New Off Road Teardrop trailer....my home away from home!

[paddlequest]

Hi all,
I am based out of Nicaragua working for an NGO. We do wheelchair development in less resourced countries. It was recently decided that I will be down here for the duration of our project. Coincidentally, I was offered a beach side house to park/ camp at (around the same time period) if I wanted near the beautiful town of Leon on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. So, I just committed to purchasing one of these:


Its a Canadian made trailer, which I love, and is fully spray-foam insulated. Its made by Off Grid Trailers and Black Rain trailers in Alberta. I will be setting it up with a solar system, Smittybuilt 50 qt fridge, fantastic fan, a shower system, hot water on demand, and all the goodies. I am a wheelchair user, so they are going to do some custom arrangement of the kitchen to keep cooking at a reasonable height for me.

I am pretty excited about the drive down from Vancouver Island to Nicaragua with this over Christmas break and camping/ surfing my way down the Pacific coast. I am lucky enough to have a beautiful woman who wants to do this trip with me. How sweet can life be?? It will be my home for the the next 1-1.5 years! I will be pulling it with a 2012 Toyota Tacoma DCLB TRD. I am really looking forward to outdoor living and seriously simplifying my life! Who knows...this might just turn into a permanent home?!

I am looking forward to the many adventures ahead with this beautiful trailer. I will post in the "on going adventures" section of this forum as we drive down and will update this thread with any upgrades I make to the trailer. Metal work is super cheap and high quality in Nicaragua so I see a swing away tailgate happening for sure. Any other suggestions?

To be continued....

 

[Titanpat57]

Lots of luck...he did a beautiful job on those!

 

[paddlequest]

Thanks! I can only hope mine turns out as nice as yours. A really impressive build you have there!

 

[Romer]

sweet. Looks like a lot more room then a normal teardrop. Whats it look like on the inside

 

[paddlequest]

Haha...I am not sure yet. That is a promo shot. Mine is about to be built. We are discussing the inside build out. I am leaning towards using action packers on shelves over drawers and doors. It seems easier to pack and unpack that way to me. I am aiming to do the same in the galley kitchen as well.
When I get in process build pictures from them I will continue to update this site.

 

[paddlequest]

The home away from home (I gotta come up with a better name then that right?) is now in construction! I got these photos from BlackRain trailers in Red Deer, Alberta to document the trailer build. Scale is a funny thing as it looks like its going to be huge in these pictures!

I asked for extended platforms from the fenders to the front of the trailer to facilitate transfers from my wheelchair into the trailer.



I will update as I get more photos from them!

 

[fireball]

Is that the Timbren axle less suspension?

 

[paddlequest]

Yes it is. I have heard good things so look forward to seeing how it works out. I will put it through its paces driving down to Central America with it over Christmas holidays.

 

[paddlequest]

One of these sets of doors will go on my trailer! To be honest, I am not sure which! Haha. I believe the doors on the right. The frame comes of out paint today and then the work of building the rest of it will begin. I am excited to watch it come together.

 

[paddlequest]

I thought I would put up some photos of the proposed interior for my trailer. As gorgeous as they are, I am making changes from Off Grid's original design. I am planning to use Actin packers in the galley area and the sleeping area. They seem easier to pack and unpack to me and perhaps easier to organize..though I could be making that up.



As shown in the photo off Grid has sent me above, I will have a cupboard on the bottom left with a shelf. Bottom right is my Smittybuilt fridge on a slide. The upper galley will have the two drawers at the bottom as shown and open shelf in the upper for action packer bins. This will allow the kitchen to be moved to a picnic table or under a palapa as situations suit.



In the sleeping area, I will again have the two drawers at the bottom of the cabinet with open shelving for action packer storage in the upper. I believe the space between the two drawers will house the control panel for internal and external lights.

I am very open to thoughts on this lay out and will update as I use it and learn whether my decisions were wise, or as is sometimes the case...just slightly off!

 

[rlynch356]

instead of action packers you may want to consider Wolf Boxes..

http://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/storage-systems/boxes-bags/front-runner-wolf-pack.html

The are a uniform size which makes fitting them easy and repeatable, the latches (4) are easy replaced, and you can get and extended top for them as needed, easily washable, and the stack securely.
I use a couple for my entire kitchen and camp gear setup. They also do not waste a lot of space on the tops as well. I have seen them put on slides and just pull out

They do not come in as many sizes as action packers

 

[1Louder]

instead of action packers you may want to consider Wolf Boxes..

http://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/storage-systems/boxes-bags/front-runner-wolf-pack.html

The are a uniform size which makes fitting them easy and repeatable, the latches (4) are easy replaced, and you can get and extended top for them as needed, easily washable, and the stack securely.
I use a couple for my entire kitchen and camp gear setup. They also do not waste a lot of space on the tops as well. I have seen them put on slides and just pull out

They do not come in as many sizes as action packers

I would second the FrontRunner boxes. They are great. I list a few others here that are less expensive alternatives: http://www.4xoverlandadventures.com/storage-solutions/

Good luck on your journey. We visited Nicaragua a couple of years ago.

 

[paddlequest]

Thanks guys for the comments on the Wolf boxes. I have looked at those extensively and only went with Action Packers as I couldn't find anywhere in Canada Wolf boxes are available. I will look again though, or maybe I could look at getting them shipped to somewhere in the states to pick up on my drive south. They do look like an amazing product. Are they strong enough to use as a seat?

 

[paddlequest]

Progress continues on the trailer. Recent shots from the shop in Red Deer after the frame got back from the paint shop. Its starting to look like something now!

 

[dlh62c]

Will there be a brakes on the trailer hubs?

Not that the trailer is large and needs them, but there will be a situation offroad, where you will have to disconnect it from the vehicle and tire chocks will prove problematic.

http://cablecraft.com/products_hand_controls_brakeLever.html