Simpe (and Cheap) Door

[kayakdlk]

It seems like you and your wife are not sold on a teardrop, I would suggest renting a teardrop (or go to a gathering) rather than spending time building a cheap teardrop so you and your wife can decide if you like it. before I started my real build I made a cheap model the size of the interior with cardboard a few cheap 1x2 boards, cut out cardboard doors etc.. That was enough for me to decide what I wanted and to convince the wife.

Also I think you are designing it wrong if you think you have to climb into it. You should be able to sit down in the door opening, swing your legs in and lay down.

As far as cheap and simple doors go check out Steve Fredericks build manual (I highly recommend buying it]) . His doors use an inside door seal/spacer for a ledge to put the door seal on. You can make them any size and shape you want. You will need a piano hinge, door handle and wood. Windows are optional or you could make Wiley windows

Check out his web site and look at his several build pictures for explaining http://www.campingclassics.com/index3.html
Good luck

Dan

[DMcCam]

rowerwet,

I do agree, it's not going to look as good as a nice flush door. What I'm trying to do is build a proof-of-concept tear to see if my loving wife, in the profile picture at left, will take to this form of camping. She's already nicknamed it "Coffin", and she has a bit of claustrophobia, so I'm spending more time designing a skylight. If she likes it, I'm then going to build a nice 5x8 with a galley and Nice Doors, and maybe scrap Clunky; otherwise I'm stuck with Clunky to go fishing and train riding, just me.

The third possible outcome is if she likes camping, but not the tear, so I have to consider a larger trailer, like a Scamp. I'd still keep Clunky then, but I'd have to find room in my closet for it...

Hi Glenn,

Dan's got the right idea about everything. My girl was equally skeptical about teardrop camping until we climbed inside our dear friends Monstro 5x10. That was it for us! The 10' length gives you much more useful space. With 5' wide and 10' in length you can have a queen size bed and a full galley to boot!

All the best,

Dave

[Glenn Butcher]

It seems like you and your wife are not sold on a teardrop, I would suggest renting a teardrop (or go to a gathering) rather than spending time building a cheap teardrop so you and your wife can decide if you like it. before I started my real build I made a cheap model the size of the interior with cardboard a few cheap 1x2 boards, cut out cardboard doors etc.. That was enough for me to decide what I wanted and to convince the wife.

I'm sold, but she's mostly humoring me, at this point. She likes camping, but she's looking at the tear with the same trepidation she had climbing into a Beech 1900D aircraft (basically, an oil pipe with wings). The cardboard mockup is a good idea; I have enough assembled to erect two walls at the right width. We can then try out the various widths, too. It's somewhat likely she won't feel comfortable in anything teardrop-sized.

Dave, do you know of anyone on the Front Range that rents teardrop trailers? We're in Colorado Springs, I haven't yet discovered any dealers that do.

Also I think you are designing it wrong if you think you have to climb into it. You should be able to sit down in the door opening, swing your legs in and lay down.

Yes, my top-down drawings don't convey the door size. I'm thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of 27"x32", positioned according to your concept of ops. One on each side.

[kayakdlk]

Colorado teardrop rentals http://www.coloradovintagecamping.com/ They provide them all setup on site ready to go for a weekend in several Colorado Areas

Another thought is it sounds like the Rondack Lodge design might work better for your wife. It is on of my favorites as its a standie but has the traditional rear teardrop galley so you are cooking outside, a Steve Frederick design and he sells plans for it http://www.campingclassics.com/ The page for the Rondack Lodge is http://www.campingclassics.com/lodge1.html

Dan

[jgrote]

I'm about an hour north of you, but if you need to melt a little metal to make it the way you want I do have a welder. I can only do steel though. I don't have the right gas for Al. My plan for keeping my galley from "springback" and to keep the walls straight was to bury a little metal in there. Even some thin-wall 3/4" box will help out quite a bit. PM me if you want any help with some of the metal work.