New one from Tucson - Hi!

[Galen]

Hi Folks,

First, thanks for this site. Isn't the internet wonderful? You decide you want a small trailer to build, and look at this stunning resource just sitting here for free!

Let me introduce myself. My name is Galen. I am an avid hiker, outdoor photographer, and a fanatic about snorkeling in tropical places.

I live in Tucson now, but I am originally from Port Townsend, WA, home of wooden boats. So I have a boat building background. But not classic boats. Instead my background is in lightweight multihull construction using epoxy, plywoods, fiberglass, core materials, etc. I once designed and built a small 23 foot trimaran and sailed in it for months up the inside passage.

My more recent boat building project was a Sam Devlin Oarling dory. If you are interested in seeing pictures of that build process, you can check it out here:
www.galenpics.com

That is me in the dory in my avatar picture.

So, coming from that background I have a beginning drawing/idea started for the tear drop I want to start building in about 8 months (when we are buying a house that I can build at).

My design is slightly different then the traditional tear drop, so hopefully I won't be booed off the site.

Basically I love the idea of the tear drop trailer, but I would prefer not to get in right on the bed. And I wanted a little bit of a foot well that is always there with a seat and a folding table, with a porta pottie under the seat for those 3am gotta-pee-now times.

So what I ended up with was a design that is kind of turned around backwards a little. I liken it to the profile of an air-efficient Toyota Prius profile. Lower in front, and chopped off high in the back.

The door is behind the axle (I have not yet seen someone do this). You step into a foot well. There will be a seat against the opposite wall inside (porta pottie under it), with a table that can be put up. The bed is forward and raised on a platform with storage underneath. You can sit two people at the table, one at the bed, one at the seat.

I also like this design because the kitchen is all vertical, and the hatch should be easy to build.

This is based on an 8x10 trailer. I plan to tow it with our Subaru outback. As it is designed now, the side panel height is within 4 feet, so it will work with a standard plywood height.

Because I am towing it with a four cylinder car I plan on building very lightweight. I will be making marine grade plywood core panels, most likely using balsa core or a quality structural foam. The panels will be put together with marine epoxy, and should be very lightweight and stiff. I intend to do all the joining of panels with epoxy, just like with boats.

And since I am in hot dry land (at least until Monsoon season), I intend to build in a home built swamp cooler.

So here is a picture to check out.


Let me know your thoughts. I know that I will have to keep the galley light with this more forward axle placement. I plan on having the battery in the forward box, and a water tank in front of the axle under the bed to help with that.

I look forward to your comments. I have lots of time to plan this out fully and would appreciate your help getting some of the details right.

Galen

[madjack]

Welcome Galen...your plan seems solid to me...with your boat building experience, you should do fine...my only critique, is that unless done for aesthetic reasons, you might want to lessen the front slope to give a little more head or storage space in the front...also keep in mind weight and balance considerations with the axle/door placement, which are the main reasons you haven't seen it done thataway...........
madjack

[mikeschn]

I like it...

Are you planning on facing your head forward or rearward. (It might be kinda hard to get a head under the forward cabinet.

How tall is the trailer in the area of the dropped floor.

It looks like a really cool design, especially behind the Outback!

Mike...

[Galen]

Thanks for your comments.

Yes, that was my primary concern with this design, that the axle would be too far forward. I am pretty sure I can balance it for proper hitch weight with a very lightweight galley, and by moving things like the water tank, battery, spare tire, fire extinguisher, etc. forward of the axle. And hey, there is always lead ballast if that fails!

Yep, the head of the bed will be in the middle of the trailer. There will be a small bit of storage over the feet, and more storage under the bed. We are pretty spartan campers, so we don't really need that much storage. So that is why the design is so low in front. I wanted the maximum height over the sitting area.

The planned for height in the trailer in the dropped floor area is about 60". I based that from sitting down and seeing how much headroom would be reasonable when getting up from a sitting position. I plan on mocking up a sitting area with that much headroom before I build it to see what it would be like moving around, getting in the door and stepping down into the well, etc. just to see what it all would be like.

One question I have about this design is how much the tongue weight will increase at highway speeds because of the sloped front. Is there a possible problem there?

I will post more as it progresses.

Thanks again, Galen