Teardrop Trailer Build

[skersfan]

I set mine up with a 110 inlet that goes to the main distribution bank, with breakers and fuses. I also use that to charge my batteries via a Morningstar Digital 15 amp controller. Honda and Yamaha are supposed to be full sign wave inverters, should not develop that much voltage. I have never checked mine, but I do not use it that way. I will definitely check what it out Hilldweller! The most I have seen through the truck charge is 14.3 and with the solar controller I have seen 14.7. Most alternators are around the 14.3 to 14.7 area I think.

I do know that the lessor quality generators can develop too much voltage, as our UPS systems for our Solar towers will not charge the batteries but will run the equipment. Plug a Honda 2000 in and it works perfectly. No not a Honda dealer. lol

 

[luk4mud]

I have not posted in awhile but we have been making slow steady progress. The design and build have been geared toward getting my wife to go to remote, pretty places with me, for a max of about 3 days at a time. Think ... Toroweap or San Rafael Swell.

With that in mind, the galley is basically done and I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. It accommodates my high btu burners, 14 gallons of water, a large Yeti cooler on a slide out and still has tons of storage. I will be able to carry another 10 gallons of water up front if need be, along with a generator. The cabin will have a queen size bed, some cabinets, an electric extraction fan, some lighting, and that's about it, pretty basic.

The major items left are the fenders, roof rack and some inside electrical and touch up work. Fenders are being fabbed by a friend of mine, I did not like any of the basic stuff out there. He is making me some flat top fenders with nerf style bars extending to the front and most of the way to the rear as well. The fenders will have "slots" that allow the stove legs to slide in so I can cook on a fender and beat the wind of need be. The fenders will also have jack/ stabilizer mounting points and a removeable spare tire mount.

The biggest challenge is going to be figuring out how my 5'4" wife is going to be able to cook from the back end. Even when I let the air out of the suspension she can barely see to cook on the stove. She votes for smaller tires but will likely get a stool instead.

We are looking forward to wrapping this up in the next couple of weeks and then taking it on a maiden voyage.

Matt has done an excellent job on the build. It is his first stab at an offroad trailer, so it has taken longer than "normal" but that's ok I was not in a hurry. The steady methodical pace has allowed us to really think everything through as we have gone along.

The combination of an AT frame/ suspension, Matt - quality built cabin and reasonable overall price are just what I was after.

 

[matthewp]

The biggest challenge is going to be figuring out how my 5'4" wife is going to be able to cook from the back end. Even when I let the air out of the suspension she can barely see to cook on the stove. She votes for smaller tires but will likely get a stool instead.

Very nice looking galley! I found the same issue with counter height during my planning. I am going to end up with larger cabinets on top and just room for a couple drawers underneath the counter. Let us know how your design works out.

 

[Titanpat57]

Trailer looks great!

We use this at home and it holds my fat butt...maybe 2 together?
https://m.bedbathandbeyond.com/m/pr...olding-plastic-step-stool-in-white/1013990999

 

[luk4mud]

A little more progress. Today was fender try on day. They need to serve multiple purposes- fender, cooktop in the wind, propane tank protection, part time spare tire mount, stabilizer jack mount point, roof access point, cabin entry step for wife. The tack welded tuber fenders, with some adjustments and additions, will serve all thise purposes.

 

[skersfan]

You are doing some fantastic work. Counter height is always a problem with a tear drop it seems. Especially if you want to use a large fridge. Keep up the great work, impressive job.

 

[skersfan]

My only suggestion is to try and tie the fenders and tubes to the rear bumper/skid area. That is the area on a tear drop that takes the greatest beating on a serious off road trail. The more support it has the stronger the door area becomes.

 

[jim65wagon]

My only suggestion is to try and tie the fenders and tubes to the rear bumper/skid area. That is the area on a tear drop that takes the greatest beating on a serious off road trail. The more support it has the stronger the door area becomes.

Absolutely agree. Tie the rear of the fender to the back framerail under the hatch. Not only will it act as a skid/slider it becomes a running board giving a valuable surface to sit on, do dishes on, stand on, etc. You'd be surprised how many ways you can use a running board.....

 

[luk4mud]

Thanks for the pointer guys. I will take a look at that idea.

 

[luk4mud]

Maiden Voyage

Well, we still have some bugs to work out, but we were able to take the trailer out on a quick overnighter this weekend. My impression so far:
-Frame and suspension. Dont tell my wife but I think Im in love. The AT trailing arm/ airbag suspension is amazing on road and offroad. As an added bonus, I can level the cabin by adjusting the airbags when in camp.
-Hitch. Wait, I'm also in love with the Max coupler too. It's quiet, flexible and allows be to back into any spot unlike my pintle. It is holds up over time, it will be a long term love affair.
-Galley. We have a few little things to work out- the struts are not strong enough for the beefy door, there are a few little electrical items that need to be added/ altered, but all in all, the design works very well.
-Cabin. It's basic but that's what we wanted- a queen size bed and some decent cabinets and reading lights. Matt's woodworking skills are excellent and we will enjoy his quality build for many years.
-Fenders. I didn't like any of the simple flimsy metal fenders on the market so I had my friend Chris make me so macho man fenders. They are bolted to the frame so if/ when I whack something good, they can be repaired/ replaced fairly easily. I think extending them all they ay to the back would have been a good idea, but for the "friend" price Chris charges me, he was too far along for me to ask him to alter them that substantially.

All things considered, I am very happy. I dont have the skill nor the time to build something like this, so between AT, Matt and Chris, I got a very well built trailer at a reasonable price.

My best guess on weight, fully loaded is about 1300 to 1400 lbs. I definitely know its back there, but more because I cant see out the rear view mirror. The elevation gain from our house to the CG is about 5000 feet and the JK/ trailer combo had no trouble with it.

 

[luk4mud]

First Offroad Trip

Well, we have taken the trailer on a couple of quick one nighters locally, but this last week we headed out for 3 nights near Courtright Resevoir above Fresno. Here are a few pictures:



The trailer worked as planned/ expected/ hoped. The original plan was (and still is) to get the wife camping again, in remote areas. We like to hike and explore, stay away from organized campgrounds, and then find a motel every 3rd or 4th night for a legit shower. So far, so good. Here are a few things we learned from this first multi night trip.

-The trailer is plenty warm at night. The small space, good insulation and 2 bodies means warmth. The temps only dipped into the 40's at night but we see no need for a heater, even later in the season. The wife slept warm and comfortably on a real bed, so her #1 complaint about camping has now been solved.
-The trailer "space" can be expanded considerably with an awning and sides. Wife really liked that set up, as she had a place to step out and change, use the bathroom etc. Not like we needed privacy where we were, but ....
-The Nemo shower rocks! We went on an epic hike our second day out, came back sweaty/ dusty etc. 1 gallon of river water + a tea kettle of boiling water + soap + a few pumps= very happy wife.
-Battery charge does not appear to be an issue. The AGM left the driveway at around 13 volts and returned at 12.7 after 3 nights of camping. We run very little on it- a few lights, recharge of a tablet.
-Towing is not a major issue with a JKU. I know its back there, and steep highway grades mean 3rd gear and 45 mph, but on flat land 65 is not an issue, and I am still getting 16- 17 mpg. Without towing, I get 18- 19 mpg.

Overall, the wife said she really enjoyed it. Win!

 

[Titanpat57]

One of the pitfalls of tears (and even my setup for that matter) is the lack of a (privacy) room once you step out, and obviously it becomes more of a necessity in bad weather.

It really needs to be something light in weight, strong enough to withstand the elements (three season?) easy to assemble and disassemble, and probably at least 8' x 8' ( hold a couple of chairs, maybe a small table, porta potti, etc) The corner of it could double as a shower corner....maybe make a a floor with a lift out panel to allow drainage It also has to be more a "gable" type peaked structure vs. a "hip" (most popular "pop up" canopy's)...which allows water to flow towards the camper...not a good thing.

In your case you have the option of using either door, so if space constraints become a factor on one side, you can switch to the the other.

I'm working on a small structure design, easily erected by one person.

I'm glad your experiences were positive.

 

[luk4mud]

Took the trailer up Coyote Canyon above Bishop this past weekend. For any of you that know that road/ trail, it is steep and twisty but largely boulder free. I have taken an M416 up there before, so I did not think twice about taking the teardrop up there.

An overall 17' trailer is too long to take up there is my conclusion. No issues on the few boulder spots or the grade, but the hair pins were another issue. I had zero margin for error on 2 of them due to length. I had to swing way wide on the hairpins taking a strange line, and still barely cleared the turn on the rear end. Challenging going up, scary coming down, especially while dodging the ATVs.

The Max Coupler got a major work out and performed flawlessly. I still love the ease of hitching/ unhitching the pintle but the MC is a great combination of flexibility and silence. My plan is to use the pintle around town when moving the trailer from/ to storage mostly because I can easily hook it up myself, and then use the MC for everything else.

 

[luk4mud]

New Aluminum Skin for the Galley

So apparently my KISS approach to trailer builds has some downside. Using Reliance jugs instead of a built in water system means that I move water around a bit which means occasional overflows, spillage etc. And sliding the jugs in and out was starting to wear on the urethane coating in the galley already.

So, back to Matt's for some solutions. After kicking around a few ideas, we decided to just skin the galley floor in aluminum.



I had a few other minor things for Matt as well. My wife and I are headed for Utah/ Colorado at the end of the week. This will be our longest stretch yet with the trailer- 8 days. I have broken it up into 2 or 3 nights' camping followed by a night in a motel. She is actually pretty excited about the whole idea now.

 

[fireball]

@lukmud - looking nice!

A few quick questions for you:

1. is the hitch a bit of a shin-grabber? Was there a reason you had it stick out a few inches, or could it have been closer to flush with the back edge of the frame?
2. Do you remove the large center cabinet box when you are at camp? We are trying to think of how to move food quickly from TD to TV.... If the TD stays at camp, we'll need to pack a small cooler and food into the TV for day trips, trails, etc.
3. Do you know how deep the cabinets are at the foot of the bed? How deep and tall could you reasonably go without them being too much in the way? I'm wondering if in practice it is better to pack the TD cabinets with clothes and towels, or just use the same soft sided duffels we've been using and stow those in the TD. This way they can be easily moved around.
4. Which solar panel and controller are you using? Are you happy with them? Our tear will house our 63qt ARB, which draws ~20-30amps per day. So our power draw will be considerably more than yours. Hooked to a grp34 battery in the 'Cruiser, it can go for about 3 days in the heat of summer. I'd like to be able to comfortably drop the trailer for 3-4 days at a time w/o worrying about batteries, so that either means more batteries (weight, $$$, etc.) or a solar setup.

TIA for any help!

Enjoy your UT/CO trip, where all are you headed?