Undecided

[dshawster]

Hi All,

I haven't nailed down exactly what I am going to build yet, but I thought it a good idea to make a post to keep the motivation going! It always helps to put things down on paper or errr......screen, to work things through. Here is where I am at in the design/dreaming stage:

I have not completely settled on a design yet, I'm leaning towards something like the 'Wyoming Woody'. Although I might cover in aluminum to avoid all the epoxy etc. He made up some awesome SketchUp plans which I might use since they are complete and very thorough, this will save me lots of time making them from scratch. I also like the Grumman 2 design, but like the title says I'm undecided as of yet.

I have narrowed down certain things:
-5'X10' size (as opposed to a 4X8 or 5X8) so there is enough room for sleeping. i.e. enough leg room for me since I'm 6'4" and enough width for me and the misses.
-I would like storage underneath the sleeping area for general storage.
-I want a galley that is efficient, 'everything has a place and every place has a thing'
-I would like a sink of some sort with pressurized water. It could be as simple as 2 5 gal jugs underneath the sink, 1 for fresh water and 1 for grey water, and as complicated as having a tank underneath. I haven't decided yet.
-Some people build them being 110V capable but I think 12VDC is sufficient since we won't be needing an AC or anything along those lines. I would most likely put in a shore power connection to charge the 12VDC battery when power is available.
- I want to splurge and get a 12VDC fridge/freezer so we don't have to deal with ice.
- I want to run all the cables for lighting etc in a tray under the bed along the centerline so I can access them for maintenance or repair down the line. All the builds I see people run the wires through the ceiling and then down to switches and lights from there. I want to run the cables down the center and then branch off to the accessories from there.

There is going to be a lot of 'winging' as I go along but to make it successful I will need to plan out certain things to make sure they will all work together. Like having to design the general dimensions to work within the standard sizes of material available. I don't want to build the trailer too wide and then the aluminum sheeting is too narrow by an inch! That would be frustrating for sure. And other things like making the sure the thickness of the walls works with whatever windows and doors I want to install.

As of now I hope to have all the accessories purchased and start construction sometime in June of 2017!

Dave

[yrock87]

sounds like you have put some thought into your build. I planned and sketched and read journals and planned and sketched for about 5 months before I started my build. even at that point though, I knew the basics of what I was doing, but I kept on planning and sketching and reading as I went.

[noseoil]

Sounds like a good point to start from. The 12 volt system is fine for everything you have said, but with a 12 volt charging station running on 110 volt shore power, it might make sense to run a circuit or two, just in case. Since you will have a wiring chase, an outlet front & rear might be a good idea for a small heater or something else. We've found it handy to have one in the galley at the counter for a coffee grinder (inverter). One way to avoid the 110 volt system completely is with a small solar panel for charging.

With the 5x10 footprint you should have plenty of room for the things you've listed. A sink will take up lots of room with the plumbing, drain, trap, supply lines & water storage. Make sure you have the layout right & well thought out, before you do the build! Looking forward to see it started & finished.

[working on it]

sounds like you have put some thought into your build. I planned and sketched and read journals and planned and sketched for about 5 months before I started my build. even at that point though, I knew the basics of what I was doing, but I kept on planning and sketching and reading as I went.

Same thing here. I lurked on TnTTT and Exploration Portal for a very long time before I even started thinking about putting ideas on paper. Even after I started doodling/sketching trailers at home and at work, I wasn't committed to the project, because I thought it was beyond my skills to create one from scratch. I only decided to commit after I realized that probably half the people building their own trailers had only partial skills like I, and they ended up with some pretty nice trailers. So, while planning, building, re-designing, modifying, etc., I honed what skills I had, and developed new ones. I enjoyed the process as much or more than actually using the trailer (I'm a tinkerer at heart). I filled up several notebooks with sketches, and countless loose doodles not saved, and did online research on hardware, paints, coatings, construction techniques, and perused product catalogs for alternative parts.... Eventually, I saved over 400MB of data on my laptop, just related to my build. The wife threw away my collected sketchbooks (along with 20 years of similar automotive research, from my previous obsession). But, the point to my story is that it is probably the way most trailers are built, by honing your basic ideas with constant new input, and "winging" it until you arrive at the desired result. I didn't keep a build journal, but many other's journals reflect the ongoing process. I just have one word of caution, though...don't buy all the parts you think you need now....the design mutates (at least mine did), and some items will need to be modified (I have lots of parts I bought too soon, ended up not using, and re-purposed later). Good Luck with your build!

[yrock87]

... I wasn't committed to the project, because I thought it was beyond my skills to create one from scratch. I only decided to commit after I realized that probably half the people building their own trailers had only partial skills like I, and they ended up with some pretty nice trailers.... ...I just have one word of caution, though...don't buy all the parts you think you need now....the design mutates (at least mine did), and some items will need to be modified (I have lots of parts I bought too soon, ended up not using, and re-purposed later). Good Luck with your build!

Agreed!

I also second the thought of one or two duplex outlets for 120v since you are already going to add a battery charger. we used one in the cabin on our trip over thanksgiving to run a small electric heater to keep our 15 month warm during the 40 degree nights.

[DWT77]

I am in the process of building a 5x5x10 Grumman. It will have the front of the Grumman but the galley hatch will be more like a Benroy. Since I am making the teardrop 5 feet tall it will have a 12 inch basement/storage area too. I am going to bed liner spray my teardrop and not deal with aluminum siding.

I have taken a couple of months off my build but I have recently started back. Just now getting started on the woodwork.

Here is my build journal viewtopic.php?f=50&t=67052

Below are two builds that had a lot of what I was looking for.

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=47781


viewtopic.php?f=50&t=57065

[DWT77]

Also if you are needing to add length to the sleeping area you could make the trailer 2 inches longer and shorten the interior cabinet by 2 or 3 inches. That would make your mattress area 80 inches. If you don't mind giving up cabinet storage at the head end. You will still have the interior cabinets at the foot end and the underneath storage.

[dakippen]

Well, I jumped in at the deep end of the pool, eyes closed and head first.

I started thinking seriously about getting a teardrop about 2 months ago, almost bought a kit but it sold before I made a final decision. That was 3 weeks ago. Decided to just go for it, bought the trailer and while waiting, started my research.

I've looked at tons of pictures, spent hours both here and on pinterest for ideas. I finally decided on a size and design and in my typical fashion, I'll be flying by the seat of my pants throughout this project.

I don't have a "certain" list of things I want or need, but I do know this will be a work in progress. Construction started this past wkend, just finished the trailer tonite. Bought most of my wall material last Saturday, so in the next day or so, I'll start working on the floor.

Good luck on your ideas and build. I'm really new here myself, but the help has been great so far!

[dshawster]

Also if you are needing to add length to the sleeping area you could make the trailer 2 inches longer and shorten the interior cabinet by 2 or 3 inches. That would make your mattress area 80 inches. If you don't mind giving up cabinet storage at the head end. You will still have the interior cabinets at the foot end and the underneath storage.

I was thinking of getting rid of lower cabinet storage in the front to get some more room but have a cabinet up higher so there is some storage, this should give me enough room. I have been playing around on sketchup with the wyoming woody plans to help me figure things out. Thanks for the ideas!

[dshawster]

Well, I jumped in at the deep end of the pool, eyes closed and head first.

I started thinking seriously about getting a teardrop about 2 months ago, almost bought a kit but it sold before I made a final decision. That was 3 weeks ago. Decided to just go for it, bought the trailer and while waiting, started my research.

I've looked at tons of pictures, spent hours both here and on pinterest for ideas. I finally decided on a size and design and in my typical fashion, I'll be flying by the seat of my pants throughout this project.

I don't have a "certain" list of things I want or need, but I do know this will be a work in progress. Construction started this past wkend, just finished the trailer tonite. Bought most of my wall material last Saturday, so in the next day or so, I'll start working on the floor.

Good luck on your ideas and build. I'm really new here myself, but the help has been great so far!

I've been 'dreaming' about one for a long time, maybe 3-4 years. I've always camped with tents and finally this last summer I decided I have had enough with them! I'm sure for a lot of the same reasons as others on here. I thought about buying one but the cost is more than I want to spend and building one will allow me to have the small details I want and give me the satisfaction of building one. I usually jump into projects and learn the design as I go, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, for this project I want it to go as smoothly as possible so I'm going to front load a lot of the design and construction to ensure that. I'm sure your build will be successful and fun!

[dakippen]

Well, I jumped in at the deep end of the pool, eyes closed and head first.

I started thinking seriously about getting a teardrop about 2 months ago, almost bought a kit but it sold before I made a final decision. That was 3 weeks ago. Decided to just go for it, bought the trailer and while waiting, started my research.

I've looked at tons of pictures, spent hours both here and on pinterest for ideas. I finally decided on a size and design and in my typical fashion, I'll be flying by the seat of my pants throughout this project.

I don't have a "certain" list of things I want or need, but I do know this will be a work in progress. Construction started this past wkend, just finished the trailer tonite. Bought most of my wall material last Saturday, so in the next day or so, I'll start working on the floor.

Good luck on your ideas and build. I'm really new here myself, but the help has been great so far!

I've been 'dreaming' about one for a long time, maybe 3-4 years. I've always camped with tents and finally this last summer I decided I have had enough with them! I'm sure for a lot of the same reasons as others on here. I thought about buying one but the cost is more than I want to spend and building one will allow me to have the small details I want and give me the satisfaction of building one. I usually jump into projects and learn the design as I go, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, for this project I want it to go as smoothly as possible so I'm going to front load a lot of the design and construction to ensure that. I'm sure your build will be successful and fun!

Well, I haven't been dreaming as long as you have, but up until 7 yrs ago, we were tent campers, bought a pull behind trailer and now use that most of the time.

But there are wkends - due to having more vacation - that I'll go camping by myself. And realistically, it's just as safe for a woman by herself as it used to be. Buying one outright is so out of the budget - so I figured, why not build. This will be a learn as I go, hubby is willing to help. I still have tons of ideas floating around in my head, some design aspects I know I want and just go from there. But in the end - Max will be mine with my own personal touch.

[dmdc411]

The Grumman plan is pretty much what I followed to a tee! Except I purchased a door from Vintage Technologies. Used a NT 5x8 landscape trailer. Everything worked out great except I completely forgot about adding blocking for my fenders! So, even with lots of planning in place, a whole lot of winging, still forget something. But it works out in the end! Biggest thing, enjoy the build. Get frustrated, walk away. I'd go have a beer and come up with something later!