Building The Atma Travelear Teardrop

[wysedav]

Me too!! I'm building this profile and cheating a lot by copying his build. If someone can fix this it would be great!!

David

[DMcCam]

Hi Everyone,

Been crazy busy the last year working on big oil paintings and camping in the Travelear. Sorry to have away for so long that I did not know that all picture links were broken!

They should all be restored now and I will be checking in more often. I hope to see pictures of members Travelear builds too. Thank all of you for keeping the faith.

Warmest Wishes,

David

[wysedav]

Thanks so much for updating the pictures. I’m building this too and your posts have been a great resource!!!

[eagle351]

Welcome Back Dave!

Any further word on when plans for this beautiful trailer might be available?

Thanks very much!

[twisted lines]

Hi Everyone, We finally got around to the 'T' molding on the doors this long weekend. I followed Grants method of relieving the inside edge.


This is the underside of the 'T' molding relieved to about 3/16". We pre-drilled the mounting holes after laying out the corners.



All the best,

Dave

Took me a bit to find this detail; Thanks for pointing it out, enjoyed your tour

[tossedman]

Hi David,

Just discovered the forum and your build journal. Well done all around. Great design and great documentation. Say, now that you’ve had it on the road for a bit is there anything other than weight that you’d change in the Atma Travelear Mk. II?

Cheers eh,

Todd

[DMcCam]

Hello Teardroppers! It has been far too long to check in with all of you. We have been having too much fun camping with our trailer since 2013, can you believe it, this will be our 7th year. After camping with our little Travelear for so many years, we have made only a couple of additions and no real changes. The trailer performs exactly as designed.
The first addition was a new side table attached to the trailer. My good friend Sam Howe did most of the work with me holding stuff. Then with another pal Jim Cooney, Lisa finally got her icebox installed in the galley.
The Icebox was included in the original design for the galley. However, I lacked the skills and tools to make it. I finally found Jim with his full shop and fabricated the little devil out of sheet metal. It took quite a few hours and several re-dos but it was worth it. Last year we camped in about 85 degree weather dropping to the mid 60’s at night. The Icebox cooled things down to about 36 degrees during the night and only got up to around 42 degrees during the day. The concept seems to work pretty well.




Here is how our gallery looks today with the installed Icebox.


It pulls out to keep as much cold air in as possible. This shows how far it opens.


These are very strong drawer slides that auto close when you push the drawer back in.


Here you can see the ice tray in place and that the drawer pulls out plenty far.


Looking down into the drawer. We can actually store more food in here than our large ice chest.



The ice tray must be angled to lift out if the drawer is in place.


The ice tray holds 3 – 10 LB blocks of ice and is secured by a screw when we’re on the road.



Here’s the drawer with its double magnetic seals. I ordered these to fit online.


The ice tray showing the interior grill for drainage.


This shows the construction of the upper area of the icebox.


The lower drawer slide installation.


To keep the drawer from moving while traveling, we installed some serious Velcro strips.


Here it is all ready to travel.

On to the Side Table…

All the Best,
Dave

[DMcCam]

When we were in the design phase of the trailer, we saw the advantages of a side table. I designed on that would swing out and fold down into place. The problem was it would have to be folded up at night to keep the critters from moving in. Over a cup of coffee at a campsite, Mr. Howe and I mulled the problem over and ended up with a workable solution. The side table needed to be able to attach to either side of the gallery and out of the way of the hatch. What we ended up fabricating works like a charm.


It is made of square steel tubing with a heavy aluminum tabletop. You can see 4 mounting bolts, two are used depending on which side we install it.


We installed two receivers one on each side at an angle.


The support arm slips into the receiver then is bolted in place.


It was made so that it levels with the trailer.


It holds our cookers at the same height as the counter top.


It really finished a very functional galley.


This shot shows how well it works in the wild.

Thank you all for your interest in the Atma Travelear.

All the Best,
Dave

[eLink]

Thanks for the update. Really nice ideas!

I see the Element in the background. Are you still using it as the tow vehicle? How has it worked out for you?
Mine is approaching 200k miles and I'm not sure if I want to give it up for something new or keep it for my yet-to-be-completed camper.

[Greg M]

That could be the nicest ice box ever made

[DMcCam]

Thanks for the update. Really nice ideas!

I see the Element in the background. Are you still using it as the tow vehicle? How has it worked out for you?
Mine is approaching 200k miles and I'm not sure if I want to give it up for something new or keep it for my yet-to-be-completed camper.

We are still towing with the Element but we are at the high end of what it can tow; it's slow going over steep hills. We have been thinking about getting something that can tow at freeway speeds regardless of grade. No idea yet as to what that might be. We love the Element so my wife's car is will be the trade-in.

That could be the nicest ice box ever made

Thank you Greg. It makes the trip even more convenient, no ice chests!

Dave

[wysedav]

Thanks for the inspiration! I started about two years ago and finally used it last night. A Couple small hickups but overall went well. Lots of positive comments everywhere we went.

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[DMcCam]

Thanks for the inspiration! I started about two years ago and finally used it last night. A Couple small hickups but overall went well. Lots of positive comments everywhere we went.

Congratulations on your beautiful build!!! She'll treat you well.

All the Best,

Dave