Wyoming Woody Teardrop Build (Completed: 6/22/2013)

[drewh1]

Hey Ryan - just saying hello. I noticed this last post and remembered you help. I am progressing on my build and almost done!

Hope things are all going well for you.

drew.

[william0856]

Where did you get your tongue box

[BigBlueToe]

I'm starting a teardrop build and have spent a lot of time looking at your site for inspiration. I bought a 5 x 8 RedTrailer and assembled it. I have built a floor similar to yours and have coated the bottom with Henry's. I'm at the point of making some choices before I begin construction in earnest and would appreciate your advice.

I'm not sure what to go with as far as outside skin. I'd like to be able to get everything at Home Depot or my local Ace hardware. I bought 1/4 exterior plywood for the inside and outside of the floor, and I think I'll use it for the outside walls as well, but it doesn't ben easily and I didn't think it would work for the shell.

Home Depot has some thin plywood (1/8?). I don't think it's intended for exterior use, but I thought if I coated it with epoxy it might suffice. I have some experience with epoxy and fiberglass, having made two wooden kayaks, as well as a strip-built camper shell. I was considering using it for the interior walls as well, and didn't think there would be a problem, as it wouldn't be getting very wet (I hope!)

Another option I'm considering is using redwood strips. Like I said, I built a strip-built camper shell, and one of the kayaks I built was a strip-built Guillemot. The advantage of using strips would be an easier job going around the curves. 1/8" plywood would probably be just as easy, but is 1/8 strong enough? I also thought of a hybrid - using 1/4" plywood for the flatter parts of the shell and strips on the sharper curves.

I'm hoping you'll say that 1/8 plywood from Home Depot will work fine, especially if coated with epoxy.

Any thoughts you have would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[drewh1]

I'd shy away from the Home Depot 1/8 plywood. I had trouble with it splitting and cracking. Invest in some decent birch plywood at a local lumber yard. It doesn't cost that much more and will be easier for you to work with in the long run. Don't forget, you will put a lot of labor into this project and will want it to last when you are done!

Just my 2 cents! and I am sure there will be other opinions.

[jennifernadams]

A year in... how is the exterior color holding up?

[KCStudly]

A newbie first post for the Wyoming Woody! I always consider that to be a big compliment!

Welcome Jennifer.

[_Ryan_]

Hey everyone, sorry I have been away for a bit and neglecting the forums. Over the last few months have new job, a move across the country from Wyoming to Northern Virginia, and I am newly newly engaged to top it all off

A year in... how is the exterior color holding up?

Hi Jennifer! We have camped in it over 20 nights in the cold and the heat, pulled it almost 5000 miles through driving rain and wind, and the Wyoming Woody is as good as ever! No leaks, no cracking on the exterior, and I have yet to need to tighten any nuts on the trailer frame.

For our move we sent our stuff with professional movers and the 4 of us (fiance, 2 dogs, and myself) took the camper across the country from Wyoming to our new home in northern Virginia. We were lucky to have such comfortable accommodations and, as always, met a bunch of nice and curious people on our journey. We will need to look up an east coast group of teardroppers soon!

I recently talked with Bob awhile his Austin Woody build. It's really exciting to see people getting some inspiration and direction from my build. Hopefully it will help them avoid some of the pitfalls as well!

I have been working on getting a Wyoming Woody build guide together including schematics and the entire Sketchup camper model. This along with all 1500 pictures i took during the build will be available for free on my website very soon. Just wrapping up the last bits.

I've got some catching up do on the forums, and I'll try not to be such a stranger around here!

Cheers,
Ryan

[Strop]

Hi Ryan,

Back looking at your build again to try and fine tune my planning. I am having some trouble trying to finish off the the hatch seal at the bottom. I can see you have used some different timber to trim it up but would you mind posting any photos you might have of the seals you used or whatever.

Just can't get a clear picture in my mind. Thanks again for the great thread.

Laurie

[noseoil]

Howdy Ryan, as long as we're all piling on I have another question for you. I found your reference to the gas struts used on the hatch (130#) and am wondering how they work now. Do they "spring" up fairly fast, or are they hard to lift from a closed position? Did you try a bunch of different weights? Sorry, but I haven't read the entire build log at this point, so forgive me if I missed it.

My hatch will be similar, but the hatch mount location will be a bit farther from the hinge. I'm using 100# struts, but am not there yet, so I can't check them against reality. Thanks, tim

[_Ryan_]

Howdy Ryan, as long as we're all piling on I have another question for you. I found your reference to the gas struts used on the hatch (130#) and am wondering how they work now. Do they "spring" up fairly fast, or are they hard to lift from a closed position? Did you try a bunch of different weights? Sorry, but I haven't read the entire build log at this point, so forgive me if I missed it.

My hatch will be similar, but the hatch mount location will be a bit farther from the hinge. I'm using 100# struts, but am not there yet, so I can't check them against reality. Thanks, tim

My hatch springs up quite well and once it reaches the halfway point it gains a bit of strength to extend to its full extension. I went through a bunch of sizes and strengths until I got it right. Each addition to the hatch (insulation, wiring, skin, epoxy, and my latch) added more weight and forced me to upgrade. The only problem I experience is sometimes on a cold morning, ~30 degrees, the struts become too weak and it has a hard time maintaining its fully open position.

The closing geometry is important as the fully extended as you want to make sure the struts align to help you ensure the hatch stays closed instead of working against you to push it open. I hope this makes sense.

[noseoil]

Thanks Ryan, I appreciate the input. I had someone at work do the calcs for a spring amount & he came up with 88# per side, so I just decided to go with 100# to begin with. We'll have to see what reality says about that one.

Since I live in the desert, the cold weather scenario shouldn't be too much of a consideration, unless I'm camping in the winter somewhere. I know I have the geometry laid out correctly with my mock-up, but the pressure & weight needed is still the wild card on this one. Not having built the hatch yet adds another dimension of mystery to the mix.

You make perfect sense about the closing stuff as well, but we'll just have to wait for that one..... Again, many thanks and I really liked reading about your build, it's Soooooo nice! tim

[Gunguy05]

A random side note as I glance back over your build.. Just looking for tips as I try and tie of some of my loose ends.

You have quite possibly the best looking finish that I have seen. That wood grain and color combination is truly OUTSTANDING! I can't get over the depth and brilliance of it!

Great work! Looking forward to the writeup on our website. Be sure to post a link up when it's live.

[_Ryan_]

This weekend is special because 2 years ago on Thanksgiving I took the plunge and ordered my trailer from Northern Tool and officially began my build. Six months later I it was finished and we have been out enjoying it ever since!

Many of you have asked or sent me messages requesting more detailed information on a specific part of my build or measurements of a component. So over the last few months I have been putting together a website that documents the design as well as the process of building it while it is still fresh in my mind. Today I am making that freely available as a resource for everyone to use.

On my website TeardropBuilder.com you can find the step-by-step process I used to build my teardrop including the over 1500+ pictures I took along the way. To supplement this build journal I am releasing the architectural schematics in PDF format for the Wyoming Woody, the complete 3D SketchUp model, detailed profile measurements, and a complete parts list including cost breakdown, as well as links to my parts suppliers.

Thank you all again for your help and support! I would not have had such a successful outcome if it were not for your help and support along the way. I am hopeful that this website will be a good resource for other builders down the road.

Cheers,
Ryan

[KCStudly]

Awesome job!

[PubUltraStar]

Nice work on the comprehensive website. I'll be sure to bookmark that for future reference.