I had promised to show pictures of my build album, but my name was mysteriously removed from the member list during all of the hullabaloo over my not posting, making that impossible before now. Many thanks to Mike for re-installing it. I apologize to those who’ve thought I just wasn’t honoring my promise.
I put blade to wood on my trailer build project May 15 this year and finished it on September 29. I got it licensed on the 3rd of October…………..just 3 days before our trip to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque and then the balance of 10 days traveling through Southwestern Colorado. It rained 6 of the 10 days of our trip, and the trailer performed beautifully………..except for a minor leak at the lower edge of the hatch during a 3 hour blinding rainstorm between Amarillo and Oklahoma City on the way home. (It will be easy to remedy the problem.) This trailer body is 64” wide outside, by 121” long, and 55” high. (that means I have a full 5’ of galley countertop, negating any need for side tables.) It ended up weighing 1360 pounds with no provisions, ice, or utensils in the galley. Tongue weight was 124 pounds before loading the galley. My Honda Accord developed a transmission problem less than a week before we left, so we transferred the Prodigy brake controller over to my girlfriend’s Explorer and let it do the pulling. (although the Accord will pull the trailer easily) The trailer towed like a dream. It’s not finished yet. I plan to trim it like a woodie, with Mahogany, and install gas struts on the hatch. It took twice as long to build, and cost twice as much as my original estimate, but I’m very satisfied.
There are far too many people on this site to thank individually for all the personal help, suggestions or even from whom ideas I have blatantly and unabashedly stolen. If you see anything on my trailer, which reminds you of something you did on yours, (or something we personally talked about on the site or in PM’s) please consider it a sincere compliment and the extent of personal recognition you’ll be receiving. (Plagiarism, after all, is the greatest of compliments!) Thanks a million to all of you. Moreover, that sincerely includes many of those so unhappy with me.
I’d specifically like to thank Steve Frederick for producing such a good building manual and the willingness to answer questions so thoroughly on a personal basis. I highly recommend his manual to anyone just starting a teardrop project. (It alleviates most of the chin scratchin’) I also want to thank Rev. David Brinker (DeeBee) for the beautiful Teardrop Trailer Blessing. It’s framed and mounted on the wall inside our new teardrop.
I understand there was a lot of controversy about my leaving the forum, so I won’t force any of those disappointed in my actions to view my album by actually posting pictures here. If you have any questions about anything I’ve done, or would do differently, I’ll be more than happy to answer them through PMs, as I won't be accessing the forum.
Happy Camping to all.
http://tinyurl.com/px5cd
(The album is two pages long, so get a cup of coffee and play the slideshow.)