CO newbie

[mikeKgaines]

Hey all, Mike here. LOVE camping and have been doing so since I was in a crib, first camping memory was an old canvas cabin tent on the Outer Banks, NC. My dad had a Coleman 'flop over' tent camper and my grandad had a 1970 Boise Cascade (Shasta Knockoff) Canned Ham. LOVED that trailer and owned it for a while until it totally fell apart.


Been tenting out of my jeep and truck since...which I am ok with but the wife and boys aren't much for that. Have a small HF trailer I was towing behind the jeep as a 'cargo' trailer and was going to morf it into a tent top trailer. Well the Jeep is gone and I don't want a slide in in the truck, I am also a huge fan of classic designs so.....

...TearDropOne is on the drawing table. Looking to make this a 4x8 with pull out sides so that a queen bed will fit perpendicular to the center line and still have room for a nice Galley. Why? One main reason, my trailer is the 40x48 (1130lbs) so with some axle and tounge mods the pull outs and the bulk of the weight sit right over top of the original framing, adding an extension for the galley will give it the length... we will see. Looking to do some foam mock ups to make sure its reasonable before sticking big bucks into a sinking ship.

Biggest Plus for me from y'all and TnTTT so far...SKETCHUP!!! I am totally hooked and have even drawn up some side profiles and basic framing for TD1 already... So Colorado bring on Build Season (winter) let get going.

Oh, personal info- Live in the NE metro Denver area, Married three kids: Daughter in College, Sons in 8th grade and 5th. My wife teaches and I am the Administrator for Elevation Christian Church and The Commons@Elevation-a meeting/concert/public venue in Aurora. I enjoy building furniture, projects and architectural elements from pallets and reclaimed materials...launching Mountain Shadow Manufacturing (my retirement business) soon and I am totally stoked to start my adventure in Tear Drop Trailers.

[pchast]

Welcome! Sounds like quite a skill set for the project.
Take your time and have fun.

Lots of help and designs to look at or modify here.

[bc toys]

Welcome to this great site of ideals we all had them some made them come true Can't wait to see your ideal with the pull out
Remember we love pics of your build

[kayakdlk]

Welcome to the forum. Glad to see another from Colorado. Looks like we are almost neighbors at least work wise. My work is just north of you on East Centretech Parkway. If you have questions about your design or build just ask, someone on here will usually have the answer.

Good luck with your design and build.

Dan

[ChasCABQ]

Hi Mike,
I like your approach. Slideouts sound like quite a challenge but they're doable. I'm a new member from your neighboring state of New Mexico but have Colorado roots and visit there at least once a year. I, too, used to car camp out of the back of my 4Runner and now have an Outback so I'm starting my build this month. Just ordered Northern Tool 5x8 trailer and my calcs show bare trailer weight will be about 650 lbs. I looked at locally welded trailers and they were quite a bit heavier even for just a bare chassis.

I will look forward to seeing your build as it progress.

Charles Caldwell
[email protected]
Albuquerque
PS I am also using Sketchup and can share my design. Following sketch will be revised since I added camping items that stick out beyond the hatch.

Screen Shot 2014-10-009.jpg (59.4 KiB) Viewed 787 times

[mikeKgaines]

thanks all for the words of welcome and encouragement. Attached are some preliminary sketchUp drawings. Looks like we will have a long winter this year so this will be a good snow season project.

Side Profile

Open Profile

Basic Framing

Mike G

[pagandenman]

Hi Mike,
I just joined up too. We'll have to compare notes on where to get stuff! Hope your build is going well
Denny