5x10 Teardrop

[UR_Gent]

So it all started last year when I was browsing the DIY area on Reddit and found Ryan's Wyoming Woody teardrop build. I knew after pouring over his build journal that I wanted to build my own. The amount of detail he put into his build journal made me realize that building one myself was not out of my reach. After showing my wife his build journal she too caught the teardrop bug.

After I had my wife on board I started to research teardrops and what we wanted to do with ours. I am 6'2 so we decided to make ours a 5x10. We figured we would only be doing this once so we wanted to get it right the first time. I cant even imagine how many hours I have spent on this site looking at build journals, picking up ideas for our TD. We are going to build a cross between the Wyoming Woody and the Atma Travelear.

Here is where I am right now:
- The frame is 2x2x 1/8 steel tube
- The axle is a Flexride 2000 lbs torsion axle
- I ordered chrome 14"x6" chrome smoothies with baby moon hubcaps



So next I need to decide if we want to build 4' or 5' tall. I will be using a pickup as the tow vehicle so I am not really concerned about the height. I think if I can find aluminum sheet in a 5' wide sheet I would like to build taller. There is a RV place near me with a Little Guy Silver Shadow 6x10 that I will go look at to see how it feels inside.

I need to figure out what I am going to do about the doors. Dave made the doors on the Atma look amazing but I am not sure if I want to tackle building my own. So many decisions to make...

For the electrical system I am leaning towards two 6V batteries in series. This will allow us to run an ARB cooler http://store.arbusa.com/Fridges-C11.aspx and all of the other lights for a long weekend with no hookups.

I added two 1.25" hitch receivers so that we can have a table that we can plug in off the back for our cook stove. Idea borrowed from http://inkaoutdoor.com/. I would like to have a 4.5 lbs propane tank in the tongue box and run the hose to the back for the stove but I will need to look into that later.

We just finished welding the frame on Thursday so this week I will be prepping it for paint and choosing the paint color for the frame and fenders. I am leaning towards Sepang Blue https://www.google.ca/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=Sepang+blue but my wife prefers something a little lighter with a little more green so we shall see.

Thank you to everyone on this forum for sharing your ideas and wisdom. I am looking forward to building and eventually camping in our TD. I am hoping to be done by May long weekend 2016.

Cheers!

[lrrowe]

Welcome!

I see you have a good start already and I think your 1.25" receivers is a great idea. I would be adding them also if I could weld. I am trying to teach myself that skill.

I have ideas for the spare, for steps and other things using the receiver concept.

[dales133]

Good start trailers looking well thought out and enginered

[KCStudly]

Something has to be said about the helicopter in your work space.

[tony.latham]

Something has to be said about the helicopter in your work space.

Gawd... how'd I miss that?

Tony

[dales133]

Something has to be said about the helicopter in your work space.

Gawd... how'd I miss that?

Tony

Its ok I did too!

[UR_Gent]

My friend that's welding up the trailer for me owns a helicopter flight school with his brother and he was kind enough to store it in the hanger while we are working on it.

Slight derail but here is a fun project I was able to be a part of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s1KPQuRYqw

I'm the bald guy at the 3 min mark. The motor they used was a little under powered for me otherwise I would have tried it as well. I was running the motor and swimming in the crystal clear water. So much fun.

/Derail

I got a call saying that my wheels are in. Pretty close to having a rolling chassis.

[KCStudly]

Great video!

[rebapuck]

Just how deep is that lake?

[UR_Gent]

Just how deep is that lake?

I'm not sure. Near the shore where you can still see the bottom was too deep for me to touch. When I'm in a lake I do my best not to think about how deep it is

It's been a while since I last posted and I have made some progress.

Here it is after I the trailer was done. I put plywood and lights on so that I could get it insured.





Walls and cabinets mostly done. The walls are 5' tall.







I have the headliner on and I am installing the roof spars now.

I was going to start building the hatch today when I realized I made a bit of a miscalculation. My roof uses 1.5" spars but I didn't leave enough room above my counter to fit the hatch in.





I have been racking my brain on how to solve this. I figure I have a couple options: cut my counter and cabinets back 2" to make space for the hatch to sit in between the walls. This seems like it would be very difficult to make it look nice or I could cut my walls above the counter and add more wood on with a half lap joint. This would allow me to redo the curve of the back end to allow for more room for the hatch. Either way seems like a fair amount of work. Its pretty frustrating that a small oversight on my behalf could make so much extra work. I still feel like I am doing alright for my first woodworking project though.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to tackle this issue?

[Nobes]

I have seen one where the builder notched the hatch ribs at the counter to allow more space for the counter. You would have to consider whether the strength of the ribs was enough with the notch. This may be lessened by having two vertical ribs then long horizontal cross pieces (Steve Frederick style). Perhaps the notched area could be strengthened with a metal bracket. Just a thought. I haven't built a hatch yet!

[KCStudly]

I'd bite the bullet and modify the cabinetry. If you just can't stand to give up the space, or if your cooler/slides won't fit, you could either just notch the ends of the cabinets like some people do to make room for their struts, or you could facet the face frames, tilting them back at the top. Some people make slope or curved faced cabinets just to maximize storage, especially in the smaller 4x8 size.

Your profile has the benefit of having been milled to a template the same on both sides; if you don't get whatever add-on pieces and their template exactly the same on both sides it can affect how the hatch fits later. Wood is hard enough to chase around as it is without over complicating things.

IMO, it would be better to take away from the cabinets a little while you still can, than it would be to try and add to the walls. ("I cut it twice and it's still too short").

Yes, many have fallen into this trap and some have notched their ribs. To me that is an egregious structural no-no that sticks out like a sore thumb as a forever mistake. Not intended to offend those that have successfully gotten away with this method, just calling it the way I see it.

I am a believer in deeper, not shallower ribs.

[dales133]

I agree with KC i believe youll be forever kicking yourself if you choose any other route than change the benchtop.
My ribs are virtually touching my top shelf so you dont need miles of room just enough.
Hatch construction while not as difficult as we assume before we make one, sosnt want to be made any more challenging than it needs to be.

[UR_Gent]

Thanks for the guidance. I think I will trim my counter back. KC - I think you are right about the modifying the walls. I love the profile right now and I think I would have a hard time making the curve look the way I would want it if I tried to add some depth. I also don't want to notch the hatch struts. I come from the school of overbuilding.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this or if it should be posted in the electrical forum so it goes here. I'm looking at an electrical usage monitor and there are two versions, a 20A and a 100A.

http://www.amazon.com/6-5-100V-Display- ... rds=bayite

I will be running the following:
ARB cooler - 1.1 amp
Fantastic fan - 2 amps
9 LED Bolts - 0.35 amps
2 LED reading lights 3 watts each - 1 amp??

So it looks like I will be in the 5 amp range. Does that mean that I should be able to use the 20 amp version? I think the only difference is that the 100 amp one comes with a shunt and it is wired a little differently.

I am planning on using 2 6V batteries with an amp-hour rating in the 220 area. What size of charger would I need? Anyone have experience with the NOCO Genius? I have read some other threads regarding this but I am having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

[Graniterich]

Some of the 100 amp ones aren't accurate at lower amperage, some were off by a factor of two