Itty Bitty Foamie Teardrop Test Build Thread

[GPW]

The thing about a COOL paint job is , you don’t look at anything else ...

[amandacreiglow]

Thanks guys. I'm really happy with the way the colors and shapes turned out, and I'm glad to hear others think so too.

And now comes the time where I admit to making stupid mistakes. First comes the good news:


Finally was able to get the trailer assembled and manhandle the shell on top of it.

The bad news? Well, first, it took all night. And second, it's much taller than I thought.

This whole time, I thought that 12" wheels meant overall. It never occurred to me once that it might not include the tires, and therefore the wheels are actually 20".

Soooo.... that's new. In some ways it's not so bad. Things being off the ground a little further will make a few things more comfortable. But the big thing is that I designed the galley counter to be at standard counter height, and it's now super high.

Figure the only real thing I can do is buy some kind of step to make the kitchen useable. It will be nice to have more headspace under the kitchen hatch, but still. If it's not one thing, it's another...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kudzu]

Looks wonderful! A "cooking deck" might be a handy thing if you could manage it. Though it could end up weighing more than you foamie. It seems we end up with at least some rain every time we camp & many is the time I wished I wasn't standing on slick Georgia red clay, some type of mud or just water puddles over gravel. Actually, though my stove hangs from a rail on the side of my camper, rather than having a rear kitchen, I have a similar problem. I'm very short & my camper has 15" wheels with higher than average clearance. When they put the rail on the side, it appears they didn't adjust its height to accommodate my camper's "off road ready" height. I've actually considered getting some sort of step or small platform to use.

Camco makes what looks like a nice adjustable step: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G258I0G The leg adjustments are to help get it level on uneven surfaces. Don't know if there may be some off-brand version for less.

A smaller, simpler & much cheaper alternative would be to try one of these for the short term to see if just a step might help: https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/kikkerland-reg-easy-folding-step-stool/3241862?Keyword=folding%20step These are small, but mine has held up well. We use it by our camper door when on unlevel sites that leave the doorway higher than normal. There are other variations on this you could find on Amazon by searching for folding step. Some are a little wider & vary in height from 3-15" tall.

ETA: Search for an "aerobic step" and see if that might work. Those are plastic & a nice width, but are bulkier. If you have the room to store one when in transit, it could be a good option.

[John61CT]

Personally when time and money becomes available I'd re-work the galley.

[tac422]

The paint job looks great !!
How are you going to keep the lid on the tongue box from getting blown open ?

[me&z]

Well done!

[S. Heisley]

That looks like the perfect paint design for your foamie!
Good selection of colors, too!

[Nodrog]

Hi Amanda! Thanks for the answer re: tongue box weight. Maybe a little heavy, but a nice big size! Hey, I see the last bit of discussion about trailer height, I am too lazy to look through the whole thread, but did you locate your axle below or above the springs? If below, you can move to above the springs, you need to notch the spring hangers to let the axle to potentially bounce up toward the frame more. This will buy you a couple of inches, maybe will help? It's a Harbor Fr. trailer, right? This has all been covered extensively on this forum, should be searchable...just an idea, trailer is looking very good! Have a good one, Nodrog

[amandacreiglow]

Hi Amanda! Thanks for the answer re: tongue box weight. Maybe a little heavy, but a nice big size! Hey, I see the last bit of discussion about trailer height, I am too lazy to look through the whole thread, but did you locate your axle below or above the springs? If below, you can move to above the springs, you need to notch the spring hangers to let the axle to potentially bounce up toward the frame more. This will buy you a couple of inches, maybe will help? It's a Harbor Fr. trailer, right? This has all been covered extensively on this forum, should be searchable...just an idea, trailer is looking very good! Have a good one, Nodrog

Oh, I hadn't heard of that. Nifty idea and thanks for sharing it, but I need 8 inches, which that won't give me. Plus, I'm just finally nearing the end of my harbor freight trailer assembly nightmare... no intention of starting it up again.

Thanks for the compliments on the colors and design, guys, it means a lot. Now I just wait and see how you like the name written on the back. I got it designed up yesterday, and I'm planning on using GPW's method of printing it up, then poking little holes to transfer guidelines to the surface. We're a couple days away from that, but I got the canvas put on the exterior of the hatch today, so we're getting there. Feels good to get that piece of it off my mind, at least... it along with the doors are the biggest things that might keep me from making my Sunday departure deadline.

The paint job looks great !!
How are you going to keep the lid on the tongue box from getting blown open ?

There's a place on the front for a padlock, which I imagine should keep it closed. Although now of course I'm going to worry about it not being enough, or the wind lifting it up as far as it can with the lock inserted...

Looks wonderful! A "cooking deck" might be a handy thing if you could manage it. Though it could end up weighing more than you foamie. It seems we end up with at least some rain every time we camp & many is the time I wished I wasn't standing on slick Georgia red clay, some type of mud or just water puddles over gravel. Actually, though my stove hangs from a rail on the side of my camper, rather than having a rear kitchen, I have a similar problem. I'm very short & my camper has 15" wheels with higher than average clearance. When they put the rail on the side, it appears they didn't adjust its height to accommodate my camper's "off road ready" height. I've actually considered getting some sort of step or small platform to use.

Camco makes what looks like a nice adjustable step: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G258I0G The leg adjustments are to help get it level on uneven surfaces. Don't know if there may be some off-brand version for less.

A smaller, simpler & much cheaper alternative would be to try one of these for the short term to see if just a step might help: https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/kikkerland-reg-easy-folding-step-stool/3241862?Keyword=folding%20step These are small, but mine has held up well. We use it by our camper door when on unlevel sites that leave the doorway higher than normal. There are other variations on this you could find on Amazon by searching for folding step. Some are a little wider & vary in height from 3-15" tall.

ETA: Search for an "aerobic step" and see if that might work. Those are plastic & a nice width, but are bulkier. If you have the room to store one when in transit, it could be a good option.

Thanks for the tips! I was looking at the options you suggested, and very nearly went for an off brand version of the camco step you mentioned. In the end, though, I decided to get this drywall work platform: http://a.co/3aSnTrm Slightly cheaper, and 30" long rather than 19". Doesn't reach all the way, but I think even the 11" will make a difference in how functional it feels as a semi-long-term solution. I'll have to chop the legs down a little, but they're aluminum and I've been chopping plenty of aluminum dthroughout the project, so that's doable. There was a platform that reached all the way across which tempted me, but it way more expensive, and might not get here before I leave, and I would have trouble storing it while in transit at that length.

As for the cooking deck, the thought has definitely crossed my mind. I have a little list of upgrades/more complex projects that I'm considering tackling in the future if I'm up for it and staying in the trailer a bit longer, and a drop down/slide out cooking deck that stows on the underside of the trailer while in transit is now definitely on that list.

Personally when time and money becomes available I'd re-work the galley.

Unfortunately not really an option for me. The way I've got the thing constructed, it's tied pretty well into the walls. And all the objects I've got to make the galley work for me fit together like a puzzle in a very specific way. I guess not to say it wouldn't be possible, but the trade off isn't worth it for me, I don't think. There are other upgrades that would come first, including a pull-out deck to just make the kitchen I have more useable, rather that starting from scratch.

~~

Had a productive night last night, finally. Got the bolts through the floor of the trailer and into the frame, so it's well and truly mounted. I went with six 3/8" carriage bolts, using spares of the locking nuts from the trailer itself to attach them. Only problem is that the holes are a little too wide for the square part of the carriage bolt to do its job and keep the top still while I tighten the bottom. Any ideas on how to make that work?

Also got the back hatch canvassed, as I said. That's a load off my mind. Filled in the gap around the air vent with fire retardant Great Stuff. Didn't know it existed! But for the record, it acts very differently to normal great stuff on application. It's a lot droopier and messier and refuses to stay put. I ended up with a royal mess that I had to dump acetone on wholesale to keep it from ruining the whole inside of the trailer. Ruined a shirt, too. But now it's more or less ready for the molding frame that I cut and have sitting downstairs, letting the glue dry.


I also installed little pvc pipes, one on either side. They're bolted directly to the frame using a U bolt. The point of these is to have a place to attach the umbrella I found that folds down small enough to fit in my tongue box. The pole is undergoing some modification right now, as I need a 45 degree angle in it to make the whole thing work, but I did some testing holding it in the right positions, and it looks like it's going to be great. It'll be adjustable so that it can provide shelter for either of the doors, or it can swing over to shield half of the seat on the tongue box, if I end up using it that way.


Also got some rustoleum protective automotive enamel on the fenders. Black doesn't really work with the overall color scheme, and it was an easy fix. Smelly, though.

I attempted some work on the inside of the cooler now that the fiberglass has had a few days to cure. I was delighted with how easily it sanded and how well the edges cleaner up. However, when I started putting on the enamel paint, every one of the many, MANY imperfections in the job jumped out at me. That's definitely not going to work. I think the play here is to go for distraction, again. I've got some of the faux stone paint leftover from the countertop... will see how far it goes or if I need another coat. Then I'll do a clear coat or two, and possibly mix up the last of the fiberglass epoxy I have to cover it with that as much as possible. That will get me the most presentable-looking result, I think, without redoing the whole thing and buying more fiberglass supplies and all that.

Finally, I ran tiny screws through the mason jar lids that I have attached to the underside of the galley shelf for visible, semi-decorative food storage. I was hoping that these little half-inch screws would allow me to really tighten down the jars for transit, without interfering with the way they close, and it seems to have worked out just as I planned! Pretty sure it's the only thing that's done that this week...

[GPW]

And I was thinking , what a decorative fan shroud ….

[S. Heisley]

For a lower counter, you could add a pull out counter on drawer glides, underneath the original counter. That would actually give you extra counter/shelf space. Or, you could make a drawer to house your stove. You could even make whatever you decide on perpendicular to one end of the original counter so that your galley area would be "L" shaped. ...Just an idea.

[pchast]

Had a productive night last night, finally. Got the bolts through the floor of the trailer and into the frame, so it's well and truly mounted. I went with six 3/8" carriage bolts, using spares of the locking nuts from the trailer itself to attach them. Only problem is that the holes are a little too wide for the square part of the carriage bolt to do its job and keep the top still while I tighten the bottom. Any ideas on how to make that work?

Mcmastercarr.com

https://www.mcmaster.com/#torque-washers/=19z1xg7

[KennethW]

Had a productive night last night, finally. Got the bolts through the floor of the trailer and into the frame, so it's well and truly mounted. I went with six 3/8" carriage bolts, using spares of the locking nuts from the trailer itself to attach them. Only problem is that the holes are a little too wide for the square part of the carriage bolt to do its job and keep the top still while I tighten the bottom. Any ideas on how to make that work?

Mcmastercarr.com

https://www.mcmaster.com/#torque-washers/=19z1xg7

JB weld or epoxy the bolt in?

[Fiddlin'Billy]

Finally, I ran tiny screws through the mason jar lids that I have attached to the underside of the galley shelf for visible, semi-decorative food storage. I was hoping that these little half-inch screws would allow me to really tighten down the jars for transit, without interfering with the way they close, and it seems to have worked out just as I planned! Pretty sure it's the only thing that's done that this week...

If you have trouble with those lids, I suggest adding the metal sealing plate that goes with them. You can just screw into that and it will hold the rings up. My wife did that in the garage for the endless fastener stockpile I build up. Works great. I will probably be using this idea in our teardrop too, I think it will appeal to my wife - she likes to see her stuff.

[KCStudly]

I was thinking the same thing about the mason jar lids. The lids have a nice rubber like seal ring bonded to them around where the jar cinches up; makes a nice soft seal and should keep dust out, too.

Just to share a couple of thoughts about your galley counter height issue; even if the spring under axle arrangement doesn't get you all of the way, it would at least get you half way there, and that would be a big improvement (seems like there is never just one magic solution to most problems anyways, right?). I mean, part of camping out for me is getting good and relaxed with a nice adult cocktail, and I really would not look forward to taking a face plant or header stepping of of some catwalk arrangement after pouring myself another in the relative darkness of the campfire light. If that step was just 4 inches instead of 8 you might not hit the ground so hard, or even lose it at all when missing a step.