Summertime camping trips are beautiful ways for families to build lasting memories.
When Instructables user rowerwet decided to take his family camping, he knew he wanted their trip to go a step beyond the rest.
Rather than forcing his kin to experience the quintessential tent-pitching antics of the typical camping trip, this crafty creator built his family a foam-and-plywood teardrop trailer — easily towable by any working car.
Constructed on the frame of a pop-up trailer he got for free, this upcycler pulled his design off at quite a low cost, while still managing to enact a sound structure, beloved by his whole family.
With its simple yet insulated design, this trailer is a fuel-efficient solution to those partial to camping, with a few key comforts close at hand.
Having this trailer handy, this family can easily set off on all sorts of camping adventures at the drop of a hat.
Scroll through our gallery to learn all about how this DIY-er built his very own teardrop trailer, making camping anywhere, anytime, completely easy.
When Instructables user rowerwet decided to build his family a teardrop trailer, he realized upcycling an old pop-up trailer's frame would be the best way to keep costs down.
He found this trailer for free — his if he was willing to drag it home himself.
Feeling up to that challenge, this DIY-er lugged his new trailer home, and immediately got to work ripping it apart.
He tore every inch of this trailer away, strictly interested in its frame.
With the trailer frame bare, he cleaned off any lingering rust, and coated it with primer.
Next, he began building his new trailer from the floor up.
This inventive builder chose to build his flooring out of plywood.
He glued the plywood pieces together first with construction adhesive, and then flipped and coated the entire piece with decking sealer.
This upcycler then started constructing his teardrop trailer's foam walls.
As he cut and placed these walls along the structure's exterior and interior, he temporarily adhered them together with duct tape and bamboo skewers.
Once he was ready to make his layout permanent, he joined each wall to the next with Gorilla Glue.
This builder decided to make his trailer two stories high, so he added wooden spars along its first-floor roof, upon which he'd then lay plywood.
A door placement on this DIY teardrop trailer was crucial.
No matter how he sliced it, this trailer's doors were going to be small, so this builder cut down on the time he'd need to spend bending down to get in and out of his main trailer door by positioning it close to his bed.
That way, he'd be able to sit upright on the bed, and move from that seated position out the trailer door with ease.
Since these doors would likely be the most used, and abused, of the trailer's features, this builder decided to reinforce them with plywood, for added durability.
He positioned the wooden doorway in place, covering it in foam.
Next, he added a Wiley window, allowing optimal ventilation at a very low installation price point.
He built his windows out of more plywood and plexiglass.
With a few doors hinged in place, this DIY-er's design was nearly complete.
He also added a circular, screened window to improve ventilation throughout the unit.
Finally, this DIY-er decked out his teardrop camper with its classic teardrop-shaped galley hatch.
This was one of the more stressful parts of the build, because if improper installation had ensued, this hatch would eventually leak like crazy.
Thankfully, this builder took care to make sure his galley had a proper lip and tight seals.
And just like that, this DIY-er built his family a foam teardrop camper!
Now, this builder's family can pile into the car and hit the open road, knowing full well that wherever they end up, they will have somewhere safe to rest their heads come nightfall.
The trailer's teardrop galley makes for a wonderful storage section.
Thanks to this father's crafty skills, his entire family can enjoy fabulous new amenities on their camping trips for years to come.
What do you think of this teardrop trailer? Have you ever traveled with a trailer before? Let us know in the comments.
Please SHARE this awesome camping trailer with other builders and campers in your community!
