Bob's Build. The Tintanic..Maiden Voyages

[Bob Patterson]

Hello all. I've been lurking for awhile, admiring all of the builds I got a chance to look at from the start to "almost" finished. (I think we all know they are never really finished.) The first was 2bits' LT. That was the build that told me I could do this. I knew I had the skills, but it had never entered my mind to build my own teardrop. Thank you Thomas for showing me The Way. Your build journal led me to aggie79 and the Silver Beatle. I was blown away with Tom's attention to detail. So awsome. His build journal led me to DMcCam's build.
My God Dave, you've taken it to a whole 'nother level. The three of you have built or are building fantastic projects that show enviable talent and craftmanship. So, I have decided to build my own, but I will "borrow" a little bit from each of you. Each one has something that I love and must incorperate.
The build starts tomorrow. I won't be making sawdust, but I will be making sparks with the frame. I work at a Technical College in Georgia that has welding instruction. I called the instructor and asked about side projects. He asked what kind of side project. When I told him I wanted to build a teardrop camper, he couldn't believe it. He told me he already had his steel purchased, and would be starting his own build this winter. Well, I ordered my steel and it was delivered today. With Scott's help, I should have a frame tomorrow. I ordered a Flexiride axle yesterday and it will ship on Thursday. I can't wait.
Bob

[aggie79]

Bob,

Congrats on starting your teardrop! We look forward to your build!

Welding is one of those skills that I wish I had. I've fumbled around with a stick welder before, and have considered purchasing a small MIG welder. I'll probably see if there is a welding class I could attend around here.

BTW, tell your colleague to post pictures too!

Take care,
Tom

[Bob Patterson]

I will. He is also a member here, but I don't know the nick name he uses. Thank goodness he knows how to weld. I sure don't but have always wanted to learn.
Bob

[TMcDan]

Bob,

I couldn't agree more. I am getting ready to start my own build and I have gathered inspiration from and heavily "borrowed" ideas from 2bits, aggie79, and planovet among others.

Tom - check with the local high schools. I am going to try to build my trailer this spring by going to adult education classes given by one of the school districts.

Terry

[campmaster-k]

I always think it is so great that this forum gives people enough confidence to build a travel trailer. Good luck to you Bob.

[CliffinGA]

Congrats on the start Bob, can't wait to see your build and camp with ya'll sometime soon!

Cliff (& Sheri)

[Bob Patterson]

Well, I finally got started yesterday. I met Scott at his campus and we figured out our game plan and went to work.




It didn't take too long to get things squared up and for the sparks to fly.








The frame is 59" X 104 3/4". I borrowed a good bit from DMcCam. (Dave, does this frame look a little familiar?) A little bit wider than Dave's, though. I ordered a Flexiride torsion axle for it . The width for the axle mount is 59". The tube for that length is usually 60". After talking to Les at Trailerpart.com in Texas, he recommended a 61" tube. He was very helpful. That will give me an extra half inch for clearance at the wall and torsion axle. I learned from Tom about that. I had the axle derated from 2000# to 1500#. I learned that from just about everyone that has used a torsion axle.
This site and all the good folks here are the most unselfish and helpful bunch. I know I singled out three builds for inspiration for my build, but every other build journal I have looked at has inspired me. To all, I say thank you.
Now, as I am on my way home, my new frame in the back of the truck, I pull out the cell and call my much better half to let her know I'm on the way home. I can tell something is not right by the sound of her voice. When I ask her what is wrong, she tells me she fell down the basement stairs and thinks her ankle is broken. A quick trip to the emergency room confirms this. She's fine, but a little incapacitated right now. I don't know how much time I will get to work on the TD, but when I do, I will post updates.
Thanks for following,
Bob

ps
Cliffinga,
I seem to remember you had something happen to your wife during your build. Hope she is all better now. And thanks for your kind words in the newb section. I know one day we will hook up somewhere.

[CliffinGA]

Bob the frame looks great and your on your way! Sorry to hear about your wife and tomorrow will be the worst as all the bruises she got will be making themselves known and her ankle (been there with bvoth of mine at different times) will be throbing. My wife tripped in my garage and cut 2 of her fingers to the bone, and she is doing fine. Work on it when you can thats all most of us can do and we're all used to it . Good luck and let us know if you need anything.

Cliff (& Sheri)

[Woodstramp]

Aggie Tom,

A stick welder is OK. You also mentioned using a small MIG. If the small MIG was one of those $300 110V jobs, those are pure junk. Maybe OK for thin sheet metal in auto body work, but that is about it. IF you can ever get training on/access to a large MIG welder you will fall in love. Easier to learn and way more versatile than a stick.

Bob,

First, good luck on getting your feet wet. You won't be sorry.

Second, I read this in your post about the new torsion axle: " I had the axle derated from 2000# to 1500#."

Is "derating" something that is physically done to an exiting axle, or is that you ordered another lower rated axle?

[Bob Patterson]

I did get to do a little bit today. I ground down the welds and made it all smooth, then got out some flat black Rust-o-leum. It rolls on pretty easy.





Two coats later.................


A pretty good days work when I didn't think I'd get to do anything at all.

Woosdstamp asked:

"Second, I read this in your post about the new torsion axle: " I had the axle derated from 2000# to 1500#."

Is "derating" something that is physically done to an exiting axle, or is that you ordered another lower rated axle? "

Thanks Woodstramp. I'm not sure of the mechanics of derating an axle, but I get the idea. Flexiride and Dexter build the axle to the customers specs, one at a time. So if you ask to have it derated, they do it during the build of the axle. I think they use less rubber in it. With a teardrop weighing a good bit less than 2000lbs, you would want to have the axle derated to avoid too stiff of a suspension. Less bounce over bumps. I doubt they would over-rate a smaller axle. Way too much liability. Flexiride has an adjustable start angle, Dexter does not. I ordered mine with a 22 1/2 degree down angle. If that is wrong, I can easily change it. With Dexter, if 22 1/2 doesn't work out, too bad. No adjustment. Be sure of what you need before ordering.

CliffinGA said:
Good luck and let us know if you need anything

Cliff,
You continue to amaze me with your kindness. Thanks for your concern for my wife. She is doing great. Thanks for the kudos on the frame. It means a lot. I have followed your build, and learned a lot from you.

I picked up a tongue jack at the flea market today for 20 bucks. It's a pretty nice one. I think I'll do a lot of my shopping there.

[Bob Patterson]

I don't mean to leave anybody out. I might be a little slow, but I will get there.

TMcDan: Thanks for looking. I do appreciate it.

Kirk: You are 100% correct about the people here. Thank you, sir.

[DMcCam]

Great start Bob!!! Boy, you are so right about Tom and Thomas's builds, they were and are tremendously awesome influences for my build too.

I think everyone who gets excited about these little trailers looks through countless build journals constantly book-marking ideas that make sense to them. The amazing thing is that so many kind generous folks have gone before us leaving true gold for us to mine. To me, it's such an honor to see the cycle repeating with the stuff I've done already helping out. Your chassis does look very familiar It may seem to flex quite a bit when you first get her home but once you have the structure on her, she'll be just right.

About the Flexiride axle. Mine is a 2,000lb axle derated to 1,400lbs which is as low as they come. The projection for my build is about 1,000lbs or so loaded. You have to order them derated from the factory.

I too am sorry to hear about your wife's fall and glad that she's on the mend.

Thank you for your incredible compliments about my project kind sir. I'm looking forward to following your progress.

All the best,

Dave

[Bob Patterson]

Dave said:

I think everyone who gets excited about these little trailers looks through countless build journals constantly book-marking ideas that make sense to them. The amazing thing is that so many kind generous folks have gone before us leaving true gold for us to mine.

Dave, I couldn't have said it any better. You are so right. Thanks for the detail of your build journal. I am truly learning so much from you. I think you said you used Corel for your drawings. Would that be CorelDraw? That is the progrsm I use. There is a ton of stuff I don't know how to use in it, but it is a great program.

I was hoping to get my axle today. They had said it would be shipped last week, but it turns out it will be shipped today. Oh well, I'm sure it won't be the last thing I have to wait on.


I played around with the design of the interior cabinets. They are not to scale, but close enough to get an idea what they could look like.

Aft cabinets


Headboard cabinets.
I love the art deco look, too.

[campmaster-k]

Spectacular!

[DMcCam]

Yes sir, I've been using CorelDraw since 1.0! You can use it much like AutoCad if you use the grids to keep things on scale. I actually drew my plans on 1"=1' scale and made both vertical and horizontal rulers. I could then just grab one to see how things were shaping up. The more you stay to a scale the less re-do's you'll need.

Your design looks very cool! My only thought is to remind you to check clearance on all views. It looks big enough on paper but when you get it full size it can look very different. I ended using a tape measure constantly to answer space questions like, 'will my knees hit that, is there enough room for my hand to actually grab something in there or is this enough space for all our clothes?' I made a few full size cardboard boxes to envision spaces and to place the intended items into.

Other than that, forge ahead good sir!

Cheers,

Dave