that needs attention soon. Hopefully the hatch being open slightly doesn't cause much water intrusion. I started bridging the unrelated gap between the weather strip and the trailer too. I put some silicone around the newly installed drip molding around the doors. I still haven't sealed up the screws holding those on - or the screws holding the new lower-side protection pieces either.

Some USB ports came in, so I hollowed out a wood block that holds the wiring. I'll attach it to the back wall with the USB ports on top. I need to build one more. And it just occurred to me that I need to build in a switch too, because the USB-powered lights I bought don't have switches.

After the motorcycle tray was all welded up, I cleaned, degreased, primed, and painted it and then stuck the diamond plate in. I did the same with the supports on the trailer. I chose some less-than-ideal plates to cover the ends of the square tubes, and so they look pretty crappy now. Function over form, I suppose. I cut myself pretty good with a sharp edge, so I spent some time smoothing everything out with a flap disc. Both the tray and trailer now need four holes drilled for the big U-bolts that will act as pins to keep them attached. And I gathered up some eye bolts for tie-downs, so those need homes to be welded to soon.

Rather than cover the trailer up, tonight will be a test to find any obvious leaks. Cross all your fingers and toes!

The rain didn't get into the trailer - at least not obviously!

I worked on a bunch of little stuff for about six hours today. So no photos. I painted the entire interior with the semi-gloss white, this time using a small roller. It just needs a little touching up with the brush. I can't decide whether to leave the wood exposed for the cabinets or paint over. It's barely acceptable plywood.

I also insulated and skinned the inside of the lower rear between the tail lights. I caulked around the entire area on the exterior. While I was down there, I scraped some errant adhesive off the diamond plate.

I installed the license plate light, made a bracket for the plate, and attached the plate. It's all good to go now.

I did a bunch of wiring and tested with the battery temporarily connected. Actually, the lights were handy on this dark day. The inside cabin light is good, as are the two lights and two switches in the rear hatch (though the light inside one switch doesn't work). I installed a cigarette lighter plug to hold the 12v inverter/USB port, and those both work well. I also flush-mounted a two-USB unit. Both of these are in the opening between the ceiling cabinets, and I'm considering switching them both to prevent their LED light and battery drain. The wiring looks pretty messy now, so I'm pondering how much effort to take hiding it. It's much easier to decide in the house where everything can go behind drywall.

I also chiseled down the block that holds the hatch lift support to prevent it from interfering with the cabinet. The hatch light also bumped into the cabinet, so I moved that down slightly. I'm going to need to move the hatch wire to prevent drooping and pinching when the hatch closes.

I also caulked around the floor at the back of the cabin. On the hatch, I added the last piece of trim to cover up some insulation and caulked around that too.

In the garage, I riveted the diamond plate to the motorcycle tray. The diamond plate bows a little when I walk on it, but I think I'll forego more reinforcement. It's strong.

It's starting to look like a camper, and the list of things that I'm worried about is getting shorter fast!

I spent six hours today making an ugly box for the front of the trailer. It's pretty solid, but I had to lower the front part when I realized it would interfere with a motorcycle on the tray. I didn't realize until too late that the structure ruins my plans for U-bolts to temporarily hold the tray in place. In good news, the pivot for the front wheel/jack can still pivot. However, the trailer no longer tilts - the new welds prevent that. No big loss.

Oh, I should mention that the box isn't done yet either. I need to seal up the part against the trailer and add a hinge or two. I'll seal the whole thing up too, minus a small drain hole.

I only had an hour or two for the trailer today. I did some work on the storage box roof, but then got rained out. So I worked on the kitchen counter. I kinda like this old hinge I had laying around. The hatch needs more finish work, but it worked out well. That bodes well for doing similar hatches in the front interior storage compartments.

I think I worked on the trailer for about 3.5 hours today. The photos reflect how little there is to show. I mostly worked on the electrical box. I installed the hinge for the lid, caulked the hell out of everything, and made a backplate for mounting electrical stuff. I installed the battery, and there's room for another later if needed. I drilled a 2" hole for the AC inlet. The main switch is wired. I established a good ground. A fuse panel is ready to be wired and labeled. Pretty much everything is waiting for additional parts (AC wire, terminals, DC wire, etc.) that are in the mail.

I also welded on a couple of solid tie-down points for the motorcycle. But they would be trying to turn the handlebars, so I've got to figure out what to do about that.

The mattress came, and that's got me excited. But I want to finish the side compartments in the interior before putting the mattress in there.

I hereby declare this a camper trailer. So it appears that I created a camper trailer. Nice!

After about 7.5 hours of work yesterday, I had installed the latching/locking mechanism (it's ugly but works well), trimmed the front cupboards/counters, cut ugly hinging doors into those, vacuumed everything, and threw the bed in. I sat on the bed for a few minutes just to get a feel for it, and it looks like a camper. Obviously, there is a long list of things that still need to be done. I won't clutter this post with that. But it's mostly cosmetic. And there are a lot of parts in the mail that I need to install as they arrive. There's still no propane system, and the optional items waiting for me to find a job (e.g., furnace) are still in limbo. And the motorcycle tray is still missing pins or bolts to hold it to the trailer.

I'm already looking for an excuse to use it. But the weather is too nice, so backpacking it is.

Looking good!

I'd be spending the night in it, even if it was just the driverway!

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

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It's looking good! When do you expect it to be weather-proof? (Permanent roof/hatch on)

Your design is certainly unique.

I must question the tongue design, however. Will you be doing more to strengthen it? The single tube with two bends & all that welding on it looks sketchy to me.

Two threads that might give you some ideas: http://tnttt.com/Design_Library/tear84.htm


Re: Design Library - we need your files...
Postby alaska teardrop » Fri Aug 05, 2016 11:21 am

Let's hope that Andrew is busy building his own first teardrop.

In 2006 our now moderator, Paul C, introduced the forum to the Australian government's trailer tongue strength regulations. It is the only engineered formula that I know of. Paul also cautioned about welding on the tongue rails where they meet the front of the cabin, (as an example welding across the top or bottom flanges).

Andrew deciphered the information in the below seven pages. Where as the newer pages already posted and which may not work, these original pages give the formulas and explain how to use them. This allows a person to precisely engineer their own trailer chassis.

Andrew added the three other pages in 2013 to clarify mainly the difference in requirements between braked & none braked trailers.

All the pages are from printouts made at the time, saved and used in my own designing.

Note that specifications for not all steel shapes & sizes are given, but they can be found on industrial steel sales websites.

LINKS to FILES

File Sizes are as listed:
Resolution 200 (printable)
8.5”x11"

http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/tongue-st ... 1-of-7.jpg (1.4 MB)
http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/tongue-st ... 2-of-7.jpg (1.7 MB)
http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/tongue-st ... 3-of-7.jpg (1.5 MB)
http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/tongue-st ... 4-of-7.jpg (1.1 MB)
http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/tongue-st ... 5-of-7.jpg (1.6 MB)
http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/tongue-st ... 6-of-7.jpg (2.1 MB)
http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/tongue-st ... 7-of-7.jpg (1.2 MB)


http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/Sample-To ... -Table.jpg (860 kb)


http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/Unified-T ... 1-of-2.jpg (1.5 MB)
http://stacietamaki.com/tnttt/Unified-T ... 2-of-2.jpg (791 kb)

Fred

Thanks, AT. I haven't actually modified the tongue at all except to weld things to it, so I think it should be about as strong as when I started. However, this is a good opportunity to upgrade the structure, and it may be necessary given that I'm putting this much weight in a strange location. I have to pick up some more 2" flat bar, so I might just get extra and reinforce with those. Thanks for the resources.

I worked on the trailer for a couple of hours today before I was pulled away by an emergency. I had finished the exterior paint and attached the motorcycle tray to the trailer with three big bolts. I had also jumped up and down on the ends of the tray, and there was motion, but I think the motion was all in the tires and suspension. I've chosen a basic strategy for building the ramp and the dimensions of that. No parts came in the mail yet