Dusty Mark's 5 x 10 Build

[Dusty Mark]

I skinned and trimmed the galley lid yesterday. I discovered that my inner plywood skin has a slight raised area in the middle. I was foolish and used the coiled wire protector in the insulation and it must have jumped out of the channel during assembly. It's only slight and nobody will likely notice.



I fit the trim ahead of time and taped in hopes of a clean caulk line.



I used clamps to hold the aluminum in place while screwing down the trim.



Screwing on some trim.



I botched one side of the trim while fitting and it came in about 3/16" short. I glued in a thin plate underneath and caulked it.



View of patch from underneath.



I mitered the trim that rests on the galley walls. I used the miter support clamps from Oregon Trailer. I think they strengthen this potentially weak area quite well.

Enough posting...it's time to slide the galley lid in position to see how it fits.

[Dusty Mark]

I installed the inside trim on the galley lid today and then put the lid on the camper.



Slam latches aren't installed yet and I'm hoping they'll tighten the lid up a bit on the bottom half of the curve.



Slightly closer view. The lid weighs 44.6 pounds with aluminum and trim installed.



Needs a little solvent clean-up, but looking pretty good to me.



I set the spring supports so they were below maximum hinge travel a little bit. My head clears with some room to spare.



I used spring supports from Oregon Trailer. The base is oriented vertically to allow the spring to stow neatly aft when the lid is closed.

Mary fits in the cooler and stove compartment with the lid closed, so she'll be the one determining the fit of the slam latches tomorrow!

[Dusty Mark]

I'm continuing to plug away at the finishing details on the build, particularly in the galley.



The door and drawer front need sanding yet. The drawer front also needs a handle, but this is a photo during the fitting process. The Yeti 65 cooler will sit in the tray on the right.



The oven rests on the platform to the left.



The drawer is customized to our utensils. I still need to build a simple knife block in the back right compartment.



I have a Leigh dovetail jig, but opted to experiment with plywood and pocket hole joinery on the drawer. I'm happy with the results. I think it was slightly faster as well.



The base for the dome light is angled to help the light shine straight down.



License plate holder/light and slam latches are installed.



I had to router some of the trim to fit the slam latch handle.

[Dusty Mark]

Mary is busy sewing our futon mattress.



The mattress is 2" of firm foam laminated to 2" of memory foam. The three cushions each measure 56 1/2" by 25". Two of the cushions are joined together and will have plywood bottoms to form the futon couch.



A 5K coil zipper provides a way to install or remove the foam in each cushion.



Mary "nailed" it on matching the stripes and sewing a good tight hinge seam between the two joined cushions.



I bought this Sailrite Ultrafeed sewing machine last summer when I was sewing up the blinds for the three duck hunting layout boats I built. I knew it would keep coming in handy!



View of sewing machine from the back.

[KCStudly]

Beautiful work!

That's a nice sturdy sewing machine, too. Sometimes I wish I had one that was strong enough to do vinyl material, like for motorcycle seat covers.

[Dusty Mark]

Thanks, Mary has good attention to detail while sewing. Yes, the machine is perfect for outdoor materials including vinyl. If it can fit under the 3/8" capacity presser foot, it can be sewn. Leather, vinyl, 12 layers of denim...

The other useful tool we purchased for this project was a hot knife gun that cuts Sunbrella and leaves it with sealed edges that won't fray. That will be nice on future Cordura projects.

[Dusty Mark]

Mary finished sewing our futon and pillows and our design worked well.



In the bed mode.



Each cushion is 56.5" by 25".



In the sofa mode. The two cushions that form the shape of the sofa are stapled to a piece of 1/4" Baltic birch plywood. This helps with providing a firm back rest.



The underfloor storage area provides the vertical clearance we need to sit like a regular couch.



Mary demonstrating the sofa.

[Dusty Mark]

The lower galley is basically complete.



The stops for the cooler and oven are bolted to a threaded insert in the floor. I still need to paint the stops.



Cooler tray works well. I discovered there was room to mount a fire extinguisher.



500 pound drawer slides are solid.



That's a Yeti 65.



I cut it a little close on vertical clearance for the stove.



The stove is mounted on the same heavy duty slides and fastened at the front and back to the platform.



I installed a shut-off valve behind the stove. I also made a simple bracket to hold the pipe solid where it comes into the galley.



The utensil drawer is just the right size.



I really like the white/red dome lights in the cabin and galley.

[ELM]

You've built a really nice teardrop there. Awesome work.

[Dusty Mark]

I didn't do a good job of installing the galley lid springs symmetrically and the passenger side spring lets loose a little easier than my safety factor can tolerate. I installed a bimini strut like what's used on boats and it makes it rock solid now. A free-falling lid could cause serious injury to the unsuspecting...



One strut on the passenger side did the trick.



I used similar hardware on the blind system for my duck boat. It's simple, rugged, and fast to use.



I'll add stainless cable to each pin and fasten them to the strut so we don't lose them.

[Dusty Mark]

Thanks! I haven't weighed it yet, but I do have more tongue weight than I had hoped. I'm sitting at 204 pounds tongue weight with the galley loaded. It would have been worse if I hadn't mounted my full-size spare under the galley floor. In hindsight, I should have moved the axle forward a bit. I thought my stove and cooler would counter the weight of the front storage module and the propane tank, but the moment arm is greater on the items up front. However, my vehicle handles it no problem and I bought a tow dolly for use at home so I should never be lifting the whole weight. We took the teardrop on a shakedown drive and it handled great at speeds up to 70 mph.

[KCStudly]

Fabulous. Just fabulous. Somehow you have managed to fly under the mainstream radar and have created a wonderful masterpiece.

[Dusty Mark]

Thanks! We're hoping to go out on a two-night trip on Wednesday or Thursday. The departure is based on when my new LPG regulator arrives. I either cross-threaded or bought the wrong hose to go from the tank to the regulator and that was the only place it leaked during the leak check. That's bad though since the regulator is mounted to the wall and the only way to take it out is remove everything in reverse...ouch! At least everything is fitted. I'll just have to clean the old yellow tape off and roll some new tape on and reconnect everything when the replacement regulator arrives.

[retep]

Mark Just an incredible job. You have a very very beautiful trailer. It will no doubt give you many years of enjoyment. Thank you for taking the time to share your build with us all.

Cheers Peter

[Dusty Mark]

Peter,

Thanks and you're welcome!

Building a teardrop camper was quite the project. I saw an ad for a Little Guy in Rutabaga's flyer for their annual Canoecopia event. The thought of teardrop camping appealed to us and I thought, "I can build one of those." So, we drove two hours on February 15th to a Little Guy dealer to get an idea of the size we needed.



Their Silver Shadow 5' x 10' seemed to be the right footprint for us and we also confirmed there was enough headroom. The design morphed from the Silver Shadow as we realized we needed the front storage module to compensate for lost storage to accommodate the dog kennel. I started ordering supplies soon afterwards, got the trailer blueprint to the welder in early March, and started making sawdust on March 21st!

I was unable to design a floor plan that included a kennel, cooler, oven, and air conditioner that allowed a floor mounting of the air conditioner. That pushed me to mount the air conditioner high and devise the dual-purpose vent system. Testing of the system at home proved promising. Our long-term test of that system will be next May when we visit Mary's kids in Florida!

We're looking forward to teardrop camping. There are so many great places to explore close to home in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Our "big" trip this year is a circle tour of Lake Superior. Next year we plan a 40-day trip to Alaska after we get back from a 10-day trip to Florida. I was stationed in Anchorage from 86-89 and it will be good to revisit the area.

We'll enjoy the transition from teardrop builder to teardrop owner/user. The quick build pace has me worn out...

Mark