hi from Romania

[hallelujah]

Hello guys,

the short version of my name is Tony, I'm from Romania and I've found this website by means of the German T@b forum. When I saw the teardrops I immediately fell in love with them - realizing their value in my life.
My story is that I want my place to live in, as I'm now 28 and still living with the parents. In Romania even a single room flat costs about 25.000 USD and wages are somewhere around 600 USD thus owning a flat is not a quite affordable option not to mention that you're bound to jobs to afford living in it; so I've been seeking for alternatives. I have found them (in form of remote located land + cob house + as much as possible dependence from electricity) but where would I live until then? And the teardrop suits perfectly my needs as it's small and mobile, relatively cheap to build and doesn't require too much maintaining hassle (or so I think). I've joined this forum as I'd like to consult you guys in building one and get it right the first time.

One of the first questions would be how do these things fare during winter time as we had temperatures as low as -22F.

The second thing would be: I want to build the chassis out of stainless steel in order to build easy and keep down maintenance (corrosion issues). I've found a square profile pipe, 60x60 mm and 1.5 or 2 mm wall thickness (I've chosen this dimension based on two reasons: http://www.knott-trailer-shop.com/produ ... earing.htm the axle surface width that connects it to the chassis is 60 mm wide, and the width of the square ball coupling which is also 60 mm as shown here http://www.knott-trailer-shop.com/produ ... square.htm); as I don't have any building experience I would like to know if the reasoning is right. Besides this has anybody experience with stainless steel chassis building? Is the material right for off road teardrops? Which wall thickness do you recommend I should go with and why? (1.5 or 2 mm)?

Sincerely,

Tony

[steve smoot]

Welcome to the forum Tony.

Wow, spending the winter in a teardrop...you are a much braver sole than I am...

I recall someone else making their frame with stainless steel. Hopefully, they will see your post and answer your questions.

There is a fellow on here that built a larger trailer, and he is living in it. I will post a link to his site when I find it again.

Steve

[Cliffmeister2000]

Welcome, Tony! We have a few CRES experts on the forum. One will chime in soon!

[steve smoot]

Nick,

I found the link for Nick Stratton. He is the fellow that is living in his camper. Hope you may find some helpful info...

www.offgridrving.com

[hallelujah]

thank you Steve. that is nice

[BigAl]

Hi Tony, Welcome and greetings from Scotland.

You have come to the correct place to find out how to build a teardrop that can be used during the winter.

I look forward to seeing pictures of your build.

[Classic Finn]

Hello guys,

the short version of my name is Tony, I'm from Romania and I've found this website by means of the German T@b forum. When I saw the teardrops I immediately fell in love with them - realizing their value in my life.
My story is that I want my place to live in, as I'm now 28 and still living with the parents. In Romania even a single room flat costs about 25.000 USD and wages are somewhere around 600 USD thus owning a flat is not a quite affordable option not to mention that you're bound to jobs to afford living in it; so I've been seeking for alternatives. I have found them (in form of remote located land + cob house + as much as possible dependence from electricity) but where would I live until then? And the teardrop suits perfectly my needs as it's small and mobile, relatively cheap to build and doesn't require too much maintaining hassle (or so I think). I've joined this forum as I'd like to consult you guys in building one and get it right the first time.

One of the first questions would be how do these things fare during winter time as we had temperatures as low as -22F.

The second thing would be: I want to build the chassis out of stainless steel in order to build easy and keep down maintenance (corrosion issues). I've found a square profile pipe, 60x60 mm and 1.5 or 2 mm wall thickness (I've chosen this dimension based on two reasons: http://www.knott-trailer-shop.com/produ ... earing.htm the axle surface width that connects it to the chassis is 60 mm wide, and the width of the square ball coupling which is also 60 mm as shown here http://www.knott-trailer-shop.com/produ ... square.htm); as I don't have any building experience I would like to know if the reasoning is right. Besides this has anybody experience with stainless steel chassis building? Is the material right for off road teardrops? Which wall thickness do you recommend I should go with and why? (1.5 or 2 mm)?

Sincerely,

Tony

Welcome to the forum Tony and Greetings from Finland. Your idea of living in a teardrop during winter is somthing that will take some doing.
As you know the winters get cold here too. Aluminum chassis have been built numerous times here. However with stainless? Now that is going to be costly.
Wall thickness at 1.5 or 2mm? You must be meaning the skin of the tear correct? Ive got 50mm styrofoam from front to back on our tear however nothing except ply and aluminum on the sides. Not very warm for the cold temps reaching down to - 22 celcius or colder. I know we have temps of 30 to 40 - cecius here in the far north and europe had some cold days too last winter. So you need to bundle up come winter. Id sooner build a Sauna on Wheels and live in that for the winter months

Camping a night or 2 in winter is fun in a teardrop. We have a small ceramic heater and matress as well as good sleeping bags. Knowing also that we can come home to a warm house helps much as well.

Here as well as in most European countries the chassis is also galvanized to protect it from the elements such as rust and corrosion.

Your choice of either Knott or Al-ko is certainly very good for chassis parts and axles.

But in any case welcome to the forum Tony.

[hallelujah]

Hi there Finnish mate,

thank you for your input.

So, with 5 cm styrofoam you still get cold. That is good to know. I've also planned for a small 2 kW LPG gas heater for just such occasions.

I plan building only the chassis of the teardrop in stainless steel (in 1.5 or 2 mm thick steel, this was the question referring to). The hull will be aluminum all right. I'm not crazy giving away a bucket full of money now when I know just how little it takes to get one's life back together.

Cheers,

Tony

[Classic Finn]

Hi there Finnish mate,

thank you for your input.

So, with 5 cm styrofoam you still get cold. That is good to know. I've also planned for a small 2 kW LPG gas heater for just such occasions.

I plan building only the chassis of the teardrop in stainless steel (in 1.5 or 2 mm thick steel, this was the question referring to). The hull will be aluminum all right. I'm not crazy giving away a bucket full of money now when I know just how little it takes to get one's life back together.

Cheers,

Tony

Tony just for safety I wouldnt use lpg gas or any other inside a tear. Rather hook up a batter, charger, and small ceramic heater instead with automatic shut off. It takes very little to heat up with it. And it dont take long. Do you have the possibilty of hooking up to shore electrical by chance?
Also the stainless is kind of difficult to cut to shape with basic tools. And if using stainless you dont need to go that thick. 05mm or 08mm is plenty. At present we have had a company cut our stainless to shape on industrial machines. Laser cutter.
And with Aluminum outer walls and ceiling I am using 1mm. With floating the aluminum with the profiles used for caravans. In otherwards the aluminum profiles hold the aluminum on the walls.

This only my way of doing it but you,ll get more replies to your questions as you go along.

[Shadow Catcher]

Unless you have access to inexpensive stainless steel it is probably overkill in the rust prevention department. Ours is entirely aluminum (pictures in the album) lighter weight and much less expensive but still not cheep. If you will be towing outside of Romania you will have to deal with EU bureaucratic nonsense and Classic Finn is our resident expert.
One of the considerations in using SS in a frame, is modulus of elasticity, because of its high chrome content (what makes it SS) it is more brittle and is not used much for structural purposes.
Galvanized steel is not a bad choice and particularly if you can find a donor caravan that you can cut down and adapt it may save both money and hassle.
I am one of those who will, given a chance, build/over engineer to excess. And I have been very aware of what fails in trailers, and BIG number 1 is wood rot and number 2 way down on the list is rust.

[hallelujah]

spot on shadow catcher; this is also what I'm struggling to come to terms with.

Regarding wood rot I'd go with CPES, unless Classic Finn could suggest some local European product that (out)matches CPES in performance.

Regarding stainless steel brittleness, that's interesting. Didn't think of it that way. But given that super-cars chassis are not made of ss it makes sense. Thank you for making me attentive on the issue. So you say galvanized steel or aluminum. Well, then it's time for homework again (find 60 mm square profile tube - as thick as possible).

@Classic Finn, I've given a thought too regarding heating with electricity. Starting from the fact that I'll be off grid and that I want maximum independence, the best trade in (such as not to use wood for heating, which would be impossible given the small size of a td anyway) I found for me is gas. I know with LPG one has to be careful with leaks, oxygen supply and evacuation of gasses. I think it's all accounted for; here's what I came up with (please let me know if you have a better solution; to be sincere my highest aim is to heat the td with wood picked directly from nature but I have yet to find that small of a stove with air-intake directly from outside - to avoid co/co2 poisoning):

- 2 kW gas heater with thermostat, oxygen supply + evacuation in one pipe through the TD hull; this should be enough for even -35°C outside: http://www.oranier-heiztechnik.de/de/pr ... hp?a_id=34
- LPG (propane/butane), CO + KO gas, gas alarm: http://www.a-linnepe.de/produkte/trigasalarm
- automatic switch between gas canisters (so that I don't get cold when one canister gets empty) + accessories: http://www.tgo.de/ search for MULTIMATIC

If I miss something then there would be a 12 VDC NC-magnetic valve to cut off gas supply when the alarm strikes (and of course a gas alarm with an integrated double throw relay, to cut off current supply to the 12 VDC NC-magnetic valve on the one hand and on the other hand to start cycling the roof vent as in www.fantasticvent.com - but for that an interface is required because I want the fan automation of the 6600 series ; I've contacted today both Linnepe and Fantasticvent in this matter; I'm curious as to their reactions.)

[bobhenry]

(such as not to use wood for heating, which would be impossible given the small size of a td anyway) ; to be sincere my highest aim is to heat the td with wood picked directly from nature but I have yet to find that small of a stove with air-intake directly from outside - to avoid co/co2 poisoning):

Air intake from outside ? Is your build that good that it is air tight.

Open a window a crack !





There is no such word as impossible in the teardrop world.

Sooner or later someone will be installing a central vacuum system !

[hallelujah]

Bob, I haven't even started building; I'm in the planning phase right now.

Yet I can imagine that cracking up a window in a cold night just to have enough oxygen, given the small size of the TD, defeats the purpose of having an outside air supply. Worst case scenario I'd have the gas alarm start cycling the roof vent if too much co/co2 accumulates.

Good insulation is an important factor for me. If that will lead to air-tightness I can't tell right now, but as I'll want as few as possible heat leaks, I'll strive to make a tight build.

Hint for me to remember: find nanogel distributor if possible.

[bobhenry]

I went camping for fresh air !

I will not be denied !

[hallelujah]

Bob, how is that kind of stove called? I want to find out more about it. Looks interesting.