Building a Teardrop Trailer?

[miniyota]

I've been looking at some teardrop trailers. but i think i could build one myself.

i want to be able to carry the following:

RV fridge
cooking range
storage for water
storage for fuel
storage for food
propane for fridge and range
king size bed
room for a generator
battery for lights and whatnot

33" tires and a torsion axle should handle most trails and be pretty stable on the highway. i'm hoping to keep the weight down to 1000 lbs. it will have a full steel frame and steel tubing for the structure. then i'll use aluminum siding on the outside with some insulation and some sort of plastic interior walls so its easy to clean out.

I've seen some on the intraweb but i think $8K is a bit much to spend on something some small and easy to build. i would also insulate it and maybe put a small heater in it.

anyone every built one?

what other things do you think it should have?

i'd probably start on this sometime next summer. I'll design everything around the mattress and go from there.

[Screwzer2]

Wifey want me to build one. Have you been looking at any plans? Pretty simple when you get down to it.

[PAToyota]

This one was shown in the Overland Expo thread:



Made by Adventure Trailers.

Kuffel Creek has plans that you can adapt.

I've liked them for a long time now. Recently had the idea to make the wall between the back hatch and "bedroom" removable so that I could use it for camping or for hauling stuff.

[miniyota]

i just got the idea about two hours ago. i'm going to work on my own plans. i've seen a few on the intraweb, but i want something alittle different then what i see for sale and what others are building. i'm hoping for 50 gallons of water and 30 gallons of gas.

i think i'll build the frame out of 2x4x.188 and use a swivel style hitch. it seems like it would be fairly easy to design and build.

[miniyota]

okay i have already priced some stuff.

3" Lunette Ring with Mounted Plate $99



Stove range $100-150



Fridge $600


Torsion axle $300 for a 3500# axle

[miniyota]

the regular tear drop trailers do not come with any of this stuff.

[Never Monday]

Originally Posted by miniyota

i'm hoping for 50 gallons of water and 30 gallons of gas.

50 gal of water = 400 lbs
30 gal of gas = 180 lbs

1000 is to low of a gross weight guess.

checkout Ronco Plastics for tanks.

[miniyota]

i guess i'll shrink the water tank. 30 would probably be enough. my jeep eats gas offroad.

do you think a stainless steel tank for water would be overkill? for gas i can just use a simple aluminum tank.

for the was structure, i see lots of people just using wood. I'd rather use 1x1x.120 wall square tubing. What spacing should i use for the "studs".

i have a 1000watt generator i will use and store on rack on the tongue. how long do you think the tongue should be?

i'm doing some rough designs in CAD right now.

[Never Monday]

plastic tanks work great and save weight. you can build them in under the bed to save space.
Most small enclused trailers have 3-4 ft of tongue. I can't see where it would hurt to go on the long side at 4-5ft.

[miniyota]

i found a ton of parts here

http://www.trailerpart.com

[crashnzuk]

My truck camper has a 20 gal fresh water tank, and I rarely need to fill it unless I'm out for 3 or 4 days with the wife. I even have a flush toilet.
Travis..

[jsjeep]

this is incorrect
50 gal of water = 400 lbs

water weights 4.33 lbs per gal
50 gal = 216.5 lbs

I don,t know what fuel weights

[82FB]

Originally Posted by jsjeep

this is incorrect
50 gal of water = 400 lbs

water weights 4.33 lbs per gal
50 gal = 216.5 lbs

I don,t know what fuel weights

Hmmm.

Lets do the math. I pint is 16 oz or commonly known as a pound.

There are exactly 8 pints in a gallon, so I think a gallon weighs 8 pounds. But maybe I am really confused?

[makya]

water weighs 8.35 lbs/gallon, gasoline~6.2-6.7, diesel 7+

[makya]

Originally Posted by 82FB

Hmmm.

Lets do the math. I pint is 16 oz or commonly known as a pound.

There are exactly 8 pints in a gallon, so I think a gallon weighs 8 pounds. But maybe I am really confused?

weight and volume are different, aren't they? otherwise, a gallon of milk would be a different volume than a gallon of water or gas.

[82FB]

But on the issue of a teardrop trailer, they are way cool.

I would drop the idea of a steel frame for the walls. Much easier to use plywood, and easier to mount stuff to the plywood also. I would seriously use a harbor freight 1700 pound 4x8 foot trailer as a base. I paid $299 on sale. I built mine with 2 foot sides and have hauled multiple loads of green oak, eucalyptus, etc in it which weigh out at between 3 and 4 thousand pounds. It has made 3 trips of over a thousand miles each, and never had a problem. YMMV of course!

[miniyota]

alright i have worked out most of the measurements.

here is a pretty picture. i still need to skin the rest and build some cabinets

the big green brick is the fridge i want to use. its a propane fridge. the back will open like a hatch back to get into the fridge and storage back there.

materials are:

4 x 2 x.125 for the frame

everything else will be

1 x 1 x .120 square tubing.

i'll use a military pintle hitch. there is enough room inside for a king size mattress. i may shrink it though because my wheel width will be around 8 foot wide with this set up.

the tongue will have enough room for my generator, propane, and other crap. tongue is about 52" long. the wheels will be 60% back from the hitch.

i think it will be really stable and strong.

[82FB]

Originally Posted by makya

weight and volume are different, aren't they? otherwise, a gallon of milk would be a different volume than a gallon of water or gas.

DOH!!!! any points for being close?

[jeeplt1]

1 gallon of water equals 8.34 lbs.
1 gallon of gasoline equals 5.8 to 6.5 lbs depending on temperature and additives

[gahi]

I'm building one right now. I'm using 2x2x.125 for the frame, and 1x1x.063 for the walls. I used a roll bender to form the wall and it was really difficult. I second the recommendation of using plywood, then skin that. Just my axle/tire combo was $550, $900 in aluminum, $450 in steel. and I havn't done anything to the inside.

[notyourmomslx450]

I've been toying w/ the idea of building a teardrop for quite a while. Here's a page w/ all kinds of different designs for the DIY'er. I kind of like the idea of the motorcycle camper, on a slightly larger scale, but the harbor freight one would probably be the one I'd build.
http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.u...rop/tear00.htm

[p14175]

Some suggestions

* Grab handles or rails on the outside corners to make it easier to move the trailer around.
* Door access on both sides.
* An interior that can be hosed out.

[OneTonK5]

http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/
If you havent been there.

[winkosmosis]

Instead of curving the back all the way down, end abruptly like the Prius's rear end. That shape is called a Kamm-back. The shallower slope is better for aero and yields more interior space than the droopy butt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kammback


Look at this forum for ideas http://ecomodder.com/forum/aerodynamics.html

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by makya

weight and volume are different, aren't they? otherwise, a gallon of milk would be a different volume than a gallon of water or gas.

But 1oz of water weighs 1oz