We could have done this the easy way and just bought a ready made teardrop trailer. There are some really good ones on the market. My favourite being the “Little Guy” Tear Drops.

But we’re artists, and the process of creation is always a big part of the fun. Besides, what we save in labour and profit, we can put towards supplies, to customize the experience.

The process for the build has been:

• Concept
• Deconstruction of old trailer
• Preparation of the frame
• Salvage wheel wells
• Re-apply a new deck (using self tapping screws)
• Reassess the design
• Redesign based on the new deck and need for more space.
• Research options, parts, supplies, electrical, propane, etc.
• Build the Love Shack.

We are uploading all the photos as we go along to the following Picasa Photo Album.

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– The Build Details –

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The Concept

We started this project by researching the cost of purchasing a teardrop trailer.

Teardrops can be a great way to travel using a small vehicle. You save on gas, and always have somewhere relatively comfortable to sleep.

After considering the cost of purchasing one, we decided to salvage our old travel trailer and use the frame for this project.

We were inspired to make our teardrop look like an old shack and drew up some sketches. We loved the old rickety tin roof shack of this design. From the outside it has a scale model look, but inside there is little more space then to stretch out and sleep.

Feeling excited by this idea we then turned our attention to the old trailer.

The Old Travel Trailer

The build started with an old 70′s tent trailer that we purchased for a few hundred dollars from family as a “fixer-upper” in 2005. We cleaned it up, tore the canvas out and took it on the road.

It had a rutty old canvas on it with a couple of holes. Originally we thought about fixing the canvas, but instead just tore out the old musty canvas and rigged up tarps to extend out as awning space.

We towed it with a truck, and a van, and used the vehicles as sleeping space, and the trailer as living quarters.

We took it on a few trips to Burning Man, The Cascadia Burn, the Shambhala Music Festival and other local events. We had a great time hosting creative projects with it, cooking breakfast for friends, doing an adults only puppet show for some bleary eyed breakfast friends at “Camp Happy Face Camp”, and generally enjoying it as our little awkward gypsy caravan.

Deconstruction

The trailer had seen it’s day, and for a few years we knew that it was destined to be augmented, converted, or scrapped.

This project made for good reason to salvage the frame and turn it into something new. Our only unknown variable was figuring out the real condition of the frame.

The funny part of this story is that I started trying to pry a couple of connections to the top of the trailer. Snow Dragon’s brother jumped in to help me pop the bolts and push the lid off.

Before long her mother grabbed a pry-bar and started destroying the trailer. It was fun to watch.

At one point I went into the house to get a glass of water and rest for a few minutes. When I cam outside, they were ripping the deck off, and had made very short work of it. Snow Dragon was standing there watching them, and chuckling.

Rust

The only thing we weren’t sure of was the condition of the frame. There was dust and dirt in the frame from the Playas of the Cascadia Burn and Burning Man, and surface rust.

Looking closely at it, we could see it had not penetrated the frame, or compromised it’s integrity.

Wire Brush

We started cleaning the frame with a brush, then used a hand wire brush, then moved on to a wire brush bit on a power drill. It only took us a couple of hours to clean and de-rust the frame in preparation for painting.

Removing the old Screw

The old trailer deck was attached using wide-head self-tapping screws. It may have been possible to unscrew them, but we chose to just lop the tops off using a grinder.

It was a good choice, the screws had been slowly rusting for 20 years, so this made for short work and cleaned up the trailer nicely.

Painting

After cleaning and de-rusting the frame we stood it up on end and painted it with rust inhibiting mat-black paint. It cleaned up so well that a few people have thought the trailer is a new frame.

This should protect the frame for the next few years, and keep it looking nice on the road.

The Full Details Later

At this point we are on the road…
So eventually, when we settle in for a long stay somewhere, we’ll take the time to update the rest of the details.