Hello from Ontario

[Portagio]

I’ve been lurking here and dreaming of building a Teardrop for a while now. After ordering and reading Tony Latham’s book, I’m getting much more serious about it. It has made me realize that I can do it and I can incorporate all the features I want on 5’x8’ frame. The two most important are a queen size mattress and an on-board cooler in the galley on a slide out. Not possible when you’re only looking at a plan view. So, I started sketching a cross section and came up with this. It’s a work in progress but I’d love some feedback on it. Much of the galley and cabin design can’t really be finalized until I get more measurements on everything I plan to pack. One thing I’m concerned about is the tight radius on the inside of the hatch at the low end. As it’s drawn it’s about 16”. Is that too tight for 1/8” plywood to bend?
Thanks in advance for any constructive criticism you might have.
Rob

[tony.latham]

Rob:

You can make that bed with 1/8" Baltic (assuming you can find it) if you bend with the grain and not against it.

What jumps out is that the hatch gussets are interfering with your countertop and upper storage structure ––but good on you for drawing them in.



I'm not sure about your upper galley shelf, but there may not be room for struts.



(I drew in the red line previously to show that the strut needs to be installed so it's below the centerline of the hinge. So disregard it for now. Just make sure you do it that way.)

Tony

p.s. A 60" x 80" queen mattress will fit in there fine. If you trim it down, it'll scoot around.

[Tom&Shelly]

We preferred to use the room in the galley, that we would have used for the cooler, as storage for water, cooking utensils, and dry food. We keep the cooler in the truck, and so have it with us for lunches when we drive from camp to go exploring. Also, then it's not next to our sleeping area when in bear country.

Just something to consider. Depends on the way you camp, and what you are looking for.

Welcome to the forum!

Tom

[Portagio]

Rob:

You can make that bed with 1/8" Baltic (assuming you can find it) if you bend with the grain and not against it.

What jumps out is that the hatch gussets are interfering with your countertop and upper storage structure ––but good on you for drawing them in.

I'm not sure about your upper galley shelf, but there may not be room for struts.

(I drew in the red line previously to show that the strut needs to be installed so it's below the centerline of the hinge. So disregard it for now. Just make sure you do it that way.)

Tony

p.s. A 60" x 80" queen mattress will fit in there fine. If you trim it down, it'll scoot around.

Thanks so much for the feedback! You're right about the interference and I'm thinking about ways to resolve it. I just need time on the computer to sketch out what I'm thinking. I think if I reduce the down angle of the hatch a little it would make that low end curve a little easier to manage and give me a bit more room to work with. I'm also going to re-read your chapter on strut design and rough that out so I know what I need to work around for the shelf and counter. I want to make the galley as simple and practical as possible which should help keep the weight down too. My TV is a Toyota Rav4 Hybrid with a max towing weight of 1750 lbs but I want to weigh in at less than 1000 lbs if I can.
The planning is a big part of the fun of a project like this for me.

[Portagio]

We preferred to use the room in the galley, that we would have used for the cooler, as storage for water, cooking utensils, and dry food. We keep the cooler in the truck, and so have it with us for lunches when we drive from camp to go exploring. Also, then it's not next to our sleeping area when in bear country.

Just something to consider. Depends on the way you camp, and what you are looking for.

Welcome to the forum!

Tom

Thanks Tom. That's something I've been pondering too. I like the idea of having the trailer as a self contained camping unit. So, when we arrive home we can empty the cooler, bring in our clothes and be done. So easy to hook up and go last minute too. Until last year at this time we were camping in a 1973 13ft Trillium that I found in a wrecking yard and restored back to life. Keeping everything on board and ready to go was a game changer. This was after years of camping out of the trunk of the car and sleeping in tents. Arriving home and unpacking was a huge chore. Keeping the cooler in the TV wouldn't be a big ordeal and that's definitely being considered. For now, I'm planning around it as a worst case design scenario. Bears aren't too much of problem where we usually camp but as we venture further into northern Ontario, they could be.

[tony.latham]

I want to make the galley as simple and practical as possible...

There's probably something in this video that will help:



Tony