In 2004 I spotted a Hunter teardrop and promptly stuck the couple up for a lookee-Lou. Three months later I bought a brand new 4 x 10' Hunter Silver Shadow in north Idaho.
I have no idea how many nights we spent in that teardrop during those nine years but they were fine.
Then in 2013, I ran into a So-Cal 'drop that was a five-wide. Holly-smoly a foot is a mile. And it had a fan! So within a few weeks, I was building a five-wide. Here it is:
And yes, that snake decided my shop was a cool place to hang...
The maiden voyage was a week in Zion National Park in late October.
We camped with my sister and her husband and of course they were tenting. It was cold with a bit of rain and my sis' didn't have a superb time. Knowing we'd been warm and cozy in the new 'drop, they started looking at teardrops and settled on a little 4 x 8' that they could tow behind their CRV. I looked at the price they were about to agree to and in a weak moment, I offered to build them the cabin if they would weld up the chassis.
So here's build #2:
And yes, another snake moved into the shop... I left that out of the video since my sister isn't big on the western buzz-worm.
So I thought I was done with building teardrops ––heck, they're a lotta work–– but my wife looked me in the eye that September and said, "Would you build a teardrop for my son's wedding?" I met her gaze, shook my head and said, "let's get them a toaster. A really nice one."
But you know how that went so here's #3:
And yes, that's my wife striking a bead and making sawdust. No snakes came to poke around.
Our five-wide is working great. It's doing fine. We just finished a nearly-three-week trip to the southwest.
So why #4?
Just because... (that's my story for now and I'm sticking to it). I'll expand on that tale down the road but it's not because we need a new teardrop and it's not because I'm going into the biz.
Back to this build log. Here's the new profile:
And the chassis plan. It's all 2" square tubing and 1/8" thick:
Today I laid out the chassis frame and got it plumbed up:
Struck a spark and spotted the frame together:
That rear cross member in the distance is 2 x 2" angle and it's there to support the 7-gallon water jug and Group 24 battery that will live in the galley. I've got a Dexter Torflex axle that should be here in the next week or so that will act as a cross member too.
greygoos wrote:Good luck with the new build. I was wondering if you are going to skin with aluminum again or have decided on an alternative method. Thanks
This one will be fiberglassed and coated with Monstaliner.
when adding bedliner to fiberglass . The fiberglass need to be primed make sure it has no wax in the resin. If your going to cover with glass .Why use plywood
The roof of my builds are formed with 1/8" Baltic birch (ceiling and roof) sandwiching 2" of foam board and spars. If I left off that top layer of plywood and just glossed over it, you know what it would look like without a considerable amount of labor. Plus one layer of 4 oz cloth wouldn't cut it. 1/8" plywood is as light as a feather. Almost.
I held off on more chassis work today waiting on a welder part that should be here tomorrow.
So I sidetracked and started on the template. Here are the measurements I worked up using Sketchup layered on a 3" grid:
If you use those measurements, take them with a grain of salt. I need to redo that graphic.
The first thing I did was join a 30" piece of 1/4" underlayment with a full sheet.
I laid a piece of waxed paper under the joint and then screwed both pieces to the bench. I rolled out a strip of fiberglass sheetrock tape over this joint and slathered it with TBII glue. This makes for a quick and fairly strong joint. When I say quick, that's a lie. There is so much glue puddling in the weave that it's a full day to get it to dry.
In the meantime, I drew out the grid, and measured out my points. I drilled out these points with a toothpick of a drill bit and set and some 1 1/4" finishing nails in the holes to act as temporary pegs. Using a 1" strip of the 1/4" ply I used it to connect the dots.
Hopefully that joint will be dry enough to flip tonight so I can get the other side taped and glued.