Gurl wants it to look like a tiny little Airstream...

[Judeyramone]

As a learning experiment in SketchUp, I drew these "plans" yesterday. It's my second try. There are a lot of irritating dimensions in the drawings, because I've been fleshing out details in my head for a few months, and this is a good way to get all my ideas in one place, including measurements. Everything should look very familiar, as I'm guilty of wholesale thievery... shamelessly stealing bits & pieces of what I've seen here & there.
Dimensions are 10ft long, 4'6" wide... shown here on a scaled up, modified HF 4x8 trailer (although I plan to build my own chassis - hoping to begin in the spring, Apr or May... after I get my tax check).

... Gurl insisted on the ADC coffee maker.

[Rigsby]

Well done on the plans


Only my opinion, but the fenders do look as they could do with less material behind the wheel
steve

[BigAl]

That is a good job, well done! I do agree with Steve. Maybe more of a taper on the wheel arches towards the rear?

I think you will appreciate that fresh coffee on a cold and frosty morning. ;)

[starleen2]

. . .and that coleman lantern . . .nice touch

[deceiver]

Might I suggest that you move the inside cabin cabinets back to the countertop and get rid of the upper galley cabinets? I have a little guy and I did that when I rebuilt the inside. The extra room is nice.

[Judeyramone]

Thanks for the compliments.

Fenders - I stole them from Camp Inn. TV will be my Ford truck, and I think they somewhat resemble old stepside Ford truck fenders, plus my first car was a '49 Plymouth. I was going for a bit of a late '40s look. They're not set in stone, and in reality, will probably end up being plain round steel fenders you see on an ordinary utility trailer.

Galley cabinets - They stay. The purpose of the trailer in the first place is to have all my camping gear in one place, ready to go with no packing-up ordeal. Truth is, color scheme aside, I stole the complete galley design from gregp136 ( http://tnttt.com/viewto ... c&start=45 - middle of page 4), simply for aesthetic reasons. Dishes stay in the right hand cabinet; foodstuffs (non-perishable canned good type stuff) in the left hand cabinet; I have a small collection of picnic baskets, and space between the upper cabinets will hold a basket full of trip specific food - loaf of bread, etc; and pots & pans, etc in the lower cabinet. Ice chest goes on the right. And it can all stay there when parked in the garage between outings. If I were to eliminate any cabinets to make space, it would be the interior ones. You've given me an idea to replace them with a fold down shelf in their place. That way it would be out of the way when not being used.

Lantern - Imported from Google (they don't have a blue/black Sears model like mine), along with a camp-stove, removed for a clearer view of the galley. I've since added a couple removable tables, one of which obviously interferes with my bloated fenders:




This is my first experience with Sketchup, and it's a fun program. I'll be tweaking between now & construction time. Thanks for the ideas.

[asianflava]

I don't drink coffee (unless I have to) but there was a thread here that said that those DC coffee machines aren't worth it.

[Ageless]

My first thought with the extended fenders; seal that area and use for water tanks or small item storage.

[Ken's Teardrop]

First of all, great job on the drawings!

I will have to try Sketchup. If this is any indication of what we can expect, you should have a great build. I just pretty much did some hand sketches, mostly to make sure the dimensioning was accurate. I am about 75% complete on my Benroy style Woodie. I did a few things a little differently than what you are planning. I had a pull out cooler on the right side, and I made a side table that covers the cooler when not in use. On the right side I put in a pull up table that locks even with the galley counter. Behing this there will be the electrical connections, water storage, and pots and pans. In the center I installed a pull out wine holder that stores 3 bottles of wine (or 12 canned goods), and on the other side is room for paper plates and cups. etc. I installed the wine holder next to the cooler with no walls between them in hopes that it will help keep the wine at 55. Good thoght anyway.
On the upper cabinets I have a spice rack in the center, and room to also store some canned goods, chips, or whatever. I made the top of the cabinet face frame extend above the top of the cabinet to allow for this storage.
On the inside I added a cd radio and also 2 boxes that would allow you to store your shoes inside before you hop in the teardrop. I also added a small cabinet at the front of the teardrop that comes down about 8" from the ceiling. and mounted the reading lights at the bottom of the cabinets.
Another little thing that I added was a backrest that would flip up so that I could sit in their and play the guitar. When it is in the down position we can't feel it through our 4" 10lb memory foam mattress.
I would also recommend that if you are going to go 4'6" you might as well go to 5'. I built mine on a Harbor freight trailer with no problems, and then you could have a full queen size bed, and believe me 6" is a lot of room, especially on your cabinet set-up.

Good Luck, can't wait to see your build

Ken & Kay

[Judeyramone]

Wow!!! Water tanks! I hadn't thought of that. I did some calculations, and at present size, I could easily pump more than 10gal into each fender! Much more water than I'd ever need over a w/e. I love the idea. I didn't post the picture, but in my plans, there's a 9gal marine water tank under the floor, directly behind the axle. If you look close, you can see a tap coming out the rear of the right side fender. Here's the problem - 200lbs behind the axle, which was already a concern with the tank under the floor... I suppose I could use the top half of the fender as a tank, which would put more of the weight over, or in front of the axle. I'm definitely going to give that idea some serious thought. Issue #2 would be how to seal up the tanks... I know custom wood boats often use fiberglassed plywood holding tanks, for water supply & waste water. Gonna have to do some research into this idea.

Ken, I looked at your trailer. I like the wine rack. Gurl likes wine... I may have to add something like that... and yeah, I plan to throw a few bits on top of the cabinets. Small front rail is a good idea. The space for my cooler (look & see plumbing) is deeper than I need to fit a standard ice chest, and I plan to put a false back in there to hide electrical components, etc. The countertop extension makes a cooler slide-out impractical, so I plan to remove it from the trailer as I set up camp. Plus, I have a storage compartment under the floor with a removable access panel, for things like my campfire cooking grate, and the only way to get into it is with the cooler out of the trailer. Currently, I'm used to setting the ice chest on the tailgate of my truck. Just so you understand where I'm coming from, as a former art student, some concessions to practicality will be made simply for aesthetic reasons. For some reason, I can't let myself go 5' wide. I would have preferred 4'x8'. I grew up on my dad's sailboat, and understand how much difference a seemingly small amount of space makes. The main appeal of the teardrop is the size, and I'm trying to do whatever I can to keep it small... but Gurl isn't a camper. Trying to keep it somewhat rustic for me, yet comfortable for her. I'm camping. If I have all the comforts of home, why not just stay at home? But who knows, I may end up 5' wide after all.

Normally, I don't draw plans... I tend to work things out in my head, over & over & over, until I have even the most minute details finalized (see Gurl's booth: http://tnttt.com/viewto ... highlight= ). I made only one drawing on 8.5x11 graph paper before we got started, only so she would know what to expect. And I'm not particularly tech savvy. I'm of the last generation to grow up w/o computers in the house. Sketchup is fun, with a short learning curve.


Last comment on the electric coffee maker... Bialetti Moki espresso maker, on my Coleman stove... easily as fast as ADC, and vastly superior end result. Gurl needs to adapt.

[Judeyramone]

I did some research today, into plywood water tanks... and plumbing fittings...

Seems easily doable to make the fat fenders into water tanks, simplifying my plumbing at the same time.




I estimate 16-18gallons of water, figuring identical tanks in each fender - 130-150lbs total, with 70% behind the axle. Subtract 45lbs, which sit in front of the axle, and I get a 95lb rear bias. Battery & LP tank on the tongue should make up 75 of those lbs. I think I can live with that.

... And I fixed my lantern - not really sure how, but fixed nonetheless.


Thank you, Sir.

[BigAl]

I did some research today, into plywood water tanks...

If you are using epoxy to seal the plywood, remember to use good quality marine grade epoxy and not the cheaper polyester resin. The polyester stuff is permeable.

In my experience, the wheel arch is a part that is subject to damage from other vehicles, thrown up debris and zombie attack. You don't want to be leaking everywhere.

If I was personally going to build tanks into the wheel arches, I would make an inner liner from something like polycarbonate and seal that with a potable sealer similar to the stuff they use to build aquariums. Having said that, I would use the wheel arches for dry storage. I carry my water in large water bottles that I can clean out and sterilise easily. When they need to be filled I can take them to a tap. With fixed water tanks you need to take your trailer to a tank.

I suppose it depends on how you will use your trailer. My trailer gets used at weekends from Friday evening to Sunday and I'm always relatively close to a clean water supply. So a bottled water supply is more than adequate and flexible.

If you intend to camp for a week in the desert the tanks would be very useful.

Finally, how will all that sloshing water effect the towing performance of your trailer?Is there a balancing mechanism?

[Judeyramone]

Fittings are going to cost more than a commercially available marine water tank, which I can mount under the floor, in front of the axle; A much better plan... not to mention a ton of extra work to fabricate & waterproof home made tanks. Dry storage in the fenders is a better idea:

[teardrop_focus]

Judy, Judy... Judy. Will you marry me?



Whoops. I'm already hitched. Oh well. *sigh*

Your Sketchup work is amazing... simply amazing. Please tell me you have some sort of computer-aided design experience before you used Sketchup? I draw a blank when I try to use it...

I like your trip storage, cabinet and galley ideas. I was kinda stuck there.
Thanks for helping me continue on with second half of my teardrop project. You have inspired me!