Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

...nice looking camper ya got going there...a little airish but very nice looking .........................

Thanks Brick,
We've been using that trailer for a couple years now with no problems except for Andrew, he just keeps coming up with new designs.

Madjack,
I was thinking it would cut through the air a little better and be cooler on those hot summer nights. However the wife said she wasn't going to sleep or anything else in there until it was a little tighter. Skins are on!

Denny http://community.webshots.com/user/drshop

Denny, Those are lovely fiberglass fenders you've made.

And for anyone who likes the shape of the Grumman, someone has told me about this blog by the British Little Guy dealer, who is showing a very Grumman-esque Little Guy model called 'The Turtle'. There are no further details and it doesn't appear on the US web sites, but it doesn't look like a British model to me (US taillights, US palm tree behind it?), though the frame looks rather Yurpeen.



Andrew

I like the profile, but the axle is too far forward for my taste and the wheels do need to be tucked.
Thanks for the compliment on my fenders.
Dennyhttp://community.webshots.com/user/drshop

any way to adapt it to a HF trailer, it is a really good lookin trailer.

cjm

Denny, That is a great build you have going there. Do you have any idea how much each side weighed after both skins where on?

Tom, I did weigh them, 28# each without the doors, that's raw. I haven't checked them since I put a bunch of epoxy on trying to get them flat enough to paint or even to put AL on. That 1/8th" ply just doesn't lay very flat. The walls on the woody are 3/4" birch, nice and flat and weigh in at 37#. So for a savings of less than 20# I have increased the cost of material and probably doubled my build time for a less than satisfactory result. Personally I just don't think that type of construction is worth the effort on an 8' trailer. From here on I'm sticking with the 3/4 birch. (if I ever do it again) I put my HF trailer together in a day and had 60# worth of junk left over.
That's where you can save some real weight. JMHO, Denny

cjm wrote:any way to adapt it to a HF trailer, it is a really good lookin trailer.

It could work, but it's not exactly easy. You'd have to throw away the springs/axle/wheels and replace them with torsion (or drop) axle 13" further back.

Then the HF frame is 4" wider and 8" shorter than the Grumman's. The extra width means it wouldn't be possible to recess the wheels as far in as they are in the Grumman, but the difference wouldn't be too obvious. The HF frame could probably be lengthened by using the Cubby trick of using two of the cross-members to join the front and back halves, but leaving a 8" space between them.

So, if you meant 'can you put a Grumman on a standard HF trailer?', the answer is no.

Andrew

Well, this is coming very late in the thread and as my first post...might as well wade in.

Ah, the joys of being a newb! I didn't realize that there was even a thread about this design or that it was especially new. I was hanging out on Andrew's web site a few nights ago (I had download some profiles a couple of years ago or so) and decided once and for all that the Grumman 2 was just the beast I was looking for; I just love the profile. So, today (it being my day off) I went to see a fabricator about getting the frame built and he's excited about it (he does custom stainless marine work, custom motorcyles, and motorcycle trailers (the kind they pull)...he thinks the teardrop is great). I'll order the axle, coupler, tongue jack and whatnot this week and when it all gets here it goes to his shop for the frame build.

I'm afraid I'm going to mess with the design a bit (I'm SORRY! I just can't help it!). Hopefully no one will ever know (except the few hundred that read it here ). I really want to be able to drop in an off-the-shelf queen-sized mattress (60" X 80") so the width will get pushed out just beyond the outside dimension of 5' on the drawings (likely around 63" when all is said and done). The interior I'll change just inches to get the 80" length for the bed but that will never show. Otherwise I ain't messin' with it.

I have full faith in Andrew even though it doesn't look like much to the frame. I'm going to use a torsion suspension axle with brakes. I want to keep the trailer low and light as we'll pull it behind our Volkswagen New Beetle TDI (turbo diesel). [It's 68" wide so the 63" (or thereabouts) Grumman 2 ought to look just fine.] The Beetle is also 59" tall so I'll try to stay close to that on the Grumman 2 but it might be just a tad taller when done.

A question for Andrew if you check in here...I'm assuming that the frame members are 2" X 2" tube stock, is that what you intended on this design? And which wall thickness, I've seen you recommend 16 gauge (or was that 14) in other threads, will that do the job? [Thanks in advance!]

So, anyway...here we go; I'm off and running (sorta). Thanks to everyone here on the forums, all your build photographs, your stories & ideas, and lots of hours reading I've got an awfully good idea of how to get this done and where the parts are available. I'm also a boat dealer and do a lot of custom rigging and installations so that part really helps both for being comfortable with a lot of systems and having access to marine goods.

I'm up on the north end of Whidbey Island in Washington State north of Seattle. I see there are quite a number of Pacific Northwest (or Northwet) teardroppers so I'm really looking forward to meeting some of those folks (and others around the country if we get some time to travel).

Sorry for being long-winded...I really just meant to say "hi".

Hi Les, and welcome to the forum!

Mike...

mikeschn wrote:Hi Les, and welcome to the forum!

Mike...

Thanks Mike...

Welcome Les, Can't wait to see your construction pictures.

John

jdarkoregon wrote:Welcome Les, Can't wait to see your construction pictures.

John

Thanks John...I'll be really happy to have something to take photos of! Guess it should be about 3 weeks or so before the frame is built (need time to order parts and time for the fabricator to make a hole in his schedule).

I'm getting into this thread late as well, but I had the chance to see Denny's trailer in person and it was beautiful! I can only imagine what his new trailer is going to look like. What Denny doesn't do with posting he more than makes up with his beautiful trailers.

Joanne

Denny wrote:Andrew,
I agree, that is an absolutely pleasing profile which I think you nailed with the ultra light. Thanks to your drawings and a sale at HF I am now in the middle of #2. Ultra light profile 4 1/2' wide on the HF trailer with 18" cut off the tail (this placed the axle right where I wanted it) this width also tucked the wheels halfway in (perfect). Then I used your thoughts to make a pair of 4" wooden fenders which look very similar to the grummam's they turned out too nice to put on a trailer so I used them for plugs and made some fiberglass ones, still nice but a lot more work.
Right now I have prefinished parts scattered everywhere waiting to start assembly.
Just had to post and say thanks for all your ideas. This is going to be a neat little tear. Thanks again,
Denny

This is a very nice design. I have not invested the time into a CAD program, but I wonder what the profile would look like for 5 x 10, 5 feet high?