Lessons Learned and Money Burned.

[sandman]

Well, reading post after post after post about teardrop construction for the past month, I am finally understanding what many of you have gone through in constructing a tenament on wheels. Here's what I have learned in the past few days.

Lumber Selection-Cheaper isn't always better. I'll tell you why. I read post after post that said you should ideally have a floor constructed of 1/2 plywood to save weight. Well, after spending two grueling days of gluing and screwing up my floor subframe, I get to the moment of truth of laying onto the trailer to be bolted down. NOTHING IS SQUARE....NOTHING. I assumed the factory edges on 3 sides of the plywood would be perfect. My floor is warped and bowed. As soon as I discovered my folly, I had to stop and smile while lighting a match.....Just before I torched my floor assembly, a voice of reason kicked in and said " Hey Dude, Your only at the first stage, it's not like you can't go back to Home Depot and get the 3/4 plywood and 2x4s to build a straight floor. Put away the lighter and use the crooked floor as a work bench."After that thought, I smiled, moved the 5x8 piece of crooked crap onto a few saw horses and made it into one dang nice little work table for assisting me in the build of my TD.

I thought I had everything planned out and thought out before starting my build. NOPE. I decided to go with functionality over form for now. The 5x8 Red Trailer is not going to work for what I now deem is a necessary design for me to haul around my dirtbike along with my sleeping quarters. I saw a Little Guy Sport on Ebay for dirtcheap. After getting so frustrated with my lousy start of my build, I was 2 seconds away from clicking the BUY IT NOW button and just being done with it. I actually had my mouse on the Buy it Now button....yep that close. I decided to have one more go.

I stepped back and rethought the whole teardrop situation in relation to my need to haul my dirtbike. Wife said she would NOT sleep in a teardrop that smelled like gas and oil. My iplan was to modify the Benroy where I could roll my bike inside for transport. My wife's sentiment is perfectly valid. I would not want to choke on gas and oil odors while trying to sleep. Having that rational decided, Bike would no longer be carried inside the teardrop so the next step is build a trailer similar in design to the Little Guy Sport with a deck in front of the sleeping cabin for the carrying of dirtbikes. Talked it over with a buddy and he said if I bought the steel, he would weld it up for free...

The final plan now is to build a 12 foot long trailer out of 2x3 steel and build a deck in front of the teardrop. So now my plans have totally changed from the Benroy to a design very similar to the Little Guy Sport with a 6 foot wide cabin.

What's the point of all this babble? Think things through VERY carefully before going to all the teardrop parts supplier's sites and buying a bunch of stuff you end up not being able to use. Luckily, I am going to be able to use the Red Trailer I bought. I am going to make the teardrop removeable so I can transfer it to the smaller trailer when I am going on trips without the dirtbike.

Small bump in the road, but yes, I have a nice 5x8 work table now.

[Ira]

Rethink it again:

Are you sure your FRAME isn't out of square? It's pretty rare that a piece of ply wouldn't be square. Those machines don't make mistakes.

Also, and of course I'm not looking at it so I can't tell you for 100% sure, but...

Any warps in the floor will be unwarped when you bolt it to the frame.

[rasp]

it is a rare thing to get any sheet goods that are truely square. though they must be under 3/16" difference when measuring diagonal corner to corner.

[elmo]

Morning Sandman!

That is what I am doing! I am going to build the TD over this winter and then when that is complete weld up the trailer. I am building a 9' TD and Andrew helped me get the weights correct. One thing you have to worry about is tongue weight. My tongue weight will be about 170lbs without the bike and 380lbs with the bike, so make sure your tow vehicle is up to the task.

I would show you what he made up for me, but I am having a hard time getting them moved from where I have them saved.

Elmer

PM sent

[Arne]

I originally designed my teardrop tall enough to carry my scooter inside.. Halfway through I decided that getting to a campground after a day of travel, I was not going to want to off load the scooter and set up the trailer for sleeping (especially if it was raining). And likewise in the a.m., while trying to get going.

So, I canned the idea, and just built the camper... I wound up chopping down the top the next year... I'd like to have the scooter available, but really, would rarely use it.... it was a dream vs. reality thing....

Would still like to take my recumbent bicycle, but it takes up a lot of room. I'm working on that one.

[BillyLandry]

I know what you are going through and as others have experienced also,
I'm sure. Things happens! You have the right attitude Sandman.

[elmo]

You could also build a nice light weight tear and get one of these...

http://www.versahaul.com/vh55ro.html

It is a idea I was kicking around also. I think the tongue weight of the tear would have to be lighter and might need a $100 set of airbags for the tow vehicle to make it sit level!

Elmer

[angib]

I would show you what he made up for me, but I am having a hard time getting them moved from where I have them saved.

Andrew

[elmo]

Thanks Andrew!

Elmer

[sandman]

Thanks for all the great posts everyone. I appreciate all the support and sympathy us newbie teardrop builders get here. I am NOT upset or going harry carry over the floor issue. After I sat down and scetched out some ideas, I felt much better about my build. I won't quit since I have so much lumber stacked up in the old shop. I am going to do pretty much what Elmo is doing. I am gong to build the teardrop separate from the trailer and when the TD is close to completion, I have my buddy who will weld up a 2x3 square tube trailer. I have two storage areas at my house so I am pulling the Red Trailer out of my shop and storing it in my back shed so I can dedicate the whole shop to the building of the teardrop. I plan on building the whole sleeping pod on jackstands and then transferring it to my homemade trailer when it's all done. The Red Trailer will be used when I am going on a Non-Cycle Riding vacation. My wife is a BIG NASCAR and promised her we would take the teardrop to some races next year,...I am even getting her a set of Tony Stewart/Home Depot graphics to put on the trailer for her NASCAR adventures. I found a set of plans on Ebay that is identical to the Little Guy and has a simpler construction than the Benroy. I decided to go with no galley since I usually eat spam and vienna sausages when I am on a riding trip. The galley area will be a simple storage area for all my riding clothes, pads, and boots. All is not lost..the new plan goes into motion tonight to start on my Little Guy Sport clone.

[Miriam C.]

I am sorry to hear your floor wasn't square. It does Happen, especially when joining two peices and most especially if you have them cut by the box store. If you are unlucky enough to join two already not square (3/16)pieces together just the right/wrong way you could end up with a fairly big problem.

I discovered my sheets off after I glued but before I trimmed to size. I got lucky.

The thing to do is check each piece of ply before you cut. Measure corner to corner. They should match.

Good luck

[Tripmaker]

Sorry to hear about your problems but don't get discouraged. A custom frame is the way to go. I wish I had gone that route.

[mikeschn]

I'll be having another custom frame done soon...

While the HF frames sure are a good bang for the buck, sometimes you just can't build what you want on them.

Mike...