My teardrop (ish) build V1.0 (2 Viewers)

[smritte]

Heading out to the TDS event. I haven't been to that in 28 years. Not going to get much done structurally. Been doing small things after work. Got the main power feeds and rear tail light wiring layed out. The wiring runs through the frame. Using gland nuts and removable flanges to seal everything. Installed a wiring junction box in the front and need to install one in the rear. This will help organize my wiring and make it easier if I need to add in something later.
I'll get pictures of the layout later.

 

[ntsqd]

First did it on the C.U.T. project trailer and now I plan to do so on every future trailer; put a trailer lights socket on/in the tongue so that the connector can be unplugged and stored out of the weather while the trailer is in storage. The reason that we did it originally on the C.U.T. was so that we could make jumpers for each different tow rig's trailer lights connector as we expected that many friends would be wanting to borrow it. Trailer itself got a 7 pin RV type connector. The cost of use if a jumper doesn't exist for the borrower's socket is to make up the jumper and leave it in the tongue box when done.

 

[smritte]

It's been a while since i've updated this. Had some surgery then when I was ready to start again the virus thing hit and im sitting at home. I need to order my door and windows so I can start my wall framing as well as the aluminum for the walls.

For now, I'm just doing small things without spending money.

Here it is so far. All four leveling jacks on

Front junction box. I have the main harness gland nut installed in the frame, will add in another once I get the framing up. The front box will be wired near the end of the project.

Water tank in, pump mounted, hoses ran through the frame. The gland nut on the right will be inside the wall and used for the pump wiring.

Rear junction block and hose frame exit. The junction block here is rear lights, brakes and a 12 gauge power feed for whatever may pop up later.
The blue/white hose is the tank fill and the other two are pressure and vent.

That's all for now.

 

[smritte]

Soooo,
The virus thing slowed my build down so between that and my surgery I figure I've lost two months build time.
Got the basic outside frame tacked together, fridge slide made and basic floor cut and just set in. I need to get my door and windows so I can finalize my sides. I will be building the rear storage and compartment doors next.

I'm thinking of remaking the front with a radius and not a 45 degree. All I need to do is figure out how to bend square tube.

That's all for now.

Edit: just realized I left my magnets in the photo. See if you can spot all 5 in the picture. Hint : 3 different types.

 

[ntsqd]

Find a big steel vendor, they usually can bend square & rectangular tubing in a large radius. In Oxnard, CA that vendor is Gold Coast Steel, but there has to be someone closer to you. IMS maybe?

 

[smritte]

The IMS by me will only cut. Monday I think I'm going to hit up some rod iron companies. Most just make square panels but I may find one that bends.

 

[smritte]

Masking tape is your friend.

The pictures kinda poor but, this is what I spent today doing. Taped my door, window, cabinets and rear storage area openings. This way I can sit inside and look out as well as climb in and out the door. Being a visual person, using tape in this manner gives me a new perspective.

Right off the bat, the standard door size (26x36) was going to be an issue. I kept hitting my head and sometimes I caught my foot on the opening edge while climbing in and out. I changed the size to 28x38. Perfect.
The windows ended up 21x14. I have a small bucket to use as a chair. The window size is good but when I get them I need to move them up about an inch.
Passenger side, rear I have my fridge slide out and over the top of the fridge, I will be storing my folding table and camp stove. That door I'm going to make. Rear access storage figured out with door size and inside rear cabinets shelves drawn out.
After doing this I decided to move my inside rear wall back three inch's.

Looking through the door you see the driver side window. That kind of throws the picture off.

 

[smritte]

Been working on rear storage brackets and shelf's.
Learned a few things.
1. I am so not a cabinet maker.
2. Plywood is not straight.
3. Metal is easier to work with.
4. needed more wood and a little more steel to finish.

With that aside, I have the rear storage/shelf area almost done (need 1 more sheet of plywood) and I will be weatherproofing the wood. The inside got an upper rear storage compartment just needing the sides done.
As for the rest of the trailer I need to do finish welding on the new rear framework (storage), paint all that, run the wiring, order the windows/door and skin it. The doors are going to be the issue. I can get the windows and complete everything but the passenger side. That's where the door will be. The company who would be making the door had shut down for two months and are dealing with back orders. They cant give me a lead time yet.

Picture time

This shows the inside storage area (top of picture). 56" across, 12" high and 12" deep. This will get doors once the inside is skinned.

Here is the rear. The inside shelving comes into the top of this. On the bottom left is a small area that fits two of my storage box's perfectly. This had to be made small because my tank fill hose comes up on the left and the slider tracks come over on the right. The left area will probably get either adjustable shelving and/or some kind of slide out drawer/basket/whatever. Right side above the fridge will be three shelves. Lowest one is for my folding table, next up is where my stove will store and third...not sure. Couldn't see wasting the space.
The right side door will open up and the opening will be about an inch below lowest shelf. The left side will open out to the left and be almost full length.

I started another thread on venting the fridge enclosure. Looking for ideas while i'm at this stage.

 

[smritte]

Finished the storage area, dissembled it then waterproofed the wood. Windows came in today and got the doors ordered. I'm going to do the wiring and skin the driver side (no door there). On the home stretch finally. It started raining today so I called it early and didn't get any pictures. I'll assemble the storage and get some shots.

 

[smritte]

Started back with my job and back to work on my trailer.

Chassis is 90% wired. Only rear lights left. Have windows but should have doors in a week or two. When the doors get here is when I will be skinning the outside. Water tank is plumbed and waiting on doors before mounting the filter. I will be making an access hatch for easy filter replacement once those are installed.

Wiring layed out and run through the frame. I ran out of electrical tape while I was doing this. Had to hold the wires together with masking tape. Got more today and will be re-wrapping some of it

I used plastic grommets wherever the wire passed through the tube. All of the wiring is encased in split loom. The few pieces that are not now will be when everything is final.

Made the spare tire mount today. I'm not too good at free handing a circle with my plasma cutter. It's close enough. When its done, the tire carrier will bolt to the side. I will be able to extend it out a little if I go to a bigger tire in the future.

Back side.

That's it for now.

 

[smritte]

Now that I'm getting closer, here's the concept pictures i started out with. You will get an idea what I'm working towards. The XXXXXX on the sides will be painted diamond plate.

 

[smritte]

Got some more work done today but only got two pictures.
In the beginning of this build, I wanted to try out one of the Ark XO trailer jack's. The jack on my M-100 is a standard one wheel jack. Off road it was a struggle to move it around on the jack. I had read alot about the Ark jack and ordered one for this build. While I was shopping , I saw one that looks just like it for cheaper. I've been burned by copies and didn't go that route.
Today I finished modding my Ark jack. I'm not too happy with it overall and needed to make it work properly. The sloppiness is about the same as cheaper jacks and it was too short. Those are easily dealt with or ignored. My big issue was how poorly the wheel turned. I had already extended it 4 inch's and today fixed its poor turning. If I knew I was going to have to mod it, I would have gotten the cheap one.

I drilled out the wheel hub and installed a bronze bushing. Removed the plastic washer and installed thrust bearings. The original design used a plastic (teflon?) washer in between the jack and wheel hub. It didn't like changing directions and was a bit sloppy. The thrust bearings can handle several thousand pounds but will have to be cleaned and re-greased occasionally. I can do this when I re-grease the hubs each year. Now it turns very easy.

Got driver and passenger side's, inside and outside cut out. I only had time to get the door and one window installed. These are in temporarily and will be removed so I can add in some bracing and prime the wood. I didn't get a pic of the other side when I completed it, just this side.

Looking at this picture, you can see that my fender is almost hitting my tire. The springs should have been more than enough. I believe the company that sold these over rated them. This is something I will deal with after i'm done.

 

[smritte]

No new pictures.
I got the sides cut out (inside and outside). Reinforced the framing slightly around the windows and door. Interior roof panel cut and mocked up. I was going to stain the interior wood but I don't like how my seams will look. Decided to paint the interior a lite blue/grey. Got the paint and looked at carpet. The floor is going to be a lite grey indoor/outdoor.
My roofing material came in. After researching the crap out of what to do with the roof, I chose a PVC rubber "skin". It will reflect a good amount of UV and will most likely last longer then me. The best price I found was RecPro.
The heat over the weekend got to the point where I stopped working.

What I have left is, cut out the front and rear interior and exterior walls. Mock up the rear hatch doors. Pull all the wood back off, sand, seal and paint interior then reinstall. Mount fuse block, switch panel, roof fan and lights (interior). Install insulation then exterior panels. The exterior will be primed only at this point. Once roof panel is installed, I will be installing 1.5 inch aluminum angle around the edges. Then paint exterior and install roof rubber last.

Somewhere in here I need to figure out my awning. The goal is to have one that will store on the side and have panels to give me an enclosure if I need it. I don't want a Bat Wing and the ARB is where I'm heading at this time.

 

[smritte]

The July heat slowed me down a bunch. Got a few things done and only a couple of pic's.
Here is how I set up my water filter and my quick disconnects for propane and water.

One thing that always bugged me was how most people mount quick disconnects for their an board air systems. They make some very creative mounts to hold the fittings. I don't like complicated and what I do is use a brass pass through. It is simple and strong. You drill a hole and mount. What could be easier.
Here's how I mounted my fittings for my water and propane.

Here are the pass through's and mounting bracket. The inside hole is 3/8 thread. Outside is 5/8

When the door is shut, I have 1/2" clearance. They do not slide out with the fridge.

The water filter will be behind my vent. Remove vent panel and access filter. I went with the 4" housing.

That's it for now.

 

[ntsqd]

I did the Frankentruck's EFI fuel system and the CTD's OBA system exactly the same way. It is a very good way to go

I've no pics of the OBA install, this is Frankentruck's fuel system at the bell-housing:

 

[smritte]

I got as much done this weekend as possible. The heat was killing me.
I changed my mind again on the interior. Instead of painting the inside i decided on outdoor carpet. I had bought a good quality paint and didn't waste it. I painted front and back of all the interior panels before carpeting them.
What I accomplished was, install all but the front interior panels, installed my insulation, finished my water system, got most of my propane line run and mounted my switch/fuseblock mount.

Here is the interior so far. My rear cabinets need to have doors made. I will probably just use nets to cover the openings. In the left corner you can see my switch panel. I wanted to be able to just reach in and hit the light switch without fumbling. Hanging down are my overhead light wiring and fan wiring.

Here's my insulation. The front pieces are just sitting in there. I need to cut my front brace and make the panel for it. I learned something new here. Installing the roof insulation would have been better on a cloudy day. The reflection off of this stuff was horrible.

 

[smritte]

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

This weekend I primered the sides, bonded all but the rear panels and test fit my doors and windows for the final time.
The check list is slowly getting smaller.
Major items left and do are, buy diamond plate for the front and sides. The sides and rear will have a 10 inch strip along the bottom and the front will come up half way. Need to buy the aluminum angle to run along the edges, fill the small holes and seams then paint.
Plus a never ending list of small things.
I think i'm going to fix my suspension issue with a spring over. My shackle is in a good spot and ill gain 4-5 inch. That will put me where i wanted to be anyway.

I got two pictures of the test fitting of the driver and passenger sides. Unfortunately, everything comes off for final sealing and paint.

 

[smritte]

• #64

Well, I had planned on finishing the outside this weekend but, my dumb ass didn't order enough angle to do the trim. Sigh.
Next week i'll pick up two more pieces and finish it. What I was short would have done the driver side rear vertical and the rear center. The rear compartment doors have to go on after the trim.
I don't like my steps. I left the diamond plate shiny and I think it clashes with the black . I haven't mounted them yet and don't really want to paint them black. I left them shiny so they wouldn't be hot. Not sure what i'm going to do there.

What I completed this weekend.
1.paint. I wanted something more "blue" what I got was a kind of blue/grey and it ended up more grey than blue.
2. mount windows and doors
3.install most of the aluminum trim


List of things to do
1. buy two more angle, paint them and install.
2. mount rear compartment doors.
3. mount solar panel. I cant mount until both roof/side trims are on.
4. wire front box
5. do spring over and get my height back
6. Buy black screws for doors
7. uhhh. things i forgot?

Im still trying to figure out my bed/couch. I may get two narrow tri fold beds. That way I could have a couch and bed open at the same time. If I needed more room, i could fold the second down. I want to complete the box first though.

Here's my latest pictures.

Here's what its going to look like on both sides. The bar under the window is a mount for a removable table. The rear vent is for the fridge. I have an intake low in the back. There is a large gap next to the rear shelving. Hopefully the heat from the fridge will have a chimney effect and go out the upper vent. I have a power wire there in case i need to add in a thermal switch and fan to help it. When I do the spring over, it will get me 4 inch's more height and that will put my clearance back.

Just doesn't look right without the trim done. I'm also considering a bold stripe, diagonal from the fender to the rear upper corner. Something to break up the rear, maybe something in blue.

That's all for now.

 

[smritte]

Well, its done except for some finish work and figuring out my couch/bed. I have all the rivnuts installed in the roof for my roof rack. I'm going with a low profile T-Slot aluminum. That will be in a few months.
Here's some pictures. Oh....I still need to wash it.

Added some air springs to fix my sag. This is with 30 psi. I was thinking about adding them in the beginning. It would have been way easier. My water fill door is going to get either grey or black plastic paint.

Here's the front. I need to do something here. It looks unfinished. Maybe a black stripe across the top. I have a piece of diamond plate cut out. still undecided there. The cargo box side has the main power disconnect and shore power plug. In front of it you can see my two air spring fill valves. I have my propane line run under the front. I need to install the mount still. Its going to go in front of the box.

I ran out of split loom here. The wires will be covered, tied back and a divider placed so anything in here wont hit the wires. I kept this simple. Two resettable breakers. One for the solar and the other for the main feed inside. The feed from my truck is fused also. The Genius smart charger has enough output to charge the battery and run my fridge. The solar controller has bluetooth so I didn't see the need for a voltmeter here. The battery is a group 24. I had it in my other trailer and it was good for a few days. I mounted it back, leaving enough room if I wanted to add in a second one in front of it.

I took some pictures of the rear cargo and the solar but, they didn't come out right.

Next week is test drive.

 

[Exiled]

Looks amazing, keep us posted on the test run!