Off-road Teardrop Design/Build

[kokomoto]

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These are the tires I have ordered.

[kokomoto]

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The wheels I have ordered, also from Coker Tire, are hot rod style steel smoothies with baby moon hub caps. If you can imagine the wheel in the picture minus the chrome ring and Chevrolet logo.

[Padilen]

I thought you'd go with something to go with the XJ !
I have 4 of these that would have gone nicely



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[kokomoto]

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Here's the Windows I ordered from LG.

[kokomoto]

I thought you'd go with something to go with the XJ !
I have 4 of these that would have gone nicely
[img]http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161124/1462d73aee0cb866b1ab582beea056b4.jpg[/img

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I wanted something that looks like it just rolled out of the 40's or 50's. The wheels will fit the Jeep bolt pattern though I guess I was born 40 years too late

It should look something like this except a foot or so longer and 5' wide

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[kokomoto]

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Here's a pic of the XJ and pop-up at Mama Gerties, near Black Mtn, NC.

[kokomoto]

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I found some tail/marker lights I'm considering installing.

[kokomoto]

The tilt-out windows arrived today from the nice folks at Little Guy along with the rubber seal kit. The foil bubble wrap might double as sun shades when needed too.

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They are approximately 23" x 15".

The mattress in the top picture is the Milliard tri-fold. It's comfortable, and was less than $150.

RAKA 6qt epoxy kit arrived this week as well.

I plan to begin assembling the sandwich floor tomorrow. I'll be using 1"x3" spruce for the frame sandwiched between 2 1/4" birch plywood boards using the T-88 epoxy. T-88 is used in home built wood aircraft, is easy to mix correctly, fills gaps well, and doesn't require a lot of pressure to achieve a good bond. EPS will fill the voids, and insulate the floor. I'll use the RAKA epoxy to seal the whole assembly.

Bought a 1/2" x 1/2" rabbet bit for the router to use for the floor to wall joint. Planning to sit the walls directly on the frame tubing, glue to the floor, and screw the walls to the floor into the spruce boards. I'm willing to be educated if anyone has a better method to consider.

[kokomoto]

The axle will take 3 weeks for delivery. That's plenty of time to get a start on the walls and floor.

I've done it both ways but much prefer building the cabin on a dolly and installing it on the chassis after it's almost completed. No tongue or tires/fenders in the way.

One my building-thing to consider.

Patiently waiting for the axle delivery before procee...NAH! I'm taking you advice TL. Sawdust and epoxy fumes begin tomorrow!

Thanks for the pics. Hope to take this heap to Idaho someday. I know some folks in Nampa I haven't seen in a couple years.

[kokomoto]

Welcome aboard.

"At this point, building and sealing the doors and hatch are still a mystery to me. "

Get a copy of Steve Fredrick's Teardrop Shop Manual. http://www.campingclassics.com/shopman05.html I think it's 250 pages with lots of photos and explanation. With great sections on doors and the hatch.



"I intend to stuff 3" of foam insulation under floor between the frame rails to insulate the floor."

I think there's builders in both camps, but it's me belief that if you are loosing heat through your floor, your mattress isn't thick enough.



Tony

Ordered the Teardrop Shop Manual. Waiting for the download password. I'm hoping it fills in a lot of the gaps in my "how-m-I-gonna-that" list.

[kokomoto]

Wall to floor joint plan -version 1.0

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Will this make a solid enough joint for the walls?

[KCStudly]

IMO, yes. Just be prepared to pull the joint in tight during the glue up. You may get some slight bowing in the panels and a long rabbet like that might want a little "encouragement" to pull up tight. You should be okay, but I would be prepared to run some extra screws and/or consider a temporary cleat. You'll be able to decide better once you do a dry fit anyway; just my first thought.

[kokomoto]

IMO, yes. Just be prepared to pull the joint in tight during the glue up. You may get some slight bowing in the panels and a long rabbet like that might want a little "encouragement" to pull up tight. You should be okay, but I would be prepared to run some extra screws and/or consider a temporary cleat. You'll be able to decide better once you do a dry fit anyway; just my first thought.

That's good to know. So an internal cleat would avoid the need to draw the wall into proper position with screws. The internal cleat would use gravity, and serve to keep the joint straight with no bowing. Any problems in using an internal cleat that I possibly haven't considered?

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[kokomoto]

I picked up the Dexter axle, wheels, tires, and suspension today. The frame is on hold while my fabricator scrambles to finish some end of year jobs. Hope to start after the new year. In the meantime, I've been working on the cabin template and cabin/galley design details. I've decided to go with a 5x10 design with something like a cross between a modernaire and Grumman profile.

I'm still trying to decide on the best way to do the sandwich wall to sandwich floor joint. I'm already committed to a 60" width on the trailer frame due to the axle leaf spring mount locations at 58". Keeping a 48" wall height means cutting 1 1/4" off the wall to sit it atop the floor or sitting the wall directly on the frame, flush with the edge, with the floor cut narrower to allow for that.

I have a couple weeks to buy the steel tubing, trailer lights, wire, 7 pin connector, brake controller, and hitch. Need to put the final touches on the frame design drawing, get the wheels painted, tires mounted, and figure out how to convert my 4 pin wiring on the Cherokee to 7 pin.

[kokomoto]

Template 2

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Template version 2. Ten feet long. Glad I went with the longer design. There should be no lack of storage space in the galley. Now I need to pick up a good tracing bit for the router.