My Teardrop Trailer Build

[longbowdave1]

WOW! You are a very talented individual! Really enjoying this read. Hats off to you sir. Looks Great!

Thank you. I'm hoping when others want to do a build, this thread pops up and helps them in some way. Got to pass on the info.

 

[longbowdave1]

Awesome build! Thanks for all the progress pics. That thing turned out sweet!

Thank you. About the time I began this project my home computer power supply shorted out was dead in the water. I had all these pictures on my phone but no way to get them to my home PC and write my story, my phones not that smart.

I talked with a electronics Guru at work, and he talked me through the power supply replacement. A 29$ power supply off wally world on line, and in 20 minutes, I brought it back to life and saved all my pictures and info on the computer. Amen to that.

 

[dwhee87]

I'm lucky, I've got am electronics guru in house..my son, who does all that stuff for me.

 

[Patriot44]

Man, that is awesome work. I want to do one as well but you took that thing to a professional level!

 

[bronco611]

could you send me a pm with a total of what it cost to build this beauty? I have an older scotty camper that I have rebuilt 2 times and have been playing with the idea of a build similar to this one.

 

[Red Arrow]

Great job Dave! Did you use an adhesive between the filon and plywood?

 

[longbowdave1]

I'm lucky, I've got am electronics guru in house..my son, who does all that stuff for me.

My son is just finishing up his police science studies in college, maybe he can take care of all my cop related problems. lol

 

[longbowdave1]

Man, that is awesome work. I want to do one as well but you took that thing to a professional level!

Thanks. I'm proud of the way it turned out. still a little more tinkering to do.

 

[longbowdave1]

could you send me a pm with a total of what it cost to build this beauty? I have an older scotty camper that I have rebuilt 2 times and have been playing with the idea of a build similar to this one.

Well, the plans called for a homemade welded trailer(which looked weak to say the least), plywood sides, plywood doors, an unfinished interior, indoor rated guaranteed to leak hinges on doors and galley door, and no creature comforts. Basically a wooden tent. He claimed you could build that version for roughly 1000$. Looked more like a pirate ship than an RV. lol

I decided to go top shelf instead of lowest cost possible. The trailer from Northern Tool was about $750 delivered, could have went steel and save 200$ but I want this rig to outlast me. The doors were pricey as well, $360 times two. The Filon Rv fiberglass was $450 for 17 linear feet if I recall. The initial trip to the lumbar yard for plywood for walls and floor, framing boards, screws, caulk, construction adhesive, was roughly $600. Pine moldings, FRP for ceiling, paneling, laquer, etc was about $225. Roof vent 25$, tool box $100, RV Convertor $125, 900 watt inverter $80$, Solar panel with controller $75, probably $200 in aluminum trim, Glalley hinge $45, Struts for galley$45, Marine batteries $160, Electrical parts $300??, Decals $100. plus all the other stuff......

All said and done, right in the $4000 mark. The good news is, I priced some out before the build. One of the teardrop builders near me wanted $6000 for an 5 x 8 footer with nothing in it, everything added, raised the price. I think mine is worth about 8 to 10 thousand as it sits from whats being sold out there.

If you have ant other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[longbowdave1]

Great job Dave! Did you use an adhesive between the filon and plywood?

Well, during my
reading up on other builds there were several ways it was done. One way was not to fasten it at all, and let it float, only held in place by the screws in the doors and trim. Seemed to be some bubbling issues with this method. Another was to spray 3M spay adhesive on both surfaces and stick it in place. The third I saw was to put a bead of silicone on all the edges, as well as zig-zagging in the middle areas.

I did the silicone method, then used a rolling pin to smooth it all out, and sit over night to cure.

 

[longbowdave1]

I took a few more pictures to explain whats going on inside the toolbox, or power station as its become. Here's the mount for the TV mast on the tongue of the trailer. The cable is coiled up in the toolbox, then pulled through this cover when set up.

 

[longbowdave1]

Here's a view of the inside of the whole box. Solar controller on the left, 3-way 20 amp switch to select charging method of either solar or 110 shore power. ( this was to insure one charger did't back feed and damage the other charger. A battery disconnect switch. The RV Convertor in the middle. The 900 watt invertor sitting on top of the right hand deep cycle battery.

 

[longbowdave1]

The black cord you see with the yellow on the cord cap, feeds the 110 volts outlets inside the trailer. If plugged into the outlet on the back wall, its is powered by the RV converter. When i run off solar and deep cycle batteries, it gets plug into the invertor on top of marine battery. When I run of generator power, I plug it directly in to the extension cord plugged in to the generator itself. I have smaller generator to get long run time and less noise. The RV convertor itself draws quite a bit of power. So, if I run the 110 volt power through the RV convertor while it charging batteries too, it loads down the generator too much. That why I plug in directly to extension cord for gen power. All lessons learned from my hunting trips. Somehow all this stuff just barely fit in the toolbox, barely.

 

[longbowdave1]

I also have a GFCI outlet outside on the side of the toolbox. That is for anything I need to run outside the trailer, but it has a second intent. I may add a small heat pump system by Climateright. It would provide AC and heating via a wireless remote when on shore power, too much draw for the battery system. I think it draws 900 watts in heat mode and a bit less in the AC mode. This unit runs about $450 so I'm on the fence on this one. I primarily will use this off the grid for hunting, so I may not need it. That's why I split the tool box cover, to provide for access if the heat pump sits on the right hand side. Then I can still get at the left hand side. The unit is about 18 x18 square and 15" tall.

 

[longbowdave1]

Speaking of GFCI outlets, the outlet on the interior headwall is one. The outlets by the TV, and in the Galley are protected by the GFCI, and the are are also USB charge ready for phones and cameras. safety first.

 

[longbowdave1]

Here is the Battery charge percentage meter. Is was under $10 bucks on the auction site. Just came with the circuit board and display. I had to make the aluminum face plate, and install a momentary push button. I ran a 2 wire cable directly back to the battery in the rough in stage with a 10 amp inline fuse. When I want to check my battery condition, or how much the solar has recharged the system, I simply push the button, and the display lights up letting me know where I'm at. I really use it a lot. Using it I found out that my Inverter shuts down at 27 percent of full charge, on a low voltage condition, and an audible alarm sounds on the inverter.

 

[longbowdave1]

Here's a link to the Climateright 2500 unit. I guess they are very popular for dog kennels as well as teardrops. The teardrops that I saw for sale, charged another $1000 to add this very same system.

https://climateright.com/2500-btu-small-ac-and-heater.html

 

[longbowdave1]

I'll gladly answer any question that I can, but I think that's my story of the Teardrop build.

Thanks for all the nice comments,and thanks for reading my story. More Deer Hunting tomorrow!

 

[longbowdave1]

One last topic that I forgot to mention. Insurance!

Company s differ. However, my agent said that in his 40 year career, no one had ever asked him to insure a homemade RV. His initial response was uninsurable because it has no VIN# from the DMV. But my trailer kit did come with a VIN# and title. I sent him some pictures and he gave it an initial value of $5000. To get more coverage I need a professional appraisal. Good news is my friend sells RV's on the weekends. After hunting is over, I'll do just that. Another reason to use a store bought trailer kit.

 

[longbowdave1]

My brother and I made short work of filling the freezer yesterday. Tag teamed on two does, mama was a big one, maybe 170+pounds . Still got a buck tag for the muzzleoader season. And, a buck tag for the late archery season weather permitting.