Whitney's Weakender - Hatch / Galley Lid Redesign - Pg 11

[Billy K]

Saw the Weakender and it's crew headed west in Illinois; Friday evening...
Safe travels my Frenz...!! AND Lotsa fun.....

[WhitneyK]

Thanks Billy!!!
I'm replying this evening (Saturday) from our campsite on the north side of Lake Audubon just North of Bismark ND. We're heading to Glacier NP in Montana, Yellowstone, & back to Rocky Mtn NP around Estes Park. Listening to the coyotes howlin & yelpin' now.

First major long haul for our li'l camper. I was nervous about the bearings even though they're new, packed & adjusted. Everytime I checked them they're cool as a cucumber.

Yee Haw!

[campmaster-k]

Great work Whitney. Congratulation on the trip.

[WhitneyK]

Well, I've decided to call it quits for now, done, finished, complete, through. Any further modifications will be considered "re-modeling" projects to gain better "access" or "efficiency".

After pulling our l'il camper over 4000 miles this fall and only having one minor issue with the bottom of the drawer falling out due to me using too short of crown staples, I'd say that was a pretty good shake down. Drawer is now repaired with longer staples, air mattress has been deflated, bedding has been washed and put away. We've tucked our l'il camper in for a looooong winters nap. (that is, if I don't decide to go to the Shivvvvaree in January. eh, probably just drop in for a visit)


Might try to paint it come spring? Might modify the rear hatch (cut, divide, shorten, who knows?) to make it lighter? Other than that, it's very usable for us as it is as was proven on our trip.

Also, it is now PAID FOR!!! Or should I say, paid for itself. Since I tried to be as resourceful and frugal as possible, the total cost of my build was in the neighborhood of $1400. So, I'm figuring an average nightly stay in a motel is around $100 (not including, Heaven Forbid, bed bug eradication) X 2 week vacation = it's a wash, from here on out, it owes us NOTHING!

As for weight, well, it's heavier than I planned. Like alot of others, wanted to make sure it was sturdy! So all in all, it's a dollar a pound. (translated for those who didn't catch that, 1400 lbs -/+)

After visiting the NP's and discovering that shower facilities were a little less accessable than we had planned, my wife ordered me this shirt that is pictured below. (glad the weather was cool on the trip, phew!)


...and after Glacier, she picked this one up for me in TN, glad we've got our hard sided l'il camper.


We had a good laugh out of it anyway. And to be honest, we got along better on this trip than on previous ones. It's a lot more relaxing livin' on Teardrop Time.

Happy & safe roads my Friends, hope to meet up with others on our journey's.

[Rlowell]

Whitney,
It sounds like you are having a great time! Your build is very well done and a beauty to boot.
Thanks for sharing your adventures with everyone.

Happy New year.

Rod

[pohukai]

Your trip sounded great. You didn't build just a teardrop, but more importantly memories that will last for ever. Thanks for sharing.

[bigblockbarry]

Now you've done it.I've got to hunt down the first t-shirt.Gives me something to do today.

[JeremiahO]

Now you've done it.I've got to hunt down the first t-shirt.Gives me something to do today.

Ha! I found it: http://www.earthsunmoon.com/WS_item.php/241/1

website states its only $4.00 so it might be hinky, idunno

[les45]

Hey Whitney,
I saw your comment in my journal about changing your rear hatch. Feel free to "steal" anything that works for you. I was just catching up on your journal and saw that we were at Yellowstone at about the same time in September. We didn't haul the Super Bee that far. We rented a car in Minneapolis and made a 3,000 mile loop across North Dakota and back through South Dakota and visited with relatives going and coming. We saw several teardrops in Yellowstone and talked to a lady who had towed hers from Virginia and was headed to the west coast. Just her and her dog. She was spending the nights in truck stops and Walmart parking lots. Said she had only spent $40 on camping fees.
Let me know when you plan to come to South Carolina and maybe we can hook up and compare weekenders. Even though we don't have snow here (yet), I've pretty much parked the Super Bee for the winter also. Looking forward to getting back out in the spring.
Hope to meet up with you one of these days.
Happy New Year!
Larry S.

[WhitneyK]

Looking for input here, have some ideas, just want to explore all possibilities.?.
Here's my current set up


I'm 6'4", my wife is 5'2", the galley lids is 60 lbs to lift and is out of her reach by the time the it's raised high enough for the props to engage and to be high enough for me NOT to hit my head on it. I've tried gas struts, but by the time you get them strong enough to raise the lid (requires a pair of 240#er's) it puts WAY too much pressure on the hinge area. Also, due to the configuration of the hatch angle, it's very difficult to lay out the props / struts.

So, to lighten the amount of lift required (besides, my back ain't gettin' much better) and to allow my wife to get in & out of the galley without my assistance, I'm thinking about redesigning (butchering) the hatch lid. May even reconfigure the layout inside the galley as well since we have now pulled it over 7000 miles. You figure out what is needed and what was just a "that would be neat to do" but didn't work well, because 1) we don't cook much if at all on vacation (we only eat once a day usually) and 2) we use our li'l camper for just what it is, a place to sleep and for storage. Now, no offense to those of you that do, but, we aren't the type to just sit around a campsite when we're on vacation. It's basically our "base camp" after a long day of running / doing / chasing critters / etc. Shucks, we haven't had electric at our sites until the last 2 trips

Here's my thoughts, the only thing that needs to remain "constant" is the counter top that the microwave sites on, but that's not chiseled in stone (just drawn in the mud) (and now come the pictures)

Here's my thoughts:
Reduce the hatch lid down to about half it's original size by cutting across the flat back (yellow line by lower blue tape) and moving the latch handle up. That would be the only portion of the hatch lid to be raised, wouldn't have to be raised as high to clear me, would still protect the galley area from "things that drop from above", should be light enough to go back and entertain the gas strut idea for ease of wifey being able to lift.

With that thought in mind,.....would cut/separate the lower back panel from the bottom portion of the lid and put a piano? hinge between them so the back panel would drop straight down to vertical (see blue line) I'm thinking latches on the inside of this door.
Then, if more access to the galley is needed, the bottom panel would also have a hinge installed to allow it to drop down like a tailgate on pickup (see red line) (would have chains/cables to stop it from traveling past horizontal). This should still allow the back panel to be above the ground even with the bottom panel dropped down.?.
Which, with my current galley configuration, would result in this:


Kind of a different angle, but the lower blue tape would represent the lid opening. Upper tape was just to show the counter level.

...and the lid only needing to be raised to this angle:

(minus the parts to be made into the back doors removed, come on folks, use your imagination here, work with me! )

May even consider removing slide out shelf with wood box and replace with multiple draws? Doors? Open shelves? That could be accessed by only needing to drop the back panel.?. ;thinking; Would only need to drop the lower section to access the cooler and maybe the section on the bottom right that would contain seldom needed items. (ie; extra propane cyl / tools / ???) We carry a cooler in our TV for pop / water / snacky type items needing ref (cheese, etc), the cooler in the camper only contains extra of those items as well as the "staples" for meals we MAY cook or use (my milk!) Kept closed up, it holds pretty good but going to upgrade it someday, and that's another subject.

Help me out folks if you think I'm going the right direction or feel free to give me more guidance / ideas
If more pictures or different angles are needed, give me a shout.
Also thinking this may be the least complicated to reconfigure???

[S. Heisley]

Whitney, I don't know if anybody else can see the pictures that you just posted; but, I got a "Not Authorized" statement and a big "0" where each picture should be.....?

[WhitneyK]

Whitney, I don't know if anybody else can see the pictures that you just posted; but, I got a "Not Authorized" statement and a big "0" where each picture should be.....?

Thanks Sharon, hope it's fixed now. Please let me know if it's not.

[LDK]

Whitney, I don't know if anybody else can see the pictures that you just posted; but, I got a "Not Authorized" statement and a big "0" where each picture should be.....?

I see the same thing.

[LDK]

oops, I see it now.

[LDK]

Hey Whitney,

Are you talking about a hatch set up kinda like Les45? That would definitely make it lighter that's for sure!