Long time lurker from Nebraska

[gone_fishin]

Well, I've been lurking on this forum since the end of 2008 and been a member for almost 2 years now. I guess I've been putting off introducing myself for way too long.

I came across this site when I first started looking for a teardrop. I was at a point that I was tired of the hassle of tent camping and wanted something small and comfortable to camp in. At that time, the thought of building a camper had not even crossed my mind. After finding this site, that all changed.

When I first started reading on here, I was surprised to find out about ITG in Minden. I live 30 miles East of Minden and had never heard of the ITG gatherings. Fortunately I was able to make it to the gathering in 2009. That gave me an opportunity to see a lot of great teardrops and talk with some of the members of this forum. I am really looking forward to attending ITG 4.

My priorities in planning a TD were to have a queen size mattress, a place for my fishing rods, and to be able to tow it with my 2001 Cavalier. While lurking on this site I noticed dwgriff1 (Dave) was pulling his TD with a Chevy Cavalier. I contacted Dave with questions about his tow vehicle and ended up with a lot of information, especially in selecting materials and keeping things light. My solution for my fishing rods was to make storage in a 3" thick floor with access from the galley. The only drawback to this was it limited storage space in the lower part of the galley. Throughout my planning and building process, I found tons of information on this site. Even though I didn't post questions, I have always found answers here.

A little about my teardrop. I started out by fabricating an A-frame made with 2" X 2" X 14 ga (.083) square tube. The axle is mounted on a pair of leaf springs rated at 350 lbs each and sets on a pair of 13" wheels. The body is 5' 2" wide, 9' 9" long and 4' tall. Most of the framing is 1/2" X 3/4" pine and it is insulated with 1/2" XPS. The exterior of the body is skinned with 1/8" plywood, fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin, and coated with a marine topside paint. My project is not completely finished but it has been used a lot since June of last year. Hopefully by the time ITG rolls around it will be completed.

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to this forum.

Ryan

BTW - I HAVE PICTURES!

[parnold]

Way to go Ryan!

How bout sharing some of those pictures with the rest of us.

[gone_fishin]

Thanks Paul. Sorry I didn't mention that my pictures can be seen by clicking the WWW button on my post.

Ryan