Well...change of plans

      So, I  originally intended to build a teardrop camper for my wife and I to use camping. Stepping up from a soft sided tent to a hard sided tent essentially. Of course this news got out and some of my friends got interested in this idea as well.
      A group of us went camping last fall and one of our group had a nice 24 or 26 foot travel trailer, a bunch of us had tents, some had hammocks in the trees. But one family had a little box type teardrop trailer. Just a basic one, no galley or anything a mattress, some shelves, some lights and an AC.
I thought cool! This is sort what I am thinking about. Of course mine was going to have a galley and lights and bells and whistles....
     But as I watched them camp...I thought how does he put his pants on in there? Then I thought how would I put my pants on in there? So, I asked my wife, how would she put her pants on in there? No problem I hadn't gotten far on the homemade one we'll adjust the plans. So to the interwebs I go...looking and looking for a reasonable solution to this problem. Found it! make the ceiling a little higher and have the bed fold up like a couch to give more space! Still not standing but not laying down either. We saw several that people made and even several manufactured that way! Off to the dealer! Look the T@bs are made that way! You can stand to dress and wait it even has a potty. My wife said it would be nice to stand and maybe even kinda nice to have a potty to not have to walk down the campground at 2am to pee.

OH BOY!

I hadn't thought about incorporating a potty into my design! But someone had..enter SunCoast manufacturing. They have a bunch of lightweight towables in a bunch of different styles. A box with wheels and a mattress, then add a kitchen, then a potty, then a dinette table, and a shower and, and , and, and!

We settled on a Sunray 149

We figured I would never have the time to finish the teardrop and it would never be anything close to what we got in the camper. Now we just need to get in it and go!

Of course there have been some hiccups..unfortunately the old Jeep just isn't up to towing it so we need to get a different tow vehicle. And we needed to make the shop door bigger so we could get it in there... but!

It fits!

Stay tuned for more adventures!

The NEW present distress COVID-19

Not sure how to say this but need to say something. These are definitely different times we are facing and I am sure I would feel differently if I lived a different lifestyle. I really don’t understand the hysteria that is accompanying this ‘pandemic virus’. I know that it is because of this very platform, ‘social media’ that has caused this mass hysteria. I’m not totally sure why people feel the need to purchase large quantities of unrelated products for a respiratory virus? What are you going to do with a trunk full of ground beef? I don’t think this is ‘Mad Cow’ related. I kinda get the hand sanitizer but I wonder if this too will pass, remember the days after 9/11 everyone had an American flag on them; cars, clothes, houses and tattoos, flags everywhere you looked. Now where are they? Will people stop washing their hands in a few months? What were they doing last week? Not washing? But what concerns me the most is what is going to be the new normal? Technology has and will allow people to take school courses or work from home. Prepared food delivery (bite-squad etc.) and product delivery (amazon) services have already begun to rise. In home entertainment; NetFlix, Hulu Disney have made the movie theaters almost obsolete. As a society we have already begun ‘SOCIAL DISTANCING’ and now the authorities are encouraging it even forcing and legislating it, removing our right to assemble by threatening fines and imprisonment for willingly assembling in groups greater than…(insert arbitrary number).

I do understand and agree that people in high risk age groups and with compromised immune systems need to take great precautions to keep themselves as healthy as possible. And I get it that self-quarantining because of your recent contact may be the best preventative method. I know that while we can jest about this, that it is a real thing and if its spread can be slowed down so healthcare workers can get a firm grip on prevention and treatment, then that is what needs to be done.

My concern is what is going to become the new normal? I remember a few years ago when fuel prices climbed extremely high and having a conversation with a man from church. He said that with the rising gas prices he needed to cut back, his first thought was to quit going to church so he could save the gas that it took to get there. Not that he was going to stop going out to eat or quit the gym, he was going to stop going to church. Unfortunately many are going to forego attending worship services because of this recent calamity as well. Which can be damaging to their spirituality. First people will say they are going to stay away for the good of everyone else, then they stay away because they fear for themselves, then they stay away because they are unsure and then it has become a habit and they stay away because it is easier.

This present distress brings more questions than answers. What do we do? Do we shut down and hole-up? What do we stop doing? The authorities shutting down the bars doesn’t affect me, shutting down the NBA doesn’t bother me, closing my workplace because there are more than 50 people there…that affects me, imposing fines and imprisonment because I go to church that really affects me! BUT IT WON’T STOP ME. Believe me I can do social distancing, not a biggie! I’ll stop the gym, I’ll stop eating out, I’ll stop going to the movies, the mall, bowling and concerts. But I need my Christian family! I need them to hold up my arms just as they need me to hold up theirs.

When it’s all said and done we each one will have to answer for ourselves that is a guarantee. Revelation 2:4 But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Let this not be said of us!

I have no answers. We each need to do what we think is best for our families and ourselves.

Parts and pieces

I already had a small trailer. It was 4' x 6' and had the ability to tilt so you could drive a lawn mower up on it. I got it in a barter for some work I had done. I have used it a fair amount. One time I remodeled a house and loaded it full of debris. The scale at the dump said I had over 1 1/2 ton of debris on it! I do believe I stretched the towing capacity of my little Nissan pickup and the capacity of the trailer that day but..it held up!

We always use this little trailer when we go camping. I crafted some plywood sides for it and we load up all our supplies; tents, bikes, totes of equipment etc. And I rigged a table support off of one side. It's in the background here:

So our little trailer will be getting an "up-fit". I will try to document this build as best as I can but honestly will pay more attention to completing than stopping to take pictures. My plan is to show the completed project and how we load and use it more than the build. There are a ton of build pages and videos already on the interwebs.

As for parts and pieces...I have a bunch of tools and am mechanically inclined. I am also "restoring" my 1994 Jeep Cherokee as I do this tiny trailer. The Jeep is my daily driver/ mid-life crisis. I have already done a backyard motor overhaul and added a 3-4" lift with larger tires as well as a bunch of interior modifications (using junkyard pieces). I have had to weld the door hinges back on and replace some floor boards too. I have also been involved in the construction and remodeling of house over the last 25 years, so I may be ahead of the game with tools and skill.

I started by chopping of the top rail of the trailer and removing the expanded metal floor. I moved the axle back 17" and purchased some 15" wheels and tires to put on. I moved the tongue rail from it's pivot position and extended it as far as it would allow me..the final measurement should be around 12" from hitch point to rear of the trailer. I am using a $10.00 angle grinder from Harbor Freight and the $100.00 flux core welder from HF as well. Here are some pictures of a couple of  the welds.

So yes with some practice and adjustments a $100 welder will produce quality welds that penetrate and hold. Here is a shot of the trailer with the extended tongue and new axle position and wheels.

The plan is to swap the axle to go under the leaf springs and to extend the axle about 6"-7". This will give a better ride height and give the width we need to have a 56" interior cabin space.

I was also able to get about 6 sheets of plywood for free! So hopefully this will keep costs down.

So far we have $135.00 in wheels and tires, $25.00 in the rolling jack, and $75.00 in the camper top that I scavenged windows out of.

In the beginning...

As "long time" tent campers my wife and I are ready to move onto (or into as it may) our next step in life and camping.

For many years we have enjoyed the outdoors with our family tent camping around the Carolinas. We shared a tent with our kids until they were too big then they had their own tent. We're not primitive campers by any means! My wife and I enjoy campgrounds that have a bath house. We like sites that have water and electric. I grew up with styrofoam cups over christmas lights in our 'gypsy' camp sites. So I still like to string up some lights and make our site fun!

But a few years ago while camping at a state park I had a run in with a couple black bears...I actually had an encounter while working in the outskirts of town as well. So I guess our bear population was growing and they were less and less skittish around people. Having two young children at the time I felt safer camping at lower altitudes in less wooded areas especially as a tenter. 

I looked pretty hard for a pop-up camper that we could afford and justify the cost of but just couldn't ever catch one! Then recently I stumbled across some weird looking little tow-behinds. Apparently there is a huge community of campers that go out in what are called teardrops or tiny travel trailers. Many of which are homemade!

I am always looking for something to tinker with so I thought hey! I have a small trailer that is good for about nothing some extra wood and a bunch of skills and tools..why not make one of these?