From Albuquerque, with dreams. Of teardrops.

[theonetruetom]

Hi! I'm new, I'm Tom, and I have a 1960 Lakeview (don't google it, it's hard to find info) full-size trailer. Which has a 10' long frame on it. It lived in Nebraska for about 15 years, during which it was unmaintained, and allowed to get plenty wet and rotten. I'm considering tearing it down to just the frame (the floors are rotten so even if I rebuild it as-is, it's going to need new floors) and building a teardrop on top of it. I'm going to begin deconstruction this weekend. I'm looking forward to making a usable, lightweight trailer out of this and taking it camping here this spring if at all possible.

[CliffinGA]

Tom post some pics of it and welcome to the fun. You might just consider restoring it but taking it apart and just use the sides as templates and redoing it from the ground up and reusing the siding and window and good parts. Well have fun!

Cliff

[Steve_Cox]

Hi Tom,

Looking forward to seeing a few pictures of the demolition and rebuild.

[theonetruetom]

Untitled by theonetruetom, on Flickr

That's the entire thing, back in Nebraska, before I brought it home.


Untitled by theonetruetom, on Flickr

That's the shell after I woke up this morning and gutted it. It took me an alarmingly short time to take out everything inside.


Untitled by theonetruetom, on Flickr

Here you can see the extent of the rot beneath the rear window.


Untitled by theonetruetom, on Flickr

And the floor rot. There're several places where I thought I was going to put my foot through the floor.

As for restoring it, I thought long and hard about that. There are several problems with that idea.

A. I'd already have to take everything out and redo it from the floor up, because of all the rot. It's more cost-effective to build a tear on the same frame.

B. The Blazer you see poking its ass out in the first picture is my tow vehicle. Alternately, a 2.8L V6 Ford BroncoII would be used, that's my roommate's truck. Towing the (albeit loaded with stuff) trailer as it was home from Nebraska was an experiment in how insane I could be. That big steep hill north of ABQ? I was doing 55 at the bottom, and barely 35 at the top, with my foot to the floor. I want something lighter.

C. Related to B, the way it is now it's waaay too wide. I have to use towing mirrors to tow it, and I'd rather not have to do that if it's at all possible. If I build a 4x10 tear, it'll have enough interior space for me, my stuff, and my dog, and still be narrow enough that I won't have to try to use towing mirrors to see around it.

[theonetruetom]

aaand now it's down to the flat floor and the wheel arches. Need to make dump run.

Peeled like a can of tinned ham, though. I did it by myself in about 40 minutes.

[theonetruetom]

So, I've got it down to the deck, will have that off as soon as my help comes back. I have a few ideas that I wanted to run past y'all.

The frame's 6.5' wide. There's 4' of solid frame between the tires, with plenty of room for fenders. I'm thinking of building a 4'x10' tear on the frame, without narrowing it at all. Then, in front of the passenger's side wheel, screw down some decking so I have a nice little 1'2.5" porch. Behind the passenger's side wheel on both sides, and in front of the left wheel, I was kind of thinking of maybe building angle iron and expanded metal into some baskets, (or diamond plate steel, if I wanted enclosed boxes) possibly with hinged lids and lock hasps for additional external storage. Would this screw with weight distribution?

Btw, the center of the axle is exactly 40" from the back of the frame. Damn near perfect from what I've read, shouldn't need to move the axle...

Also, I'm thinking of putting a receiver channel in the frame on the back, usable for either a homebuilt bike rack or the expanded metal and angle iron cargo carrier I'm building right now. Probably more towards the bike rack end of the weight spectrum, though; I overbuilt the cargo carrier and it weighs about 60-70lbs

[theonetruetom]

Frame's naked. It's going to need some additional crossmembers. Namely, that front-to-back member is going bye-bye in place of crossmembers made out of square iron or at least C beams. And the way the rear crossmember is, I don't want to put a receiver on it.

[bc toys]

Well now break out wire brush and primer then a nice color that you like the frame to be. Draw up your design and get to work making saw dust. But most of all remember we love pixs. Really good luck with your build.

[Catherine+twins]

Hey, Tom

Just out of curiosity, why were you taking your trailer up La Bajada hill? Seems like that would have been taking you away from Albuquerque. Unless it was just a towing test.

Anyway, poke around here a bit before you commit to 4 feet wide. People with 5-wides rarely wish they had built narrower, but people with 4-wides often wish for that extra foot. Remember, a queen bed is 5-wide, and if you are used to that, you'll miss it.

Catherine

[Steve_Cox]

Good thoughts Cathrine.

Tom,

It seems your reason to go 4 wide was being able to see behind you when towing. I had no trouble seeing around a 5 wide pulling it with a Honda CR-V or a Ford Ranger pick up if that helps. However, if you will never camp with anyone else in the camper with you, it costs a little less and is easier to build a 4 wide. If you want to try out a 4' wide and see how it feels, I saw one for sale on the South side of Central Ave at one of the RV sales places Saturday.

[Ron Dickey]

welcome,

Looks like a project.

I used an old frame and did not have someone inspect it before I I started paining and grinding it.

the hitch snapped last year in route home on a sunday, got it fixed that day.

broke a axel connection in Albuquerque had to have it towed and welded at a motel.

Check the weld and look for places where it might be rusting through. Out there is snows and road salt might be cutting into it.

Get new pc's welded on where needed now. It is cheeper when they can weld from the top vs jacked up and them on their back.

Welding usually is not that much.
Good luck
Ron