Cabin car?

[mikeschn]

Just to throw a wrench in the works, I've been toying with the idea of an extra long, extra tall teardrop. Please feel free to straighten my out if I've stepped outside the bounds of T&TTT

http://www.tab4fun.de/TAB_XL/Der_grosse ... der_0.html

Mike...

[Chris C]

Mike, I've shown it before, but my Dad has an extra long, extra tall teardrop for sale.....................and the 80KW Onan generator is mounted inside and not on the tongue!

[madjack]

Just to throw a wrench in the works, I've been toying with the idea of an extra long, extra tall teardrop. Please feel free to straighten my out if I've stepped outside the bounds of T&TTT

http://www.tab4fun.de/TAB_XL/Der_grosse ... der_0.html

Mike...

Is it going to be any bigger than the Maxi Tear...it is built on a tandem axle chassis...seems if you can build it yourself and still pullit with a 1/2 ton PU it would still fit in the TTT realm...heck if'n ya build it yourself, you can callit any thin' ya wanna...it is your board after all
madjack

[48Rob]

I'm new to the site, was active, but after Pam closed the other board, I got wrapped up in vintage trailers.

Did a homebuilt tear a few years ago, then left the teardrop world for a time to rebuild a 1948 travel trailer.

I'm currently working on an interpretation of a Cabin Car.

I believe it was Scott who posted links to my pages (thanks Scott!).
Did I see that there were three or more of you also working on a cabin car type design?
Have any of you started...have pictures?

Rob

PS. The Roadster pulls it fine...without overheating, and it does weigh about a ton.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/1948rob/Cabin%20car%20project/wheels.jpg"><P>

[Hardin Valley Magic]

Mike that is one heck of a t@b. Buddy of mine wanted me to build something along those lines with the tandem axles but figured it would take a good size vehichle to pull as well as get STOPPED!! Does that have or will have electric assisst brakes?

[mikeschn]

I have not estimated the weight yet, but after pulling my baja benroy which was 1540#, and had electric brakes, I would say definitely plan on electric brakes for the Tab XL or what ever you want to call it.

On another note, I found a girl on another forum who wants to build a cross between a Tab XL and a Lemon drop... I've invited her over here... Just waiting for her to show up.

Her name is Kathy, and she's got tools and is ready to build. She just doesn't know where to start...

Hmmm... did I hijack this thread? Opps... Maybe Kathy will start a new thread for us!

Mike...

:shock: Mike that is one heck of a t@b. Buddy of mine wanted me to build something along those lines with the tandem axles but figured it would take a good size vehichle to pull as well as get STOPPED!! Does that have or will have electric assisst brakes?

[mikeschn]

Rob,

Your cabin car is cool. I spent several days last week drooling over it. You did a wonderful job outside and inside. Especially inside. Cabin cars didn't look like that years ago, but I would take what you built over a vintage model any day.

I especially like the sit down tub. The porta potty isn't bad either. And you did a wonderful packaging the hot water heater and all the stuff in the galley. Are you available for design consulation? We are looking for a few good designs here!

Mike...

I'm new to the site, was active, but after Pam closed the other board, I got wrapped up in vintage trailers.

Did a homebuilt tear a few years ago, then left the teardrop world for a time to rebuild a 1948 travel trailer.

I'm currently working on an interpretation of a Cabin Car.

I believe it was Scott who posted links to my pages (thanks Scott!).
Did I see that there were three or more of you also working on a cabin car type design?
Have any of you started...have pictures?

Rob

PS. The Roadster pulls it fine...without overheating, and it does weigh about a ton.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/1948rob/Cabin%20car%20project/wheels.jpg"><P>

[Feral XJ-SC]

You guys care to share any frame info? What length? What type of steel(Suqare orC)? What suspension? Where is the wheel going to sit? The origional CC the wheels sit far to the back. I am not sure that is a good idea. What say you?

I have been bugging Andrew about it for a couple weeks now. I found his drawings of the Cabin Car on his website before I found this forum.
http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/t ... tear00.htm At first I thought I would build his 2 + 2 frame and just put a Cabin Car body on it, but fortunately Andrew has been quite helpful and has shown me many errors of my ways. He has redrawn the frame as 2 x 2 from the rear to the back of the door,and then it steps down to 3 x 2 all the way to the tongue. I think he has offered to share his redrawings with anyone interested, and is likely to add them to his website when we all give him a break... If all goes well, mine will be 66 inches tall and 164 long.

I plan on using a flex(whatever) torsion axle. Apparently it is the most versitle of the torsion axles, and seems to be cheaper too. They were certainly more helpful on the phone when I was trying unsuccessfully to use the same rims and tires as my Jeep has. (Huge offsets don't work well for torsion axles..... )

I plan on keeping the wheels way in the back. My Jeep can take a tongue weight of 750... and to move them forward messes up the lines of that huge door and window.

I plan on surge brakes.

I plan on doing more than talking about it sometime between now and the end of the year.

Since the shape does not lend itself to easy geometry, I found a copy shop that will transfer the image of it (hopefully from an autocad file, but certainly from an 8 x 11 1/2 sheet) on to two 36 inch wide by whatever length rolls of paper.

[Feral XJ-SC]

[quote="48Rob"]

I'm currently working on an interpretation of a Cabin Car.

Have any of you started...have pictures?

Rob

Hi Rob,

Yeah I saw those pictures.

Do me a favor, when I get mine built, don't park that meticulously crafted work of art next to mine. I plan on doing the best job _I_ can, but I suspect it will come up far short when placed next to what you are doing/have done.

So far I am all talk and no trailer. I almost have 100 amp service to my garage... any day now that preliminary step will be done.... after that I should be able to start with something more tangable than pdf files and graph paper.

[48Rob]

"Consultation" would really be pushing it as I'm far removed from being an authority on much of anything.
However, I'd be happy to share what I've learned about Cabin Cars, and the design elements I've adapted if it will help someone else with theirs.

You're right, the originals were rather different than my version.
The galley area was simply a trunk, though there was an optional water storage tank.

The interior was set up much more like a 40's house trailer than a camping trailer, with closets for hanging your suits and dresses...guess a few things have changed since the 40's...

The combination drawer unit/tabletop/counter held a small sink and a hotplate. Handy for indoor cooking on a foul weather day, but had to be pretty difficult is such a small space.

The interior layout I chose, with the bed over the axle, leaves a nice chunk of space forward of the bed.
Obviously I chose to use it for a bathroom, but a "U" shaped couch with center table would fill the space perfectly, with just enough room left for a small sink.
Another plan would be to have bunk beds for the kids, and still have the sink, making it a family camper.

One of the most frequently asked questions is about the axle placement.
The axle is placed rather far back to allow a dropped floor in the forward area.
One could redesign this, but you'd have to deal with the wheel wells eating up precious interior space.
In the original, the wheel wells were contained in the trunk and closet areas.
The nearly three foot wide door is pretty nice too!
The resulting tongue weight is not extraordinary.
Design and planning, as with any trailer, will give you comfortable tongue weight ratios.
Most of the weight is centered over/around the axle.

Because the axle is placed far to the rear (and weight and balance is carefully considered) the trailer is very stable.
There is no fish tailing, no sway, and they corner very well.

Tongue weight on mine is around 275#.
I think it would take some effort to get it up to 750#?

Rob

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/1948rob/Cabin%20car/brochure.jpg"><P>

[Arne]

Looks like T@B is trying to move into another section of the travel trailer market, and they may find a nice niche there... more room, more comforts...

Many people who want to travel already own vehicles big enough to pull a one ton trailer, just need some braking powe on the trailer to help stop.

I'm waiting for our winter camping show to see what kind of smaller trailers might show up. Now that gas is staying pretty high (and around here, diesel is about 25% higher than gas, who would have thought that a couple years ago), smaller trailers with a fair amount of comforts might be very appealing. And a bigger T@B could be a hit.

[Green Hornet]

I can just imagine how many marks that t@b goes for! The inside is very nicely done.
Can't get enough of those cabin cars! Rob
Þ

[Green Hornet]

Got the floor finished today, between the raindrops

With my bestest helper I was able to give it the "Kid torture test" and it passed with flying colors.

I built the wheel wells and decided to put on the fenders from the trailer kit anyway. They fit OK. They will be covered by the sides.

[Green Hornet]

As it was raining anyway I decided to get the plywood sides and doorskins for the roof. Thank God the Honda people got with the Plywood people cuz the 3 sheets of 3/4" 4x8s and 14 3x7 doorskins JUST fit. Got them out and cut the sides out. Had to quit cuz of the heavy rain. Wifey says Tropical Storm Gamma is headed our way, I hadn't noticed, too busy cutting wood! No pics yet of the sides as I had to cover things up with a tarp.
I decide to use the 3/4" Oak ply it has a sweet looking grain on both sides so it should look good,least I hope so! $45 a sheet though

[mikeschn]

Dang, it's been an active hurricane season... Gamma eh? Is it expected to become hurricane strength?

Mike...

. Wifey says Tropical Storm Gamma is headed our way, I hadn't noticed, too busy cutting wood! No pics yet of the sides as I had to cover things up with a tarp.