Offroad teardrop build

[vegask]

Been lurking and asking stupid questions since July 2015 when I first got interested in building a tear. I am a Software engineer by trade, welding is my hobby and I am horid at wood working.. So this should be both entertaining and cringe worthy build for some of you guys.

The plan:
Independent suspension trailer base running on 35" tires (to match the tow rig)
Will carry our engel 45 fridge
Will have a small AC unit on board
Two doors from Vintage
Anodized aluminum skinned in .040 (possibly .063 on the roof)
4.5' wide, 4' tall, ~110" long


Day 1, trailer arrived. Some assembly required. 3 sticks of 2x2 .120 and one of 2x2 .250


Lots of chopping


Not bad for the first day, frame is laid out. Tongue needs some work.


De-burred the seam in the .250 wall tube so I can get the spindles to fit.


Used a rotabroach to drill holes for the plug welds. Amazed by these cutters, almost makes drilling enjoyable.


Had to heat the .250 wall tube and freeze the spindles over night to make them fit.


First side slid in perfectly, second side I had to hit with an air hammer to full seat. As is they are not going anywhere.


Building the arms was not fun. To save money I used the 2x2 .120 material that I already had on hand. If I could do it again I would use 1.75" or heavy wall 1.5". But this will do. Using YJ bushings with DOM sleeves that I purchased from WFO concepts.


Squaring everything was a PITA, learned how un-level and sloped my garage floor was. Got everything in to about 1/16 of being square, but after welding that turned into 1/8. Not happy but should be fine.


Began getting the arms aligned onto the axle. I will cut the center out of the axle after its aligned to the frame and the brackets are fully welded.


And a preview of the air bags and retainers that will be using.


Axle alignment was not fun, took two days, some cursing, a laser level and some more cursing. Main issue was dealing with the weight and angle of the axle with the arms welded to them. Ended up adding some cheat plates to the frame which made it a breeze to setup and prevented it from wandering.



Cut the center out and now I have two arms. Had to add another cross member to support the top of the air bags. Once it was tacked in place things started to look pretty good.





Found some brake backing plate mounts on ebay for square tube. They were cheap enough and the seller sent them super fast so that saved me some time and I avoided setting up the plasma for another week.


Kinda completed the tongue, did a square notch for the first time and I am not sure I like it. But this leaves me room for the junction box for the electrical at least. Also using a receiver hitch at the tongue so I can switch from a standard coupler to a 3 axis one later.



On the left we have more travel but a less effective shock (7" of travel) On the right we have less travel but a more effective shock (4" of travel). Im went with the mount setup on the left and regret it already, will be re-doing that in a few weeks.

[vegask]

Had a friend come over to lend a hand, as he setup the bearings and brakes, I knocked out the wiring and got the temporary brake lights installed. Other than a license plate mount this is ready to head to the DMV for inspection so I can make it legal.

Got about 5psi in the bags right now and they are really soft, the shocks are doing little to nothing at this angle so I will probably try and correct that before I start the floor of the teardrop.





Two weeks ago, I got it registered, titled and plated. Used some .040 for inner fender material to keep the DMV happy.


So onto the woodwork.

Purchased two sheets of 4x10 AC plywood for way to much money and got them to a friend at MSM sheet metal fabrication here in Sparks NV. They have a very large CNC router and after waiting a few weeks I got this pic today from them.



This is where it stands today, next is to get the doors ordered and to pick up a lot of 5x5 sheets of baltic birch. My plan is to build as much of the walls as possible, then build the floor. I've watched the "Scotts workshop" tear drop series a few times and will be copying him on a lot of parts, except for the galley style, my hatch will go to the floor like how socalteardrops builds theirs.

[vegask]

Slow going, but picked up some 3mm (1/8) and 9mm (1/2") Baltic birch this week. Also some 1/4" sanded ply at home depot for the outer walls.

Using a cheap 1/4 flush trim bit I was able to cut out the inner and outer walls pretty quickly.






Next step is hollowing out the inner wall and cutting insulation.

[dales133]

Nice rig is it a 100 series?
Good job on the independent suspension.
I was going to do this but im the opersite of you,i have more faith in my woodworking that steelwork although i can do it to a degree.
Im doing the same thing more or less in australia except with a benroy platform and sprung axle to suit my 80 series.
Look forward to your progress.
Cheers Dale

[dogscats]

Just some thing about this build. My screen saver is your picture of the shot of where you are squaring the frame with the level.

[vegask]

Thanks, its actually a 4runner (Hilux for you guys down under) with a 80 series front suspension and solid axle.

[vegask]

My doors arrived from vintage (teardroptrailerparts.com) and I got started. Made a template then cut them out. Learned alot about using routers and making templates in the process.

Had to use my fixed based router with a template bushing, for some reason I could not center the bushing on my plunge base.









Nothing to exciting, with any luck I will be making the cut to the inner wall tomorrow that will set the inner roof line. Very nervous about making that one.

[vegask]

Managed to cut the inner roof support out of the inner wall last night. Making 6 passes with the router and a 1/8" bit and trying to keep the edge guide in the right spot was not fun. The inexpensive router guide they make for the dewalt 611 router was not made to do curves and I regret not getting the rockler setup.

Also went through two tubes of PL premium and used a trowel to spread it out. Then lined the 1/4" outter plywood up and used every clamp I own to hold it in place. Will do the same with the other side tonight.

[vegask]

Finally got some time to work on the tear again. Walls are nearly done.

Inner and outer walls are glued and shaped.



Made all the dado's for the bulkheads




Something happened when I glued the inner wall in, an area at the seam turned black. I tried to sand it out but it was too deep and ended up routing a 1/2" groove to cut it out, next I need to find someone with a table saw to cut a new inlay to cover it up.




Lastly got the rabbet cut out for the floor and did one coat of 2:1 spar urethane mineral spirits to the outer wall.

[KCStudly]

I had that same black staining when I glued my cedar sub frame up for my floor, and elsewhere.

Did you use waxed paper as a mask/peel ply? At first I thought it had to do with building on a steel bench, but then I started suspecting the waxed paper.

I switched to plastic coated freezer paper and saw an improvement. Wish I could say it solved the problem but I can't recall at the moment for sure.

[vegask]

I had that same black staining when I glued my cedar sub frame up for my floor, and elsewhere.

Did you use waxed paper at a mask/peel ply? At first I thought it had to do with building on a steel bench, but then I started suspecting the waxed paper.

I switched to plastic coated freezer paper and saw an improvement. Wish I could say it solved the problem but I can't recall at the moment for sure.

I wish I had wax paper, instead in a panic I used a piece of angle iron with a paper towel in between it and the wood, I assumed I could sand the paper towel off if needed. But the glue must of reacted with the metal. When I did the second side I went and got real waxed paper and it worked perfectly.

[vegask]

Things got 3-dimensional the other week.



I will post more pictures later, working on the vent system and mount for the AC unit and wiring. Hopping to have the roof on it this weekend. I have still not purchased trim or a hinge, the plan is to inspect a friends socalteardrop 459 in a few days to see how they did it.

[vegask]

Progress...




Exhaust for AC unit



Roof supports and future roof rack supports



Adventures in foam insulation, check out the "foam nozzle" thread for info.





Ruff cut the anodized aluminum for the sides.


Testing fitting the 16' piece of univseral molding

[vegask]

Things are getting real.

I made an absolute mess of my garage when I used the router to trim the edges and cut out the door profile. I used a whiteside 3 flute flush trim bit that did not even flinch at .040 the aluminum. Took about 25 min to do all the trimming and about 2 hours to clean up all the alluminum glitter that I made. Vacuum attachment on my router did not help that much at all.

Moved onto the roof with the .063 aluminum (5x10 sheet). I used a skill saw to cut it down which worked great.

Was really worried about bending the .063 stuff after the reading I did a few months back, but it looks like it is not gonna be as bad as I thought. One strap alone nearly holds it to the shape.

[Fordh8ter]

Things are getting real.

I made an absolute mess of my garage when I used the router to trim the edges and cut out the door profile. I used a whiteside 3 flute flush trim bit that did not even flinch at .040 the aluminum. Took about 25 min to do all the trimming and about 2 hours to clean up all the alluminum glitter that I made. Vacuum attachment on my router did not help that much at all.

Moved onto the roof with the .063 aluminum (5x10 sheet). I used a skill saw to cut it down which worked great.

Was really worried about bending the .063 stuff after the reading I did a few months back, but it looks like it is not gonna be as bad as I thought. One strap alone nearly holds it to the shape.

Glad to hear the 0.063 bends well enough, ive got some 0.050 coming for mine and was hoping it wouldnt be too much of a struggle!

Question on the router, just a standard flush trim bit? did you precut the sides to the rough shape of the tear, or did you just full bore with the bit, the full 1/2 or 3/4 bit?