T@b Plans?

[Rebel]

I have been interested in the T@B since I first saw one earlier this year in Knoxville, and hoped to someday build something similar - at least in the profile.

Steve, Dale, Mike, and others have shown they know how to build and to communicate. Was wondering if they could put their heads together and come up with a very close plan? I have Dale's Squidget plans, and have really been facinated lately with Steve's Puffin...

I do agree with Steve that we need a small bathroom. Here is a link Mike gave me last spring for one that might could be designed into Steve's plan. http://www.xor.org.uk/unimog/mymog/shower.htm"

The neat thing about building ones own "modified T@B" would be the ability to customize it to personal needs.

[sandman]

sandman,

If you want an exact T@b clone, I've got the profile drawn but as yet it has no interior:



Andrew

Oh Yeah!!!! I would love to have the plans for a T@b. Does the profile give you radius and all that, Andrew. That would be too cool. Thanks for your help. My wife really likes the Tab too. I am currently working on building a Benroy from Mike's plans but the T@B would be for trips when the wife wants to go camping. The Benroy is more for my motorcycle trips.

[steve wolverton]

and have really been facinated lately with Steve's Puffin...

I do agree with Steve that we need a small bathroom.

Thanks Rebel. I hope to get some camping pics and report back with towing results, handling, comfort levels, etc. soon.

A small bathroom was huge on my list. No hunting shoes, packing on clothes, finding a flashlight, and straggling off in the middle of the night to the campground restrooms. No more worrying about those 3:00am nature calls in the middle of winter because of too many beverages. I can also lock myself in the bathroom and listen to my headphones if my camping buddy starts to get on my nerves.

[mtnair]

My DH and I saw a TAB this weekend in a parking lot. Seemed really big, and it was being pulled by a jeep.

[Arne]

Andrew, do you think the tab could ever be as aero as a lower teardrop, given the height of the tab design? assuming the same width.....

Seems like the duo would be a gas hog. I know standing up would be nice, but......

[dwgriff1]

Arne,

You don't want a roof raiser like Mike suggested Months ago. I am curious to your logic, and there is no wrong answer.

dave

[Arne]

Darn, now you made me think. I believe it is because I want a simpler build and camp set-up... I don't want a folding door, and I like the layout of a conventional tear. I don't even mind the tear height too much, but I was just thinking more head room might be nice. I don't want an interior toilet or shower or sink or water pump. I'm thinking simple.

Anything that folds just has to gain weight, and I'm trying to build on the light side.

[angib]

Andrew, do you think the tab could ever be as aero as a lower teardrop, given the height of the tab design? assuming the same width.....

It is very hard to believe that it could be, as cross-sectional area matters more than anything else. A T@b is 93" high overall, which is maybe 50% more than a typical teardrop. And I don't see anything much in the T@b design that's particularly aerodynamic.

Andrew

[dwgriff1]

Darn, now you made me think. . . I'm thinking simple.

Arne,

Logical answer. I like my 5 by 8 by 4, but I keep wondering about #2, if it ever happens!!

dave

[doug hodder]

I was just thinking more head room might be nice.

Arne...how much more headroom? you might try a trolley top...Doug

[Arne]

Andrew, that is what I thought... and to keep it light means a simple configuration, so though I like the trolley top, that might not work for me.. probably wind up looking like a space ship/g/..... I might do some drawing on the graph paper, though... also, I think a trolley top might disturb the air flow and make it aero-bad....

I'd actually like to make the front have the normal front teardrop curve, but also a bit of curve in the sides towards the middle in the front as well, to get the worst part of the air dam of the tear inside the wind shadow of the tow vehicle... but, then I get into compound curve inside and out... I can do one or the other, but doing both is confounding me... I can do the outside using stitch and glue (ala kayak construction, but then I'd have to do the inside, and getting good wall to ceiling seams would be tough. Everytime I go over it, I run into construction obstacles....

[steve wolverton]

I can do the outside using stitch and glue (ala kayak construction, but then I'd have to do the inside, and getting good wall to ceiling seams would be tough. Everytime I go over it, I run into construction obstacles....

I think you should give it a try Arne. I've always wanted to try a stitch-n-glue tear. I think one could come up with a great looking design, make it aerodynamic, and very light as well. The most difficult part would be coming up with the panel offsets, but there are some resident CAD pros here that could hammer it out.

Give it a whirl! I saw some pics of the Roswell that Cary drew up using panels that would be an awesome stitch-n-glue. Maybe you don't want something that extreme, but I think it's very do-able. It's nothing more than a large upside down dinghy.

[Arne]

If it was only an outer shell, no problem.. the difficulty is insulation and the second skin, which would probably have to be the inside wall and front ceiling/wall.... I'm still mulling it over.

I'm also thinking of a short tongue to keep the trailer in the wind shadow.. but that might cause more bouncing on the tow vehicle. There is no reason to have a tongue longer than 2 feet beyond the front of the tear, except to have access to the back of my minivan, and to have a min of a 45 degree turning angle. If I'm backing up and it gets that far off, I have to pull ahead to straighten it out anyway.

[dwgriff1]

Arne,

I have an extremely short tongue (17"). I am going to extend it 9" to 26, but the short length pulls very nicely both with a small light car and a full size pickup.

It is short because of a design change.

And, Steve, I am super intrigued by that stitch and glue idea. Could you use some sort of a spray on insulation and not really have an inner skin?

dave

[Arne]

Dave, thank you for the tongue length feedback....

Sometimes I build based on 'what I've always done' without giving it a lot of thought.