UK construction of an Ultralight

[UK-Corlett]

Hi Everyone

I just wanted to drop you a line to say thanks for the help the 'US Teardrop commuity' has been while I have been building my trailer here in the UK. There have not been many made this side of the pond and so your help was invaulable particularly this forum. If you see your idea in my trailer that's probably because I copied it from you.

Special thanks to :-
Your Design Library as I used the profile of an Ultralight as the starting point of my design.
Michael Westhoff whose fantastic web site sold the idea to my wife
Lil' Bear Tag-Alongs and Pop Brown in the UK for the hinge
RIDGEONS Timber & Builders Merchants
Speciality alloys of Cambridge
Indespension Ltd
International paints.
Dow Corning- Note Guerrilla glue is called joiners mate in the UK

Clive

[angib]

Clive,

Nice work. Would you explain how you made the circular windows?

Andrew

[SkipperSue]

Excellent work! Very nice! I like the looks of the round windows also.

[asianflava]

Great work, I can't wait to see more pics!

[Mr Tim]

Hi UK-Corlett
I am another UK based teardrop nut, as yet I have not begun a build. I am concentrating on the tow vehicle to be (a 1967 split screen VW). When this is done next spring I hope I will start on a tear, also to be a lightweight.
Good work so far and look forward to more pics.
Tim

[madjack]

Welcome Clive...very nice looking work to date...your frame pics really threw me at first, till I figured out what I was looking at...do you have any additional pics of the welds on the tongue and do you have any "fish plate" on them...I hope they aren't just welded butt to butt...................
madjack

[calwes]

Great job. More picyures please!

[UK-Corlett]

Hi angib

The round windows. I have posted a close-up of the window being made. The construction goes 1.2mm Ally/18mm Hardwood exterior ply/25mm pine spacers and styrofoam/4mm of Beach ply.
The hole in the Ally and Hardwood is 15" Dia- the hole in the packing and beach ply is 14 1/4" Dia

Hi SkipperSue

Thanks for the feedback

Hi asianflava

I hope to put the pod on the running gear this weekend and finish the back door, so I will post new picks Monday

Hi Mr Tim

Good luck with your trailer project. I found sourcing materials the most difficult thing. When you get round to it I could help with suppliers.
Believe it or not HomeBase had the best selection of Ally trim.

Hi madjack

Yes I am afraid its all butted. The good news is, I am a Charted Design Engineer and an ok welder. You have a real point though and there are details to limit crack propagation. I will keep an eye on the key welds over time. I could have used fish plates but beauty was a key feature.

Hi calwes

I just wanted to thank you lot for keeping a good forum. It looks like it will be a nice weekend so I will take some more. I am particularly proud of my door.

Clive

[mikeschn]

Hello Clive,

Awsome job on your build so far. And you only now registered on the forum? What took you so long?

I like the staggered porthole windows. Do you plan on having your windows hinged so you can open them?

The frame looks pretty scary. That must be what MJ was talking about. Are you in the least bit concerned about the tongue joints? Did you ever see the story of Dave in the Desert? He broke his tongue out in the middle of no where. Practically had to limp back home. Because of Dave, Andrew wrote a program to calculate tongue strength. But I don't think he ever figured on seeing a tongue like you have!

Anyways, welcome to the forum. We like the pics, so please keep them coming...

Mike...

[angib]

Mike,

I'm with Clive - there's nothing wrong with butt welds in tubing....... as long as you are a very good welder.

It's worth pointing out that this is not something for a novice welder to try.

Andrew

[Nitetimes]

Hmmmmm, safety.... beauty.... I think safe is just a bit more important in the tongue area. You did a nice job on it but consider you are only using 1/8" thick steel which you welded at the highest stress points, I'd seriously consider plating. I've seen a lot of those type of tongues broken in my years in the trailer industry.
Otherwise looks like a very nice build you have going there.


By the way, that E word has gotten many a job muffed up. Sorry had to do it.

[UK-Corlett]

Hi all

Thanks for your continued interest

I have posted a few more pictures and one of the bit frame which will break and the windows.

There should be a health warning on that back door. Its taken almost as long as the rest of it.

Hi mikeschn

No the windows are fixed but smoked glass. In the UK we have a problem with being too cold not being too hot. Actually the main reason for building the teardrop is to extend the camping season into the autumn and spring.

Hi Nitetimes

You may be right. I will post lots of pictures if it breaks and you can all "we told you so" me.
I designed this Teardrop. (Actually copied most of your ideas). I could not reliably predict the position of the centre of gravity. So making the steel frame separately from the pod should allow me to move the pod around until the nose weight is right. I am aiming for 30kg 66lb. I have two cars, the second is a little VW Polo so the nose weight must be low. As main assembly is tomorrow I will post the actual nose weight then.

by E word do you mean Engineer? If so I make no appilogies. The day job - www.kore.co.uk. I have had 30 great years at it.

I think the imperial system is easier to live with. However if you need to calculate anything it rocks. 1kg x 10m/s^2 x 1m in 1 sec = 10 watts Its all 1x1=1

Clive

[Nitetimes]

You may be right. I will post lots of pictures if it breaks and you can all "we told you so" me.
Clive

That's the one thing I'd rather never do. Hate to see something happen to all that nice work you are doing. May never break, but do you really want to take that chance. I'll say no more.

[mikeschn]

You could always add those little plates, what do they call them? Fletch plates?

Mike...

[Miriam C.]

Welcome Clive. That is a beautiful teardrop. All it needs is a good shot of the side and those windows. Don't know about the E stuff, but any chance that form of Tongue and be made upside down. (yes I would use plates so as to have a place to attach the tongue jack.

Looking forward to the finish.