SoCal Tear Drop Owners! Post up!

[coastsider]

Well ad me to your list for the map bar. I definitely want one! What are your material cost? You would want 50% markup on that usually plus your labor. For reference a magnetic screen from So-Cal is 125 - though admittedly its a little more complex than a straight piece of wood.

Well thanks for you interest guys! I'll get a price together and post it up. I just finishing my fender mounted table, I'm just saying, I'm very pleased with it, pics soon!


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[coastsider]

Fender mounted collapsable table

It's finished, and I wanted to share the build. I have used the same high quality marine grade baltic birch ply as the rest of the trailer, stainless steel screws and the same (approx) 35" telescoping folding legs that SoCal use. The size is 2 ft by 4 ft and when collapsed fits perfectly inside the cabin. The fender mounting system is a simple but beautifully effective aluminum rail that interlocks and is strong as hell (RV sourced), this component is riveted to the side of the fender and blends into the trailer design perfectly. The unit is finished with a matching varnish. I will be offering these tables for sale if I can get 2-4 interested orders together, I'm guessing the price will be comparative to the SoCal offering +postage.

 

[cactusjk]

Wow! Very impressive!


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[MTaco]

Very nice!

 

[Doug E]

I just posted pictures of our Voyager Adventure (SoCal) teardrop in action over in the trip report section. The TD did great!!
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/151039-Kiowa-National-Grasslands

 

[Yulli]

Cool beans.

How much weight are you working with? You mentioned sag on your rig, is it just all the dog stuff and what not in the fan? I noticed no sag when I hooked up my trailer to my stock Tacoma and that was loaded up for camping too.

 

[Doug E]

Cool beans.

How much weight are you working with?

Over 1000 lbs, and only 160 lbs of it is trailer tongue weight. The dogs, at 65 lbs each times five, weigh in at 325 lbs, the raised dog platform and storage structure in the van are made of 3/4" plywood and weigh god only knows what, we carry roughly 150 lbs of extraction and emergency gear (tool kit, hi-lift, heavy duty 3/8" chain, tire chains, wench etc.), 20 liters of water under the platform in the back of the van, then our packs, first aid (people and dogs), dog containment (x-pens, temporary fencing), full size spare, etc, never mind the under van protection (skid plates etc.). The primary driver for the trailer tongue weight is the three jerry cans on the tongue.

One might question the need for all this crap, but we have nothing on board that we haven't either used over the past six years traveling with our pack of dogs, or would have if we'd been smart enough to know we should have been carrying it. Although we haven't yet had a major extraction exercise of our own, we have had our share of flats in the middle of nowhere, been hung up on rocks (lost an oil pan 25 miles off road - hence the bullet proof skid plate), had to haul a downed monster ponderosa pine off some forest road, pull some dude in a jeep out of a ravine (imagine - an Astro Van rescuing a jeep. Oh well) etc.

We also have a 2" shackle lift to accommodate our 30" tires, which tends to flatten the springs as well because of the additional leverage the 4" of shackle provides.

Arrrg.

Helper springs from Michigan Truck Spring will go in sometime over Thanksgiving and should at least level the rig, perhaps even lift the rear a little beyond level. We'll just have to see.

 

[Yulli]

Helper springs should do the trick.

 

[Nachos]

What awning is everyone using? I'm looking at an ARB awning and room w/floor, the floor will be nice when at the beach. I'm lined up for a 459 Krawler and the ARB 2500 looks nice for the square footage, but worried that it will be too long compared to the 2000 while on the trail. A foxing/batwing type awnings also give good coverage, but not as many integrated floor options.

 

[Keith Starr]

What awning is everyone using? I'm looking at an ARB awning and room w/floor, the floor will be nice when at the beach. I'm lined up for a 459 Krawler and the ARB 2500 looks nice for the square footage, but worried that it will be too long compared to the 2000 while on the trail. A foxing/batwing type awnings also give good coverage, but not as many integrated floor options.

See this post. It sounds like the 2000 is going to be the best bet for both the 459 and 510.

 

[Yulli]

I have the 2000 on mine. I have the 2000x2500 room attachment too.

 

[mvbeggs]

Hannibal Awning for me

What awning is everyone using? I'm looking at an ARB awning and room w/floor, the floor will be nice when at the beach. I'm lined up for a 459 Krawler and the ARB 2500 looks nice for the square footage, but worried that it will be too long compared to the 2000 while on the trail. A foxing/batwing type awnings also give good coverage, but not as many integrated floor options.

I'm using the Hanibal Awning. hannibal awnings. Love that there are no poles or guys to set. I also purchased the wall set. If you are considering, these have quite a looonnnggg lead time. SoCal can modify the roof rack so this is a simple bolt on install.

We just got back from the Smoky Mountains. Rained 4 of the 7 days we were there. Glad we had the extra room to cook in and hang out.

 

[BlackRubiX]

Just give me a heads up when you're heading this way. I'm realizing I don't have a lot of close pictures of the trailer. I'll post up some of the better ones, if you want to see more details let me know. The roof rack is just a 1" square tube frame with expanded metal for a platform. I made a wind deflector on the front to push wind over the cargo. The kitchen is probably best shown on the website. Hope this helps. We really like our trailer.

White trailer in the bottom pic is the other trailer I was referring to in a previous post. You can see the length difference.

Kitchen and awning

MikeH does the Foxwing awning block the light bar from shining down into you kitchen area?

 

[Chris Cordes]

The ARB 2500 will be too long for sure. I run the 2000 on my 510 and it JUST fits. If you're interested in the ARB awning and room, I have a review of mine going up on ExPo this saturday. If you can't wait, bottom line is that we love it. It gives you tons of space, the awning is easy to set up and very high quality. The only dissapointment is the room is not water proof and has equivalent quality of a cheap walmart tent. I wish they offered a more expensive option with canvas, but its a steal for the price.

 

[BlackRubiX]

The ARB 2500 will be too long for sure. I run the 2000 on my 510 and it JUST fits. If you're interested in the ARB awning and room, I have a review of mine going up on ExPo this saturday. If you can't wait, bottom line is that we love it. It gives you tons of space, the awning is easy to set up and very high quality. The only dissapointment is the room is not water proof and has equivalent quality of a cheap walmart tent. I wish they offered a more expensive option with canvas, but its a steal for the price.

Great write up on the ARB Chris. Sad to hear the sidewalls are not waterproof.