G&M's 'Drop

...ask your questions in the appropriate forums BUT document your build here...preferably in a single thread...dates for updates, are appreciated....

Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby noseoil » Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:43 am

Looking really nice! It's quite a project & details are making it come together & look like a real trailer now.

Did you get a tally on time & materials yet? I ran a spreadsheet on our build to track costs (meaningless) for the total of time & $$$, 450 hours of build time (no research, thinking, moaning, etc. was included) & $6500 in materials. Total rolling weight is about 1700#, but I never did calculate the cost per pound as labor was "free" to me. Cost of materials was about $3.85/lb, so it was cheaper than hamburger in today's market costs, but with inflation...
Build log: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=60248
The time you spend planning is more important than the time you spend building.........

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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby DrewsBrews » Tue Aug 24, 2021 1:03 pm

Blue and wood... giving me old JBL speaker vibes
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby Bezoar » Tue Aug 24, 2021 2:08 pm

It is looking great! Glad the Monstaliner worked out for you!
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby GarthB » Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:08 pm

Thanks everybody!

Noseoil, I kept track of our expenses up until around July and we were around $6,000 deep. I would estimate we've spent another $1,000 since. Keep in mind, this includes our mattress, the cooler and stove (not necessarily required items to "complete" a build). The biggest deal we got throughout the build was the initial parts that I found on Craigslist. We picked up the trailer frame, hurricane hinge, doors, floor, aluminum trim, aluminum sheets, and a whole bunch of electrical components for $1,000 total. I parted out what we didn't need of the stuff and got $300 back by selling things off.

I'd also say I've probably piddled away $500 or so of our total expenses on things that we thought we needed but didn't end up using or had to buy to fix mistakes.

As for time, I'd estimate I have around 480 to 520 hours into it. I've averaged around 14 hours each weekend and 14 hours during week nights after work almost every week since mid April.

I'm both monetarily and physically pretty happy to be 99% complete. We're ready to go camping and I'm ready to swing my golf clubs again when we aren't camping.
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby tony.latham » Wed Aug 25, 2021 8:23 am

...$500 or so of our total expenses on things that we thought we needed but didn't end up using...


I've got a whole box of junk labeled, Teardrop. Stuff I too thought I'd use but didn't. I should dig a hole and bury it for some future archaeologists to hypothesize about his/her newly discovered ancient Teardrop Culture.

:thinking:

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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby western traveler » Wed Aug 25, 2021 11:20 am

noseoil wrote:
Did you get a tally on time & materials yet? I ran a spreadsheet on our build to track costs (meaningless) for the total of time & $$$, 450 hours of build time (no research, thinking, moaning, etc. was included) & $6500 in materials. Total.



GarthB wrote:Noseoil, I kept track of our expenses up until around July and we were around $6,000 deep. I would estimate we've spent another $1,000 since. Keep in mind, this includes our mattress, the cooler and stove (not necessarily required items to "complete" a build). The biggest deal we got throughout the build was the initial parts that I found on Craigslist. We picked up the trailer frame, hurricane hinge, doors, floor, aluminum trim, aluminum sheets, and a whole bunch of electrical components for $1,000 total. I parted out what we didn't need of the stuff and got $300 back by selling things off.

I'd also say I've probably piddled away $500 or so of our total expenses on things that we thought we needed but didn't end up using or had to buy to fix mistakes.


Well I feel better knowing where you guys are at in expenses.
I stopped totaling receipts at $6000 and change in mid June and just started tossing the receipts in a pile. I am pretty confident I am past 7 now and still need a mattress and miscellaneous stuff we don’t think of until…

That said, I did go a bit crazy with the whitewall tires, fenders, taillights (don’t ask) and the custom built trailer.
I have zero idea of the hours put in. Zip…

Honesty whatever the cost ends up being, I don’t care. This is a dream being fulfilled after too many years. (but if you would have said 3500 :cry: )
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby GarthB » Wed Aug 25, 2021 8:49 pm

As of yesterday, my wife and I have deemed "G&M's 'Drop" complete. I spent the last few days checking the final few items off of my to-do list, most of which revolved around the exterior.

On the hatch, I installed stainless steel latches on both sides to secure it in the closed position. I also added a 1" D-seal to seal between the edge of the floor and the hatch. It sealed up the 3/4" gap nicely and acts as a nice shin guard when the hatch is open.

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On the outside of the hatch, I installed a stainless handle, a license plate light, and embedded four hanger screws in order to mount the license plate. The hanger screws allow the license plate to be changed out without screwing into/out of the hatch.

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Next, the third brake light was installed. I sealed the top, sides, and screws but left the bottom edge unsealed to allow for any water to drain out if it ever makes it in.

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Moving forward on the camper, porch lights were installed on both sides above the doors. They came with a clear lens and and amber lens. I think we will stick with amber. I sealed them with the same logic that I used for the third brake light.

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After that, we added a sheet of 16 gauge aluminum diamond plate to the front and wrapped the top and sides with aluminum trim. The bottom edge, similar to the lights, has no trim or sealant to allow for water to escape if any ever makes it between the paint and the aluminum. Once the sheet was in place, we added an aluminum diamond plate tongue box to match.

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After everything was installed, I enlisted the help of my Dad to help me caulk the edges of everything on the exterior. We used black proflex and clear OSI, depending on where it was going. The Proflex was definitely easier to work with. We paid a lot of attention to sealing the bottom edge of the walls where they meet the trailer frame. Water intrusion in this area has been on my mind since the start and I wanted to minimize the chances of it happening.

Once the sealant was curing, I got the fenders installed and we got the mattress inside the cabin, officially wrapping up our build. My wife and I have both caught ourselves going out to the garage and staring at the thing with smiles on our faces throughout the day. It feels damn good to be ready to go camping.

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I'm sure anyone that has finished their build is probably sitting back and chuckling by the fact that I referred to our build as being "complete" twice just within this post. I can certainly assure everyone, there will continue to be updates and improvements as time progresses. Giving the visible areas of the frame that got scuffed with the sander a fresh coat of black paint is one of the first things that comes to mind that has yet to be done. However, we are finally to the point that I feel I can take this project off of my list of priorities and begin focusing on other goals and some leisure time in the woods and on the lakeshores with my bride.

We'll continue to post pertinent build updates as they happen. As for everyone here on TNTTT, I can't thank you all enough for the advice, support, tips and tricks that have so graciously been given throughout this journey. There are few internet forums with groups of people that express as much kindness and dedication to helping each other out. It's been a pleasure to be a part of it all so far.
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby western traveler » Thu Aug 26, 2021 5:53 am

Here’s to a job well done to you and your bride! Your build looks great. Thanks for sharing your progress along the way. Both the up and downs and for taking the time to answer my inquiries as well.
Safe travels…
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby cjlangellier » Thu Aug 26, 2021 8:00 am

Garth, your attention to detail on this build was incredible. You and your wife have one fantastic looking trailer. Now go enjoy it! All the grinding away and late nights in the shop will feel all the more sweet after your first trip. Don't forget to post pics of it out in the wild!
Cody - Westmont, IL

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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby tony.latham » Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:03 am

My wife and I have both caught ourselves going out to the garage and staring at the thing


I'm probably third in line --just after you and your wife-- to see this fine teardrop come together. Writing a how-to-book is one thing but seeing that it actually works is deeply satisfying. :thumbsup:

Thanks,

Tony
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby JoeGrz » Thu Aug 26, 2021 8:46 pm

Congratulations of the great looking teardrop :applause:
You mention that you probably will have some updates and improvements. I, for one, think I will be hitting the galley again sometime in the future. I went with shallow drawers and the stove shelf. Since this was a guess as to what I would like. I figure in a year or so I will be rebuilding my galley for what will actually work with the way I camp. I really like the box you built for the water jug and the stove. Hopefully I can get my carpentry skills up to yours.

I have all my receipts so I can tally up the cost for insurance purposes but now I’m afraid to. Between what you and Ralph are reporting, I think I am significantly over budget. Of course I, like you and everyone else, have all those things that didn’t work out like I thought they would,

It has been great watching it go together and seeing your craftsmanship. I look forward to seeing it in the wild
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby GarthB » Sat Aug 28, 2021 8:01 am

Thanks everybody! It sure would be awesome to stumble across you guys out in the wild one day. My wife and I are definitely itching to take her out on her maiden voyage. Severe overnight thunderstorms are keeping us hunkered down this weekend since I'm not quite mentally ready to give it a monsoon test yet. Hopefully someday the anxiety of a hidden leak will subside. :? Next weekend, we're looking at doing a four night trip somewhere along the Lake Superior shoreline.

As I've been cleaning up the garage the last few days, I've felt like I need to attend some "teardrop builders anonymous" meetings. My instincts keep making me feel like I should be grasping a router, shooting a crown stapler, driving screws or spreading epoxy. It might take a little while to adapt to my newly acquired, massive amounts of free time...
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby GarthB » Mon Aug 30, 2021 10:21 am

Despite the rainy weekend, we managed to make it out to the banks of the Manistee River last night for our first night in the 'Drop. One of our goals with this build was to be able to get out camping with less preparation beforehand and cleanup afterwards, and it felt good to put this goal into practice. We made it out just in time for a bacon-wrapped venison backstrap dinner (sourced from a whitetail killed a stone's throw away last fall) and a fire. We were packed back up and on our way back home at 5am in order to get to work on time this morning. Though it was an especially short one-nighter, we couldn't have been happier. It was a beautiful night and a necessary shakedown run prior to our Upper Peninsula trip next weekend.

Given the recent rainstorms, we baptized the new rig with plenty of mud. It felt very strange getting it dirty while rumbling down washboard backroads after babying it throughout the entire build process. It'll definitely take some time to build confidence in all of our glued, screwed and fiberglassed joints and their ability to withstand rough conditions. It handled our first trip just fine though, thankfully.

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One thing that I was surprised by was the condensation on the outside of the roof when we rolled out this morning. You could clearly see each spar outlined, similar to a photo that I shared after the original paint job. We had both windows open and the fan running all night, so the temperature difference between inside and out couldn't have been very significant. There was no interior condensation. My suspicion is that the roof insulation is sweating off retained heat throughout the night that was absorbed from the day prior. Given that the roof is packed full of rigid insulation, there shouldn't be many air voids, however, I'm curious whether anyone else has done anything about mitigating moisture that may be created from this within the roof. I would be surprised if other people with similarly insulated roofs haven't noticed it as well.
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby Tom&Shelly » Mon Aug 30, 2021 11:51 am

GarthB wrote:Despite the rainy weekend, we managed to make it out to the banks of the Manistee River last night for our first night in the 'Drop.

One thing that I was surprised by was the condensation on the outside of the roof when we rolled out this morning. You could clearly see each spar outlined, similar to a photo that I shared after the original paint job. We had both windows open and the fan running all night, so the temperature difference between inside and out couldn't have been very significant. There was no interior condensation. My suspicion is that the roof insulation is sweating off retained heat throughout the night that was absorbed from the day prior. Given that the roof is packed full of rigid insulation, there shouldn't be many air voids, however, I'm curious whether anyone else has done anything about mitigating moisture that may be created from this within the roof. I would be surprised if other people with similarly insulated roofs haven't noticed it as well.


First: Congratulations! :thumbsup:

Once we brought ours to the Northeast, we've noticed condensation on the insulated parts of the sides a half dozen mornings. Usually when the grass we are on, or near, is also dewy.

I'll look closer at the roof next time. Not sure this is quite the same process you are describing.

Tom
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Re: G&M's 'Drop

Postby OP827 » Mon Aug 30, 2021 3:51 pm

Congrats on your first trip, guys and I am glad to hear that everything worked!
Good to see some travel road dirt on your rig :).
I also have same patterns of condensation outlining components under the skin, like an epoxy seam between foam panels or a wood/ply frame. There is nothing to worry about as long as there is no internal condensation.

Cheers,
Oleg
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