My first teardrop - the Kampster, Final Posting

[bbarry]

I have a tractor that has tires that are probably 40 years old. Still working great. Of course I don't get them hot with high speeds.

I agree. We are successfully using many very old tires on various equipment. Loading and speed play a great part in tire failure regardless of age.

Actually most of the modern trailer tires are going to radials. Much better ride and handling characteristics.

I've not found this to be the case. Bias ply and radial tires each have their uses. Tires designed for trailers in my experience continue to be bias ply for several reasons. The stiffer sidewall of a bias ply tire leads to greater load bearing capacity and sway resistance. A modern radial tire has a more compliant sidewall, contributing to a more comfortable ride, and preferred handling characteristics for an automobile. A quick bit of Google research turns up the following:

Trailer Tire requirements differ greatly from automotive tires. Automotive tires must maintain traction during all driving conditions: pulling, stopping, turning, or swerving. Because of this they must have more flexible sidewalls to maintain tread to road contact. Since trailers have no driving torque applied to their axles, the only time trailer tires must have traction is during the application of trailer brakes.
Trailers with heavy loads, high vertical sideloads (like camper trailers), or trailers with inadequate tongue weight can be affected by trailer sway problems. Automotive bias or radial tires with their more flexible sidewalls can accentuate trailer sway problems, whereas the stiffer sidewalls of the ST (special trailer) bias ply tires help to control and reduce sway problems. For this reason it is not recommended that (P) Passenger or (LT) Light Truck tires be used on trailers. Best trailer control will be achieved with (ST) Special Trailer tires.

That's not to say that passenger radials cannot be used on trailers. Indeed, we have several trailers all with radial tires. In reality, with the weight range we are dealing with in teardop trailers, most any tire in good condition will suffice. To each their own...that's what makes the teardrop community great. There are about a million different ways to do any given thing and we're bound and determined to try them all!

Brad

[TinKicker]

we're bound and determined to try them all!

Amen. I hope to get one teardrop built without having to try everything, at least on paper, but it ain't lookin' good!

[bbarry]

I have a floor! I biscuit joined the ply to make a larger sheet. It measures 108" by 58". When the walls are joined to the sides, it will be 60" overall width. I was really happy with the quality of 3/4" plywood I got for $30/sheet. It's just graded ACX but appeared to be AB and had virtually no voids. I went with 3/4" because it's larger than the frame and I'm not supporting it with a wooden subframe. Since it has to support itself (and the walls and roof), I decided to get some sturdy stuff.

New tongue jack:


It's a family affair. My younger brother Drew stops by and I put him to work cutting biscuits.


Grandpa inspects the floor after we temporarily placed the deck on the trailer.


Underneath - view of the 2x2 nailer.


Time to relax. Grandpa and Drew's dog take a break.


Slowly but surely...

Brad

[Nitetimes]

I've not found this to be the case. Bias ply and radial tires each have their uses. Tires designed for trailers in my experience continue to be bias ply for several reasons. The stiffer sidewall of a bias ply tire leads to greater load bearing capacity and sway resistance. A modern radial tire has a more compliant sidewall, contributing to a more comfortable ride, and preferred handling characteristics for an automobile.



Brad

Nope, sorry. I built trailers for a manufacturer for 15+ years and our tires for the last ten of that were mostly radials. Even the 20+ ton trailers we built got radials. All those reasons you sited for a car to have radials for the most part apply to trailers too. Better ride, better handling characteristics (read less sway) less heat build up.......
Light trailers in particular benefit from the more flexible radials considerably with much less bounce and sway.
Unless you are going for a particular "look" radials are by far the better choice.
A stiff sidewall doesn't determine the load capabilities of a tire the little letter that tells you the load range does.
The mindset is that stiff bias ply tires would keep the sway down but that is not the case. We sold lots of 10-12k lb. trailers over the years with bias tires and a large number of them would come back for radials because they swayed less.

[Steve Frederick]

Nice picture!


What kind of dog?

[bbarry]

Nope, sorry. I built trailers for a manufacturer for 15+ years and our tires for the last ten of that were mostly radials.

Sounds like you're qualified! I'm sure you're correct...I just haven't seen that in my experience. Most of the radials we put on trailers were just old passenger tires we had laying around, but my understanding was that ST tires were mainly bias ply.

What kind of dog?

He's half chihuahua, half papillon, 100% attitude. My brother Drew adopted him when he was a student at K-State. He is fiercely devoted to Drew and this is a rare shot of him being friendly with Grandpa.

[bbarry]

A little bit of progress to report today: The floor is undercoated and drying overnight before being permanantly bolted down. We used 5 cans of Mar-Hyde rubberized undercoating and I'm pretty pleased with the results.


We cut out a profile template out of OSB and tweaked with the belt sander. After marking out the bulkheads/doors/cabinets, it appears that everything will fit!


Went shopping at the free lumberyard (the barn loft). Found OSB for the template and good solid 1x12 to rip into cabinet framing later. Can't find lumber like this at the big box stores. Plus the price is better!


Taking a break enjoying the warm sun today. Here's Grandpa's normal lap warmer: his shop cat Bessie.

[bbarry]

Hooray, a little progress today! We had a beautiful day here with sunshine and 60 degree weather. Sure beats the ice and freezing temps of just a few days ago. We got the sides made up. I took 4x8 3/4" ACX and biscuited on a small piece at the end to end up with this:



Then I took the template I previously made in OSB and traced it out on both sheets. A little jigsaw here and a jigsaw there and VOILA:



That lumber we found in the barn got put to use today. I ripped 3" pieces and used it to frame the front and rear bulkheads. This is the rear bulkhead. The cabin side cabinet will attach to this as will the fixed countertop in the galley. The lower cabinets will slide out and will not be attached to this bulkhead. The hatch will be hinged on the top piece (bottom of picture) and so I made it out of full dimension 1" oak to better carry the weight.



******************Question*********************

I haven't notched out the side profile for the hatch. I will be using a plastic piano hinge. Here's what I'm thinking:



This is as if looking at the hatch construction from the rear (cutaway).

The blue is the sidewall (total 1" thick)
The red is the hatch rib
The green is the gasket
The yellow is the hatch skin (two layers of 1/8" ply)
There will be aluminum angle on the side hanging over the edge (not shown).

My roof is only going to be one layer of 1/8" So, if I figure that one layer of 1/8" on my hatch can stick up, it'll be flush with the rest of the roof. That leaves me 1/8" of ply and ??? of gasket to cut out a notch for. I'm thinking 1/8" for the gasket as well, giving me a 1/4" notch. Does this make sense? Am I thinking this through right? Thoughts will be appreciated!!!

Brad

[Frog]

I'm not a tire expert, but there is no way I'd use 40 year old tires on the highway.

You can't see inside the tire itself so there is no way to determine how dry the tires really are. They do make good construction tires, but the trailer is only supported by the hitch and each tire. A blow out even at fairly low speeds could wreck the trailer, the tow car, particularly if it's a light car that could be pushed around by a swaying trailer and other vehicles on the road. The liability you would eliminate and the peace of mind from having good tires is worth the price. Good 13" tires are not very expensive. Your life and that of your loved ones is worth two tires.

I recently replaced some 26 year old tires on a small utility trailer that I only use rarely on the road. Shame on me for waiting so long.

Sorry about preaching at you.

[Senior Ninja]

What I wouldn't give to have my Father or Uncle help me with my build. It almost brought a tear to my eye to even think about it. As for Grandfather, I never even met either of them.
There were lots of places where I could hear my Dad say, "He doesn't know anymore about that than a cat does about Sunday." Or "...this will cover a multitude of sins."
Steve

[bbarry]

I'm not a tire expert, but there is no way I'd use 40 year old tires on the highway.

You can't see inside the tire itself so there is no way to determine how dry the tires really are. They do make good construction tires, but the trailer is only supported by the hitch and each tire. A blow out even at fairly low speeds could wreck the trailer, the tow car, particularly if it's a light car that could be pushed around by a swaying trailer and other vehicles on the road. The liability you would eliminate and the peace of mind from having good tires is worth the price. Good 13" tires are not very expensive. Your life and that of your loved ones is worth two tires.

I recently replaced some 26 year old tires on a small utility trailer that I only use rarely on the road. Shame on me for waiting so long.

Sorry about preaching at you.

People are really interested in my tires...any thoughts about the hatch?

As I mentioned before, these tires will never see highway driving. I'm using them for now because I like the way they look. I'm okay using them for getting around locally. If I ever have to tow anywhere other than that (will we be done in time for ITG3?) you'll see new tires.

Steve - it's a blessing for sure to be able to have my family involved. Try these on for size:

It's good enough for government work
It's good enough for who it's for
It's good enough for the girls I go with
Quarter inch paint will hide that

Brad

[Senior Ninja]

Thanks Brad. Enjoy the times you all have together.
Steve

[bbarry]

No pics today...

Just finished up a few small items:

*Bought 1/8" birch ply for the inside walls. Had to get 5x5 baltic birch as the 4x8 sheets didn't look very good. Paid $11/sheet.
*Used the belt sander to even up the two side frames and true up my door opening. It's now straight and square.
*Put the 3rd coat of floor paint on the cabin floor (none on the galley floor as that will get a different flooring of some kind TBD.
*Finished sanding the front and rear bulkheads.

Brad

[Miriam C.]

My roof is only going to be one layer of 1/8" So, if I figure that one layer of 1/8" on my hatch can stick up, it'll be flush with the rest of the roof. That leaves me 1/8" of ply and ??? of gasket to cut out a notch for. I'm thinking 1/8" for the gasket as well, giving me a 1/4" notch. Does this make sense? Am I thinking this through right? Thoughts will be appreciated!!!

Brad

Sorry your question about the hatch got skipped. I think an 1/8" hatch seal will be harder to work with. Remember that you want the hatch seal to compress 50%. Now if you have a 1/8" seal that you like then make your cut 3/16" That is 1/8 for the skin and half of 1/8 for the seal.

[bbarry]

Sorry your question about the hatch got skipped. I think an 1/8" hatch seal will be harder to work with. Remember that you want the hatch seal to compress 50%. Now if you have a 1/8" seal that you like then make your cut 3/16" That is 1/8 for the skin and half of 1/8 for the seal.

I was thinking of using Grant's hatch seal. It's .4" high and I seem to remember him posting somewhere saying it compressed down to very little. I was figuring 1/8" for the compressed height of the seal (not the total height). Maybe I need to figure a bit more.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Brad