In The Beginning...

[Alaskabear99687]

Ok, I have finally made the plunge. As posted a couple weeks ago my wife and I have made the purchase of a trailer to start our build with. I have just posted my first two pics of the build and hope to have many more. My plan is to go 5x8 with the generic Benroy style to use as a base, this will put my floor over the top of the rails allowing me to build some storage underneath the floor. I will also be extending the tongue to accomadate the longer floor and that will also give me more storage for fising poles, camp chairs, pop up covers and the like. Finally I have taken many measurements and will be puting the trailer in storage as I have no shop/garage and with snow about 500-1000 feet up on the mountain and coming down fast I will be building this a part at a time inside our apartment (love my wife) until sprintg when I can work outside again. In the meantime I will be visiting and picking brains alot... Thanks for everyones help already..
Allen & Lori

[NightCap]

Sounds like it's going to be a fun build. I have a basement in mine as well. It comes in very handy. The only drawback is I have to stand on my toes to get my butt into my tear. Other wise it works out great. Can't wait to see your build pics. Good luck amigos and don't hesitate to ask these oddballs on this forum for help.

[doug hodder]

Allen...as an ex-Alaskan here's my opinion. You need to build your trailer to suit the conditions you are going to travel, camp and store the trailer in. Think about the highways you are going to trek down in terms of long term maintenance and potentially your resale value. While it's been a while since I've lived up there, I did a lot of travel all over the Yukon Territory, and some of those highways that have long stretches in gravel can be tough on a trailer as well as the rain snow etc.... Just my thoughts on it. Mine are all asphalt queens since I live in Ca. now. Many of us just don't have the same environmental situations as you. You have the best judgment in this situation in terms of your build. There are lots of ways to build a tear, and you have a challenge with trying to build one without a shop. I'm sure you can do it however. For all those naysayers...just tell them to wait and see! Hope to see your build progress and welcome to the forum. Doug

[Wimperdink]

I like it.... Have to believe that it will take its toll in weight and aerodynamics, but should stay dry inside and take a serious beating and remain looking good. If your pulling with enough HP then the extra weight would be a non factor.

[grant whipp]

Hey there, Alllen & Lori!

When I first looked at your trailer base, this is what I thought:
Build a teardrop "slid-in" unit that has a base that fits between your existing rails, and "wings" (like on a slide-in pickup camper) that extend out to the edge of either the trailer's side rails or the edge of the fender (they could also extend forward over the tongue a bit). I went looking for the example I saw at the first S.C.T.T. Sweetwater Gathering in 2000, but came up with this instead:


(picture courtesy of Gage!)

That way, you can slide it off whenever you need a utility-type trailer.

BTW, there have been a handful of teardrops that used bedliner material for the outer "skin", all with good results. I'm in the middle of a build right now that will have a combination ... Linex on the roof and just over the edges (as well as the leading edges of the fenders) with polished aluminum sides & deck lid. And yes, there is a weight penalty, but ...

Good Luck with your build! In the meantime ...

CHEERS!

Grant

[martha24]

Here's a second tear of the sort Grant is talking about skinned in aluminum. It was taken at the SLO Gathering in CA a few weeks ago.

Good luck on your build whatever you choose to do.

[Alaskabear99687]

Thanks folks, I am considering the slide in/out style but the wife isn't to keen on that. Lots of work ahead and pulling out the graph paper this weekend to start on the basic draft and see what happens.