Author: Ryan

Henry’s asphalt emulsion will go on the underside of the deck. I provides great protection from the elements and small rocks that get kicked up on the underside of the trailer as you go down the road. I masked off the surfaces I didn’t want to get painted. I headed my garage to 64 degrees before I started out. The can says 50 is the minimum and it worked well. It was 90% dry by the time I was done. This first coat goes on fairly well.  I went back the next day and did some touchup but didn’t add a…

Read More

The deck forms the foundation of the teardrop and consists of a poplar 1×4  (3/4″ x 3-1/2″) frame and 3/4″ hard white foam insulation sandwiched between 5′ x 5′ x 1/4″ birch plywood sheets. It’s nice to have the trailer assembled to haul the wood around, but be careful not to damage it in the process. I used pocket screws to attach the frame and check that everything is square before applying Titebond III wood glue. Clamps, you will need lots of them for this project. This side being the eventual underside I used brad nails to hold the birch to the cross members so the glue…

Read More

Northern tool 5′ x 8′ trailer serves as the base for my teardrop trailer. It comes in two boxes and there was a extra fee to have the delivery driver to lower it off the freight truck. I highly recommend springing for this service as it would be extremely difficult to impossible depending on your resources. In all it took about 4 and a half hours to assemble with the help of a couple friends. The trailer was exactly to spec (96″ x 60″).  Make sure you don’t tighten the bolts all the way until the trailer is fully assembled as this allows you…

Read More

The design phase is one of the most fun and important parts of the teardrop build process. For the design I gathered hundreds of ideas from other teardrop builds and even other types of projects, such as wooden Chris Craft boats I emulated to get the final finish on the exterior. A great place for getting more ideas is the Teardrop and Tiny Travel Trailer forum at tnttt.com. Here there are literally hundreds of ongoing and past teardrop builds with pictures and a friendly and helpful community where you can ask questions. To come up with the final design I used a great…

Read More