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.
Wish me luck.Tony
