Expedition - just not Off-Road

[GeoTracker90]

Wanted to share with you guys what I have been busy on since Clark hauled the ORT back to Boise.

I know that this isn't a teardrop forum but I thought I would share it with the group any how.

I've been putting the frame together ever since the 1st. Just before noon today the plywood was all just raw, uncut sheets. What a day!

Mike

 

[paulj]

How are you joining the plywood?

 

[obscurotron]

That looks like you're off to a *really* nice start.

I miss my teardrop something fierce. Built in my garage summer of 2002, sold 12/2007 since it slept me fine, but not the wife and the dogs and the new baby.

Sometimes I wonder if I should build MegaDrop (a plan I sketched out on many a long train commute), with changes to make it both a family-friendly car camping trailer and with enough brawn to be a useful expo trailer.

In fact, there's a question - do folks use any teardrop as a hardcore (more than just mild dirt roads) expo trailer?

 

[GeoTracker90]

How are you joining the plywood?

I just put the 4X8 ply in a plwood stretcher that I bought from a traveling salesman and out pops a 4X10 sheet.:elkgrin:

Actually I have a six inch lap joint that runs verticaly that is glued and screwed together. After the glue has had suficient time to dry I'll pull the screws and replace some of them with 1/4" dowels that will also be glued into place. The dowels should also help the joint take some of the vertical stresses that it will see.

The floor is also dadoed into the sidewalls and the floor will keep the lap joint from moving as well.

obscurotron: For a serious fire road / expo worthy teardrop you just need to come and buy my fist design which is for sale. The body is all 1" steel tube with insulated walls covered with 1/4" baltic birch ply and aluminum. It can definatly take a pounding and I have had 31" tires on it before behind my Jeep Cherokee. Did I mention that it is almost 5'x10'?

Some where I have a picture of the steel skeleton with the plywood interior installed. I'll have to round that up and post it as well.

Mike

 

[obscurotron]

But half the fun (maybe 51%!) is designing, building and tweaking the thing myself. Since I built my first teardrop 5 years ago, I don't think I could go back to buying something "off the shelf", or even a custom from some 3rd party. My teardrop, my garage.

 

[masterplumber]

So Mike, how wide are you making that thing? That's the biggest concern I have before I start mine. I know my wife & I can sleep comfortably in a 54'' wide bed as that is what my four wheel popup bed measures but I have concerns about a roughly 46'' wide bed which is what I would end up with if I make the trailer box 4' wide like I currently have planned - what are your thoughts?
Doug

 

[GeoTracker90]

So Mike, how wide are you making that thing? That's the biggest concern I have before I start mine. I know my wife & I can sleep comfortably in a 54'' wide bed as that is what my four wheel popup bed measures but I have concerns about a roughly 46'' wide bed which is what I would end up with if I make the trailer box 4' wide like I currently have planned - what are your thoughts?
Doug

Your question is a good one. A sleeping area that is 4' wide is too narrow for my personal preferance. My teardrop trailers are built to a 5' width. This allows more room inside and in the galley area. If you are considering a certain size for your sleeping area you can do a simple experiment to see if it will work for you. Mock up the size of your proposed sleeping area with cardboard in your living room and spend the night confined to that space. This is an easy and cheap way of figuring out what you and your partner can, or will endure.

Having a 5' width also lets me use Baltic Birch plywood with a minimum amount of waste. In fact, for the wood pieces that are used to join the two side panels only about an inch and a half is trimmed off of the width. By doing this it allows me to cap the outside roof with full sheets of 1/8" baltic birch and still have a little bit of a fudge factor if the sheets are attached a little out of square. Same goes for the 5' wide aluminum sheet that will be used for the roof overtop of the birch ply.

I hope that I answered your questions and that my response wasn't too long winded. Drop me a note with any other things that you would like to know.

Mike

 

[Markgyver]

I would reconsider that jack I built a utility trailer with one of those and that thing caught on everything even in town.

 

[GeoTracker90]

I would reconsider that jack I built a utility trailer with one of those and that thing caught on everything even in town.

Thanks for looking out for me.

I agree, I already have plans to exchange that jack for one that will have a welded mount to the side of the tongue A-frame. The jack that is pictures would also obstruct the owner's ability to open the tailgate on his Subaru Baja.

Mike

 

[Maximus Ram]

GT90, gotta quston for ya....have you seen orever thought of a slideout from the side for the galley, that when deployed it seals, then maybe build a deployable bathroom where the galley traditionaly is ?
Looking at the pics of the ones you have built/ are building got me thinking of this.

 

[GeoTracker90]

Update 10-13-08

GT90, gotta quston for ya....have you seen orever thought of a slideout from the side for the galley, that when deployed it seals, then maybe build a deployable bathroom where the galley traditionaly is ?
Looking at the pics of the ones you have built/ are building got me thinking of this.

Sorry for the delayed reply. To answer you question, yes and no. Yes I have briefly thought about items such as that but I have decided that no I am not going to attempt it at this time. In my own mind it starts to add back in some of the complexity that a lot of people are trying to get away from when looking at a teardrop trailer. Personally, if I placed those items higher on my "needs" list I would just opt for a tent trailer and have room to stand, shower, cook, etc. inside. Right now I like to keep it a little simpler.

Now for the latest update.

I was out in the shop again this last weekend and worked on finishing up details on the chasis. This included unbolting the axle and flipping the chassis over, finish welding the joints from the bottom side, and adding gussets where the main frame rails were spliced together, as well as where the frame rails bend to form the tongue and where the frame rails and the rear cross member meet.

After that I worked on the under floor storage box. I was able to bend it up and then weld on the end caps. The box ended up being 48" wide by 24" long (front to back) by 10" deep. That ends up giving them 11,520 cubic inches, or 6.7 cubic feet of storage below the floor. This should be great for lighter weight but bulky items.

This week I'll finish weld the gussets from the top and then put the body back on it and make the cut out for the under floor storage. I'll also be putting in the "headliner" and working on the storage cabinets for the kitchen and sleeping chambers.

Mike

 

[TheGillz]

Looking good. Nice storage box, good to see you getting use out of that brake!

 

[masterplumber]

Bump! Hey Mike, any progress?
Doug

 

[GeoTracker90]

Actually the progress on this has slowed a little. Work has been nuts (in a good way) and has spilled over into a couple of my weekends over the past month. I also took a quick trip up to my parent's place in Canada on one of the other weekends. So needless to say I haven't had a lot of shop time to spend on this one lately.

I have been able to get the two side doors installed, and I'll have to get some pictures of that posted. I guess that I also was able to get the body back on and cut the floor opening out for the under floor storage. The storage box is actually deep enough that you can sit inside with your feet down in the storage box and be quite comfortable. It will be interesting to see if the owner wants to have the bed cushions made in such a way that they would form a seat bottom and back. If they do that they could use a pedestal to turn the floor segment into a table top and escape any unpleasant weather for a card game, or other activity if they wanted.

I'll have to include a couple pictures of my secret project in the next update as well.

Mike