Over the past few years one of our members, Peter or petros in IRC, has been making a small trailer to tow behind his car. I must say it is awesome. Here are some of the highlights of that build.
From Peter:
I wanted to create a two person camper trailer that can be pulled by a car. I don’t have the need, space, or want for a large 5th wheel camper and half-ton truck. So I built myself one based on the 1950s design, teardrop trailer. The plans could be found in old issues of Popular Mechanics. The overall design has stayed similar over the years, but the materials have vastly improved. There is an excellent website that has ideas, resources and plans.
Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers
Basic specs:
Frame –
2x2x1/8” Aluminum Tube
5’x8’ box with crossmembers
3x3x3/16” tube for mount
Inside area –
Queen Sized 4” mattress, two cupboards for storage, 2x center shelves, 1x pullout shelf for storage and laptop viewing, 1x dual 120v outlet, 3x switches to control interior and exterior lights, and vent fan.
Exterior hatch area –
Food prep table, upper shelf, lower area for water jug and Margaritaville storage, two door cupboard, storage for cooler, pull-out cutlery drawer, 1x dual 120v outlet, 2x switch to control hatch light and unused.
Electrical –
100w solar panel kit from Renogy, group 27 deep cycle battery, 1000w inverter.
In Use –
It was pulled behind a 2005 Mazda 3 Hatch (2.3L version). For the first trip, we took it up to northern Saskatchewan for a test run. We then took it on a 2 week, 6000kms trip from SK, to North Dakota, to South Dakota, then to Wyoming, and up through Montana, back into Canada in Alberta, and then home. Approximate cost for the camper was $6-$7k. Started designing it around 2 years ago, started building 1.5 years ago, finished it a day before we left on our first trip.
