Kathy and I do a lot of boonies camping, especially in the southwestern deserts. We also prefer to camp when we go on road trips, but as we've gotten older we've become impatient with the daily cycle of waking up, cooking breakfast, breaking camp (even if that just means folding up the sleeping bags in the back of the truck and repacking the gear back in), driving all day, then hauling everything back out-- you get the idea, I'm sure.
So the first appeal of a teardrop was the notion of hauling a ready made bed behind us, with making/breaking camp reduced to as few essentials as possible. But we didn't want to sacrifice access to roadless wilderness in favor of comfort, either. A light, sturdy, high clearance teardrop trailer sounded like just the project for last summer.
What was I thinking?
As I type this, it's just after Christmas, 2011, and this summer's project is still FAR from finished! But we're making incremental progress, and let's face it, we both have jobs that demand lots of our time. And I seriously underestimated the time it would take us to complete this project, but then again, we're having to learn whole new sets of skills as we go. And locate parts and materials. So it's been slower going than I'd hoped.
We're building a nearly 5 ft (56") by 10 foot teardrop loosely based on Kevin Hauser's Comet design. We're making a lot of it up as we go.
We began in July, 2011. First, I made some sawhorses. Then two work benches. We put up a portable carport in the back yard for shade, and I began welding up the frame from 2 x 2 x 0.120 steel. Well, first I welded up a BUNCH of small practice pieces of tubing, then I started on the trailer chassis once I was reasonably confident, LOL. I'll tell you what, most of the welds-- especially the early ones on the main rectangle-- were welded once, ground down, then welded again, just to make sure.
Just look at those spankin' new sawhorses!
Moving out off the deck, with brand new running gear.
Axle and hubs installed:
I added receivers in all four corners for accessories, as well as a rear receiver.
Ahhh..., summer.
Priming the frame. Kathy and I struggled mightily to turn this thing over and over while welding it until I figured out how to use the rear receiver and the tongue to pivot it. On blocks, it rolls over easily. Physics-- it's a wonderful thing. We're also beginning to realize it won't be finished by winter, hence the second portable carport.
The side wings will hold extra fuel and water cans. You can also see the leveling jacks in this pic.
The completed frame, sitting on its wheels! Ruh-roh-- sides are up on the carports. Summer must be officially over in northern California!
Thanks for looking! Stay tuned for more!
--Mike C.
:
