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Just finished reading through the thread... and holy poo poo, the work you've done is absolutely incredible!! This is quite possibly one of the nicest teardrops I've ever seen, and the attention to quality and detail is on a whole other level. I know you initially opted to diy from scratch based on know-how and cost, but what you've built surpasses any of those considerations with the quality and care you've built into every piece of this. I don't think you could even buy a camper as nice as this has turned out! I purchased a Bean teardrop last year to upgrade from tent camping, and it's been one of my best purchases. A teardrop strikes the right blend of camping and being outside, but with all the luxury, comfort, and conveniences of home. You are absolutely going to love taking that out, especially with the satisfaction of knowing you built it. Ours has been great for everything from off grid camping, weekend trips to state parks, and extended cross country travel -- there's no limitation to the kinds of things you can do with a teardrop, they're so convenient and flexible. For reference, here's the trailer I picked up last year:  I can't remember if you've already planned for these or mentioned them throughout your build, but a few thoughts on finishing touches you might consider... Are you mounting up a propane tank on your tongue? If so, have you thought about running propane lines with quick disconnects under your trailer that you can hook up when you get to camp, and attach to your stove or propane firepit from the rear of the trailer? That's been a nice quality of life feature. I think you ran 12v sockets in your headboard if I recall correctly. Have you looked at adding a small pico projector and mounts for a screen to your interior? That's been nice for us when we've had bad weather to just hang out inside and watch stuff. A small shelf for charging your phone and keyring on each side by the headboard is nice if you don't already have something like that planned. I'm currently puzzling out a small mesh hammock on each side hanging from the wall/ceiling to stash jackets and clothes to make things a bit more seamless. I absolutely love your sliding undermount shoe storage bins, that's such a clever idea! I bought thule roof tent boot bags and hung them from rock sliders, but now I'm contemplating doing something similar to yours -- that's really ingenious! A small heatbud electric heater does a great job keeping the interior cozy down to freezing for us, it just sucks a lot of electricity so I recently picked up a propex HS2211 exterior propane heater and am looking to mount that for winter camping use. I don't remember if you figured out what you're doing for your frontbox yet, but having a weathertight container for LifePO4 batteries and random camp stuff like chairs, shovel, poles, hoses, etc has been fantastic and I'd highly recommend adding one! As a side note, absolutely love "Spruce Caboose" and the color choice on the paint!
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Apr 15, 2024 22:56
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Slugworth posted:Me at the start of the thread: "Oh cool, maybe I'll build one of these someday" ^^ This ^^ I started looking at building one during the pandemic because I love woodworking and like to think of myself as fairly handy, but quickly noped out once I realized the care and attention that needs to be paid to get everything fitted, sealed up, roadworthy, and finished out. It's not just a set of shelves I can slap some trim on to cover the big gaps everywhere. I really appreciate all the writeups and photos in here, that's given me an even greater appreciation for all the work needed to get one across the finish line! I'm just impressed as all get out by what you've built here!! Raised by Hamsters posted:
That's a really great idea to split up your front boxes like that, makes access and organization nice and easy. Especially if you do something like toss batteries and charge controllers/trailer brakeaway controller into one or something. I have no idea about these in particular or how they'd fit into the space, but I feel like some sort of side mount truck toolboxes might fit the bill. Or even something like a rotomolded chest might work (though that sorta thing might be too heavy at the tongue). Tongue weight is my big limitation... I've got a nice front box but after 200Ah of LiFEPO4 batteries and an 11 gallon propane tank, it's right at the limit of my Outback can handle, which either means I need to toss in new overloaded springs from rallitek or switch to a Tacoma or something. I love your side table mount, that's exactly what I want to do with my trailer, like maybe above the fender or as a perpendicular galley extension. Is this similar to what you're using for that? What are your plans for the table itself and storage? That would be really neat if you could hinge it to store in the galley somewhere and then slide out, fold out, pop the legs on, and attach to the camper Edit: For the projector this is what we cobbled together with a blackout curtain and ball mounted kodak pico projector on the ceiling, but I just bought one of these screens on amazon to mount to wall hooks with an adjustable cord. Less volume, hopefully quicker and easier overall. For content we either stream to the projector from our phones or use a 256gb thumb drive with movies and tv shows loaded up on it. Gonna test it out this weekend over at New River Gorge! Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Apr 23, 2024 |
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Apr 23, 2024 13:23
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It's all coming together and looking great!! Especially nice work on the hatch -- so many things that could've gone sideways with the fit, finish, and hinge, but all your attention to detail paid off! On the topic of your hatch struts, that does seem awfully high, but it kinda makes sense as they have to be mounted higher up out of the way where there's not much lever force multiplier. I don't have any idea whether this is a realistic option for you, but have you looked at the possibility of hatch lift springs? For example: https://www.wolfsmarine.com/sea-dog-stainless-hatch-spring-11-5-8/ Basically you have this spring that is under tension that helps push a hatch up, and then locks into place when fully extended. To release, you just push the spring sideways a little to pop it free, and then it flexes back down. There's one teardrop manufacturer that does use these things, but I don't recall who, and I have no idea how these are rated. I just saw it someplace or another and was like oh that's neat! Also digging the full size mattress -- that was such a great idea! Our trailer came with a 4" tri fold mattress because there's a hatch and table underneath I've never used, and the very first thing we did was get the thickest topper we could on the road to make it more comfortable. I put Den Dry in ours too, and it's worked absolutely perfectly! Cracking windows and the vent(even down to freezing) also does a lot to get ride of any condensation as well. Everything is coming together great!! What's the first trip with this thing going to be?
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Apr 30, 2024 05:12
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I just wanted to say that everything is looking really good as it all comes together! I'm especially glad the hatch struts worked out so well for you--they look great! The front tire mount also turned out nicely. It's very clean and balanced, and looks like it'll be really easy to work with! Really the whole camper has just such a delightful retro vibe, especially with your choice of paint. Reminds me of classic camping gear, like Wenonah or Old Town canoes, or the green Coleman stoves. I keep geeking out over it, but it's such a perfect choice and application! Also a great choice with the LifePO4 battery and Victron shunt/solar charge controller! That's exactly what I've got in mine and I really like the historical graphs for solar power generated, current used over time, etc. It's one of the few IoT devices I've used that's just worked, and worked well. If you haven't already, be sure to make a note of the serial numbers and PUK on both devices in case you need to reset the bluetooth pairing pin. When I recently upgraded my phone I couldn't get it to pair and apparently never recorded the pin in my password manager, and man, it was tough to find those codes when all the stuff is mounted up in a tight cavity like that. Just one of those little things I wish I'd made a note about. You're so close to the finish line, I can't wait to see some pics of your first trip out with it!!
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May 15, 2024 22:20
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