Revealing The Shocking Cost of Our DIY Teardrop Camper
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The wait is over! In this video, we'll take you on an exciting journey through the cost breakdown of building our teardrop camper, providing valuable insights on our plan from the verey beginning. Whether you're a seasoned DIY enthusiast or a beginner eager to embark on a teardrop camper adventure, this comprehensive cost breakdown will set you on the right path. Building your teardrop camper is not just about saving money-it's about crafting unforgettable memories as you hit the road in your own creation. We are also revealing the total weight of this teardrop trailer!
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Thank you all for watching this video! If you are interested in building a Teardrop yourself, we have this Teardrop's SketchUp file available! www.woodbrew.tv/store/p/woodbrew-teardrop-camper-plans
I’m Jose I have been in the Military in construction for over 22years I’m retired now. I am impressed that you remained consistent with the quality you have put into this. Your methods was definitely great! And you’re absolutely right, you must have a good “prep work” to succeed and have good outcome. I like how you sealed everything! 😊I ‘d glad to have you in my team
Awesome job! You certainly are a very impressive young man! Keep up the good work!
Dude, Ive been looking online at these and theyre going for anywhere from 10 to 40 grand. You did good.
Very cool, love the design and build quality. $5200 for the trailer and $60,000 in labor LOL!
I absolutely loved this project. It was so inspiring to watch yall build this as I'm about to build a "squaredrop" trailer and learned a ton from your design. I live in northwest Alabama so I know all to well the horrible humidity we are subjected to. My biggest worry with doing a squaredrop was whether or not it could be used in the summer and what options for ac's there are. There was just a ton of helpful information in this series and has given me a ton of confidence to tackle mine! Thanks for a great series
So we like to go quading, and I needed to have somthing I could camp in as well as haul my quad. We went with a homemade 5x10 utility trauler with a Roam roof top tent. That way I can haul the quad and accessories in the trailer and the tent and awning are always above. Also in Arizona I don't like sleeping on the ground with the tarantulas and the snakes. Anyway. the trailer has a wood bed and a loading ramp in it. We put a used Roam XL roof top tent on it, and it cost 5K, so I think the money you put in to that is absolutely good especially for the extra quality and insulation you put in it. I would not upset with that at all. If you are curious about what I am talking about, check out my latest video it is in it.
Your price of the trailer is good and the weight is not bad.For i built one with a kitchen, with an ice chest and it weighs 920 lbs.and it also has 13 " tires.using a harbor freight trsiler as well. My cost was $4,500 for materials. Just make sure you charge enough for your thought process, and labor. New teardrops made by manufactures can cost between $14,500 - $18,500. So your price is great.
Very cool, looking forward to the follow up videos!
What a great build! Really enjoyed the process! You will go far.
Incredible job. I think the concept and execution were spot on.
Great video, and what an awesome build!
This was an amazing project from start to fin. The amount of detail you put into the construction and overall finish just on point. Great job, you guys as always amazing work. Can't wait to build one for yourself.
Thank you! We are super excited to start dreaming up what our might look like. We are thinking we may go bigger to maybe a 12ft version.
Thank you so much for sharing all of your knowledge with us. My husband and I are 70 yrs old and we are jacks of all trades. I was a nurse by profession and my husband a lumberjack and heavy equipment operator. We are now retired, we have a 50acre beef farm and we just finished building our second log home in 2017. Now we are starting to do some traveling and we want to build a teardrop camper. We have thoroughly enjoyed watching and learning from your teardrop build and we are ready to jump in. Can we email you with questions if needed. Thanks again we are so excited😊
I’ve watched the whole build and I think y’all did a great job. I commend you for working well together as a team. Very interesting project.
Much appreciated!
Really like what you have one Looks very comfortable!!
100% agree on the doors. A few of us manufacturers have been working with the primary manufacturer in the USA to fix their process and to improve their quality. That has really started taking place in the last few months. Your take on DIY vs manufactured doors is on point. I experienced the same when I built mine in 2007. This is a really great first build! I'd say most of your weight savings is in the HF frame. Most manufacturer's use a forged steel welded frame that is 1/8" - 3/16" wall thickness for long term durability (= less liability too).
Such a great series! 5200$ is well worth the dough. Knowing how your dedication, attention to detail, and precision building skills. Well done, Dylan and Molly! Stay well, K
Thank you😊 I think the $5200 is a pretty great value for this, however I now think it’s possible to get the same quality for even less so I am excited to give it a go again!
Actually, this approach for 5G's does not get you batteries, solar, A/C, heating, cooking, or water! It's a pine box where a tent will do the same thing (just offering rain protection). I've been working on the same thing with a HF trailer that will have a QUEEN bed, A/C, Diesel heater, propane cooking, and weigh in at only 600 pounds. $2,800 total. I refuse to settle for a tiny heavy wood pine box!
@@arthurfoyt6727id love to get some more info on how you're accomplishing that
I've been binge watching the series during the past week and really enjoyed it. Love the finished squaredrop and am SO happy to see it white. ;) Like I said, your squaredrop is of better quality than anything I've seen online or in person, period. Molly and Dylan, I salute you! I will build my own trailer frame for far less than you ended up investing. The Simder 140 flux core MIG welder arrived last week, $89 on sale at the Zon. It'll easily handle 1/8" tubing. I'll try to find a west coast source of composite panels for the shell. // So, what are the changes you'll make for your next build, the one you build for yourselves?
AMAZING build!
Lived this series! Awesome work and following comments in no way detract from your work. For me, the plywood layers are overkill, but I’m sure it will wear well. I would have glued ALL the wood joints. Dimensional lamber is going to shrink and the friction joints will loosen. Last comment is lack of fusing on the electric. Would not cost much to fuse the DC circuits. Not sure how AC would be fused on a camper but I suspect there’s protection that commercial campers have to use.
I enjoyed the build!! love your vids. Can't wait for your next project.
I was way off!! LOL I guessed 1800
We’ve been looking at options for campers from small RVs to vans to maybe teardrops. Pretty sure I watched all of this series and really enjoyed it. Lots of good information and things to consider.
Thanks! I am curious what your thoughts are on what you might get?
I was right about the cost, but I thought your trailer would have weighed less, the last teardrop I finished weighed 720 lbs. Two thumbs up for your build.
yeh good work on your build high standard....i might do 3/4 ply inside and composite sign board (acm) exterior, just usung sikaflex to bond it or double sided tape
Basically you built a “concept” vehicle, so your costs are higher than you thought. And you think some items are high, but when you think how much you got for that money, you got a lot. Total Boat is not cheap, it is high end products. You used better lights, means higher cost. It’s all high end. If you build based on what everyone else is doing, then you would see their much lower budget. But your camper is insulated, used better plywood, used fiber glass at the seams, was triple sealed, etc, etc, etc. I think $5,200 is a good cost for everything you got in the end. My only question is, could you have bought a trailer that has everything this one has with the upgrades for about the same price. You put a lot of upgrades in and a lot of labor. Also, your camper is much higher labor because of all the assmbly of the multiple layers and all the sealing, etc. you guys did a great job.
A lot of big companies are selling theirs for triple that, so not bad for a couple months of work
I just don’t really see a point for a camper like this that you are dragging around with a big crappy pick up truck… a Prius does everything this does but better. These campers and RVs are just terribly inefficient. Annoying to deal with and unnecessary/expensive af. Anybody that has lived this lifestyle for more than a few months will immediately know how important ste alth is and how annoying having to drag around some thing everywhere you go and having to deal with everything else is. This looks good to newbies/random viewers, but it’s a pain.
I had a crappy weather day, so I did a watch marathon of your complete build. Overall, an enjoyable watch. Regarding my opinion of your total cost...the figure was for your materials and components. That being said....overall costs are subjective. What do you feel is a fair $ cost of both yours labor? These days , labor is costly...moreso, significantly higher than the actual materials/components. Additionally, you had high-end equipment to aid in the precision cutting of wooden components, which the average Joe does not possess. All these things , collectively, would put the overall cost at 2.5-3x the $5200 cost you stated....I'm my opinion. You both did an excellent job with a great end product!
Absolutely love this video! And the your price is exactly what we are finding with honest diy builders. That weight is insane. We have seen a lot of trailers, so we are pretty good at predicting weights. With the overbuilt wood frame, the bed liner, and the beefed up axles I thought for sure it would be 1,500lbs to 1,700lbs. Very impressed! My only guess for why it is coming out so much lighter would be that harbor freight frame. We will definitely be sharing this video in the future. Thanks for all the hard work and taking the time to break down your build costs for us.
Nice job! Great summary. Did you say how many hours of labor this took? Can't wait for the next project.
Wery nice work !
Great build series, appreciate this reflection on the experience! How many hours do y’all have in it altogether?
I had been guessing the trailer would probably come out to somewhere between 0.5-1 ton. Good to know I wasn't that far off. Excellent build though. Can't wait to see what you build next!
I've enjoyed watching this build came out really nice
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the series!
Cant wait to watch you build a better one.
1390 lbs I recently completed a trip from Oregon to Michigan and back with my trailer that I finished building in july. I pulled with my 2020 forester and averaged 20-22 mpg. Mine weighed 1650 full. I was just going to mention I spent about $8500 (most cost was the trailer I had built from 2by 4 C channel 6061 aluminum and a Dexter torsion axle with e brakes and the Auto brake controller and heavy duty ratchet wheels so I could get up over a curb to park in back yard. my biggest pleasant surprise was buying 5 foot by 10-12 foot lengths of .032 aluminum sheets from coast aluminum in portland for About $80 a sheet.
Amazing!! And how fun that trip sounds!
Update on the 94 f150 haven't seen it in awhile and just watched the whole series good stuff
I woul enjoy building this trailer for myself
Very nice work! It has to be very soundproof with those thick walls. I hope you made a nice profit on all of your hard work.
Very impressive! Bothe the cost and the weight are very impressive 👏 👌
😊
I think you guys did a great job. Very surprised by the weight I was figuring closer to 2000 pds. I hope the new owners enjoy it. Looking forward to your next build.
Thank you! We were pleasantly surprised by the weight as well:)
Curious as to why you didn’t build the trailer from scratch out of something like square/rectangular tubing as it would be super rigid (since you welded everything anyway). Or was it just not available in your area? Plus shocks on the suspension (or did I miss that). In any case I’m not being critical just curious. This was very interesting and informative. Take care.
Nice job
Thanks!
WoW great video! Just bumped in this on my feed. Looked at the beginning because I wanted to see the cost for CNC. Then I realized you had your own machine. Just curious to know what kind of budget someone would need to get this done by CNC? Apart from the benefit of the tight fit it give, maybe the cost of getting the CNC done would be way more than the 10 sheet of extra wood saved? I would like to get your input! NOTE: This is not a critic! Cheers!
hi, have you registered your trailer with the DMV? it was easy?
I SHOWED UP TO SEE FIBERGLASS. STAYED FOR EVERYTHING AFTER THAT. GREAT BUILD.
Great to see the final build and tally on cost and weight. Are you both looking to make these campers as a business or just going to build another for yourselves?
Haven’t fully decided yet! We want one for us now though for sure!
Thank you so much for making this video! We are a teardrop trailer manufacturer, Bean Trailer. We use composite floor, walls with a one piece molded fiberglass shell and 3500 Timbren suspension and we get people complaining about price saying they can make one for what you spent on just materials! I assume your $5200 costs were just materials? Did you track your labor hours? If not, your direct cost would have been much higher if you attributed a labor rate of just $20/hour.
Labor is irrelevant if you are building it for yourself. No is is making $20/hour sitting on their couch on nights and weekends. There is no denying that a composite Bean trailer is going to be better than your average DIYers teardrop. I don’t think people build them to make them higher quality though. They build them to save money and for the novelty/fun. The cheapest Bean trailer you can get is $16,000 and they go wayyy up from there. At $11,000 in labor you have 550/hrs or 13 full-time weeks before you aren’t “saving money”.
My point is that it is much more in labor and materials to build a teardrop trailer than people realize. How many hours did it take you? Our material cost on the most basic Bean are over $8K(one piece molded fiberglass shell, composite wall and floors , off road worthy frame and suspension,. quality Tern windows, etc.)and that is without any labor. Your video was refreshing because we get a lot of comments like "I could build that trailer for way less....." Well, no you cant. It would not be built like our trailer and you wont be able to account for the opportunity cost of your time. If you want to build your own trailer, I get how someone could look at that as fun. You just have to know it is going to cost you more than you think and you will have to have nothing better to do with your time. @@Woodbrew
@mark-di5pf They can build one for a lot cheaper than they can buy one. Will it be as high of quality? Probably not. Will it be as time efficient? Probably not unless there is a big lead time. Is there opportunity cost in DIYing one? Possibly, but for most people absolutely not. I hear this time argument time and time again in the comments, but there is only opportunity cost if you get paid more then than the people building your teardrop AND you have the opportunity to work more. For most people the answer to that is absolutely they do not get paid more. Most people could find more free time to use to build than they could time at a high paying position. The people who say “I could build that cheaper” will never be your customer.
Opportunity cost is a loss of a potential gain, monetary or otherwise. . That includes "is there something I would rather be doing than building this trailer.' I would not care to speculate and speak for 'most people''.@@Woodbrew
EXCELENT!!! but Total cost is $5,730 Keep up the good work! Where can i get the Discount code for the items on my cart?
What kind of plate or registration is needed for something like this??
What would you have done differently now that it is finished?
Awesome camper and great video series. Would it be cheaper to start with a trailer made to your needs?
I doubt it because for $1500 it’s hard to find even basic utility trailers for that. Having someone build one surely would cost more and there are only a couple I am aware that you can buy for this purpose.
I think 🤔 You did big..To cool 😎 and lots a brains 🧠 Genius..Thanks for sharing
Do you know the new owners well? If yes a 1 year follow up to see the wear and tear would be great. Maybe get some design feedback. What they like and what they don’t. : Well, I posted before the video finished. Continued watching and you just said you would do a follow up. Great build.
I Think It's A Great Price Great Job
I think the cost of materials was well worth it but how any people have the CNC machines to do the cutouts??
Congratulations on the finished product! Any idea what the cost of a commercially available camper the same size would cost? My philosophy is similar to yours in that I would spend more for better quality and reliability. Now if your build under cuts the cost of a comparable new one, that is a win-win scenario.
It’s wayyyy less than the commercial equivalent. It’s built like a $25,000 teardrop but lacks some amenities so it’s probably around $18,000-$20,000.
Honestly I thought the cost was absolutely low for the quality material used as well as the time. I would have been thinking more or less 6500$ to 7500$. You realised a very good teardrop camper and I new you would sell it immediately because of the quality and the fact that you and your wife worked on it. BRAVO !
Time is definitely not factored in, but I never factor it in on something I enjoy doing with the caveat of I do If I intend to sell it.
@@Woodbrew Great my friend. See you on the next one.
He builds it’s just perfect, cheap compared to other tears drops who ever brought from you he a lucky guy
If I built my own camper, I would buy a old camper and use the windows doors and anything else I could use off of it. Lots of campers out their, because they don't have a way to dispose of them. There's no where to take a old camper. You can buy very cheep, or free sometimes just to get rid if them.
Vwry nice build. Only addition i would have put in would be an air conditioner. If you live in the south you know.
We did in the previous video☺️
I'd sooner build one out of XPS foam with glass skins in and out, 2 layers of 4 oz cloth with West Systems epoxy. My target weight for the one I want to build is under 500 pounds with the chassis, 5 foot wide, 10 feet long, 4 foot tall, with a homebuilt trailing arm suspension. Just a guess midway through the video that build will have ended up around the 1275-1300 lbs range. I have built a few different flatbed trailers over the years and also looked at a bunch of other teardrop and squaredrop builds online at the TNTT forums. I am not knocking your methods, but 1/2" outer skin is way, way overkill. Think airplane, not tank.
Yea Yea foamies are cool, but not the build method I wanted to do on this one. 1/2” is overkill, however I like overkill and 1/2” was the only truly waterproof plywood I could get locally. The primary goal of this camper was to make something that isn’t going to fall apart in 5 years.
For your future build, add in the AC unit as a built in.
I'm pleasantly surprised at the cost of only $5,200. But you spent a lot of time building it. If you consider labor, what would you think the total would be?
I would never consider labor on a personal project I am building for fun. If you wanted to build one just to save money then I’d say you’d probably value your time doing other things more than the savings. The whole labor value debate is a mute point for me because it only applies to people who don’t want to build it or someone who has to take time off of a job paying them a tangible dollar amount. It’s more of a opportunity cost debate for most people. Would I rather spend time build X or would I rather spend time doing Y.
You possibly could have saved a couple hundred by building your own trailer. You practically did that rebuilding that Harbor Freight trailer. Another alternative would have been using 2" rigid foam insulation board.
I had guessed 6K, 10K with time. Realistically, now that you have a great template, how much time to build?
I think 1 month is a reasonable build time now that we have most of the details figured out. I never factor in time in videos because 99% of people do it as a hobby and then time is irrelevant. Even if you could buy something for less than your time is worth, it’s my opinion that if you enjoy the process then that’s irrelevant. If I were to factor in our time on this project it would’ve cost around $50,000. For me, I enjoyed building it and learned a massive amount so that really doesn’t matter to me.
@@Woodbrew😂
I’d be lucky if I found a teardrop under $9,000! 5,200 is a steal!
When you build/buy QUALITY,... you only cry about cost one time.
Very true
$450 for the trailer... man. They shot up to like $1200 CAD = $896 USD to buy one in Canada. :( that's for the folding one. You can get a solid frame trailer for $2000 CAD = $1493 USD. :( :( :(
I have thoroughly enjoyed this build. I'm thinking just under 1000lbs based on how easy Dylan is able to grab this guy by the tongue and walk around with it! Just over or just under 1000lbs is my guess.
👍🏼
Just worried about y'all bc I haven't seen any videos lately. Hope and pray y'all are okay.. Please let your subscribers know how y'all are doing..
After 5 months of building the same thing, we needed a little breather😅 Will be back sooner than you think!
Next time fabricate the body out of fiberglass can maybe reduce weight by about 100 to 200 lbs.
"Road Toad". ~450 pounds. OR build a "foamy" trailer for $1,500 kzhead.info/sun/ktGQZsquhJ6Oq6s/bejne.html So many cheaper, better, lighter alternatives than plywood.
Too much wood. You could have used more XPS foamboard and fiberglass it. 👍
Bingo! You do not need to build a tent on wheels like a whaling ship. You also do not need to keep the form within the wheels or only 8' long! Make it bigger, lighter, and more aerodynamic!
$5200 was just the cost of materials though, yeah? Your labor is worth a LOT more than that. I'm curious how much you charged the new owners for this full build.
I’ve answered the labor debate in a few other comments if you want to check those out. I’m not a liberty to discuss the price, but I can say they received the family discount.
More than 2 x $5,200 if you watched the full video. Then labor on top of that! Honestly you can get a RoadToad for less money, less weight, better build quality, larger, and a warranty. Sorry but paying over 5 large for a pine box with no heat/Air Cond, cooking, water, batteries, Solar, etc is not a good deal.
Más imágenes y menos catorrear...😊
Great job. It's nice to see young people taking on life like you do. Now build your wife a bed!
14:55 it can’t weigh more than what, 30 pounds?
Damn, can’t believe I was so far off.
You built it like a solid boat. It should be leakproof for decades. Great Job. T I R E S are a big deal, consider Michelins, they are amazing tires.
If $5200 is what was spent on the build, then well done! I don’t know anything about campers, but it seems you built a camper that is superior to what’s on the market.
$5,200 + $5,200 in doing it wrong (research)? Get a RoadToad instead and it will weigh A LOT less and be more durable and more interior space, and roughly $8K. And a warranty.
I think your teardrop camper turned out amazing! I think the cost is very reasonable considering the quality and attention to detail in your build. In other words, I don't think you can buy a camper built with the same craftsmanship with equal features for that price. The weight is icing on the cake. The ability to pull that with a small car is a game changer. I really enjoyed watching you progress through the build.
I was close I posted 1200lbs. What do I win. Lol😂. You did not discuss labor that’s ok. I know the mfg. her who builds a rugged off road tear drop sells his for 10 grand and he’s backlogged 18 months
I'll say you finished around 1350
Wood rots and warps phone
You did an excellent job but the cost was absolutely ridiculous and that fruit wasn't worth the squeeze in my opinion unless it is just fun to build and spend money on, you could have just gotten a really nice used camper for that price and enjoyed it without the work involved of building it. So half a dozen to one six to another but you already know what I'm going to do.
So you spent $5,200 to build basically a hard sided tent.
1200lbs
1300lbs
2200 lbs guess
My guess 1900lbs
Well dang! You killed it on weight.
That's a LOT of money for a tiny heavy small trailer. I also do not believe that your "electrical" system (that relies on shore power or a generator) is realistic for backwoods camping. Also with no heating, no A/C, no water, and no provisions for cooking it's terribly limited for actually camping! Sorry, but over 5 grand for a tiny heavy small "box" is just not a good design.
Your weight savings was due to the skin treatment.
Getting older 😂😂😂. You ain’t seen nothing yet.
It’s called BIDENOMIC
Talk too much. Zzzz