I want to build an Ultra-Light Teardrop.

[Roly Nelson]

Gerdo, here is the basic construction method for the 1/4 Nelson Stacker. Using a HF 40" x 48" trailer, I removed all but the long spring from the suspension. Then a 36", 1 3/8"hollowcore door was cut shorter to 6 ft long, and a stiffener inserted within the cut end, glued and clamped. Next, two 6 ft 2x4s were cut down to 1 3/8 x 2" and glued and screwed to each side of the door, providing a total size of 40" x 72". Carriage bolts were then used to secure edges of door to HF frame rails. Now the teardrop floor was all done except for the coat of roofing pitch on the bottom.

The 1/4" sides were then glued and screwed to the solid members of the door. (Not an ideal construction practice, but works for me). Bandsawn pine members 1 1/2" wide were glued and screwed to the upper edges of the side walls and roof trusses fastened to them, screwed from the outside. The hatch lid bows were made from 1/2" baltic birch and hatch and roof covered with 1/8" lauan plywood........that's it, except for a 1/4" worktop in the galley and 1/8" sliding doors on simple galley cabinet. Total weight without all camping stuff, 245lbs. It seems to track down the interstate at 65 mph just fine but hasn't been wind-tested here in So Calif. Total build time for above stated work, about a week and a half.

This is only a one-man teardrop, and being only 5' 9", it's 6 ft length works fine, with toes just about touching the hatch lid when closed.

Good luck............Roly

[Gerdo]

Roly
Would you have any pictures of your 1/4 Nelson? I have seen the infamous "Lifted with one hand" picture.

[jagular7]

Roly
Can you post any build descriptions and pictures so I can see how you kept the weight down. I don't want to over build but I also don't want to under build it and have it flimsy. I would hate to see it blow apart on the highway.

Its the finding that thin grey line. I'd rather not be too close to that and have a camper to last greater than 5-7 years without a whim.

You have a box trailer in your avatar. What is the span on the trailer, roof joists, etc. Those box trailers are designed to be flimsy to a point. The walls and roof work together for light weight and strength.

[Gerdo]

The frame on big box trailers carry alot of the weight.

This thing weighs in at 16,000 lbs. You can see a big difference in the frame of this and a 10k trailer.

[mikeschn]

Roly
Would you have any pictures of your 1/4 Nelson? I have seen the infamous "Lifted with one hand" picture.

Gage,

Are you going to go and visit Roly soon? We need pictures...

Mike...

[BobU]

I'll be watching this thread , I'm just starting another tear to be pulled by a motorcycle. My first attempt at a "Bike" tear turned out a little heavy.
(See Bob's motorcycle tear in hall of fame)

I'll stay lighter by starting with all aluminum framing and shorty torsion axles, translucent fiberglass roof and sides. I won't have a hatch or battery, it will be just a dry, snug place to sleep on cycle trips. The shape will be "backward", low in the front, tall at the back. The door will be in the back with windows on the sides. ( roof curving up to a flat back.)

I learned alot on my first tear, hope to get the number of "O, SH*TS" down under a hundred on this one.

[dwgriff1]

My 5 by 8 sorta ultralight came in at 580#.

It is fully insulated and lined.

The floor is sandwich with two layers of 1/8 on top and one on the bottom. There isn't any sag or bounce.

I did run the tongue (sorry, it's wood) all the way to the back, so the rear helps reinforce the floor.

My mind is running to a lighter tear, but it is way too far out.

dave

[GPW]

How about an all FOAM cabin on a door(type) floor ... covered with thin (cereal box ) cardboard , painted with WB polyurethane (keeps the bears out )... and the cardboard comes in colors... Frame made of industrial bicycle parts or motorcycle parts from the boneyard welded to a simple frame from old lawn chair parts.. gotta' be light ...

The alternative would be a canvas covered wood or aluminum frame ... aircraft style with a thin ply floor ... bring a blanket ...

Being an aircraft builder/designer for over 30 years ... the best way to save weight is to weigh all the individual parts , before you add them to the structure...consider lighter weight alternatives... That way you know the final weight pre assembly ...If any part of the structure fails , you can always beef it up at that point , adding more weight ...Weight saving can become an obsession leading to structural failure, pick some comfortable parameters within your towing /camping capabilities are,add 10% for Safety and build what you need ...

[Gerdo]

Steve,
Peg's TD is beautifull.

[dwgriff1]

Weight is gained an ounce at a time. An extra stick here and a bit too much bracing there.

My guess is that one would need to build a series, each a bit lighter. In time something might snap, but how else will you know the limit?

In my dreams I'd like to build 2 or 3 more, but in reality, it is a lot of work and a lot of expense. To drop 250 or 300 pounds might gain a bit of gas mileage, but not much.

Unless I missed something, it would never pay off.

My goal now is to use the critter -- a lot.

dave

ps. I've slept in mine a total of 11 nights since the first of September. It's sweet.

[glassice]

How about carbon fiber and AL honey com .The tear i will build for my shelf will be that way i am hoping for a 5x10 under 450

[lcurrie]

I work in event marketing and am exposed to all sorts of crazy material for building super-light, strong components.

A couple of years ago i came across materials by Bellcomb Technologies that are pretty interesting. They use the honeycomb technology/theory and have a ton of different finishes and structural qualities.

Here is an overview for the materials

These look like they're similar (or the same??) to the aluminum honeycomb material mentioned in glassice's post but some of y'all might be interested in the materials with different finishes/looks. They come with silver/aluminum exteriors, wood veneers, laminates, etc.

They aren't cheap but TDs are small!

Lynn

[angib]

How about carbon fiber and AL honey com

Where I used to work, we occasionally built racing dinghies with epoxy-carbon pre-preg skins over a nomex honeycomb core - more exactly the boss and two other guys built them, but the rest of us were allowed to look at it! These are aircraft/top-end racecar materials, though they were cured under vacuum in an oven, rather than in an autoclave.

The light weight was spectacular, being able to pick up an 18ft hull with one hand, but the even more impressive bit was how stiff they were - 'peeling' an edge of an epoxy-glass boat to demould is easy, but once the carbon was cured it was nearly impossible to do this. Because the hull was so stiff, once any release (demoulding) started, it would be quickly completed - a single wedge at one end would be enough!

And the materials cost under $10,000 - cheap, eh?........

Andrew

[glassice]

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/foamcorepanels%20hop%20that%20helps%20on%20foam%20core