New forum member -- actually not teardrop

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New forum member -- actually not teardrop

Postby KorKoro » Fri May 29, 2020 8:19 am

Hi all.

I've been looking for a way to get down south for much of the winter. At age 70, Northern Michigan winters are getting the best of me. I also like to ride motorcycles. I thought about putting my V-Strom 1000 in the bed of my Ford 150 and building a teardrop. I've got experience in boat building, both cedar strip and plywood, and think those skills would work great with a teardrop build. I also have a full wood shop and I'm able to mill any wood I might need.

My problem with a teardrop build is not with the teardrop, but with getting the motorcycle up in the bed of my pickup. Again, at age 70, there's no way I have the strength to horse that motorcycle up into that bed anymore.

I have, at my disposal a motorcycle trailer that has, about, an 8 inch ramp height. That has been very doable for me in the past.

So, now I'm thinking building a small truck camper and pulling the motorcycle trailer. I've looked at new campers, but they all weight around 1,000 lbs. and up. With my pickup's payload being 1,486 lbs., it doesn't leave much for hitch weight, my weight (substantial) and other gear.

My solution is to build, what effectively would be, a 6.5'X5.67' "teardrop" in the bed of my pickup. Using building ideas from this site, I think I could do this build and keep the weight at, at most, 500 lbs. I've seen builds with estimated weights, without trailers, at between 250-300 lbs.

You might ask why not go to a dedicated truck camper forum. I did that first. Here are the 2 reasons I'm on a teardrop forum.

1. The truck camper forums tend to overbuild everything. I didn't see many 1/2 ton trucks being used. I've even seen 2x4 framing being used. That's not going to help me unless I want to buy a new truck, which I don't. I've seen some that were light weight builds, but not many.

2. You folks seem to be much more creative in your builds. I can get a lot of ideas for light weight building. Of course, part of the reason to build a teardrop is to tow with a small car. That helps in creating ways to build light weight, but strong, units.

Unless I hear objections, I'll start a thread that will follow my build. I have some time before I start the build because I have some preparations to do to my shop to get it ready for the build. (read "clean it up")

Thanks for all your excellent ideas!

KorKoro
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Re: New forum member -- actually not teardrop

Postby greygoos » Fri May 29, 2020 8:24 am

Welcome. There are a few truck camper builds on here, some made of foam. Do a search up on top in the google box. It keeps you in this forum with results.
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Re: New forum member -- actually not teardrop

Postby KorKoro » Fri May 29, 2020 9:19 am

greygoos wrote:Welcome. There are a few truck camper builds on here, some made of foam. Do a search up on top in the google box. It keeps you in this forum with results.


I plan on framing with 1x2's and skinning the inside with 1/8" ply and either cedar strips or 1/8-1/4" ply on the outside with foam insulation in between the foam. Is this what is meant by "made of foam?"

I haven't decided about the outside yet. However, I do have quite a bit of 1" width 1/4" bead and cove cedar strips left over from a kayak build. I've probably enough cedar strip to do one side of the camper. Most of the strips are 8' and longer as the kayak was 18'. I can cut and mill the cedar strips in my shop.

Thanks, KorKoro
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Re: New forum member -- actually not teardrop

Postby Pmullen503 » Fri May 29, 2020 3:07 pm

KorKoro wrote:Is this what is meant by "made of foam?"



What it means is making the camper from extruded polystyrene sheet with very little framing. Just around the door, windows and perhaps some hard points for attaching the camper to the truck. Then you cover the foam with a skin: either canvas/glue or fiberglass/epoxy to hold it all together. If you can get by with a simple interior, it can be more like a tall topper.
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Re: New forum member -- actually not teardrop

Postby pchast » Fri May 29, 2020 9:41 pm

check this out...........
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=72408

There are others.. :D
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