Is this new guy on the right track?

[benjamin]

I have been lurking for some time here and have read many of the post past and present. I have a few questions for all of you and would appreciate any input that you may have. I am getting ready to start the build on my tear drop. I am building the frame out of 2x2 steel tubing 1/8 wall. The chasse is the rear axel and spring set up out of a 1991 Dodge mini van. It has a nice drop to it to keep the height of the over all trailer down.

The floor is to be a 2x2 and 2x4 wood framed system with poly styrene foam fill sandwiched between ½ inch green treat on the bottom and 7/16 O.S.B. on top. I have the roof sealant for the wood on the bottom. The walls will be 2x2 framing with ½” ply on the out side and paneling in the inside. This will give me a cavity to place additional poly styrene in the walls as well. I hope to only make the side walls 48” high but the over all framed body will be 5’ wide. This will allow me to use the coil aluminum they have in stock here in town. I have the 5gallon holding tank and the supply on demand pump. I salvaged an older small bar sink for the kitchen area. I have a piece of vinyl flooring left over from a home remodel project that will fit perfectly. 4’10 x 12’ and my over all is to be 5’ x 10’.

I plan to build the cabinets out of ply wood with doors from our local lumber yard. I need to knopw does this all sound like I am on the right track. I have found a couple of 24 x 24 RV windows with the lower 10” being a slider. I am going to use a Coleman camp stove with the small bottles as my cooking plat form and I have picked up a nice 12volt converter from a junked 1998 Star craft pop up camper to power the lights and car stereo. I have the fenders already to go and these are what dictating the over all design of the tear shape. I have a set off of my 1946 ford coupe parts car. Making the over all width at the fenders just over 6’6.

What I would like to know and hear is any feed back that all of you may have. I need to know if I am on the right track with this thing. I will have many more questions for all of you who have been there and done that so I hope not to annoy too many of you.

[norm perkiss]

benjamin,

Welcome...
One of the attractions of building your own Teaddrop is you can build it any way you want. It's a personal statement and anything goes.

A thought on the floor, it doesn't need to be industrial strenght. I will be just you and the mattress, and the mattress helps dispurse your weight. Ours is 1/2" ply and the mattress. There is a slight flex without the mattress and with the mattress no preceivable flex.

Enjoy the build!
Norm

[David Grason]

It sounds to me like you are in fact, on the right path. You've described a very similar project to what many of the forum members here are doing.

One thing about it, 2x2 framing with a ½" plywood for the exterior is going to be really strong....overkill in fact. For my framing I ripped 2x4s down to ¾" thick and as I've added the aluminum to the outside, the framing to the inside and then the cabinets and the front closet, the entire trailer gets stiffer and stiffer like a monocoque chassis on a race car. But you may be wanting more insulation than I'm using so that would require a 2" think wall.

In other news, I've often wondered how many people actually use the sink on a teardrop. I mean, to me it seems that it would be so much easier and more convenient to just have a Tupperware type tub on the picnic table to wash dishes and such. Then when you were done, you wouldn't have to pull the plug, you could just dump it all out in the right place.

Just thinking.

[ALAN GEDDES]

Sounds good so far. I also question the sink. I use a small rectangular wash tub that other stuff sits in when packed away. Leaves more counter space.

[Doug]

I'm with David on the sink. We tent camped for years and years and always just used a "sink box" on the table.

For us, I believe the counter space will be more important than the sink. The advantage to the sink, however, is that it catches and stores brown water so that it can be properly disposed.

[asianflava]

I stopped at the Coleman store a few days ago when I went to pick up my axle. They had the coolest collapseable wash tub there. I checked the website but I didn't see it. It is like a dual sink that is made of clear plastic that will fold flat.

[benjamin]

Truth be told I am not sold on the sink. The misses likes the idea of the sink and I can get one in with holding tank and pump. If I opt not to use any of it I am only out 20 bucks but I have gained my sanity from putting it in. The steel frame could be lightened up with 1x2 steel cross members. I have the 2x2 outer rails cut and started setting one for the cross section above the axle. I would like to set in at least 2-3 more members and these could easily be done with 1x2 steel. How ever I was thinking I could put the foam between the steel rails and drop the wood framing out of the floor all together. I was toying with the option of using 1x2 wood in the walls instead of 2x2 just to hold back on the lost floor space inside. It is apparent that I have some things to think over. If I use the steel frame as my holding area for my poly styrene insulation I need to look at how the green treat ply wood will hold up there. It will change the mounting of my axle system as well. But it will drop a bit of weight and drop the over all height of the unit. I can just notch the ply wood at the spring mounts of the axle. Thank you so much for the feed back. Keep it comming.

The sink I hope to drop but if I can not well so be it. I need to tell her if she gets to keep her sink I get to bring the LCD flat screen back into the project.

[TonyCooper]

The sink I hope to drop but if I can not well so be it. I need to tell her if she gets to keep her sink I get to bring the LCD flat screen back into the project.

Thats a similar deal I made. Her must haves included nice kitchen, running water, sink, off the ground sleeping, solid walls... Mine included the 7.5" tablet DVD player in the inside and Radio/CD/MP3 player in galley.