Buddy & Missus' Full Height Teardrop Camper Slide-In

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Days 50 & 51: ACM Complete - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper



Hubby finishes up the ACM with the soffit, starts a special project, reams out some holes and makes a really good mess.

[Paintsalot]

Days 48 & 49: Oh My Knees - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper


Getting closer to having the CamperPod enclosed. Knee wall done!

Thanks for posting your process. I'm looking at some of the videos. I'm planning to use ACM or marine plywood, or Baltic Birch skins. But I'm having trouble finding the plywood.

Do you recommend the ACM now? I'm trying to stay under 1000 lbs. 1/8 plywood is lighter, but I can't find any locally that are exterior grade. 1/4" BCX plywood is about the same weight. It might be easier to work with, but then it needs to be finished.

I plan to trim out the exterior with western red cedar trim.

My design will fold down, but you can stand up in it once its up.

I bought some cork to insulate with, not sure how well it will work. Good sound attenuation. No mold/mildew issues with cork usually. All natural too.

Good luck as you continue.

Matthew in Memphis

[tony.latham]

But I'm having trouble finding the plywood.

Where are you looking for Baltic birch? Hopefully, not box stores.

Historically, I've ordered mine through my local lumberyard and suspect they could still get it. There's a specialty hardwood company three hours away that makes a run to the middle of Idaho once a month. They quoted me $35 a sheet for 5 x 5' 1/8" Baltic.

Tony

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Days 50 & 51: ACM Complete - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper

Hubby finishes up the ACM with the soffit, starts a special project, reams out some holes and makes a really good mess. Wait until the closing credits to see the special project.

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Day 52: Get Some Caulk In There - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper

"It's officially Caulking Day . . . a day when I caulk the joints of the ACM and show you a really neat little tool. I also remove some braces from the front of the Camper Pod."

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Thanks for posting your process. I'm looking at some of the videos. I'm planning to use ACM or marine plywood, or Baltic Birch skins. But I'm having trouble finding the plywood.

Do you recommend the ACM now? I'm trying to stay under 1000 lbs. 1/8 plywood is lighter, but I can't find any locally that are exterior grade. 1/4" BCX plywood is about the same weight. It might be easier to work with, but then it needs to be finished.

I plan to trim out the exterior with western red cedar trim.

My design will fold down, but you can stand up in it once its up.

I bought some cork to insulate with, not sure how well it will work. Good sound attenuation. No mold/mildew issues with cork usually. All natural too.

Good luck as you continue.

Matthew in Memphis

Hi Matthew,
I would use the ACM again but I would design the camper to fit the sheets, all we have here locally is 4x8 sheet and they had 3 sheets left of 5x10
I saw another guy locally who built a smaller one and his was only 5' wide he used 2 5x10 sheets and only had one roof seem in the middle - made the bending much easier.
If you plan to trim it out with cedar, I'm not sure if ACM is worth it, we used it because it can act as the siding as well.
So many options, I'm sure you'll figure out what will work best for your build

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Installing RV Corner Roof Trim - Detailed - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper



This one is for all those folks looking for a real time video on installing RV Corner trim on their campers. We couldn't find any full-length videos out there to help us - so hopefully this will help you Loyal gets some help from a dead blow hammer from princess auto and a 1/2" block of wood - he gets a little bit overzealous at times - I told him it's not whack-a-mole and he gentles his hand. It also helps if you have a jumbo size helping of patience.

First time installing - not too bad, it's not perfect but we only get one shout with the price of this stuff.

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Day 54 & 55: RV Trim - All The Little Details - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper


Finishing up the RV corner trim and the back trim utilizing as much of the expensive trim as possible. Just a lot of little details - I'm happy.

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Day 56: Cutting Corners - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper



To save some cash we decided to use vinyl house trim for the outer corners and 34" aluminum angle for the bottom trims along with the expensive and RV corner trim for the roof - how will they all meet up? Lets see... Great to have a third arm with all this work.

#goprocanbeanasssometimes
#goprodoeswhatitwants

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Day 57: Aluminum Angle Trim Details - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper



Hubby buttons up the exterior seams today, installs the trim around the front hatch and starts cutting the 160 linear feet of aluminum for the lower trim.

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Day 58: All The Trimmings - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper



Finishing up the aluminum trim happens pretty quickly once he figures out how to do it. Hubby re-learns a very quick lesson when starting the white vinyl trim. And he was kinda lucky. If you can't be good . . . be lucky . . . right?

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Day 59: Na-na-na-na Nanana - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper

Well . . . did you ever have one of those days when nothing went right. Yea, it happened on Day 59. But Hubby did end up "Gettin' Jiggy With It" when he did a reset.

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Day 60: Cornered! - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper

Butyl tape certainly does not go as far as expected, yet caulking seems to go on forever.
Today we get the corner white vinyl trim installed.

[Buddy-and-Missus]

Day 61: Head Stands & Drill Don't Fit - Building a Full Height Teardrop Camper



Hubby runs into trouble installing the lower aluminum trim as the drill does not fit.

[pchast]

Don't you have enough overhead clearance to jack one side at a time to add that molding?
Even tipping the camper between your roof trusses?