The Justintime: 6/21/11 update *interior finishing*

[RockyMountainTeardrops]

Hello all,
Been lurking for many years, and finally decided to build a teardrop.

My name is Lee, and along with my wife, we live west of Denver.
I'm currently in sales, but a major life change is coming.......
I like movies, long walks on the beach and..............oh wait, that's not me at all.

This all started because we like to camp, but hate tents (I'm sure that is a familiar theme here!).
We've tried everything, foam mattresses, air mattresses, tent on the ground, tent on a platform, tent inside a screen tent, tent in the back of a truck.
NOTHING WORKED.

A RV is not an option, as we like to get out of campgrounds and have some privacy.

Our wish list:
1) lightweight (750 lbs or less)
2) bathroom
3) shower
4) kitchen / stove
5) a real mattress

But after researching "lightweight popup campers" we realized that there really is nothing that would work (we plan on towing with a short wheelbase jeep so we MUST have lightweight)

So after months of research and "skull scratchin" we finally decided that some compromises would have to be made.

1) no bathroom
2) no private shower

Over the coming months I'll try to keep posting and let you see what and why I did what I did (yes, the camper is mostly done and we got to use it this past summer)

So let me conclude this first post with a sketchup drawing of the final camper (yes I said "final camper" all will be explained in future posts)

[GreatPumpkin]

Don't leave us hanging too long...

[Weirdnerd]

WOOHOO!!! another Coloradoan ( Coloradite?) hehehe, make sure you get pics, lots of pics.... I live in Denver, and made mine over the course of last winter, it is...overbuilt?.... ( my wife and daughter love it ) it could be fun to see ya on any of our outings....

[RockyMountainTeardrops]

WOOHOO!!! another Coloradoan ( Coloradite?)

"Coloradoian" ?


So....first a little tour of the workshop.
Future tow vehicle.
'66 jeep
Bought it for $1,100.
"Don't worry Honey, it runs, I won't have to do anything to it!"
That didn't come true


So now it's got a Chevy 350, SM465 & Dana18. (All home rebuilt.)
New fiberglass body and a pretty much every thing else too.

Looking forward, you can see the new trans tunnel as well as the custom steering column / brake / clutch contraption.
Many hours spent on these.


Step one: Work table





More later.
Lee

[Weirdnerd]

I know how it goes..." Honey, the car needs a tune up"....12 grand later...

[RockyMountainTeardrops]

I know how it goes..." Honey, the car needs a tune up"....12 grand later...

Well, so far it's only....let's see, two and some, and a bunch more...carry the two....
um...a whole lot?

You know, right after I posted the last, um post (?)
I realized I got ahead of myself, so next time I'm going to back up and spend a little time on the design and inspiration of the Justintime.

More tomorrow.
Lee

[asianflava]

Welcome to the forum neighbor!

I can understand why you want lightweight. I saw a Jeep pulling a popup down I-25 swaying the whole time. It must have been a white knuckle ride for him.

You didn't say if you were gonna go with a 4ft or 5ft width. In general I've found that 4ft trailers can meet your 750lb goal, but 5ft trailers weigh around 1000lbs.

[RockyMountainTeardrops]

Okay,
Time to get inside my head.

I should also have listed "queen size bed" in our list of requirements.
I'm 6'-4" and *mumble* lbs and the wife is 5'-7" (weight withheld for "I don't want to die" reasons).
This leaves me with no choice but to go 5' wide (62" inside, 64" outside, if you want to get technical)

So after reading about how most tears ending up tipping the scales at 1,700 to 2,000 lbs...I decided that I would design and build a "superlite".
The "ultralight construction" threads led me to the only logical answer that will fulfill our list of "gotta have" requirements.
Composite construction.

Next step, research!
While surfing the web.....errrr...I mean "working", I stumbled across
"Vacuum Infusion".
(I may have heard angels singing, but I can't be sure)

This method seems like a "no brainer" (already a positive in my book).
Since construction will be done in our attached garage, fumes will not be a serious issue.
Polyester resin and standard fiberglass (not carbon fiber or "S" glass) will primarily be used.
Epoxy resin, due to cost, shall not be considered. (maybe)

Websites that made me say "I can do that!":
Leftcoast
Fram
Be sure to click every page and picture of Fram's blog.

Next up.....the design.

More later,
Lee

[Cliffmeister2000]

Lee, I'm 6'4" also, and weigh 250lbs. I built a weekender that is 63" wide, 10' long and 56" tall plus wheel height. The Roadhouse weighs 1,340 lbs with the stuff I leave in it, probably +150 of food, ice clothes, etc when camping.

That said, I believe if I were doing it over again I would leave the height at 48" to save plywood. That would also save a good bit of weight, although I would lose bit of storage.

I'm convinced a 5 wide could be built at or under 1,000 lbs. There are several folks here who tow with jeeps. I have looked this up before, and I think Wranglers and CJs have a 1,500 lb rating? due to the short wheelbase. Common sense driving, and trailer brakes and I believe you could safely tow 1,200 or so lbs.

I'm hoping some of the jeep owners will jump in here.

[RockyMountainTeardrops]

I can understand why you want lightweight. I saw a Jeep pulling a popup down I-25 swaying the whole time. It must have been a white knuckle ride for him.

There are several folks here who tow with jeeps. I have looked this up before, and I think Wranglers and CJs have a 1,500 lb rating? due to the short wheelbase. Common sense driving, and trailer brakes and I believe you could safely tow 1,200 or so lbs.

I've read enough to believe that 750 lbs is absolute max (and 500 would be better) to tow with a short, pre-'72 (81 inch) wheelbase jeep. There was a reason that the G747 trailers for the military M38A1's are only rated at 1/4 ton.
I'm not saying it can't be done, or even that it shouldn't,,,,,but I'm not going to do that. (trying to NOT start a war on my second day posting).

And I'm with you Cliff, I'm sure that a person could easily build a sub 1K lb teardrop 64" wide.
I think the word "overbuilt" is underused on this forum.

Lee

[asianflava]

Although my goal was to be under 1000lbs, my 5X10 weighs 1150 ready to go. A certified weight ticket was required when I got tags for it so that isn't an estimate. I think that I could have easily dropped a few hundred pounds by:

Leaving out the air conditioner (it was a must have in TX) -40lbs
Leaving out the microwave (I ended up not using it much) -20lbs
Using a regular foam mattress instead of a memory foam mattress -10lbs
Not covering the wood with aluminum I noticed the difference when using a hand dolly -250lbs

There seems to be more room in the trailer compared to a regular bed. We have a King at home and the queen in the trailer seems just as large. The reason is because you can sleep out on the edge without falling off. Don't be constrained by either a 4X8 or 5X10, you can make it any size you want. One person I know builds his 54in wide.

[starleen2]

Websites that made me say "I can do that!":
Leftcoast
Fram
Be sure to click every page and picture of Fram's blog.

Lee - it appears that your links are broken
here's the fix
Leftcoast
Fram

Just hit the quote button to see how I fixed it compared to the original

[starleen2]

I'm convinced a 5 wide could be built at or under 1,000 lbs. There are several folks here who tow with jeeps. I have looked this up before, and I think Wranglers and CJs have a 1,500 lb rating? due to the short wheelbase. Common sense driving, and trailer brakes and I believe you could safely tow 1,200 or so lbs.

I'm hoping some of the jeep owners will jump in here.

heck guys - the ladybug is 6 wide (almost 80 inches) X 10 ft long and weighed 950 lbs using traditional construction methods and I towed it with a jeep wrangler unlimited with no brakes on the trailer with no problems- BTW - my yellow jeep was rated at 3500lbs - it all depends on how it's equipped. The Jeep Wrangler has the towing capacity to haul up to and no more than 2,000 lbs, due to the fact that a wrangler towing more than 2,000 lbs, forced to brake suddenly, can't avoid having its two front tires lift off the ground. The Wrangler Unlimited has the ability to tow up to 3,500 lbs due to having a longer wheel base, showing that the ability to haul comes not from the vehicle's size or weight, but from its length.

[RockyMountainTeardrops]

Lee - it appears that your links are broken

Very strange, I would have bet money that they worked in "preview"....?
Linkys fixed now. (It would have driven me crazy, knowing that they were broken)

The Wrangler Unlimited has the ability to tow up to 3,500 lbs due to having a longer wheel base, showing that the ability to haul comes not from the vehicle's size or weight, but from its length.

Thanks!
Lee

[Miriam C.]

Nice design. You can save some weight by not over doing the cabinets too...Actually if you leave that forward cabinet you will crack your head a few times....