A Teardrop Trailer

I've always thought a teardrop trailer would be great for making a quick and comfortable camping getaway.  I got so excited about this project that I interrupted the airplane to work on it. 

I looked all over the web for plans but just decided to draw some up myself and go for it.  I'll post the plans I drew and discuss the choices made.  

Here are the initial drawings I made to get a feel for the size of the trailer. I had to go measure the car to get an idea of how the trailer would look while being towed behind it. That's a 2012 Mazda 3 Hatchback. Does it look like that?  

The first requirement of a teardrop trailer is ASAP (as small as possible). For two people that means a double bed (54"x75"). The sides will be made from a single sheet of 4'x8' plywood, so let's just make the thing 8' with a 3' tongue. To look proportionate, I selected a 24" wheel to match the car. They have wheels as small as 12" but they look silly. Had I been really cool I would have matched the distance of the wheels of the trailer behind the car rear wheels to the wheel base of the car, making it look something like a Gamma Goat (look it up). But that would have shortened the tongue and moved the trailer wheels too far forward and made the tongue weight unacceptably light (or even negative). I'm an airplane guy so weight and balance is everything. At this point I'm planning on using a normal trailer axle with leaf spring suspension, which puts the axle at a height of 12" (24" wheel) and the frame 3" above that. The car has a clearance of 8" and the trailer looks funny because it's twice that. Using a torsional spring trailer axle would solve that but they're hard to order and Gateway of Lewiston didn't have any in stock. You will see that I will try a couple of methods of lowering the trailer in the subsequent drawings, none of which made it into the final product. Next time (if there is a next time) I will special order the torsion spring axle. It should rride a lot better than leaf springs too.  

The height of the trailer:  I started by assuming that I would used the entire 4' width of the plywood sides for the height of the trailer, and subsequent drawings would later bear that assumption out. This puts the top of the trailer about 8" higher than the top of the car. Another good reason to find a way to lower the trailer. 

Here is the first plan drawn, and the plan which I eventually went with, except for the raised frame around the axle, which was an attempt to lower the frame. It would have been too tricky so I abandoned the idea. Pretty much everything else in the drawing made it into the final product: the curve of the entire top, the kitchen counter height, the rear counter extension, the lower interior shelf, the door location and size. Before I cut any metal, I searched the web for fittings. I found a great site (Frank Bear Teardrop Parts) that had awesome smoked glass teardrop doors with screens and locks. Expensive, but worth it. The two sizes were 26"x34" and 26"x28". Had I been going for a lower profile, the 28" would have been my choice, but I am old and decided that I wanted to be able to sit on the edge of the bed with my feet dangling out the door and then swing my head out the door without ducking. Otherwise I would have to crawl into the thing head first and crawl out tail first. I'm too old for that, so I went for the larger door. That choice is reflected in this drawing. Also, using the entirety of the 4' width of the side plywood and subtracting out the 2" thickness of the ceiling, the 2" thickness of the steel trailer frame, and the 6" thickness of the bed leaves 38" headroom, enough to sit upright without fear of banging my head anywhere.  Note the cooler dimensioned under the hatch, and the depth of the counter top. I checked and rechecked all of these dimensions, even taking into account the kitchen countertops in my house, which were designed for my 5' tall wife. This plan works. 

One final attempt to draw a more sleek curve and lower profile. From the outside it looks awesome, but introduces a number of problems. I would have to raise the bed 6" to clear the wheel well, which would reduce headroom significantly. Plus I'm not just goin to waste that space. I'd have storage under the bed and access now becomes problematic. I don't want to lift the bed every time I want something, so exterior doors are a must, necessitating hinges, seals, etc. The counter now moves foward, making it harder to use, and the interior shelf is forward and lower and will impinge on raised knees. I decided to go with the first plan. 

Enough design. Let's cut metal and get to the pictures.

I spent about a week looking for a used teardrop or even a trailer frame that I could modify to suit.  There wasn't much out there so I just went down to Gateway in Lewiston and bought all the steel and hubs and wheels and axles and hitches for the frame.  Here's the first step-- welding the 2" frame. Let's make it square, shall we?

Three foot tongue should be enough. We'll find out later. 

52" x 75" for the bed (it's a double) and the rest of the 8 ft for trunk storage. 

I didn't know there was a special kind of spring for a low profile trailer, so I set up the rear shackle straps above the frame to lower it as much as possible. I bought 24" wheels because I wanted them to be about the same size as the car's. I can't stand trailers with tiny wheels. The end result is an axle 12" off the ground and the frame 3" above that.  Kind of tall, but perfect feet dangle height when sitting on the edge of the bed. And that puts the top of the trailer 8" above the top of the car. Next time I'll use torsion spring axles. They didn't have any at Gateway. 

Here I am fitting the axle with wheels onto the frame. It was easy with the trailer levelers already welded on. I just rolled the axle under and lowered the frames supports until it was just the right height to fit the shackle bolts. 

Closer view of fitting the axle to the frame. 

And the legs fold up without tools. Nice. All painted up and ready for the top. 

A friend and co-worker left for Austin and sold me a pile of plywood (good stuff) for very little. This seemed like a good use for it. One side is going to be oak, the other birch. Rough guess on all the hand drawn curves and door sizes. Actually, I drew a 1' grid on the plywood in pencil and transferred the curve from the plans to the plywood by hand. Slight curve smoothing on the larger scale produced something that closely resembled the plans. 

Here are the sides bolted onto the frame. It's an 8 ft frame and an 8 ft piece of plywood, but you can see that is leans forward of the frame 6" inches for reasons that I'll explain later. So I'll have to hack in another piece to finish out the curve on the back end later. 

No, I couldn't wait to try cooking on the counter. Damn fine eggs and bacon in the garage. Plus this early fitting helped me decide on a smaller battery and propane tank just to keep the tongue weight acceptable. 

I wanted to keep the longer counter so I hinged it and put slide out supports under the sides of the counter. 

Here's my son Joe helping. 

I found a nice little coffee pot for camping. Turns out it makes the best coffee I've ever had by far. I use it all the time now. Serious. It's called a mocha pot or a stovetop espresso maker and I highly recommend you get one if you like coffee. The secret to its operation is the lower pressure pot, which waits until the water is near boiling to force it through the grounds in one gentle pass. It is so steaming hot on completion that the steam can burn your thumb while you're pouring if you're not careful. 

Got all the 2x2s in and the inner 1/8" plywood interior wall. Wiring's mostly in and insulation on the front. Time to skin the outside soon. 

Here's the electrical system. 120 AC to a 12V 30A power supply that powers everything and charges two 10Ah batteries that have internal current limiting circuits. 

It took a bucket of warm water, three family members and a few choice swear words to bend the first skin into place. 1/4" is as thick as I would ever try this. 

I spent about a grand on top quality fittings. Here is one of the awesome smoked glass doors. 

Here's the interior birch plywood. It was quite easy to slide in there and bend into place. It's coated with two coats of varathane on the inside. Two things to notice here.  After a bit of a search I found these USB/cigarette lighter outlets with the 5v converter built right in. Charge your phone right over your shoulder. And the curve of the forward cabin makes for the perfect angle for sitting up and watching a movie on an ipad that is set on the shelf at the back of the trailer. 

12v 3 speed reversible fan and exterior lights all wired up. Ready for insulation and skin. 

Rolled it outside on one of the few non-rainy days in February. 

The trunk on the front is for the folding chairs and table, and the awning and rug that makes the outdoor living room. 

The hatch was tough to make. I made a jig to match the curve of the back of the trailer and here is one of the frames being glued up from 6 strips of ripped 1/4" pine. Turned out very strong and light. 

I think it needs wings. 

I cut the door openings on a guess and got the radius wrong. Here's the fix. Tacky, I know. 

But the door fits now. 

The hatch was hard. Plus I forgot to draw the mark where the underlying supports would go at this stage. So later, after I had put the skin on the hatch, I had to have Nan crawl in there with a flashlight and a pencil to mark the supports while I held the hatch down over her. Funny. 

The entire top is sheathed in 10oz fiberglass, but not the sides. 

The sides are finished with 5 coats of spar varnish. The birch side looks awesome. The oak side is nice too, but doesn't have near the depth of grain as the birch side. 

More later. 

It's later.

It doesn't look like much but I spent the last couple evenings filling the weave of the fiberglass with a polyester resin filler made with talc. It mixes up to a consistency slightly better than that of drywall mud and goes on about the same with the use of a plastic trowel. My first coat left a few divots that were exposed by sanding. The second coat was much thinner and quicker and will be sanded tonight. I expect it to be very smooth after the 120 grit sandpaper. 

Got the final door on and the awesome Tuft and Needle mattress inside. Then I watched a movie on my iPad inside and then took a nap.  I frickin' love this thing. Here it is outside. It still needs a couple things:  safety chains, trailer lights, another coat of paint, corner trim, the cooktop and a propane tank. Curtains! Face it. Like every other project, it will never be done. 

Fenders!  Duh!  Bumpers too!

And hatch gaskets to keep out the rain. 

Got the tailights installed. It was sort of an adventure. And here's the cute bumper partially installed. Still some fitting to do. 

Stylish teardrop fenders are $300 to $500 plus shipping. I found these minimalist steel fenders for $30 at the local RV shop. I think I can make them work. 

Ok, it's never officially done. I still have to make the front trunk and purchase and install the cooktop. But it's unofficially done and can go camping with use of the Coleman camping single-burner stove. You can see that we have the living room installed. It's comprised of a light awning, two folding chairs and a folding table, and it makes all the difference in the camping experience. Seriously, it puts a roof over the whole thing and makes it an extremely comfortable place to be. Let's go camping!

Here it is from under the awning. Notice the small ring at the edge of the roof that holds the pole in place. Nice. No banging. 

Got the brakes fixed and a hitch installed on the Escort and even though the greens don't quite match it still looks pretty proportionate. 

U

Ready for camping. 

Oh yeah. Forgot to show you the kitchen. Here it is after dinner with the wine, cream soda, coffee and bread still out. Good quick Friday nite camping trip. Took half an hour to go get the trailer from the lower yard and load it up with clothes inside and food in the cooler. Then we were rolling. Five minutes after arrival we were unhooked, had the legs down, the hatch up and dinner cooking, wine in hand. Tear down takes about ten minutes more because the dishes all have to be clean and locked in place and nothing can be loose in the kitchen.