The Schnoodle Shack - Final Update - Goodbye My Friend

[Jim Edgerly]

My dog Wally should feel honored...he is a Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle mix, although we are raising him as a Schnauzer) and we are naming our Teardrop in his honor...THE SCHNOODLE SHACK.

I purchased a Northern Tool 5x8 trailer (GVWR 1980), and of course it went on sale 3 days after delivery. Such is my life.

I purchased a 3500 pound axle upgrade with electric brake flanges and 10" electric brakes from ABC trailer parts for $213 (plus shipping) and that arrived before the trailer did.

I have 14" high speed trailer tires and rims on order at a local tire place for $99 each (price match with the Internet) and those should be in any day. The trailer came with 12" tires, so the 1500 lb axle and tires will end up on Craigslist.

10/18/2010: Dragged the box of trailer parts into the driveway and started to assemble the trailer. All went well for the first 30-45 minutes. The basic frame is bolted together very loosely as per the instructions. The only thing I bolted down tightly is the spring hanger brackets which should not be a problem (yeah, right). Mounted the springs, got my upgraded axle in place, and low and behold I purchased the correct 2 3/8" U-bolts but the plate is for a 1 3/4" spring, and my springs are 2" wide.

Back to the trailer shop, return the bad parts to find out they don't carry plates for 2" springs, nor does any auto supply/trailer shop around here.

PROJECT ON HOLD, after a good 45 minute start, waiting for proper U-bolt kit to arrive. Just as well because it gave me the opportunity to realize before I got to far along that I need to move my axle back 7" to the rear. The Northern Tool trailer comes standard 45%/55% axle placement, and I want the 37.5% so off to Home Depot to buy replacement bolts/plastic stop nuts, plus a good drill bit to go through the steel. Managed to get the partial assembled trailer into the garage.

[Miriam C.]

Bad springs! I sure hope you get that worked out... Sounds like you have everything else under control....

[Jim Edgerly]

The springs are fine (as far as I can see). It is that stupid little $5 plate that has the holes drilled in the wrong place, or I bought the wrong one...jury still out on that one.

The good news is it buys me time to move the axle back 7 inches while I wait for the proper part to arrive. Could do it later, but I'm kinda anal about doing things in the proper order. I have a basket full of notes, and checking/moving axle location is in there. I guess I should get a better filing system for my notes and plans.

[bobhenry]

First lodge a complaint about the sale price occurind 3 days after you ordered and you will probably receive a refund of the difference or an in store credit. They gotta know you are miffed before they can help.

Second if this is the single tongue model that only extends to the 1st crossmember after the front edge of the trailer you will want to extend it at least to just in front of the axle. I ran mine to the rear to act as a class 2 receiver. I bought mine used and abused and the center crossmember was bent downward about 2" so it can happen.

By extending the length of the tongue while you are reinforcing it you can build forward and avoid moving the axle. My 5x10 barn is built on a 5x8 namco frame (same style as yours) You can see more pics in my album. The front cantalievers 2' forward.

[Jim Edgerly]

OK, project has restarted. Got a local company to order me the proper U-bolts/spring plates from Boston, and UPS'd them overnight. $20 for parts, $10 shipping. I spent half the day waiting for U-Haul to install my trailer hitch. Went back after 4 hours and found my car still on the ramp...no hitch installed. They did all the wiring, installed the electric brake control, but had the wrong hitch. Getting another one overnight and can go back in the morning to have it installed.

Yesterday I took the springs back off, and took out one of the center braces. I moved the axle back to 38% and ended up using the hole from the brace as one of the holes in the spring hinge plate. It gave me an exact distance on both sides to start my new spring/axle placement. I was shooting for 37%, but 38% with guaranteed accuracy on both sides is a winner in my book. Don't normally drill in steel...much more time consuming than drilling in wood. Lotta work to move the axle 8 inches, but necessary work.

So I spent some time torquing down the nuts the instructions told me not to tighten yet. It's all together minus electrical, axle/wheels, and fenders, so since everything is in place I tightened everything. The instructions told me to expect about 3 hours total to build this thing. ME THINKS THEY LIED IN THE INSTRUCTIONS. I have spent way longer than 3 hours putting this thing together (excluding moving the axle and running around getting the right parts), and my axle is hung below the springs with rope at the moment. I will install the U-bolts/spring plates tomorrow...already checked to see that they fit.

Then I will start installing the electric brakes. I found a video on You Tube that explains it really well. It's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtzPmNNM ... re=channel

I have several days before my wheels arrive. Went to Town Fair Tire and got them to match the Internet price on tires/wheels. That was 3 weeks ago. Every time I talked to them they said back ordered. Yesterday they said they have no idea when they will ever get them. They offered to get them from a different vendor for a 20% price increase, won't honor the prior Internet price guarantee. Lost 3 weeks with them, canceled the order. Ordered on the Internet last night, email this morning says they are on the way.

So far it has been one wrong part after another. I expect things will improve when I start working with the wood. The nice thing about wood is you start with the raw material and make what you want.

When the trailer is complete it will sit in my garage all winter while I work on the Schnoodle Shack in the basement. I will build the frame on the trailer bed, then drag in through the bulkhead into the basement and continue working from there. I will build as much as possible, then disassemble, move to the driveway, and reassemble.

[Jim Edgerly]

I guess this installment on my build in entitled "the good news".

The good news is that my 14inch tire upgrade looks great. There is more than twice as much rubber on the road for stability, and stopping power, plus with Massachusetts roads it will take a bigger pot hole to swallow my tire. The electric brakes were really easy to install, and I'm glad I have the 10" brakes instead of the smaller 7" brakes. Of course I have not wired them up yet, so maybe I should wait until I see if they work before saying they were really easy. The upgraded axle, tires, and electric brakes easily add 100 pounds to the trailer, maybe even approaching 150 pounds.

I got my hitch installed on my car, and the electric brake controller is installed. On the surface everything is looking pretty good. Didn't buy the ball mount until I got the upgraded tires on to see how high the trailer connector ended up.

[Jim Edgerly]

Now for the BAD NEWS. My hitch receiver only sits 10" off the ground. With a straight ball mount the top of the ball will sit 13" off the ground. The inside of my trailer coupler sits at 22"...you heard me correct...22". Adding the 3500 pound axle under the springs makes the trailer sit 3.5" higher than if it sat above the springs. Add the fact that the tire upgrade added another 2.5" to the height...and I need a whopping 9" rise on my ball mount, which is absolutely impossible because of the torque it would generate on stopping. I could stop ONCE, and once only before having the Shack towed away. If I kept the smaller tires and put the axle over the springs I could have "saved" around 6" and would need only a 3" rise ball mount...but I need the larger tires!

My ONLY option is to lower the tongue/coupler by like 5" and come in with a 4" rise ball mount (or 7.5" and 1.5"). Local welder said he can make the necessary trailer mods for under $100, which included adding a center 6 foot 2.5" square bar to strengthen the trailer, and weld in the 2 side pieces. For under another hundred he will fabricate two bottom plates for shocks, plus weld in two upper supports for the shocks. These will be done in January as I am not going to register the trailer until then (so I don't have to pay excise taxes for this year).

The red bar in the picture below is where he will add the new 6 foot bar, and weld in the side supports. The second picture is a shock mount that I fabricated, and will now throw away, and the third picture is a plywood model of the shock mount I wanted the welder to fabricate. This will allow my shocks to be almost vertical.

[jimqpublic]

Maybe I missed it... But why are you going spring-over-axle? Spring under will drop the frame (and coupler) about 4.5" (axle diameter plus spring pack thickness. That would get you back to 17.5" to top of ball. You would only need a short rise drawbar.

The bigger tires still give you more clearance than the stock trailer would have. Sounds like your tow vehicle isn't high clearance so why spring-over?

I have spring-under and shocks. My dealer used the Dexter shock mount spring hanger plate and a welded on upper mount. Mine isn't quite like this but here's the current kit: http://dexteraxle.com/inc/sdetail/1171
Instruction sheet:http://i.b5z.net/i/u/1080235/f/Instruction_Sheets/059-258-00B.pdf

[Jim Edgerly]

I am going spring-over-axle at this point because... that is what I bought. I bought a 3500 lb axle with electric brake plates, plus 10" brakes, the length I needed for $231. I ordered the under spring instead of the over spring. I have right around 4" clearance between spring top and frame. The axle is 2 3/8" inches plus about a half inch for the spring seat, so any more than a 1" bounce on the spring and I would bottom out. A little too close for my comfort, BUT I did NOT know that when I ordered the axle. If I knew that I would have still bought the under spring because I can see some of the places I may take this (including some of the pot holes in New England) would cause a 1" bounce". My axle has 11.5" ground clearance, and my shock brackets will have 9.5" clearance. My Subaru Outback Sport has 6.7" clearance. The 4.5" difference you referenced would have put the Subaru and trailer clearance almost identical...but that is a moot point at this point.

If I have the welder do the upper and lower shock brackets for "under $100" and I buy two 555002 Monroe shocks from Amazon for $25.21 each including shipping, then I am talking under $150 for the brakes. Pretty close to your $123 plus welded on upper mount...so it is a wash. At this point I am trying to make the best of what I have. The Shack will be a few inches higher than what I would like...but given how tiny Teardrops are to begin with I don't think anybody will notice.

I thank you for reading my journal and taking the time to comment.

[jimqpublic]

OK, that makes sense. I guess your 2" springs are a bit flatter (maybe with lower profile hangers) than my 1.75" springs. On my trailer there's about 3" between axle tube and frame at our normal load.

Good news is you have room for undermounted storage, tanks, etc.

We tow with Subarus too. Our trailer has a 20" top of ball dimension but the 1996 Legacy Outback only needed 3" rise on the drawbar. The 2004 Forester needed more, but it has a sturdy custom Class III hitch.

[Jim Edgerly]

Yeah, I was surprised that the springs were 2" instead of 1.75"...I guess the heavier spring doesn't flex as much??? And these are what I believe are called slider springs, where they pivot at the front end, but slide against the bracket at the back end. And I never even thought about it but the 1" clearance that I would have with the axle mounted over springs is without ANY weight on the trailer. Don't know how much it will sag when I get the Shack on top, but will assume that 2" will sag less than 1.75" springs would. I had already planned on underneath storage since there is so much room, just a hassle lifting the mattress to get to it. I might be able to get a side under trailer access...will have to check into that as the build progresses.

[Steve_Cox]

Hi Jim,

If you sell the axle and springs you now have and get a torsion axle. It'll bring that ride height down to about 14 inches with those wheels and tires you have. It would also give a superior ride.

[Jim Edgerly]

Well, things seem to be progressing slowly. I've managed to glue up one side of the trailer so far, minus door. I spent a lot of time researching and planning (and removing snow/ice), and not enough time implementing the plan. I have recently move to the implementation phase of the camper. I have managed to accumulate a lot of the material that I will eventually need, and it is stored all around my basement as my actual work area to assemble this thing is about just about camper floor (5x8.7 feet) plus 3 feet (8x12), and along one side I have to store plywood and insulation. On hand I have a queen size memory foam mattress, fenders, windows, shocks, lights, powered cabin vent, door hinges, hurricane hinge, switches, extension cord with built-in 15 amp breaker, timer for ceiling fan/heater, battery condition indicator, fans, battery charger/converter, drawer slides, butyl tape, 100 lb gas galley struts, trailer break-away kit, and misc. stuff. I've spend right around $3400 so far, and am about $600 under budget for where I thought I would spend so far. I figure I have less than an additional $1000 to spend at this point.

I've also managed to make a "fan bar" for across the pillow area. It has 2 low powered fans for each side to create a "spring breeze" so I won't feel quite so claustrophobic, and a more powerful one in the middle of each low powered for when we want a more serious breeze (controlled by 2 switches for each side). Also in the bar is our central inside power control panel, with switches for fans, dome vent, dome light, heater/vent selector, mechanical timer, power source selector, main cabin power, and battery condition indicator. The "power source selector" is just a switch to decide if I want "continuos power" to route to the heater/vent, or if I want to route the power through a mechanical timer so I can set it for any time up to one hour with auto shut-off. The "heater/vent selector" decides if I route the continuos power/timer power to the vent fan OR the heater, since I will never want to use both at the same time, and that way I can share the timer between the heater or the vent, depending on conditions. I like the idea that if I wake up in the middle of the night, hot or cold, I can select the vent or heater, set for 10 minutes or so, and fall back asleep and know the device will turn itself off automatically.

I got the trailer registered last week, and it was easier than I thought. No inspection, and I was in and out of the MA Registry in under 5 minutes. I'm taking it to the welders next week to get the trailer tongue lowered by 10 inches, and to get shocks supports manufactured in and welded in. Welder says less than $200 total for both.

You can see in the picture how cramped my work area is, and a red flannel shirt wrapped around a wood support that I manage to bang my head on it at least once every time I am down there. I am only 5'9" but the wood support hangs at 5'6". I never really see it coming until the side of my head makes contact. The camper floor is only screwed together right now with no glue because it has to come apart to get out the bulkhead doors! I am thankful for what little space I have as it lets me get a jump on the camper before spring gets here...but I really wish I had more space so I could walk all the way around the camper floor without having to step up on it to get by something.

I have a lot of wood at the back end to stiffen the camper sides at the galley end, and to give places to screw into solid wood for the galley and cabin cabinets. I have no doubt that there is much more wood than I need, but it will help offset the weight of the battery on the end of the trailer tongue. There is more wood inside the walls because the plywood I have for the inside is really light, actually it reminds me of balsa wood. It may be just under 1/4 inch, but it weights less than half what the marine grade 1/4 inch weighs. I got it at Home Depot and I think structurally I like the idea of the extra 3/4 inch pine with the marine grade ply.

I'll check back in after I make more progress.

[S. Heisley]

It looks like you've got it all figured out. Now, it's time to make lots of saw dust and mess up that garage! We'll be watching!

[Jim Edgerly]

Update on The Schnoodle Shack: I spent yesterday playing with cabin electrical. I purchased 4 fans from Amazon for only $15, and basically got what I paid for. They produce what I would call a "gentle spring breeze", which is good to cut down on the claustrophobic feeling of being in a teardrop, but not really good if you are feeling hot and need real cooling power. So I purchased 2 heavier duty fans to create a "wind" when the temps are warmer. I also purchased a 1-hour mechanical timer for those times I'm not on shore power and want to conserve battery power. I'm going to wire the timer so I can use it for either the dome vent fan or for a 12 volt 150 watt car heater to take the chill off in cooler weather. I've also mounted my battery condition indicator on this panel as well. I figure I will want to know the battery status first thing in the morning, as well as last thing at night...so it went inside.

For my vent fan or heater I'm using 2 switches. The first switch decides whether I'm using a steady 12 volts, or routing the power through a timer. The second switch decides destination for the power.

The first switch is a SPDT switch, with the center tab going out to another switch. In the UP position the source is the 12V power routed through the timer, and the DOWN position is a steady 12V. The second switch, also a SPDT, has the output of the first switch coming into the center tab. The UP position has the power routed out to the dome vent fan, and the DOWN position has the power routed out to the heater. I figured this was the best way to power both since it enables me to ALWAYS supply power to either, or set the timer and fall asleep. I will never want to cool and heat the teardrop both at the same time! The old picture is worth a thousand words is appropriate for here!


My power center measures 6.5 x 10.5, and my wife said it reminders her of how the astronauts must have felt, since it will be only arms reach directly above our heads when we are lying down, and it's a lot crammed into a very small space . I was limed on space because of the 6 fans directly above our heads. I will find somebody with a label maker to make labels for the switches. So far I am please with the cabin power center.