O.D.D. Version 1.0 An off-road teardrop build.

[KTM_Guy]

Todd, amazing night shots! Looks like the build is working out well for your style of camping. Want to see more shots of the outdoors when you have a chance.

Any news about the shoulder (my pains were due to lifting plywood sheets, didn't happen 30 years ago...) or weight on the trailer?

I have been wanting to do an update on the tear. I need to get some current photos. I get home from work and just can’t get out to the 115 degree garage. I’m sure you can relate. where are you in NM? We are trying to make some plans to get out there.

Thanks for asking about the shoulder, my wife thinks it was from a mountain biking crash I had a few month before I had the pain. I don’t bounce like I did when younger. I did some PT and am doing fine now. I’ve noticed that plywood is getting harder to handle by myself.

On the way home from a trip we stopped at a CAT scale and with the camper still connected to the Jeep we came in at 1724. So add 200 pounds or so for the tongue weight. I have added some more weight since then and still have a little more to add, spare tire and a water tank will be the heaviest. Looks like I’ll be upgrading the Timbren to 3500# springs soon.

Todd

Did you end up switching to 3500# timbren springs? Curious how everything lined up with the 2x2 cross tube, holes, fenders. I’m thinking about doing the same thing. Also what did you end up doing with your water tank.

P.S. that is a beautiful build.

I did just replace the springs a few weeks ago. The right side took about 2 hours, the left side 15 minutes. The rebound spring was the harder than the main spring. But it did make a big difference in ride.

The main reason I needed to do the springs was because on adding the water tank. I struggled with finding the right tank. I found one when I was in the planning stage that was 6” tall and held 35 gallons. That is what I built for. But the price was insane, with shipping it was over $450. I found on Amazon a 8” tall 25 gallon one and went with that. So lost 2” of ground clearance but I still have more clearance than the Jeep. 25 gallons seems like more than enough, we had no problems finding places to fill.

I did have some tire wear on the inside of the tread. That was due to the toe being off. I adjusted that and it has helped but the tires still seem to have some cant to them that I’m not sure will cause wear problems. It doesn’t seem like it will, I just got back from a 1,600 trip and everything is looking good.

I’ll try to get an update up soon, I have done a quite a bit since my last post.

Todd

[ricky herbold]

Todd, amazing night shots! Looks like the build is working out well for your style of camping. Want to see more shots of the outdoors when you have a chance.

Any news about the shoulder (my pains were due to lifting plywood sheets, didn't happen 30 years ago...) or weight on the trailer?

I have been wanting to do an update on the tear. I need to get some current photos. I get home from work and just can’t get out to the 115 degree garage. I’m sure you can relate. where are you in NM? We are trying to make some plans to get out there.

Thanks for asking about the shoulder, my wife thinks it was from a mountain biking crash I had a few month before I had the pain. I don’t bounce like I did when younger. I did some PT and am doing fine now. I’ve noticed that plywood is getting harder to handle by myself.

On the way home from a trip we stopped at a CAT scale and with the camper still connected to the Jeep we came in at 1724. So add 200 pounds or so for the tongue weight. I have added some more weight since then and still have a little more to add, spare tire and a water tank will be the heaviest. Looks like I’ll be upgrading the Timbren to 3500# springs soon.

Todd

Did you end up switching to 3500# timbren springs? Curious how everything lined up with the 2x2 cross tube, holes, fenders. I’m thinking about doing the same thing. Also what did you end up doing with your water tank.

P.S. that is a beautiful build.

I did just replace the springs a few weeks ago. The right side took about 2 hours, the left side 15 minutes. The rebound spring was the harder than the main spring. But it did make a big difference in ride.

The main reason I needed to do the springs was because on adding the water tank. I struggled with finding the right tank. I found one when I was in the planning stage that was 6” tall and held 35 gallons. That is what I built for. But the price was insane, with shipping it was over $450. I found on Amazon a 8” tall 25 gallon one and went with that. So lost 2” of ground clearance but I still have more clearance than the Jeep. 25 gallons seems like more than enough, we had no problems finding places to fill.

I did have some tire wear on the inside of the tread. That was due to the toe being off. I adjusted that and it has helped but the tires still seem to have some cant to them that I’m not sure will cause wear problems. It doesn’t seem like it will, I just got back from a 1,600 trip and everything is looking good.

I’ll try to get an update up soon, I have done a quite a bit since my last post.

Todd

Oh wow, I didn’t realize you could just switch out the rubber springs. We’re you able to purchase just the rubber springs (if so, where) or did you buy the 3500# axles and take the rubber out of those?

[tony.latham]

I have done a quite a bit since my last post.

Quit the teasing.

Photos. We need photos.



Tony

[KTM_Guy]

I ordered the 2000# heavy duty axle from eTrailer with 4” lift. Timbren said the 2000# is more for a 1700# max trailer. I knew I would be pushing 2000# once I added the spare tire and the water tank.

I called Timbren gave them the model number on my axle and they gave me the part number for the spring. Then I special ordered that from eTrailer. The thing to know it the part number is just for one spring not the pair. Even though they say they should be replaced in pairs. About $120 per spring.

There are only certain axles that you can upgrade or downgrade the springs on. You would need to call them with a part number to confirm.

It’s best to order the right one from the start.

Todd

[ricky herbold]

I ordered the 2000# heavy duty axle from eTrailer with 4” lift. Timbren said the 2000# is more for a 1700# max trailer. I knew I would be pushing 2000# once I added the spare tire and the water tank.

I called Timbren gave them the model number on my axle and they gave me the part number for the spring. Then I special ordered that from eTrailer. The thing to know it the part number is just for one spring not the pair. Even though they say they should be replaced in pairs. About $120 per spring.

There are only certain axles that you can upgrade or downgrade the springs on. You would need to call them with a part number to confirm.

It’s best to order the right one from the start.

Todd

awesome. Thank you!


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[KTM_Guy]

It’s been a long time since I last updated my build, I was going to do an update but my photos didn’t sync, no photos. But I do have some in action shots I’ll post.

We got the teardrop usable (are they ever really done?) in March since then we have spent 32 night in it. We have been to California, Utah, Colorado, into New Mexico but didn’t camp there yet. And of course Arizona. We have been loving the teardrop, it really works well for us. There are a few downsides I’ll have to think about for another post.

We are pushing in on 1,000 miles off pavement without any problem, we learned early that everything needs a place and needs to be secured. There have been time it looked like a bomb went off in the galley. The downside of taking a trailer off-road isn’t the build quality of the trailer it’s the trail itself. Things like switchbacks, you can have the most off-road worthy trailer made and it won’t help you on switchbacks. Same thing with shelf roads, I have been is a few situations white knuckled hoping someone wasn’t coming the other way. Just have to except the fact that some trails are not trailer friendly even though the trailer is more than capable.

How about some pictures.























That’s it for now. More later.
.

[ricky herbold]

Pretty sweet!

[pchast]

Beautiful photographs!

Thanks

[KTM_Guy]

Thanks for the replies.

Here is a little bit on the Timbren spring upgrade. The thing to know is when you order the springs they are for one. Even though they say you should replace them in pairs.

We were at about 1,700 pounds, I knew we would be adding a water tank in the 20 to 40 gallon range and a spare tire, so that will put me over the 2,000 pound rating of the axle. A call to Timbren revealed that the load on a 2,000# HD axle should max out at 1,600-1,700 pounds. A spring swap was in the cards.

Here is picture before.



I started on the first one and really struggled with it. Getting the old one out was easy. The new one going in not so much. It was a 3,500 pound spring by the way. I tried greasing them, clamps to pull them in, but there was no easy way to get the clamps on. After about 2 hours trying it was time to get serious. Took another 20 minutes to come up with a plan and then looked in the scrap to see what I could find. Here is the setup.







Impact and deep socket and I’m set. Took about 3 hours for the first one. The other side was 15-20 minutes, including jacking the trailer up and removing and replacing the the tire.

Here is the after shot.



Gained about 1.25” clearance which was great. But the last thing I needed to do was replace the two rebound springs. I struggled more with them and no way to install them like the main springs. I called Timbren on Monday because I figured there had to be a different rebound spring for the heavier springs. Nope, they said just push the in. Well that want going to happen. I was off by almost 1/2”. I needed to get some weight on the back to compress the springs. But where would I get weight? I thought I could go to Home Depot with the trailer and a bag full of Big Mac’s and look for the guy that goes by the name tiny and have him stand on the back bumper. But I came up with another idea to try first.





That was enough but I still needed to pound them in with a hammer.

The morale of the story get the 3500 pound springs from the beginning.

Todd

[retep]

Sold! I was toggling between the 2000 & 3500. Thanks for sharing your story. You have saved me the same frustration.

Cheers
Peter


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[KTM_Guy]

Sold! I was toggling between the 2000 & 3500. Thanks for sharing your story. You have saved me the same frustration.

Cheers
Peter


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Good move. I think you’ll like them.

Todd

[KTM_Guy]

Here is another upgrade, water tank, water heater, furnace.

Not sure these were upgrades, more just getting them in.

I mounted the water tank under the teardrop. When I built the frame I I spent some time looking for tanks that would be the size I wanted and built some supports for that. The thing I didn’t check was what the cost would be with shipping. I found a 4” tall tank that held about 34 gallons, it was the ideal fit. We just used 5 gallon jug for water and I would put a hose in it from the pump. The plan was to use it that way for a few years and then get the tank. But it was kind of a pain and we decided to add the tank sooner. I went to order the one I found at the ridiculous price around $250. Then to find out shipping was another $280. the crazy thing was it was just shipping from San Diego, that’s only 5 hours away, and they don’t do will call. Needed a plan B and probably C and D too. When building the frame I picked up a piece of 3/16” aluminum to act as a skid plate for the tank. So one idea was to build an aluminum tank with that the bottom. But we would then have to carry drinking water. So I looked at building with Fiberglass, same problem with drinking water. If I wanted safe drinking water that meant, food grade plastic or stainless steel. I trip to the scrap yard and I found some great SS pieces that would work perfectly. It that stuff is heavy, I was just at 100 pounds. After a few month more using 5 gallon jugs I looked on Amazon and they had some 8” tall water tanks, the 25 gallon was the cheapest per gallon and at this time we had enough trips in to know it’s not hard to find a place to fill up. Why hall around 40 gallons of water when you only need 20? The ment we would loose 2.25” of ground clearance. I could live with that because we had way more clearance than the Jeep.

Here you can see the original frame in black and the 2X2 square tube I had to add. I was able I find the perfect size in aluminum.






Added a way to drain the tank.



All the water tubing.



Our Colorado trip was the first time using the tank, I put in about 6-7 gallons for the drive. On the third day we filled up at a campground we were leaving. Which was a good move because the other campgrounds we stayed already had the water turned off for the winter. But we were fine for the rest of the trip. We use a lot less water in the cool to cold mountains than at home in the desert.

Here is the water heater mounted in a pelican type case, along with the propane regulators. So far this has worked well.



I used some aluminum rectangular tube as standoffs to give me an air space. I also added a switch wired in to the battery so if the hot water is ran with the case closed the igniter will not work.



I have a low pressure regulator for the water heater and furnace, also a quick connect if we want to add a fire pit. And a high pressure regulator for the Cook Partner stove.



We have the 1 gallon propane tank and I was really looking forward to see how long it would last when using the furnace. We had night lows from 34 down to 20. We didn’t run it at night while sleeping but used it to prewarm before bed and then again in the morning. It worked great. It was very expensive but well worth it. I wouldn’t build another teardrop without one. We have the Propex, and no problems up to 11,000’. Same with the water heater no problems, but it took longer to heat the cold water in the morning.

Here you can see the Propex (blue) and the water pump (red). The two tan tubes are the ducts, left side it warm air that blows into the cabin and the right one is the return air, it just draws air from that space. You can see to the right of the sink the return grill into the cabin. I wanted to do it this way so to draw warm air into the galley I keep it somewhat warm. I had a cheap $16 pump that was so loud and was starting to flake out so replaced it with a better one. It’s bigger and delivers more water than we really need but it is so much quieter. If you notice just below the sink drain to the right is a solenoid valve that comes from the hot water faucet supply, and connects back into the water tank. I can push a button in the galley and it opens the valve and the hot water will start to flow and start the water heater burner. I hold the button for 10-15 seconds and open the hot water faucet within a second or two I have hot water. I really only waist maybe a cup of water to get hot water.



Still need to make doors to hide this.




Then next thing will be the spare tire holder. Maybe tomorrow.

Todd

.

[tony.latham]

You've been busy.

I'm surprised you managed to get the furnace that close to the wall. Here's my propane line:



I needed that much room so I could get an elbow on underneath and have it clear the chassis.

I found two heater elbows on eBay to clean up the ducting going to the bulkhead vents.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/for-Eberspaecher-Webasto-Heater-75mm-Car-Air-Ducting-Pipe-Elbow-Outlet-Connector/254193896853?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

They take a little bit of fitting but work great.

Aren't those little heaters great???

Tony

[KTM_Guy]

You've been busy.

I'm surprised you managed to get the furnace that close to the wall. Here's my propane line:



I needed that much room so I could get an elbow on underneath and have it clear the chassis.

I found two heater elbows on eBay to clean up the ducting going to the bulkhead vents.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/for-Eberspaecher-Webasto-Heater-75mm-Car-Air-Ducting-Pipe-Elbow-Outlet-Connector/254193896853?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

They take a little bit of fitting but work great.

Aren't those little heaters great???

Tony

My hearer came with a male thread to compression 90 el. It was a very tight fit. I put the coper tube on the fitting and then pushed everything down the holes. Hope I never have to take it apart.

Todd

[noseoil]

Todd, nice stuff! I was wondering what the rolling weight would be. We always add more weight than we thought originally ("Well, it's just a couple of pounds, so I can...") on a build. It's just part of the process when building. You had asked where we are, it's Raton NM, just 6 miles south of the Colorado border off of I-25. Really like the photos!