First post from newbie Ralph1931. Mine is made. Check it out

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First post from newbie Ralph1931. Mine is made. Check it out

Postby Ralph1931 » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:16 am

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Hello all,
My handle is Ralph 1931 on this forum and website.I am located in Middle River, Maryland (near Baltimore). My name is George. I am a 75 year old retired machine and equipment designer as well as a Korean Vetran.(This helps explain my fixation with Red White and Blue). I love to work with wood. I "stumbled" across this website and became instantly interested. I read evrything. I soaked up a whole lot of information that all you nice people provided here and was thankful to get it.Then came the decision to build one. I came up with my own design using a ton of information that is on this web site.

My TTT named "Eagle's Teardrop" was begun in March of 2006 and finished late in May. I wanted to take a trip out west. I did. I left early June and went on a 7,500 mile journey with my TTT alone. My wife was not interested. In my travels I saw The Blue Ridge Mountains and State Park, The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, The Royal Gorge, Hoover Dam, Pikes Peak, and a score of other places. I camped mostly at Wal-Mart parking lots. (They allow overnite camping at most stores) They have bathroom facilities. I stopped every couple of days at a campground and rented a shower. My camper is self sustained except for the shower. My Tow vehicle was my 1998 Z3 Roadster. Traveled mostly with the top down. Enjoyed every minute. At the time many places the regular gas was about $3.50 per gal. My mileage for the trip was a whopping 27.159 mpg for the whole trip. The camper was hitched the entire time except when I drove to the top of Pike's Peak. What a ride!

My TTT without any provisions weighs in at 1,190 pounds. Tongue weight is 160 pounds. (10 more than I had planned for) Body is 63 1/2" wide, 104" long and 43" high. (I shortened it for travel efficiency) The ground clearance is about 12". Spare is mounted under the galley. Construction is primarily plywood and oak. Construction all the way up to final photos were posted in my album this morning (Sunday Nov. 26, 2006)


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Last edited by Ralph1931 on Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:36 am, edited 2 times in total.
[img]http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=15852[img
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Postby Jimbo » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:28 am

I've just been through the first few pics... Incredible. Great looking rig. Sounds like a fun trip. Thanks for the pics.
Started many, finished none... Bought a TTT <Sigh> ;)
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Postby Sonetpro » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:33 am

Very nice, Good job George. It looks like you had a blast on your trip.
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
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Postby kirtsjc » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:52 am

Great job, an inspiration, one for the Hall of Fame!

I am presuming that from the storage location of the potty-on-the-tongue, that you have tentage you use, or do you relocate it inside of the tear when camping?

When you get time, could you please post the AC cover open, and how you deal with the drip drainage?

Also, a few more details such as how you fused your 12 vt would be nice too!

Thanks for the inspiration: I heading outside to work some more on my build...

John
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Postby madjack » Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:37 am

...nicely done George...the trip, sounds a blast...I bet you caused a lotta grins with the top down and your TTT, cruising on down the hiway :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
madjack 8)

p.s....oh yeah, welcome to the board...officially...and thanks for the pics...we luv 'em 'round here yano.......MJ
...I have come to believe that, conflict resolution, through violence, is never acceptable.....................mj
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Thank you all

Postby Ralph1931 » Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:58 am

Thanks to madjack, kirtsjc, Sonetpro, Jimbo, for your remarks of encouragement. It really means a lot to me!
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Postby apratt » Sun Nov 26, 2006 12:18 pm

Ralph, wow looks like you had a great trip. I liked your galley, very clean and I like how you thought out your hatch support, double duty. :thumbsup:
Arthur,

ASL spoken here
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Postby DougH » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:35 pm

Very nice, sounds like a great trip. What material did you use to cover the interior? I really like that look.

Doug
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Postby halfdome, Danny » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:48 pm

Very nice Ralph, :applause: looks like a fun trip. Tell me more about your small generator and post another photo of it outside of the tear if you can please. :) Danny
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Postby edevans » Sun Nov 26, 2006 4:15 pm

Very nice job. Sounds like you had a great trip. Enjoy :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :applause: :applause: Ed
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Postby Miriam C. » Sun Nov 26, 2006 4:32 pm

:applause: :applause: :applause: :thumbsup:
Welcome to the greatest website on earth. Great job on the teardrop. Fantastic!!!

I guess it is left to me to remind you to please find the rest of the pictures of you fantastic trip and put a few over in General Discuss for us to drool over. I can just imagine how great they are.

Stick around, we can always use another advisor/disigner 8)
“Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.â€
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A reply to all of your nice remarks. Really appreicate them!

Postby Ralph1931 » Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:40 pm

Thank you Arthur for your comments.

Doug, I covered everything with inexpensive commercial carpet. It was a loop pile. It took a piece about 10 X 12 ft. One word of caution I learned the hard way. New carpet in an enclosed area gives off an odor that is irritating to the eyes and nose. Best get the carpet well in advance to let it air thoroughly. Better yet some good used carpet should not do that.

The generator came from Northern Tool
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... _200313480
It is listed for $199. I haggled with them and got it for $149.

George :thumbsup:
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Photos of my western vacation

Postby Ralph1931 » Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:47 pm

Auntie M...

http://ralphmudflap.spaces.live.com/pho ... Space.aspx

This is the place where I have a lot of photographs. Some of which do not apply but nothing is private.

You will be especially interested in the album about my western travels.

Thank you for your interest.

This is my first exposure to a forum of any kind. If I screw up it is because I have a lot to learn!

George

:thumbsup:
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Postby mikeschn » Sun Nov 26, 2006 6:18 pm

That's the generator I've been looking for all these years... I didn't want to spend $800 for a Honda... Of course I'm not sure it's enough to power an air conditioner, but it would charge a battery, run a microwave, and all that other stuff.

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Mike...

P.S. Ralph, you don't need the URL tags... I took them off for you...
The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten, so build your teardrop with the best materials...
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Postby peggyearlchris » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:01 pm

:applause: :applause: awesome!!Sounds just like the trip we took in 1966. Beautiful tear you have there . :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Peg
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