Hello from Virginia Beach
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Hello from Virginia Beach
by windsurferdude451957 » Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:24 am
Hi, I'm new to the forum. I have a dream of building a tiny trailer that can be pulled by a Ford Escape Hybrid with a towing capacity of 1000 lbs. I am considering starting with a 5x8 aluminum trailer from Northern Tools that weighs slightly over 200 lbs. I've been searching for designs that utilize slideouts that could expand the width to around 9 feet. I'd also like to include a wet bath. I have only the most basic carpentry skills to boot. I have a ton of questions and have been cruzing all over the site. Thanks in advance for any sagely wisdom or advice you may share. Scott
- windsurferdude451957
- Teardrop Inspector
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Re: Hello from Virginia Beach
by Aguyfromohio » Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:36 am
Nice to meet you.
Slide outs can be a bit tricky, and they add weight.
I did the engineering design for this particular slide out, the kitchen slideout on the 1996 Holiday Rambler Diesel Endeavor LE.
One important challenge is thinking through how the camper works with the slideout closed.
I doubt the cabin of a teardrop would be usable at all with the slideout closed.
For this motorhome we had only about 2 ft of dirty exterior wall inside the coach when it was closed, and we hid it cleverly against other interior walls - one dividing the kitchen from the bath, the other a little dividing wall right behind the driver seat that was there only to hide the dirty side of the slideout wall. You can do those kind of things in a 36 foot motorhome, but I don't see how in a TD.
You would likely be committed to only getting inside if you open the slideout.
Seals get pretty elaborate all around a slideout. And leaves and sticks fall onto the top of the slideout, which tear the seals and jamb it up when you close it. Notice the little awning that covers the slideout just to keep the debris off that little roof. You also need a secure latch to keep it from opening during travel. In this motorhome the electric drive for the slideout was a cogwheel engaging holes drilled into steel square tubes and you could not back-drive the gear motor.
The design and build of the slideout would probably take more time and money than the design and build of an entire traditional TD.
But never say never - I hope you pull it off and show us how you did it.
There is that one TD made in Australia called the Gidget, shown below. I've never seen in an interior photo of it with the slide closed, so I don't know how you get into the cabin with the slide closed.
It will obviously block the entry door - perhaps those big windows line up and you somehow crawl through them.
Slide outs can be a bit tricky, and they add weight.
I did the engineering design for this particular slide out, the kitchen slideout on the 1996 Holiday Rambler Diesel Endeavor LE.
One important challenge is thinking through how the camper works with the slideout closed.
I doubt the cabin of a teardrop would be usable at all with the slideout closed.
For this motorhome we had only about 2 ft of dirty exterior wall inside the coach when it was closed, and we hid it cleverly against other interior walls - one dividing the kitchen from the bath, the other a little dividing wall right behind the driver seat that was there only to hide the dirty side of the slideout wall. You can do those kind of things in a 36 foot motorhome, but I don't see how in a TD.
You would likely be committed to only getting inside if you open the slideout.
Seals get pretty elaborate all around a slideout. And leaves and sticks fall onto the top of the slideout, which tear the seals and jamb it up when you close it. Notice the little awning that covers the slideout just to keep the debris off that little roof. You also need a secure latch to keep it from opening during travel. In this motorhome the electric drive for the slideout was a cogwheel engaging holes drilled into steel square tubes and you could not back-drive the gear motor.
The design and build of the slideout would probably take more time and money than the design and build of an entire traditional TD.
But never say never - I hope you pull it off and show us how you did it.
There is that one TD made in Australia called the Gidget, shown below. I've never seen in an interior photo of it with the slide closed, so I don't know how you get into the cabin with the slide closed.
It will obviously block the entry door - perhaps those big windows line up and you somehow crawl through them.
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Aguyfromohio - Gold Donating Member
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Welcome Scott. I am the Director of the Virginia Chapter of Tearjerkers (Old Dominion). You may want to jump over to that site also to check a few things out.
