Welcome indeed. Over the next few months, I'll post (randomly and usually badly) info about my build. For those who may not know, teardrop trailers were very common in the 40s and 50s for people who wanted to vacation, but had a DIY budget. Small, light, and towable behind the average sedan or station wagon/estate car. Nowadays, there are dozens of small manufacturers building trailers from a few thousand all the way to 50K or so, plus kits, and websites like tnttt.com to help you build your own. There's a pretty good Building a Teardrop Trailer, by Tony Latham that will guide you all the way from concept to completion. And many, many, many youtube videos with walk-arounds and how-tos.
The design
What you see in the picture above is a simple 3D model of the sides, floor and inside dividers printed at approximately 1/12th scale. I wanted to see the shelving and general shape before I spent too much time drawing or fabricating the various parts and pieces. I'm using FreeCAD as my design tool. I started learning parametric modeling last year to make stuff with 3D printing, and now I'm using it to drive a CNC machine to cut pieces for this trailer. But that's a ways off yet. I'm still putting ideas on the screen and test driving them.
Requirements:
Big enough for a queen bed - 2 people, 2 Labs.
Storage for a week's travel. We've done this in a station wagon. Having a trailer just means we can be more comfortable.
Must be towable at 70 mph. (Wife hates getting passed by semis)
Kitchen is functional but not elaborate. No built in appliances, no sink, no installed fridge. Pull out propane stove in a drawer with a quick disconnect so it can be moved to a picnic table if desired. Powered cooler on a slideout. Storage for essential tools, pots, pans, instant pot and maybe a bullet blender.
100-200aH LiFePO4 battery, solar charger, inverter etc. for electrical power. Gotta run laptops, phones, instant pot, etc.
15-20 gal water tank, pump and propane instant hot water heater for washing up. If in a campground, we'll use the facilities there. If boondocking, a shower every couple of days is pretty nice.
Propane heater - yeah, there are places where it gets cold at night, and I'm not a fan of being cold.
Air conditioning - maybe.
Porta-potty - not inside, but easily accessible and easy to set up. This will live in its own box on the front of the trailer, out of sight, out of mind.
Beyond that, I'm still working out some of the creature comforts, thinking about where to put dog food, canopies, and other specific gear that takes space or has specific utility.
The build
I'll be using the TC Maker for building the frame, all my CNC work, panel cutting and some assembly, then trailering it home to assemble in my garage. (I'd do it all at TC Maker, but there's no space for big projects or finish work.) We built the Skoota launch there two years ago, but it was very tight - and it would be impossible to get a trailer out the door!
The timeline
Fortunately, there isn't a hard deadline for this build. I would like to have it finished in time for a Moab trip in March, so I guess that's my goal. I'm estimating a couple of hundred hours over 4 months should get me there. And the more design work I do up front, the less futzing around I'll need to do on assembly (another reason for CAD).
Cost
Several experienced builders have already told me ''take whatever you think it will cost, and double it¨. Probably not incorrect. I'm trying to use purchased parts where possible instead of making everything the hard way - making my own doors would save a couple of hundred bucks, but might take 80 hours to build and weatherproof. I'll just buy them, thank you very much. I will try to capture the costs as I build. I'd like to believe 4000 will get it done, but it'll probably be closer to Cap's statement above.
At any rate, please do follow along and share. Comments are certainly welcome!
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