Offroad Teardrops at Overland Expo 2013?

[Aspen Trails Trailers]

My main point, tongue weight can be changed very easily by moving the axle forward or backward. Hardly noticeable in a picture. I build my frames differently than most. I center my axles by box length. If the box is 10 foot, I center my axle 10 inches behind center. This gives me great tongue weight, towable at speeds near 100mph, with no wobble, fishtale or negatives. It also remains stable when empty. The one I am working on right now has been towed at 90mph, bare frame. No wobble, no fishtale, no bounce. The axle on it is a little farther back, due to the new water tank.

Bob

 

[mvbeggs]

Unfortunately there are haters for no reason within this portal, I'm NOT one of them and not built that way. If in any way I can be of any help...I'm the one pulling over to help you fix your flat till its finished. If you ever plan on crossing water you may want to think about keeping your battery above the axle, or, find a water tight solution. Placing it where you're thinking of will definitely help your COG.

The plan is to put the battery up inside the frame rails as high as I can get it. Everything will be covered with a skid plate. Battery terminals will be sitting at the bottom of the frame, which is about 9"-10" above the axle.

I have thought about water crossings. With the SCT teardrop coach made of wood, and not waterproofed on the bottom, no water crossing for me deeper than ~20". With the Chaser, I never gave water crossings a thought. If the vehicle made it through, the Chaser was always right behind.

On a standard Krawler build, SCT uses the available space on the left side (facing) floor of the galley. When upgrading the kitchen to 3 drawers with a stove, they move it to a tongue box. The purposeful built COG of the teardrop will only produce a tongue weight at approx. 175 lbs. even with the two 75lb. group 31 batteries.

I have a heater stuck in the galley location, so that location is not an option.

Reducing 75 lbs from 24" behind the axle, and adding 150 lbs- 60" in front of the axle is definitely going to impact the tongue weight. Maybe SCT preloads their torsion axle to reduce the tongue weight?

Thanks for the input.

 

[John E Davies]

Bump to bring this back to Page 1.

And a reminder that you can buy day passes, good for any day, for 50% off at the Overland Expo website.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA