My extra foot/ the plan

[Miriam C.]

Uh huh! There are boxes and there are BOXES. I stress, I'm good at it! It makes me wake up in the morning!!!
But thank you for the encouragement.
Truly, I am feeling more confident because my practice corner is still up and square. Today I build the bed box and use it for structure.

I think you may be right about the length Paul so I am going to make it removeable. We can always turn the matress around.

Aunti M

[PaulC]

Make it like they use too make the old waterbed bases. If they can hold that much weight and be dismantled it should work in your trailer.
Cheers
Paul

[Miriam C.]

Too true. too bad we can't put a water bed in the tear. Or make a rolling hot tub.
Miriam

[Miriam C.]

Here it is. The front half. I so wanted to make it permanant but I haven't even cut the spars. Couldn't find straight without an outragious price.

Opps I forgot to set the window up and the bed frame, which is almost finished. Got rid of the ply and used 2x4 posts and 1x2"s. Over built.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!


Aunti M

[PaulC]

Hi Miriam, I like the shape of that! Cool. I think you'll be surprised just how quick it goes from here on in.
Cheers
Paul

[Kurt (Indiana)]

Hey Auntie M, Don't stress the cabinet making stuff.

Miriam, If I build another teardrop, my thought was to visit Lowes and Home depot to find ready made kitchen cabinets to build in to the galley. I'm not a carpenter so I rely on prebuilt woodwork. I'm sure a combination of cabinets and hand made galley wood work will do fine for me.ht

Keep on building, it's one of the best (mental) investments you can make. I really like to take the teardrop out on a trip.

[Miriam C.]

Kurt
Thats a beautiful Galley. I went early on to an outlet place and discovered that the ready made was costly and heavy. I might have to do that just to get the tongue weight down.

Thanks for the idea.
Miriam

[Miriam C.]

I think I need some engineering here. I woke up with the idea that I was going to cream the corner of my camper everytime I turned sharp or backed up wrong. Could someone please look at this and give advice.

Edited (again) I lost a sentence when makeing the picture smaller so: the body of the camper extends 12" over the front of the trailer.
The Vann is 83" wide.
I am so so sorry. I read the following post and
realized I screwed up big time.
The Van is 71"

What do you think. Will I miss it?

I think I have it fixed now.
Edited: that should be easier and more accurate.

[GregB]

Miriam,

If your van is 83" wide then you'll need 41.5" from the van body to the leading edge of the trailer to accomplish a full 90 degree jack-knife. I assume that your 44.5" measurement is to the middle of the ball. So, if you subtract the 12" that the body overhangs the frame in front you have only 32.5" left to the ball, right? depending on your hitch and receiver there can be often 6+" from the center of the ball to the tow vehicle body. You may then have about 38" of clearance. Others will correct me if I'm wrong, but moving forward should never be a problem, no matter how tight the corner. Backing up is where you'll have to be careful. In my experience, a full 90 degree jack-knife when backing up usually means that I've done something wrong before I got to that point. One other caveat, hook up the trailer to the tow vehicle and measure the leading edge of the trailer to its corresponding height on your van, you may, yet have clearance.

In any case, if I've done my right-angle geometry right, your van will strike the A arm section of your frame long before it will impact the body of the trailer. Which, I think, is what you were asking in the first place. (I'm long-winded, but eventually I get to the point)

GB

[Miriam C.]

Greg,
I am sorry I got the van width wrong and I want you to know how
much I appreciate your answer.

The sides aren't up and the temp won't tolerate a bump.
Miriam (asleep at the tape.)

[GregB]

Perfect! No worries, then. You've dodged a bullet, or a teardrop, as the case may be.

GB

[angib]

Or here's exactly the same result, but drawn:



The trailer on the left is yours and the one on the right is a Scamp fiberglass trailer I happened to have lying around. You can see that you could get about the same turn angle. In real life, I very much doubt you'll ever get close to that angle - the angle looks a lot sharper when viewed from the tow car!

Andrew

On edit: Diagram updated to corrected van width.
And again: Diagram updated to include 'my extra foot'!

[Miriam C.]

Thank you so much Andrew. You can't imagine how much I appreciate that. It still looks awful close but maybe I can sleep. I am sure there is a diagnosis for people who see whats wrong only after they go to sleep.

Miriam

[Miriam C.]

Actually, you only need one more dimension... it's 51.96. You can call it 52".

It locates the center of the 60" R.



Mike...

I know you experts are busy and I hate to interupt all that creative flow but---Where do I locate the hatch hinge???
I am attempting to draw out my framing and realized I hadn't a clue since the end sticks out a foot from the floor.

I think I need the bulkhead wall at 20 inches from the end of the floor to accomidate my cooler. That puts the hatch way up unless I frame extra for it. Can I do that?

I am hoping to cut the hatch away after it is framed and skinned like Spadinator did.
Am I making sense today?
Miriam

[mikeschn]

The best place to put your hinge is where your bulkhead wall ends, like where the double cyan spars are in this picture. Yes, it should be pretty high up, so that when you open the hatch, you (and Mike) don't hit your head on the hatch!



Mike...