Hummelator Off-road teardrop build

[Hummelator]

Recently decided to start building an off-road tear drop. I've been playing with the idea now for a year or two.
I've scoured this site and others to Come up with a design that would fit my needs.
I decided to build from the ground up so I will be building a 5'Wx9'L frame made from 2x3x1/8 steel. The actually camper unit will be detachable from the trailer frame in case I decide to modify the frame.

It will fit a full length size (80") foam mattress though it will be slight narrower than a queen as I wanted to keep the overall trailer width to 80" of less. The galley will be deep enough to house a 63Q ARB fridge or a 65Q yeti tundra cooler ( not sure which direction I will take yet.
To waterproof the camper I will have it sprayed with truck bed liner. Likely in a sand stone colour.

This is going to be a slow build as I do not have a garage or a big bank account to fund the build. I'm hoping to have the trailer built and painted by the end of this summer and I plan to do what work I can on the camper in my basement but I am limited by what I can fit out the window, I will likely just be building it all and then disassembling it to get it out then reassembling. Will hopefully have it on the road by the next camping season.
There will likely be many changes to designs as the build progresses.
Any suggestions or even your .02 would be appreciated!

 

[Hummelator]

Picked up my steel and axle this weeks.
Hopefully will get tires and other axle components in the next week or two

 

[Sikocycles]

Watching

 

[Sb_Moto]

You may consider a 3x3" tounge so that you can swap out the hitches. Run a ball style on the hwy or a max coupler or lock n roll offroad.

Do you have a interior layout yet? To me that was a major part of the exterior design.

The rear angle looks sweet, but you might rethink that to simplify the design.

Water/ electrical storage?

 

[Sb_Moto]

Take the build slow and do it right. I started my build in February and thought it would be done by May. At this point I have the main frame done, and walls ready for the skin, but its the little details that take forever!

 

[stomperxj]

Subscribed. Looking forward to updates

 

[Hummelator]

You may consider a 3x3" tounge so that you can swap out the hitches. Run a ball style on the hwy or a max coupler or lock n roll offroad.

Do you have a interior layout yet? To me that was a major part of the exterior design.

The rear angle looks sweet, but you might rethink that to simplify the design.

Water/ electrical storage?

I went through your build thread to see what you meant with the 3x3. After seeing it I will be doing the 3x3. Was kinda worried that I would have to do a bunch of cutting after I welded the pintle in if I didn't like it but this will give me the freedom to choose.

I have a rough idea as to the layout of the interior. Basically wanted 80" of bed length and then the galley to be deep enough to accommodate the Fridge/cooler. I will keep searching through build threads to pick exactly what I want but I think my rear angle will work nicely
I will be running a make solar battery system. Only enough to run the fridge, a couple LED lights and a vent fan. all combined wont be drawing more than 3 amp/HR
At this stage I havn't planned to have water on board. That being said, that might change between now and spring.

 

[Albatross]

the height of your box is planned to be 48"?
If there is no reason against it (height of garage or something else), I would make approx. 52" height inside the box. Then you would be able to sit comfortable inside with rain and stormy weather outside... drinking tea, playing cards or just doing nothing looking out in the rain...

 

[Hummelator]

the height of your box is planned to be 48"?
If there is no reason against it (height of garage or something else), I would make approx. 52" height inside the box. Then you would be able to sit comfortable inside with rain and stormy weather outside... drinking tea, playing cards or just doing nothing looking out in the rain...

I am going to 48" high because that's a standard plywood sheet size. Don't want the hassle and extra cost and work of splicing more plywood to gain a few inches. Ive done the measurements and I will have just enough room to sit up comfortably.


So I went to buy brakes for the axle and apparently I cannot buy the drums for the brakes by themselves they have to be hub drums so I ended up returning the axle that I had bought and getting a company called standens to make me an axle with brakes.
I was on call for the last week so I didn't get much done. I ordered the rims last Saturday and should be picking up this following week... updates to follow

 

[PCO6]

Subscribed. Looking forward to updates

Me too!

 

[krick3tt]

Yours is going to be a real good work. Looking forward to the photos.

Saw a teardrop trailer by a company called Thor. it was a stand-up inside with full kitchen and very well appointed. Not much bigger than conventional ones that have you cooking outside. Can't seem to find one like it though.

 

[Hummelator]

So finally got around to doing some work today.
My rims came in this week. Going with a simple steel rim. Made by a company called trail master ( I believe) and they look identical to procomps steel rims

I cut up the rest of the 2x3 for the main frame.
Next week sometime I will go to the metal yard and exchange my remaining 2x5 steel for the material for the tougne and the "A" frame supports
Also got my axel from standens this week. Here's everything layed out

The rims I bought had a 4 1/2" back space and it looks like it the tire will be a little too close to the bolts for the spring hangers. I am going to go exchange the rims tomorrow for a set with 3 3/4" backspace. Rims are 15x8 and I'm going with a 31" tire. Was suppose to get the tires mounted on Monday but looks like I will have to wait until I exchange the rims and the new ones arrive.

just for a visual this is going to be the basic layout of the frame. Tongue obviously won't be 2x5

Hoping to get a start on the welding next weekend. Going to be all stick welded as that's the only type of welder I have access to
Seeing everything layed out really helps my motivation. So far I'm about $1000 in.
Stay tuned...

 

[Mushin_Noshin]

Looking good so far!

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[Hummelator]

Went in to the metal yard where I initially traded my 2x5 steel in hopes of trading the last two peices for some 2 1/2"x2 1/2" x 1/4 wall steel tubing for the tongue. They told me that they couldn't sell the other stuff and ended up scraping it so they wouldn't trade any more of it. Crap. Tried a few other places and they wouldn't accept trades.
So looks like I'm going to have to buy it. At this point I can only purchase steel in 20' lengths.
I'm looking at about $150 for a 20' of 2 1/2"x2 1/2"x 1/4".
I know that will be plenty strong for the tongue but thinner wall steel would be cheaper.
If I went for 2 1/4" square with a 1/8 wall, would that suffice for a ongue on a trailer this big?
I'm leaning towards the 2 1/2 spare 1/4" wall still but shedding a few pounds and saving a couple dollars never hurts

Thoughts?

Oh and my wheels with rubber now:drool:

 

[Mushin_Noshin]

1/4, maybe a little over built but worth. Only gonna save a few pounds in the grand scheme of things.


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