Teardrop trailer build

[Syberia]

Axle on mine is made of square tubing and feels sturdy. We'll see, I guess.

Finished hooking up the solar panels last night. They came with about 50' or so of wire, but I had to cut it, strip it, and install connectors on the end myself. Why they couldn't have done this at the factory, I don't know.



Wired the panels together in parallel (red to red, black to black) per the instructions for a 12 volt system using the connectors that were provided and attached at the factory.



Routed the cables down the front of the trailer (I'll take up the slack by securing the connectors on top with zip ties or something) and into my battery box.



Used a cord wrap to take up most of the slack; that way I can remove the panels and set them on the ground away from the trailer if the campsite/sun position requires it. I might actually swap out the cables with something more flexible (low voltage landscape cord comes to mind) at a later time.



Wired up the charge controller and mounted it under the inverter. To the very right of the frame is a 20-amp circuit breaker that I installed on the positive charging wire to the battery.





Also, I finally got around to sealing around the outlet in the side of the box.

 

[Syberia]

Rained yesterday so I couldn't work on the rear hatch like I wanted to, so I re-did a bit of the propane plumbing instead. Since all of our appliances except the water heater use high pressure, I decided to put a high pressure regulator on the tank instead of the low pressure one I was using, and give the water heater it's own regulator where it hooks up.

Unfortunately, getting that regulator has been a pain in the ***. Ordered one from eBay, seller told me it was back ordered for 10 days after I had already paid, that 10 days has come and gone, seller will not respond to messages, and eBay is making me wait until tomorrow (expected delivery date from seller, even though it has not shipped yet) in order to open a claim to get my money back. Good thing I'm not in a hurry!

Anyways, I cut a hole in the countertop and ran a 3/4" bulkhead fitting through it. This way I can run a propane hose up through the counter and connect to my stove.



Bought an adapter to go from a disposable propane tank fitting to 1/4" NPT, and then attached a 1/4" quick connect to the other end. This way, I can run the stove from the quick connect hose in the trailer, but still use it with a disposable propane bottle if we're somewhere else.





I bought 3 of the adapters and a 25' hose so I can do the same thing with my oven and bbq, since we can't use them in the actual kitchen because there's not enough room.

I also hooked up the water heater to its own regulator. I can't test the thing until I get the high pressure regulator for the front though.



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[John15511]

Wow! Great build ! I've always wanted to build one and this might just be my inspiration......SUBSCRIBED!

 

[Syberia]

Tested the solar panels today and they worked!

Bent a piece of 1/4" plywood over the frame of the hatch and secured with screws.





Skinned with a piece of shower panel



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[Syberia]

Cut off the sharp pointy screws (and made a nice slice in my finger in the process...) and painted the inside of the hatch white to match the kitchen.



Put down a piece of carpet inside.



Everything is all registered and legal. Actually, it has been for quite a while now; as far as the DMV knows, it's still a flatbed cargo trailer (less money to register).



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[David0858]

That hatch is begging for a light on the part that will be highest when opened on a car hood type fixture that comes on when it's opened.

 

[Syberia]

I had considered it, and might still do it. The lights on the side of the kitchen are plenty bright so it's something I'd do after the rest of the trailer is finished.

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[Syberia]

Progress has been very slow lately; a lot of waiting for paint to dry on small pieces. I need a powder coat machine/oven.

 

[fartymarty]

I need a powder coat machine/oven.

Yeah, don't we all...er well at least 90% of us do and the other 10% need a larger/better oven.

..and yes, I haven't mentioned it, but I'm subscribed..not that it matters to anybody except me. ..anyway, thanks for the sharing Syberia.

 

[Syberia]

Wrll, it seems people are just giving away old but working kitchen ovens on Craigslist so I might have to pick one up this weekend. Can get a powder coat machine for $70 from Harbor Freight last time I checked so I might have just given myself an excuse to spend more money [emoji38]_hitti

Made these brackets last night to hold the supports (1/2 emt) that will hold the hatch open. And waited for the paint to dry...



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[Rewind97]

Could you use the small gas struts on the hatch?

 

[Syberia]

Sadly, no. There's too much "stuff" attached to the walls and the counter sticks out too far (not re-doing it) that they don't have enough room. I bought some and had to return them

 

[Growlertdi]

looking pretty good man. nice custom build.

 

[Syberia]

Thanks.

I installed the hatch yesterday. The curvature of the metal was correct, but when I installed the wood, it caused it to straighten out ever so slightly at the bottom.



That can be easily fixed, and I needed a way to hold it closed and lock it anyways while on the road.





Hopefully, over time, the wood will conform to the correcty curve. If not, no big deal. There's a bit of a gap between the hatch and the kitchen wall, since the back is not perfectly square (it fought me the whole way and I did the best I could), but I already have a plan to deal with that.

Also, I took a look at everything again and made some measurements and I *think* I can still use struts to support the hatch. They need to be a specific length, but I think I can find ones that fit.

And, of course, I installed perhaps the most important part of the trailer!

 

[Doug Arthurs]

I have a trailer and am curious how people get tv reception while out camping. I would like to be able to travel to say the USA and be able to watch tv. An extra bonus would be if I could log unto my server back at home in Canada and do actual work thus allowing me to go away and not miss a beat at work.

 

[Syberia]

I don't expect to get reception, but the 128gb micro SD in my phone can hold a large portion of our unending backlog of unwatched movies and TV shows. Maybe even play a game on my laptop.

If we end up anywhere with Wi-Fi or even a good enough cell signal, I can probably stream movies from my server at home with Plex.

 

[Yarz]

Depending on where you're camping, you may be able to pick up Over-The-Air TV signals with a simple antenna. If you know the address of where you'll be, you can look it up here to see what is available and what direction to point the antenna:

http://tvfool.com/

 

[Syberia]

Most of the time, the address will be "middle of the desert" or "up on a mountain." Honestly, I pretty much forgot OTA TV was still a thing, lol

 

[Honda1]

Awesome build!!!! I hope you and your wife have some wonderful trips using it.

 

[crab]

Make yourself a satellite dish, you could get tv anywhere.

 

[Syberia]

Finally got my propane regulator (had to get refunded by eBay and order somewhere else; seller never responded to me nor shipped the original one...) so I got everything all set up and working. Also been working on the hatch (almost finished), so I'll have pics of that tomorrow. Beyond that it's just little things and I'm done

 

[danmcph]

I didn't even know that people built these things. I am now researching my own build. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[Syberia]

Installed the inner trim piece for the door. Filled the open spaces at the corners and the bottom (there wasn't enough room for a 2x2) with spray foam. Will trim away any excess and cover the gap with black sealant once the foam dries.





Finished trimming the hatch. Bent a piece of 2" x 1/8" aluminum over the edge of the curved parts flush with the sides of the trailer, then attached the same molding I used for the top to come down over the sides. For the bottom part where it is straight but the hatch sticks out a bit more, I used 2" aluminum angle instead.





I sealed the hatch with foam weather stripping. A 1/8 piece strip on the trailer portion and a 5/16 piece on the hatch. The two push together to make a water tight seal that passed the "spray it with a hose and it stayed dry" test.

I also cut a hole in the battery box for a volt meter. Then I proceeded to break the volt meter trying to fit it through the hole that was just a tiny bit too small. Enlarged it with a file and the volt meter now fits, but doesn't work (broke the screen). Ordered a new one for about $4.



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[John15511]

Keep it up ! Looks great!

 

[Syberia]

Thanks. Inside is done except for the one window that still needs a trim piece I don't have yet.





Yes, those are Pokémon sheets. Yes, we are 29 years old. No, there is not a problem with that

The mattress is just a foam pad from IKEA. About 2-3" thick. It's perfect lengthwise; we had to cut a few inches off the width to get it to squeeze into the bottom of the trailer. It's almost the exact same height as the bottom of the door frame so getting in and out just got a bit easier.

We laid down in the trailer last night and it was plenty comfortable. It was in the 50s outside at the time, but inside the trailer it was actually too hot under the comforter and we had to open the window.

At this point I just need to install the struts on the hatch (I should get them tomorrow) and seal the joints where the walls meet the trailer frame and I'm done. I expect to have both of those things done this weekend, and we will be camping in the trailer next Tuesday - Thursday.

 

[Doug Arthurs]

As you get older you will need a thicker mattress. Trust me I know.

 

[Rewind97]

What did you decide about the solar panels...........leave them on of take them off during transit?

 

[Syberia]

Probably going to take them off. It wasn't much trouble.

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[Bronson]

You did a fantastic job!
Can I borrow it?

 

[Syberia]

Lol

 

[madoc1]

great work. now we need a post-mortem when you get back. and some desert pics! happy camping.

jim

 

[aka Larry]

Looks great man. Nice work!

BTW, have you calculated the total spent, if you don't mind sharing?

 

[Syberia]

Unless I go through all my receipts and bank statements, I won't have an exact number. I'd say close to or over $3,000 for a final number.

They can obviously be built cheaper if you don't need a tv, shower, hot water, solar, etc.

 

[HOTFR8]

Unless I go through all my receipts and bank statements, I won't have an exact number. I'd say close to or over $3,000 for a final number.

They can obviously be built cheaper if you don't need a tv, shower, hot water, solar, etc.

When ever I have been asked about building a Teardrop after people see mine I say it can be as expensive or as cheap as you want depending on what you want to do with it when finished.

 

[Syberia]

Almost done! (I lnow I keep saying that...)

Installed my gas struts on the kitchen hatch. I used 24" struts capable of holding 90 lbs each (hatch weighs about 50 lbs) and it still took both of them to stop it from falling. I guess I underestimated the amount of leverage they have to fight against when mounted about 2/3 of the way towards the back of the hatch.



Also received, installed, and managed not to break a second voltmeter. Then I did a bit of a load test on the battery - turned on the TV and played a movie for about an hour and a half, and turned on both of the kitchen lights (10 watts each). At the end of my test, the voltage had not even gone down by 1/10 of a volt.



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[HOTFR8]

You will need airflow or you will get condensation inside.

 

[Syberia]

Yeah we figured that out the other night after we put the bedding in when we went out and sat in it for a while. I've also read it's possible to use up all the air in such a small space overnight.

We will leave the vent and at least one window cracked; we did that the other night and were still too hot under the comforter. Supposedly running a small fan to circulate the air also helps with condensation.

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[jhn9840]

Learned something new. If someone would of told me you could build something so nice out of a 4x8 HF trailer I would have laughed at them. Fantastic job. Now go enjoy it.

jhn9840
John

 

[Syberia]

thanks.

 

[aka Larry]

Great job man. I'd love to try one of these out for a weekend and see how I liked it. I haven't 'camped out' in about 25 years, but maybe I'd like it with a good setup like you have built.