Teardrop trailer construction 1

Our teardrop trailer construction was started on March 15th 2008. My brother and I have searched the internet to find all we can about these little travel trailers. I have seen them for years on the road and thought they were the stupidest idea for a trailer ever. How did they get all that stuff through those tiny doors? I didn't realize that it was a sleeping trailer with a lift up hatch in the back that revealed a small kichenette for camping. A traveling bedroom for two that you can hook up to a car if you want and take off. They were popular after World War II and many were made out of materials salvaged from military vehicles and airplanes. Wow what a neat idea that has re-invented itself in our day to become a rising fad.
We have decided to build a Benroy model similar to this picture . It seems to fit our purposes the most. This picture was taken off the internet for a sample. We may build and sell ours so we have the resources to build a more elaborate model as a keeper. We have an extensive background in commercial and residential construction as well as owning and running our own custom cabinet shop. We should be able to do this.

We have toyed with building a woody similar to the one shown here on the left. Having a cabinet shop would almost make this a must. We spray a considerable amount of auto lacquer on exterior doors. We were thinking that we could finish it up pretty nice with auto lacquer and actually give it a good wax job occassionally to repel water. Anyway don't be surprised if we end up with a woody.

Phase 1-The first thing we are going to do is build the trailer frame. We have old lumber racks that have not been used for a while and a left over truck rack that can be cut up. We are going to salvage this material to build the frame.

We have several spare tires and wheels from cabinet trailers that we were going to throw away until we decided to build the trailer. We may get through this first phase without having to purchase very much. Kent (My brother) and I cut up the scrap and laid out the frame on the floor of our shop. We used pipe clamps to hold it together to insure it all fit correctly. To a degree the design was created based on the available size of the material. This is what it looked like after welding it all together.

We ordered 2000 lb rubber torsion 1/2 axels and hubs from Northern tool. We learned a lesson about start angles. I didn't know the difference between a 7" start angle and a 3". I selected the 7" and found out the frame now sits 4" higher off the ground than I wanted. We were going to exchange them but decided the extra clearance might be good for some of the back country roads around here. There is also the possibility of building a storage box into the floor.
Did I mention that we don't know how to weld. We do have a couple of really good welders that work for us. It looks like they are willing to help out during slow times at the shop. We may even get a lesson or two.

We are painting the trailer frame. We sanded it down and primed it. There was a bit of rust on the metal when we salvaged it. Not much and it sanded off easily. We used rust preventive black paint for the frame. it is amazing how much better the frame looks with a couple coats of black paint on it. Kent had a can of Aluminum chrome paint so we sanded and painted the wheels. Not custom chrome wheels but better looking than they were before.

When we

mounted the wheels on the frame it almost looked like it could end up being a pretty good trailer. A few more items to mount on the trailer and we will be ready for the floor. We need safety chains for towing and a trailer jack for leveling the trailer when it is un-hooked and parked.