Down Under Camper

[Roo Dog]

Paul,
Depends on your weight and how it is distributed I would guess.
We were shooting for a max of 50kg on the tow ball and roughly calculated what the total and fixed fitting weight would be.
It has worked out around 40kg and I can adjust that with water and some other moveable items as needed.
The Tear went over the scales at 400kg, the Getz has a max towball weight of 50kg with a max tow weight of 700kg.
Your Tear is looking good !

RD

[danlott]

The design would have to be changed if you do not move the wheels back. It will affect the shower room and main entry door location. If could look at the plan when I am home in a few days to see what you could do to not move the axle if that is what you chose to do.

Dan

[Heifer Boy]

Looking good Paul. It's nice to see another Aussie Teardrop being built too as I reckon campers over here are way overbuilt. Simple and light is good IMHO

Your one of the first builds over here that I have seen posted anywhere that uses one of the Easy Trailers. Obviously very common for our American friends but I think a bit of an oddity over here. I like the idea and was very close to buying one before being diverted in another direction. The model you are using is what I was looking at a seemed as good if not better than a custom built one. The only issue for me was wheel size but there's plenty of info around here on dealing with that.

What do you think of the quality of the trailer? Solid enough? Any rego issues?

Good luck with the build and I'll looking forward to the updates

HB

[donnan]

Thanks Dan. I am just having trouble understanding why it's so important to move the axle, could you please clarify for me?

Heifer boy, thanks for your comment. The Easy trailer is surprisingly solid. I was expecting that these bolt together trailers would be flimsy, but that is so far from the case. They are supplied with a Certificate of Compliance that the Motor Registries in Australia require so registration should be easy. Though will keep you updated on that. I am holding off rego until I have the side panels completed. Then I intend to use "FormPly" as the floor and bolt it to the trailer, then screw and glue the walls in place.

Just need to get the template finished. I am doing it in sections so it's a bit slow.

Will post some pics when I get a bit further along.

Paul

[pchast]

Its about Balance.

With the traditional teardrop having a kitchen in the back you need to balance the trailer by moving the pivot(Axle). This will produce the desired tongue weight.

[donnan]

This is not a traditional TD. It is basically a full camper with the galley at the front.

If I move the axles more to the rear then this would have to mean that the tongue weight will increase as with this van there is not much weight in the rear. I am hoping the tongue weight to be around 35-40 kg's (70-80lbs).

Paul

[Roo Dog]

Paul,

In theory the further back the axle the more stable the rig when towing.
There are practical limits to this of course.
In general 10% of the trailer weight should be on the ball.
It becomes a juggle as to where to fit everything from a weight point of view when you build/design the trailer to achieve these simple criteria.
If your weight is too far aft the rig will be unstable, if too far forward you may exceed the ball weight. Too much rear overhang is also not ideal even though it may be within weight limits as there will be some unstable aerodynamic effects in crosswinds for instance. You do not want the tail wagging the dog.
Balance as Pchast said. I guess you would know all this from your caravaning days anyway.

Take it easy.

RD

[Roo Dog]

Paul,

Collyn Rivers book on Camper Trailers could be of interest to you.
Oz author with a lot of experience. You have possibly heard of him. He has some interesting thoughts on trailer/caravan stability.

RD

[donnan]

Oh ok Roo Dog, thanks for that. You don't happen to have a link to his site.

How did you go Dan. Were you able to come up with anything?

Paul

[Roo Dog]

Paul,
Just Google Collyn Rivers.
He has published a few books over the years.
I think he sells them direct and from other sources,
He lived in Broome for many years and used to track through the guts country as a matter of course.

Take it easy.

RD

[danlott]

Here is a picture of the sidewall with the wheels in the standard location that is on your trailer. The layout of the cabin would be the same, only the wheel wells would change. With this current layout the wheel size would have to remain the size that came with the trailer. I will email you the file.

Edit: I just looked at your frame picture on the previous page. The fenders you have would probably work for the wheel wells. You would have to close off the side of the fenders that face inward.



Dan

[Doubltap]

Looking good, Paul! Can't wait to see you start the actual build. One caveat I would offer from my perspective as a first time tear builder: WATCH THE WEIGHT! I got a bit ahead of myself with some of my "additions" and almost ended up too heavy! While my build is Fort Knox strong, and certainly has the things I need, I could have probably kept the weight down more with the use of more conservatively chosen components [eg: 1/2 inch ply /vs/ 3/4 ply in walls and floor, etc.] While it came out OK weight wise, It certainly weighed out quite a bit more than I had initially imagined: approximately 1200 /vs/ my expected 950 lbs. On my next build [oh YES, there will be another! I'm hooked!] I will be closely calculating the weight of all components prior to the inception of the build. If you google properly [or "bing" as it were], one can determine the weights of all ply, lumber and whatnot used in the construction, and fairly accurately determine the final amount. My next build will probably be a "super light" extended out on a 48"x41" HF trailer that [itself] only weighs in at 151 lbs. Going to shoot for a 600 lb total. Oh well, got to get some camping done in the current one first! Will be watching your build, as I really like the idea of the 2 person standy w/loo & shower!

Best regards,

Al Thompson
"Doubltap"
Topeka, Kansas
USA