The Schnoodle Shack - Final Update - Goodbye My Friend

[Jim Edgerly]

Here is my update for early February. A slight injury set me back a couple of days. I have limited clamps so when I was gluing up the sides I used some 8x10x16 concrete cinder blocks for weights, which weigh 59 pounds apiece. When I was moving one from the corner that was in my way I grabbed it at one end and as I was swinging it the bottom two-thirds just broke off and landed on my foot. No broken bones, but from mid-foot out to the ends of my toes turned bright purple. Don't know why it just broke like that but I guess the moral of the story is to use the right tools for the right job...or if not, at least be careful with what you do use!

I have put all my spars in place, and the first question everybody is going to ask is why are there so many and so close together. The answer is easy...poor planning. I cut my spars before finalizing the plans on the front of the Shack so I ended up with 4 extra spars. Choice was to throw them away, or put the remainder closer together. Old Yankee in me says don't throw anything away. I have framed in for my dome vent, and now just need to put in a double spar where my sheet aluminum will overlap. It should be right about in the middle of the dome vent. As you can see in the picture I have cut my hatch ribs and that is next on my agenda. I will update again once I am making progress on the hatch.

Reminder: I am building this thing like a kit I could mail to any of you to put together. Everything has to be able to come apart so I can get it out my basement bulkhead door. It would be much easier to know that once a part was in place it would just stay there, vs. being modular. I'm sure I am not the first to build a teardrop this way, and those that have understand the occasional frustration.

My trailer is registered and just waiting to get to the welder to modify (drop) the trailer hitch, and to have shock mounts welded on. He said he would need it for 2 days incase he got interrupted on other work. Problem is up here in New England is trying to find 2 consecutive days without snow/ice/slush on the road. It has been a horrible January with 2 feet of snow sitting on my roof and 4 inch tall ice dams all around. Those in the colder climates understand what I am talking about. Those that don't understand... bless you for having the foresight to live in a respectable warmer climate better suited to human beings.

[Jim Edgerly]

Yesterday I took the trailer for a wild ride to the welders...reminded me of Mr Todd's Wild Ride at The Magic Kingdom. Picture this...a 2000 pound capacity trailer, with no load, over the pot holes and frost heaves of Massachusetts roads in the middle of winter. The trailer was airborne more often than both tires actually touching the pavement. I made some makeshift fenders for the trailer to make it legal to take on the road. I lost the first fender about a quarter mile from my house, and the second fender flew off after a bad frost heave less than a mile from my house. I'm sure the fenders would have made it on "summer roads" because it is only 3 miles, but the frost heaves and pot holes this year are for the record books. I knew these were flimsy to start with and only meant to go 6 miles round-trip, but I seriously thought, that maybe they would make it. I am building the teardrop much sturdier, and as most state in here, probably over built.

I couldn't believe the racket coming from the rear of my car. There is a lot of "slop" where my ball mount slips into the receiver. I have to do something to take up the slack. I used to have a boat trailer, and I found that spraying the ball mount where it slips into the receiver with a half dozen coats of primer took up the slack and almost eliminated all noise. I also have slipper style springs on this thing and have read that those make a racket bouncing up and down on the frame with no load. I also read that not having the trailer level (the reason it is at the welders) also can cause some noise. I'm hoping that a level trailer, with full load (maybe around an additional 1000 pounds), plus some paint on the trailer hitch will make it sound much quieter.

The welder welded on a new trailer tongue to strengthen and lower it so my trailer rides level, and he fabricated lower shock supports and welded on upper shock supports, as described in earlier posts. The new tongue now goes back to the second cross member. Just brought the trailer home. As expected, the ride home was no better than the ride to get it there...airborne almost half the time. The shocks have no effect what so ever on an empty trailer, and if possible might have even stiffened an already "solid" suspension. I was nervous I would run in to the police bringing it home. Not only had my fenders fallen off getting it there, but the welder extended the tongue by 15 inches, which I had previously agreed to, but now the temporary electrical doesn't reach the connector. No fenders, no brake lights, no directionals...anybody else see a problem if I was stopped?

I hope my neighbors were not watching when I brought the trailer home. I have not back up a trailer in over 10 years, and that was a trailer holding a 16 foot boat. A trailer about half the length is a little bit trickier backing up. I have a skinny driveway, narrowed by winter snow banks. Let's just say that I did not get it in the driveway first shot.

Below is the before and after. Cost, $200, trailer sits level, and under a full load the shocks should improve the ride. Should look better in the spring when it is warm enough to paint it all up.

[droid_ca]

good thread I like your use of the mechanical timer switch ... I might need to borrow that

[Jim Edgerly]

Thank you droid from Canada. My wife thought the set up with my switches was ingenious (but then again she is easily impressed). I have both a vent fan and a heater that I may want on all night, but most likely will want on only for a short time period. And if I wake up in the middle of the night and want one of them for only a short period I can set the timer and go back to sleep and forget it. If it's really hot and I want the vent van on all night I can arrange that also. Necessity made this invention possible, and I did not want to buy a timer for both. I originally bought a timer that had the timer and an "on" switch, but when I got it home I found out it required 110V to make it work. I could not find a mechanical timer with an "always on" switch, so the birth of what you saw. The mechanical timer is necessary if you want to use it with 12V, but they are harder to find because modern technology doesn't like to use anything mechanical anymore when it can be replaced with an electrical option.

[droid_ca]

I think it's good to explore all aspects when you design something especially if it has your life on the line .... I ve seen some tourist that forgot to disconnect from thier tow vehicles and drained all thier juice no solar no generator nothing it was especially funny cause they didn't even have booster cables ... so lesson learned one of the reasons I'm going to cary a backup or two

[ModMyRV]

I couldn't believe the racket coming from the rear of my car. There is a lot of "slop" where my ball mount slips into the receiver. I have to do something to take up the slack. I used to have a boat trailer, and I found that spraying the ball mount where it slips into the receiver with a half dozen coats of primer took up the slack and almost eliminated all noise. I also have slipper style springs on this thing and have read that those make a racket bouncing up and down on the frame with no load. I also read that not having the trailer level (the reason it is at the welders) also can cause some noise. I'm hoping that a level trailer, with full load (maybe around an additional 1000 pounds), plus some paint on the trailer hitch will make it sound much quieter.

Hey Jim, try one of these:

http://bit.ly/eJ8D3a

It's a hitch tightener I used when hauling a generator on a cargo carrier platform on the back of my TT. Worked really well to stop any movement of the ball mount shank in the receiver. I also used one when towing my TT and that helped eliminate the "slop" noise on uneven pavement.

[pete42]

I like that hitch tightener should be easy to build or easier to buy.
On my mobility scooter lift the bolt that holds the hitch on the receiver is smaller than the hole
it has a collar that fits over the bolt and into the hole when the nut is tightened
it forces the collar against the removable part and keeps it from rattleing.

[Miriam C.]

Great picture of how to do the shocks!

[Ratkity]

Hey Jim, try one of these:

http://bit.ly/eJ8D3a

It's a hitch tightener I used when hauling a generator on a cargo carrier platform on the back of my TT. Worked really well to stop any movement of the ball mount shank in the receiver. I also used one when towing my TT and that helped eliminate the "slop" noise on uneven pavement.

OMGosh, what a simple and useful idea!

Thanks for the link.

Hugs,
Ratkity

[Jim Edgerly]

I've been working on the galley cabs the last week or more. My wife took a bad fall on the ice a couple of weeks ago and ended up with a broken ankle so I have been splitting my time between working on the Shack and playing personal attendant for her. There are a couple things you will notice from looking at the Shack pictures below. The first appears to be random placement of floor tiles instead of covering the entire floor. These are just old tiles I had laying around that I threw down on the floor to act as height spacers so that when the cabs finally go in for good I will have planned them for the true floor height.

The second is the split level counter top. Where my trailer is starting off on the high side, and my wife starting off on the short side, I decided to go with the split level counter top. When I added the height of the trailer bed to the height of the counter top over the cooler the counter top was much to high for my wife to comfortably use. The pull out slide on the right side is right around normal kitchen height counter top so that solves the height problem.

I'm going to add an extension to the cooking counter slide top so the stove can sit sideways. The stove in the picture was just an old stove lying around the basement I used here for illustration purposes. Our current stove is slightly longer, which would still fit as per the picture, but the back prevents using the counter space behind the stove. If I turn the stove 90 degrees so my wife (or myself) is standing right in front of the cooler while cooking it makes access to the counter space on the left accessible.

I used 100 pound slides on both sides for the slide outs. The upper level cabs hold three 30 quart storage bins for supplies. It's off to Home Depot to get hardware for the doors this morning and the clothes storage cab for inside the main cabin will be completed.

Construction of the galley hatch has begun and will most likely be my next update.

[Cliffmeister2000]

Your teardrop is coming along nicely!

I'm 6'4", and that stove height makes my back hurt just looking at it!

[Miriam C.]

Great planning on the galley. I am sure your wife will appreciate the details. You might want to include a step stool for the bins..

[Facemeltingly Epic]

My experience with the two HF trailers I've owned has been that they always ride more smoothly with a load on them. The one I'm using for my build now weighs around 250lb empty and catches air over patches in the asphalt. But when I brought home my first load of lumber the other night (around 300lb worth) it was fine, and I imagine this will also be the case when I have the body built.

I don't plan to add shocks to mine, as I'm not feeling quite that ambitious for my first go at a travel trailer. I do know a guy who put a 3-link suspension on a 40"x48" HF trailer using motorcycle shocks with a Panhard rod and trailing links he fabricated himself.

[Jim Edgerly]

I've been spending my time for the last five days working on the hatch. The hatch is in place and it doesn't fit to bad. I purchased a couple 100 pound struts off the Internet and installed them. Surprisingly (according to some posts I've read) they appear to fit right first time. I still have to sheath the hatch with plywood inside and out, but I don't think the extra weight will matter that much. There is a lot of spring in the struts and once I get it up about a foot the struts take over and lift the hatch with ease from there. I put in scraps of 1/4 ply on the roof and hatch to simulate where the real sheathing will be so I could fit the hatch correctly. Need to do a little finish sanding on the edges and I should be all set for the fit. I installed the locking mechanism and the locking rods and things are looking pretty good. I will not drill the locking holes into the side walls until later...after I have everything sheathed. I have to admit I felt pretty good once the hatch was in place and supported solely by the struts...another milestone reached. It is really starting to look a little bit like a teardrop at this point.

The middle picture is the hatch supported by a 2x4 while I was fitting the struts. And speaking of struts...I did a lot of research in here on strut placement, and no where do I remember reading the warning I am about to give. I don't know if anybody else had tried what I did, and if they did they are probably too embarrassed to mention it in here...but for the sake of everybody who is yet to install struts in their teardrop I issue the following warning...

DO NOT, under any circumstances, attempt to unscrew your hurricane hinge with the struts still attached and in the compressed position!!! My hatch takes about 5 pounds of pressure to lift it up by the hinge. When that last screw comes out, and you have a pair of 100 pound compressed struts which are now free to suddenly explosively expand to their full length...well, let's just say it is not a pretty picture with hatch and cordless screwdriver flying at you. Luckily, and I mean very luckily, there was no damage to the struts, hatch, or cordless screwdriver as a result of my doing this. Personally, I think this should be a prominent warning, somewhere, to anybody installing struts. Maybe it is common sense, but it was something I obviously overlooked as I had taken the hinge off several times while fitting the hatch, and what should make this time any different? Well, I answered that question the hard way.

[Jim Edgerly]

I installed the inside lining of the hatch the other day. You'll notice that the bottom of the hatch, the piece in the left hand side of the picture with 3 sections, is different from the top of the hatch...the piece with 5 sections. The reason for the difference is the top of the hatch is glued into position, and the bottom of the hatch is removable incase the locking mechanism ever goes bad and has to be replaced. I still have to install the light in the hatch so I will not close the outside until that is done.

Speaking of hardware going bad...I am disappointed with the quality of some of the teardrop pieces I have acquired over the Internet. The door handles are very stiff and one of them does not allow the spring mechanism to return the handle to it's starting position when released. I will have to remember to turn the handle back to its starting position until I can get it replaced. The locking mechanism works fine, but the addition of the stiff handle makes it not work so fine.

I also ordered my windows through ebay. One of them came with weatherstripping, and one did not. The one that did have weatherstripping was put on so poorly that I had to remove it and replace it. Also one of the mounting screw holes was so far up the side that it was useless and had to be redrilled. To boot, the paint is scratched in several places and requires touching up.

I know that that is not a lot, but teardrop hardware prices are not cheap, and for the price you pay you expect better quality.