Best Home-Built Teardrop Trailer (Caravan) Plans
Find Plans for Do-it-yourself Ultralight Streamlined Vintage Campers
Mar 30, 2009
Handy with tools? Like the idea of a "do it yourself" approach to a towable, light-weight RV? Then don't buy – build!
Download or purchase a set of plans, invest a few weeks (up to six months) of work and up to $2,000 or $3,000 for parts and materials, and build a teardrop travel trailer!
What's Required to Build a Teardrop Trailer from a Plan?
The traditional teardrop building method is "stick and skin" construction. Wooden framing is screwed-and-glued, then covered with a thin plywood interior skin and a plywood or aluminum exterior skin.
- A workshop or covered work area is advised.
- Welding – helpful, but this can be outsourced, and some kits use a bolted frame
- Patience is a big help (typical construction time, working weekends and evenings, is up to six months)
- Ability to read and follow complex directions, step-by-step
- Basic carpentry skills – ability to measure, read diagrams, lay out parts
- Basic power tools (table saw with regular and dado blades, jig saw, drill; router, belt sander, others) and ability to use them with reasonable accuracy
- A lot of clamps of various types
Vintage or Modern Teardrop Plans
Many plans offered online are simply reprints of old articles from magazines printed in the thirties or forties. These vintage plans may refer to vintage materials and vintage construction methods. Some include original blueprints. But even so, in these cases,
- The purchaser may be limited to the construction directions in the original article.
- The plans may have to be adapted to make use of modern industrial glues, new light-weight materials, new products, and improved construction methods that have been invented over the last half-century.
- Some sites offer these old plans free for download, but others charge a modest fee for print copies.
Plans of this type will be best suited to accomplished craftsmen or to those willing to improvise and experiment.
In other cases, the plans are "retro look" and true to the original design in size and shape but completely redone to modern standards. Plans of this type may be more apt to meet today's requirements for travel speed, safety, construction standards, and DOT compliance and will be best suited for builders who are less sure of their skills or for those who simply want more guidance.
What does it Cost to Build a Teardrop Trailer?
There will be time involved. One plan service offers a plan using only plywood that can be built in a weekend or two (exclusive of gathering supplies, tools, and equipment) but most builders seem to need about several months, working over the winter to have the unit ready for spring camping.
There will be money involved. The plans themselves range from free to around $60 on average. The better a builder is at scrounging parts, and the more he can do himself, the lower the cost. Costs cited range between about $800 and $3,000 USD for a completed unit. New teardrops range from $4,000 to $10,000, so the result is worth the effort, cost-wise.
Choosing a Teardrop Trailer Plan
How do you choose from among dozens of online plan sites? Not all teardrop trailer plan services provide the same level of detail, quality, or assistance. The best plan services will offer:
- A full-sized side template, or detailed instructions for laying out the side teardrop shape.
- Step-by-step illustrated directions
- A variety of formats for the plans (print, CD, or access to an online library to download)
- A list of tools required or recommended to build the teardrop trailer
- A detailed list of materials, hardware, fasteners, adhesives, and finishing products
- A comprehensive list of suppliers (take note of the country of origin; many supplier lists are limited to U.S. sources, and the small teardrop trailers – caravans – are becoming popular in Australia and Europe)
- Online assistance, often in the form of an online forum or discussion group but sometimes as direct factory access if the plan service also builds teardrop trailers
Building a teardrop trailer is a notable achievement that is within the capability of the average do-it-yourself woodworker with the interest, time, and patience to choose the right plan and follow it to completion.
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