San Diego 5 x 8+ build

[adventurelad]

After a rather feverish 1 week design cycle, the build of my new teardrop has begun! The rather ambitious goal is to have a basic usable product in about a month and a half But you know, without a deadline, these things could drag on forever. A few of the design (in Autocad) as it stood at the begining of the build...once I figure out how to get pictures from my gallery into a post...

[adventurelad]

Hopefully this linking works so that you can see the comments with the pictures...















A productive first day ...half of the day spent shopping for raw materials, and the other half building. Curious to know how others cut their 1/8 plywood? On day two I used a jig saw which was better, but still a bit ratty on the cut edge...

Still can't see the comments from the gallery...anyone know how to properly link the two? Thanks!

[adventurelad]

A short day on Sunday...had other plans. But the floor is now structurally complete, ready for a little sanding, primer, mastic and linoleum.







(Thanks, Forest, for the tip on the pics )

[Forrest747]

good luck and remember if you build it where you cant tear down a wall you will only be camping indoors.
looks like a good start. When posting pictures hit gallery and when the pics pop up hit inset image. then we can see them.
What part of SD are you in. My wife worked there a few years just not sure what hospital.
Are you planning one or two doors in the sleeping area.

[adventurelad]

good luck and remember if you build it where you cant tear down a wall you will only be camping indoors.

Thanks for the reminder Definetly just doing the individual pieces under cover, then will assemble outside!

looks like a good start. When posting pictures hit gallery and when the pics pop up hit inset image. then we can see them.
What part of SD are you in. My wife worked there a few years just not sure what hospital.

We are in Serra Mesa, near Qualcom stadium and Mission Valley. My wife is actually a nurse at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla...

Are you planning one or two doors in the sleeping area.

Two doors...don't want to climb over each other for any late night exits!

[pohukai]

Cutting the luan spline with a circular saw to splice the plywood was difficult for me as well; even with the straight edge. I tried the jig saw with similar results UNTIL I turned off the orbiting feature AND used a blade with 21 TPI. Now, all my jig saw cuts are beautiful. That blade works wonders with cutting lexan nicely as well without any chipping.

[adventurelad]

Cutting the luan spline with a circular saw to splice the plywood was difficult for me as well; even with the straight edge. I tried the jig saw with similar results UNTIL I turned off the orbiting feature AND used a blade with 21 TPI. Now, all my jig saw cuts are beautiful. That blade works wonders with cutting lexan nicely as well without any chipping.

Thanks Jim! I also grabbed a metal cutting blade (more teeth, not sure what the exact tpi was), but maybe it is the orbital motion that is the trick. I'll give that a try for the next joins...

[adventurelad]

I managed to find an hour last night to finish sand the edges of my floor and apply primer...



Trailer arrives today!

[adventurelad]

The trailer arrived yesterday! Northern Tool 5 x 8, arrived by Yellow Truck in fairly good condition (considering some of the other horror stories I had read here). A few minor scratches, but nothing major.

A few of how it arrived, and the specs on the box for reference:
Specifications on the box

Box #1

Box #2


Immediately started assembling (of course)...here is 1 1/2 hours into it (time to stop for dinner )




And after 3 1/2 hours (bed time ), the full trailer is assembled except electrical, license plate holder, etc.



Two issues to be worked around with this trailer design will be the protruding bolt heads on the top surface of the deck, and the mounting of the fenders on the side



Adventurelad...

[aggie79]

Very nice! At your pace, you'll be ahead of your ambitious build schedule. (It took me about 6 months to get to the same point in my build as you are with 3 days of work.)

As you said, cutting 1/8" ply can leave ragged edges. A fine-tooth blade will help eliminate the tear out on the bottom side of the ply. For the top side, you might consider applying masking tape along your cut line and/or scoring the cut line with a utility knife. (I do both.)

For clearance around the bolt heads, set your floor in place. Using a block of wood on top of the floor at a bolt head "whack" each location a few times with a hammer to make an imprint of the bolt head. Flip the floor over and drill relief holes with a spade or forstner bit to the depth you need for clearance.

[Forrest747]

And after 3 1/2 hours (bed time ), the full trailer is assembled except electrical, license plate holder, etc.


There is no rest for teh teardropper. Sleep is for whimps.

[adventurelad]

Very nice! At your pace, you'll be ahead of your ambitious build schedule. (It took me about 6 months to get to the same point in my build as you are with 3 days of work.)

As you said, cutting 1/8" ply can leave ragged edges. A fine-tooth blade will help eliminate the tear out on the bottom side of the ply. For the top side, you might consider applying masking tape along your cut line and/or scoring the cut line with a utility knife. (I do both.)

For clearance around the bolt heads, set your floor in place. Using a block of wood on top of the floor at a bolt head "whack" each location a few times with a hammer to make an imprint of the bolt head. Flip the floor over and drill relief holes with a spade or forstner bit to the depth you need for clearance.

Tom, thanks for the advice! The whack-a-mole method sounds much easier than measuring!

[adventurelad]

No building work last night However, after assembling our trailer we discoved that it is taller than we accounted for in the original design So, back to the drawing board on the galley arrangement as the counter height had to drop in order to make it more user friendly. Here is the new arrangement, going with a non-standard propane tank (4 lbs) in order to fit everything in...we usually burn two 1 lb 'green bottles' in a week of camping, so 4 lbs should be plenty. I am a little concerned about the clearance under the cooker, but don't have a depth for it, so just estimating at the moment May still need to bump it up another inch or so...



Adventurelad

[Forrest747]

I have only taken my trailer out twice so far, and had a great time with it. I did find the trailer feels and interacts alot different in teh wild than it does in the garage. i found the galley in the garage is about the right height but out in the wild it was a little too high on one trip and on the other it was low. darn ground why cant you be flat like in the garage. in fact i had to crank the tongue almost to its lower limit to level the trailer. up an inch or two really not a big deal. how high was your orginal plan?
As a rookie engioneer an older one said just because it looks good on paper doesnt mean it will work.

[adventurelad]

how high was your orginal plan?
As a rookie engioneer an older one said just because it looks good on paper doesnt mean it will work.

I had read somewhere that the deck of one of the trailers was 15 inches from the ground, so I was using that, so a 4+ inch change

Adding to your observation, just because it looks that way on paper doesn't mean it will be built that way!