North Coast/DNM

[Rivulet]

Has anyone had experience with DNM Teardrops out of Eugene? One of the founders is starting up another business in Portland and we're thinking of having him build a custom trailer for us, but he doesn't have a website so we don't know what the track record is.

Thanks folks!

[gudmund]

I have 4 x 8 foot one I had built in 2012, it is very basic nothing fancy and it is still doing fine. Have had a few issues with the doors leaking, fenders mounted too low, spare tire issue and have fixed most of them and/or am dealing with them myself. He put a one year warranty on it when I bought it which was fine except for the big problem of buying something so far away from home. I t was just to far to deal with a problem being I live over 350 miles from where it was built. He took care of the spare tire problem. I ended up remounting the fenders higher for more tire clearance along with powder coating being the fenders were only spray painted and started pealing. The frame needs some paint now for the same reason. A lot of this is maintenance but if powder coating had been done to begin with this would not be needed except for touch up. The doors are a funny deal being I never had leaks when it was towed by my S-10 but since I now tow it with a Colorado I have leaks. This truck is wider and has more open fenders which seems to kick the water more away from the PU and down the sides of the trailer where with the S-10, the water seemed be caught inside the fender, than it just dropped to the road under the trailer and not so much down the sides of the trailer as it dissipated. Also had a small problem with the kitchen shelf across the back being gaps opened up at each end where the connection was with the side walls - it had been end nailed into the edge only. I used some L angle on each side with screws under the shelf to re-attach it to the walls and beef it up. The rear hatch has had no leaks except for the hinge being cut to short on each end so as water when draining off the outside surface of the door when open will leak into the kitchen area. If an inch or two the hinge on each side would have been left to start with, water would just drain down the side of the trailer. I have plans to replace the hinge some day to fix this. Until then, I place a towel on each side to absorb the water. All things considered along with what I paid for it, it has had a few short comings but is fine. Next time I would try and find someone closer to my home to buy it from in case of future problems. But, if there is to be a next one to be purchased in my lifetime, my thought now would be to buy one of their kits and assemble it myself.

[gudmund]

Well, there is a "next" trailer now - I have gotten rid of the DNM 4 x 8!! The doors were not the leak problem as I had thought, I had paid extra when I bought this trailer for it to be insulated. The builder used hard foam insulation under the floor than had paneled it with aluminum sealing the panel edges BUT "did not" seal the front edge behind the tongue box - between the body and the frame. All of the time I had thought water was getting in from the door/windows, over time - water was being forced into the insulated cavity under the floor from the un-sealed gap behind the tongue box thus filling with water over time from all of the rain water being forced in from the tow vehicle road spray. In 2015, I had found the floor linoleum bubbled up and when I pulled it back, I found the top layers of plywood damaged - I removed the linoleum along with the few damaged wood plies and after drying used the boat epoxy to seal it thinking it had been damaged by the water leaking from the doors over time from above. Well a year later (2016) the whole floor was gone and when replacing the tongue box I found where it was coming from, I realized than what had happened - the plywood had been sitting in water for the last few years and the damage had come from below being there was no way for the water too escape once it was forced into the cavity. -- Was so feed up with what I had found two years ago, I just kept using the trailer the way it was and than when I finally, about two months ago, when I went too fix - I just sold it instead, as is!! and bought a new one (my new builder is about 100 miles from me now, NOT the 350 miles as before!!) -- If I had only knew than, what I know now about teardrops -- would I ever have the floor insulated again?? NO - what for?? - the mattress is 'insulation' too begin with!! it is not needed - leave the exposed area underneath open as they do in big trailers - much easier to watch and maintain...................as far as the 'builder's' comment too this problem when told of this a few years back - he claims it was sealed along with "you know, you had a 1 year warranty when you bought it and if you had shown it to me than, I would have fixed it" -- Well, until the linoleum bubbled up 3 years after buying it, so how would I have even known this was the problem until it happened ???? and yes he had been informed about the ongoing window leaks. (so far the "NEW" one is doing "great" - no leaks or dribbles - so far - along with it being so much nicer just having him located so much closer...........................new one made by "O-rama Trailers" in Olympia, Washington

[BigGoofyGuy]

Is this their Facebook page?
https://www.facebook.com/DNM-Teardrop-TrailersLLC-199516723444959/

http://teardroptrailers.org/dnm-teardrop-trailers.html
The above is an article on the camper but the link to the home page does not seem to work.

[gudmund]

have heard that they are not building trailers any longer.