Ambitious Goals

[jonwwo]

Hello everyone, Jon here! Been lurking around the forums for a bit but now its time to join in.

Here's my deal. I'm a graduate research assistant at Mississippi State University in agricultural engineering and I'm finishing up my masters within a month or two. Starting at the beginning of next year I'll dive into my phd at another university. In the meantime, my wife and I are moving out of our house and traveling the world. We've been saving for this for over a year.

Well it turns out that we saved a little more than we are going to need (good problem to have). I'm no stranger to ambitious projects and thus id like to take that extra money, build a teardrop in the first month of our break (in friends' garages), and spend a month pulling it around the western united states.

The teardrop will need to be:
1) Low cost - preferably less than $1500
2) Strait forward construction - i won't have time for trial and error
3) Doesn't have to have a formal galley
4) Comfortable for a month for one 6'1'' man and my 5'0'' woman
5) Light as possible to pull behind a Mazda 3

The "Generic Benroy Plans" (minus the kitchen) with a harbor freight trailer looks promising to me. I'm intrigued by the foam construction but I'm afraid that maybe to experiment for my time frame. Thoughts, warnings?

[Vedette]

Welcome to the Forum Jon.
Your plans sound wonderful!
But yes they are very Ambitious indeed.
I too am looking forward to traveling around the country this summer in the teardrop I have not yet finished.
Our project has taken way longer than planned, and cost a huge amount more than I originally planned on spending.
Don't take this wrong. As I have had as much fun or more planning and building it than any of my past projects.
Also the anticipation of the the new style of camping has acted as our carrot.
Good luck with your build.....keep it simple with your time frame and budget.
Maybe see you guys on the trail somewhere this summmer.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[wingnut]

Welcome Jon,
Look at the Kuffle Creek Cuby plans. There pretty straight forward and will give you lot of directions for a 4X8' build. Don't make the galley, will save time and make it lighter, save money too. I used their plans for the 4X10' Comet as my starting point. Glad I did. Saved a lot of headaches.

[jonwwo]

Welcome Jon,
Look at the Kuffle Creek Cuby plans. There pretty straight forward and will give you lot of directions for a 4X8' build. Don't make the galley, will save time and make it lighter, save money too. I used their plans for the 4X10' Comet as my starting point. Glad I did. Saved a lot of headaches.

Thanks for the Help! If i make the following simplifications, are these plans still worth the money? Id still stick with the cubby profile though.

-uninsulated
-plywood sides and top (solid color top, stained wood sides), no aluminum sheet
-exposed stick frame interior (no wall covering)
-plywood floor mounted directly to trailer frame (no 2x2 subframe )
-no hatch or galley
-single door
-electrical system simplified using http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-DPP-600HD-Powerpack-Starter-Emergency/dp/B000TKHMWK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339013258&sr=8-1 (already own)

[wingnut]

Jon,
You roll your own. Make it as simple as you want it. I live in a cold climate, early spring and late fall camping and I can tell you the thing insulation does for you is keep the condensation less on the inside. The other things you mentioned will make it a faster and cheaper build. I think the Kuffle Creek plans were a good value. They pointed out a lot of thing I might not have thought of until I had to do thing over to correct a mistake. For my first build, I'm glad I had them.

[Forrest747]

http://www.sagwagonteardrop.com/author/Becky/
Becky Blog is a great resource, even though she gets fancy with the Fiberglass she is doing great work.
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=45640
Robbies build is also a great resource

[pappaw]

welcome and good luck with your build.

Cheers: Jeff

[starleen2]

[Roly Nelson]

I read through your simplifications, and have a few suggestions. I too build light....very light, and have some things you might consider: 2 by 2 framing below the floor will provide a solid connection between the walls and floor, insuring a solid bolted connection to the frame and a 3/8" floor could be installed. I don't think a simple galley wall and counter would add too much weight or cost, plus it will add strength to the sidewalls. A simple 14 x 14 inch roof hatch can be had for under 50 bucks, and you will love it once installed. Ask anyone who has a teardrop with only one door, if they enjoy making a bed while kneeling on it, trying to tuck in the sheets and blankets from 4 feet away. I strongly suggest investing in that second door. Other than that, the world is your drawing board, so go for the size, shape and quality you will be happy with. Good luck.
Roly

[IndyTom]

Hey Jon,

I don't have anything to add to your build since my build (if I ever finish it) is very different, but I just had to welcome a fellow Bulldog. I got my MSc in Wood Chemistry/Organic Chemistry from State in 1990. Have lived in Indiana since '93, but really miss Starkville sometime.

We have a great group here, so join in and upload lots of pics.

Tom

[jonwwo]

Hey Jon,

I don't have anything to add to your build since my build (if I ever finish it) is very different, but I just had to welcome a fellow Bulldog. I got my MSc in Wood Chemistry/Organic Chemistry from State in 1990. Have lived in Indiana since '93, but really miss Starkville sometime.

We have a great group here, so join in and upload lots of pics.

Tom

Small World! Im actually heading up to Iowa State for my phd, not sure if thats any closer to you than MSU but maybe ill see you up there someday. Im ready to get out of starkville, but im sure ill miss it someday.

[jonwwo]

I think ive been convinced that insulation is necessary and that i need something solid to attach the sidewalls to (thats the point of the subfloor as far as i can tell). In order to reduce the number of cuts and joints ill need to make, ive come up with this idea.

The floor/subfloor/walls could be constructed in 3 simple pieces. Subfloor is one piece of 4x8 plywood with a 2x2 perimeter. The wall is 2 pieces of thin plywood with a piece of foam insulation sandwiched in-between (thoroughly glued composite wall). The bottom of that wall would be designed to slip over the 2x2 and screwed in place. The floor would be a single sheet of foam insulation glued to a thin piece of plywood to form the floor. The floor would then be glued to the subfloor to create another composite panel.



The next image shows all pieces assembled.



Seems like this could eliminate the wall and floor stick framing and puzzle piecing of the insulation. How well would this idea work?

[Forrest747]

like the plans for the wall. i would get rid of the insulation on teh floor the mattress will do plenty of insulation. 1/4 inch exterior wall and 1/8th interior should be fine. thinking the 2 inch thick insulation a bit.

[jonwwo]

like the plans for the wall. i would get rid of the insulation on teh floor the mattress will do plenty of insulation. 1/4 inch exterior wall and 1/8th interior should be fine. thinking the 2 inch thick insulation a bit.

Im all for simplification, sounds good to me. How about this so that i can use 3/4 inch thick board insulation while still having enough side support?

[Forrest747]

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=19442

THis is a great location for different ways to attach your wall. could go with something like a simple cleat 2x2 leave room to tuck the bedding into have a 4 inch mattress. what are your sides going to look like. Becky has a nice cutout that has insulation place to attach the cabinets and teh door. ill crunch the strength numbers for ya give me a minute.


Sorry took a little longer. with the wall thickness of just the wood your looking at a strength of 1046 lbs. per wall. adding the foam insulation your looking at about 1600 lbs. make sure you use alot of foam freindly glue also steer away from teh white foam the pink or blue stuff is the best.

Leave enough room for door attachment points and such and where right angle structures meet.

Pictures and drawings help us out alot. recommend two doors for sure, plus a vent in the roof or somewhere like a window