Metzican's Dream off-road Teardrop Trailer

Muadeeb said:

I'd probably throw an inexpensive highway tire on it, since you're not worried about them matching.

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Negative, match em, and get a matching spare, so when trailering you have 2 spares that can go on either truck or trailer?

dhyde79 said:

Negative, match em, and get a matching spare, so when trailering you have 2 spares that can go on either truck or trailer?

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Word.

The only problem with matching them is unless I do a 8 tire rotation most likely after this set they won't be the same.

That and you can run a much smaller tire and have the same, or better ground clearance. Thus much cheaper tires. A 31 inch tire on a short wheelbase trailer is about the same as a 35 on a truck..And I think that I have $30.00 wrapped up in all three for my trailer, wheels and tires.

Well I pulled the trigger last night. I wanted to run the same size tire and bolt pattern due to just in case spare. Due to where I live I have been watching craigslist for the last 6 months and nothing worth while has popped up on used tires of 35's. I ended up going with the same tires but I think I should of done a cheaper tire... Ohh well might as well do the best of the bat and later down the road I can go with smaller or used tires. What I will most likely do is once my truck tires wear out I will take the three of the trailer and buy 2 more and put them on my truck. Unless I start getting a lot of flats.

I hate myself for buy the wrong wheel bolt patterns. Is anyone interested in buying these off of me. NXM/WENT would probably be the best chance. I can return them but with shipping cost it would not be worth it. (only problem with ordering online)

So today I got two boxes in and was really excited that my suspesion got here. What I did not realize was the other box was great stuff from a special provider.

This is a little teas as I upload photos and make a nice long post.

So here is the suspension box first....


Leaf spring hangers. 1 1/2" for the front, 1 1/4" for the back, Along with the shackles for the leafs on the rear and mounting hardware. These hangers will be welded to the frame as I don't want to deal with vibrations and bolts.



U bolts and plate. What can I say nice simple and to the pont. Will have to look up the torque rating for these. I know there are simple charts depending on U bolt size.



What can I say, 1200 lbs per leaf pack. 25 3/4" long. Just perfect. Now do I need to get shocks due to my trailer bouncing to much?



LED Light strip, I have to test these out but most likely on or both is going on the Galley hatch depending on how bright they are. Probably one closer to the galley and one further away.



Here is how all the drawers and cabinets are going to stay closed. Slam latches no key but light, rust proof and durable. I can't wait to be mad at myself for screwing up the mounting of these.





My most exciting parts to come once photobucket starts working again.

So here is the propane mount 10lb tank!!!!, Just the perfect size. 20lbs are just too wide and 5lbs are just too small.



Here is the 10lb tank I talked about above.



This is my favorite purchase. Its a roof rack mount. I need to make the cross bars still. But these are stainless steel and are very stout. The side you see mounts to the side of the tear drop near the top. Then bend allows it to flow over the edge molding/trim. Any roof rack would be easy to mount to a nice flat surface.



Now what everyone will love is this. It needs no introduction.....

So I got my tires and rims in today. No pictures dropped them off at the tire place to be mounted.

So I mounted one of the drop hitches I had laying around to this thing. Pumped a little grease into it. and poof this thing is awesome.

This is going to be a heck of a build! I'm working on one currently but have to go slow as I don't have the cash to drop on stuff. I've got it basically planned out but I'll watch this to see if there are any ideas I need to steal from you!

jmnielsen said:

This is going to be a heck of a build! I'm working on one currently but have to go slow as I don't have the cash to drop on stuff. I've got it basically planned out but I'll watch this to see if there are any ideas I need to steal from you!

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Yeah I like being the Guinea pig. In reality to just do a basic one with nothing fancy and if you already own all the tools. I would bet it could be done on a budget of 3-4k which is a lot of money for some but compared to a RTT I think it is well worth it. If I decided not to do insulated walls I could save a few hundred. Or doing smaller tires would of saved me a crap load. Smaller trailer also as I'm doing a weird size essentially just over 4' wide and 9' long. and about 5' height on the outside. Inside will be 4' 3" height. Cheapest way would be 4'x4'x8'. Some people don't do a galley and I can understand why. But I also decided I don't want to build one and be like I wish I had this. I want to be able to adapt my current one to the any situation I would like. I wish I could have this thing done by NXM but no way that would be impossible. By then I might have a rolling frame with a wood floor.

I've got a 5x8 trailer that I built with only $220 into it right now but materials and electronics will be expensive. I'm going to insulate as well since most of my camping is mountain camping in the summer or fall camping in Nebraska.

Here is what I have built so far. (Axle was $20 on craigslist and other than rust it is perfect)

Awesome looking frame, Very similar design to what mine will be. Is that 2" square tubing? what size axle is that?

That is an great price for all that. My custom axle cost more then that.

Thanks. Yes the main portion is 2" square tubing 1/8" wall with the 3 cross pieces being 1/16" wall 2"x1". It's a 3500# axle that came from a double axle trailer that someone was converting to single axle. It may be a tad overbuilt for its intended use but that's not an issue.

Here is a another picture showing it better. There are gussets in each Corner and in the middle of the frame for bolting the floor of the TD to.

I went with a 3500# axle too mine is with leaf springs so I can change these if needed depending no final weight. I wish I could of found one on craigs list but it would of had to been cut and modified anyways. I went with 3"x2" rectangular tubing .12 wall. I know this is probably over kill, I am also having a front and rear receiver and a piece connecting the two straight through. Besides this our trailer frames are the same.

So I talked to the local lumber yard that all the cabinet makers use. They don't have anything in stock for the sizes I want. But they can order anything I want. So with price in mind. What would you recommend for the walls and ceiling of a tear drop camper.

I need:
internal wall support and floor 5x10 3/4"
External wall 5x10 1/4"
Internal wall and roof 5x10 1/8"
Ceiling truss 2"x2" (people say use Spruce-Pine-Fir)

Everything I read says use Birch. I want it strong but the thinner sheets have to be flexible to go on the roof of the camper.

Along with this what type of core, MDF, vaneer, ect..
What type of birch, sap, white, ect...

Anything else I should know?

Another thing is all the bent roof pieces have to be placed the short way so they can bend more easily

One thing I'm coming to realize is it is very difficult to buy all the parts as needed. I'm going to just have to buy almost everything from the beginning. A lot of the stuff just can't be thought of or installed later. It has to be done as you go...

You should definitely check out tnttt.com there is a ton of info there. More than anything there are a ton of builds to get ideas from and see how people went about building them.

It's popular to use luan for the roof and other curves because you can bend it fairly easy. For a thicker/stronger roof they'll glue one sheet on top of another.

I've been all over TNTTT.com for a while. A lot of good info. There is major mix reviews about Luan great for being cheap but durability and work ability is less then impressive.

So today I put in a order for a bunch of tear drop specific items like door, window, trim, seals... wow some of this stuff is overpriced. I knew this already but it was not worth the time to deal with building my own when I'm going to be crunched for time anyways.

Isn't it CRAZY how expensive doors and windows are? It's nuts...

I'm excited to see your build and how it turns out. My goal is for next spring so I'll be keeping an eye on yours for ideas

I'm hoping to be done by that time so it will be perfect for you to know any mistakes that I made and do everything better and easily.

J Everett said:

Check this out for ideas.

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I wounder how long it took him to build it. That is my biggest question I have for my build. I figure at least 1000 hours.

On another note. I ordered about 1k worth of stuff off amazon today alot of electronics and small things for the finish. When I get back to land I have to call the lumber yard since they never left a voice mail or emailed me about my plywood. My axle came in today so I have to drop that off at the welders Monday a go over the fender design.

That thing has to weigh a ton! Definitely no need to frame with 2x4s. Unless you plan on putting a RTT up there.

jmnielsen said:

That thing has to weigh a ton! Definitely no need to frame with 2x4s. Unless you plan on putting a RTT up there.

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There are plenty of tear drops with RTT that only use 3/4" walls solid or frame with 3/4" between 1/8" and 1/4" panels. The strength comes from the rounded shape. There are no corners with increased forces to them.

So here are half the boxes I had waiting for me when I got home today.

I'd file a complaint! Delivering open boxes like that...

Muadeeb said:

I'd file a complaint! Delivering open boxes like that...

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If your talking about the boxes in the background that is another project I have to finish up...

Here we go...

I have a 900w one in my vehicle that works good but I figure I put a heavy duty one in the trailer for just in case I need to run a workshop at base camp.


Water pump for cleaning up dishes and inline hot water heater. This thing is bigger then I thought but it will all work out in the end!!!


Battery management system. I have one of these in my vehicle too. I love these things. Don't expect a quick charge but when parked for a long time they work wounder.


I think this is the best fuse block you can buy. Hell I have two in my vehicle and going to have 1 in the trailer.


Inline water filter. Probably don't need it but you never know how clean some water is or if you start getting some growth in the tank. Over sized but will last the whole trip. And easy to hook up or remove and bypass.


I know I don't need a lot of trailer lights on this trailer by law but I think most trailers are under lite. Saw a kid in college get smoked by a trailer he did not see and ran over. Not a good way to start a college career. Not to mention it will aid in backing up or even clearance with trees at night. Of course LED's.


I'm going to remove the "check valve" and use this as a hook up for the hot water heater or just general faucet. So everything will be removable.


Still waiting on the stove. Bu this thing will allow me to hook it up to my 10lb propane tank!!


Water fill up. A must for on board water tank. Both the fill up and hose attachment will be in the galley to keep everything clean.


Entertainment for those nights you don't feel like listening to nature while falling asleep. Along with rainy days. Plus it has the map lights which will be useful.


LED stripes. Going to be cut up and put inside each cupboard so when the door opens they light up.


Butyl tape. Seals everything up.


Hoping to run high amp lines to the rear of the trailer so I can jump someone or even hook up a winch if needed. Might do the same on the vehicle while i'm at it. Might need a few more of these.


Bad pic, but just a bunch of rocker switches for turning on and off everything. I don't think I'm going to use relays on anything under 7.5amps.


Plugs, Plugs and more 12v Plugs. With everything being USB now a days these will come in handy. And can hook up lights as needed in the future.


Under all this stuff is the door and window. Door one side window the other. Did not want to unpack it yet just to repack it.


Another horrible picture. When I"m doing my build I will use my digital camera but the phone is so much more handy. This is a huge ceiling fan. Everyone said they were huge but this thing is going to be half the roof. At least I can circulate some air around. Need to re screen it for the tiny ****ing insects around here.


Galley hatch seal.


Sealant that everyone uses. Also prevents deterioration of the wood with some fancy chemistry if it started already.


Here is everything together. The boxes on the right is a wood rc speed boat I put on hold for way to long now. The long tube is the hinge and trim have not open it yet.


Last but not least. The axle. 3500lbs. This thing is not to heavy either. has 10" E brakes. I mounted the leave springs on it. Did not tighten them down yet.



Don't judge me on the cheap brand of these tools. I got them free from getting safety points at work. So if they last the life of the job great if they don't ohh well.
Sorry for the horrible pictures but I took a lot and the phone was not being happy.




Now I have to wait for 4 more boxes to show up in the next 2 weeks. On top of this I talked to my welder and he got busy with other stuff that are more consistent clients so he did not start on the trailer frame. I understand, frustrating but reasonable. So he said later this week. I will be dropping of the axle, tires w/spare, suspension all off at the welders tomorrow and go over the idea of the fenders this way he can build the frame i one shot. I do want the fenders removable so I can build the body on the frame vs off the frame. Not to mention they have to be strong because one will have the spare mounted on it (100+lbs) the other will have jerry cans and propane mounted on it. Also tomorrow recall the lumberyard since they ever sent me an email or voice mail about the quote I requested. ****ing odd size plywood and I don't feel like jointing them together. Rather pay the money up front.

I'm envisioning something like this when you're done...

LOL, That would be interesting to drive.

I have that black and decker jig saw and have had no issues with it. It seems to be a quality tool especially for the price.

This build is epic already.

jmnielsen said:

I have that black and decker jig saw and have had no issues with it. It seems to be a quality tool especially for the price.

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Good to hear about the saw. I just want it to last this one project then after that I can get a different one down the line.

Macland said:

This build is epic already.

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I am absolutely in love with this build too!!! I just wish a few venders were more helpful and on top of giving me a quote like I wanted.

Shut up and take my money vendors!

Macland said:

Shut up and take my money vendors!

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Exactly take my money and let me start building I'm going stir crazy waiting to start. I should be focusing on my huge review monday but **** it.

So this came in yesterday.

These came in today. I think the UPS guy is hating me!!! He did not look to happy!

The previous post is the bed, Its very difficult/expensive to find a bed the size I want. So I'm going to make my own. Simple mattress foam and overlapping it.

So I was at the local gas station and the UPS guy recognized me and asked if I wanted my package today. I don't know if this is good or bad they he knows me so well.

So I got these accuride sliders in today they are the extra heavy duty model that lock in and out. And to put it point blankly yes they are. Holy **** I see why these can hold up 500lbs. I'm going to be building my own fridge slide out as it needs to slide sideways and to be honest there is only one on the US market and it is 2.5 times the cost of the sliders. Some sheet metal and home made brackets can save a bunch.

So today I was talking to the specialty lumberyard to order my plywood and had my first major setback. This is not going to be fun or as nice as I was hoping and will add a few weeks onto the build . But no turning back at this point to much invested. They did not understand that I needed Hardwood plywood in 5'x10' sheets not some junk foreign stuff. This means I will have to buy a crap ton of 4'x8' sheets and make real long and difficult cuts with the router to do lap joints and try to make good bonds. And have a lot of spare left over plywood. Time to do some redesign work to overlap all these joints.