LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner
28K views 62 replies 27 participants last post by  FatherHooligan 
#1 ·
Gutted, flooring, and beginning cabinets

I've begun. This build could probably work in the sister site, Home refurbers but it's a trailer and most of it is wood with some cabinetry so here it is. Besides it's what I'm doing now. The wife and I will be using it to do a complete loop of the US on the cheap, beginning in late August with no time limit for return. We'll hit the federal and state campsites and see America's wonders.

Awhile back I blogged about the acquisition of a "Little Guy Camper". It's a teardrop camper.

It looked like this before I began:



.
The Camper is cool. Used, 2006 but in great shape. I Wasn't too keen on the interior. It was made of that enameled particle board stuff that cheap cabinets are made of and some of it was coming apart. So, I decided to rebuild the interior.

The first thing I did was to remove all the interior cabinetry. It was put in with screws so it wasn't hard and is in a pile in the driveway now.

Second I felt that there was a little give to the floor when I crawled around on it so I picked up some 3/4" underlayment, placed it and screwed it in place.



.
I was going to put in some self stick tiles but when I went to the big box store the only ones that weren't way overpriced were not very nice. But, I noticed a sale of a pergo brand of oak design flooring so I picked up a couple of boxes.



I wanted some cubbies instead of cabinets with doors. here's the start I got on them using a 3/4" sheet of oak plywood and some oak scraps to frame it with I had hanging around.



I also had to put in some main panels to hang the cubbies on so the galley in the back is partially done too. My plan is to put up some lipped shelves here and install a cook stove on the countertop.



I'm going to tap a 12 volt on my SUV connector to charge a deep cell battery and run some power transformed to 110 volts using a small inverter. I'm mounting my Mac laptop in the center of the cubbies. It will give us DVD's, internet (when next to wireless) and Local TV using an elgato HDT device with it and an antenna I'll make. I've already made one for the house so I'll just downsize it for the camper.

My next steps are to work on the galley countertop and shelves. Then I'll need to pick up some hardware to install. I'll finish it off with a couple of coats of water based poly.

Thanks for reading… I'll add another installment when I've made enough progress. We're expecting rain in a couple of days.
 
See less See more
8
#3 ·
Nice job! You're getting to do what I have always wanted to do - tour the entire U.S. Always wanted to take a train through Canada and the Canadian Rockies to Vancouver, drop south to the U.S. and rent a motor home, then tour most of the western parks from Glacier to the Grand Canyon, especially Yellowstone and Yosemite! But too old now and no money so I guess it will stay a dream. Oh well….

Jim
 
#4 ·
Thanks Jim. The plan is to downsize so that the trip won't be as much as it could be. Less Gas, no or few motels, Buy your own food. I'm kind of a cheapskate. I love to do stuff and see with how little I can do it. When I go to Disney I drive and stay in Kissimmee out of season. Good motels for $29.95 a couple miles from the park. I'm retired so I don't like plane schedules and return dates. The only way you can do that is to make the cash stretch. There are ways to do that.
 
#5 ·
this is awesome! my wife and I did a cross country trip some years back - hit all the campsites along the way to keep expenses to a minimum, but we used a tent! this looks easier!

oh… the places you'll go :)

have fun!
 
#6 ·
Hi Daniel

I really love these tear drops but my days of sleeping on the ground, on the floor, in a tent or in a trailer are over.
These old bones love my king size bed. You are really doing a great job on your trailer and they are a great way to travel. Keep the pictures coming and thanks for sharing.

God Bless
tom
 
#8 ·
I've been keeping a file of Teardrop trailer sites for a while now just for the inspiration. Always wanted to buy/build one. So what is the grated area in front of the shell & behind the storage box right behind the hitch for? I've never seen one with this feature before. Bikes? General box storage? Front porch?

-Dave
 
#9 ·
Very interesting, Dan…
These little babies are well worth the work.
And… there is nothing as nice as waking up in one to hear the birds and rustling of trees… I can just taste the bacon and eggs cooked over that campfire and the coffee with water from a sparkling stream…hmmmmmm!!
I envy you and I look forward to the next installment.
Ellen
 
#10 ·
N5DSW, This model has the ATV trailer on the front. It's one model that Little Guy Trailer company sells. When I bought this used (half price), I was apprehensive about it but then as I thought about it I began the realize that this little trailer needed storage room. I like to build a fire at campsites, have a table, bring lawn chairs, etc. etc. So the 5×6 extension will be good for that. I'm planning on bolting a couple of those rubbermaid hinged cover patio boxes on it to put stuff in. Most states won't let you haul firewood across state lines because of disease so I'll get some pellet bricks. They sell them all over up here. They're like stove pellets but in the shape of a brick. They stack nicely too.
 
#13 ·
this is a sweet deal…i love camping and traveling on the cheap..if you come south at all…stop on by..ive got plenty of room for you to camp right here…and ive got a great fire ring…good luck on the rest of the build..it sure looks fun…that will be one heck of a trip…with no return date…yea,,,,,,,,hit the road…......glad you didn't sink…i had missed this post…glad you gave me reference…thanks…grizz
 
#14 ·
That might just happen sometime Grizz. My youngest just graduated from college and moved down to the Charlotte area last week. The trailer is in part because the chicks are spreading out. (I've got another one in grad school in Ny but who knows where she'll end up).
Anyway, during the winter we're tentatively planning on a teardrop trip to the Carolinas to visit with her. It's a 1000 miles from Maine so while were down there we might decide to see your neck of the woods.

I hope you followed the build to the end.. there's a few more installments till it's finished
 
#18 ·
Galley Countertop, shelfbrackets, some trim

A little progress today, I went to Home Depot to buy some formica and particleboard to put it on for a countertop. I found that I could get a premade countertop for about half the price and exactly the right length, six ft. I chose the least expensive color which turns out to be the one I would have chosen from the options anyway. The couter hooks on the back much like a french cleat so that I can slip it out to insert the queen size mattress we're acquiring.
I also made some shelf brackets out of some oak scraps and mounted them. I'll make a shelf later when I decide how wide I want it to be. It will have a large lip and I want to purchase some bins from the dollar store. The shelf width will be determined by those bin sizes. I figure things will petty much stay put in bins with a lipped shelf.


.
I also managed to put in an inner wall of ply and trimmed it out with oak scraps I had. the double wall with about 1 1/2" of space in between will become the place to feed my power and tv wires. The center of the cubbies will have a shelf for my laptop which will serve as computer, TV, and movie player.
That's all for now.. till next time.

 
#24 ·
Progress: shelf and the beginnings of a canopy

I know a lot of this is getting away from woodworking. I started the blog so I'll try and finish it in a few big chunks as some people are still following it.

A bit more progress on the Teardrop. As you can see in the first picture I've gotten a shelf made. It's just some oak plywood with an oak trim edge to keep the baskets from getting loose while on the road. The wife picked out the color of the baskets. Whatever makes her happy.

I also welded some short rail pipes on the front tray and some angled ones on the back. you can see them in the second picture, they are painted black. The long conduit sticks into them and with a little luck and a bit more work I'll have a tarp over this structure. The pipes will be stored in a long white drain pipe with cap mounted under the trailer.



 
#36 ·
Canopy is up!

I know a lot of this is getting away from woodworking. I started the blog so I'll try and finish it in a few big chunks as some people are still following it.

I managed to finish the electrical conduit frame and put up the canopy. It will rain tomorrow and will be windy so we'll see how it fairs. I expect it will do fine. It's pretty sturdy.



As you can see the pipes fit together like an erector set. I welded four posts on the front platform that will act as a fenced in area when I string a rope through the eyelets welded to them. The conduit slips into each of these posts. The rear of the camper has posts welded on at an angle so that when I open the galley hatch in the back it will be covered for cooking.


I put some plastic tubing on the ends of the pipe so that the canopy wouldn't be torn. I also plan on having a smaller 10×10 tarp that will attach to four of the pipes for a quick overnight setup.

 
#37 ·
Looking good! I think you will have a very comfortable camper when you are finished. Should serve you well in the months/years to follow, allowing you to enjoy being on the road without towing a huge mobile home.

Jim
 
#46 ·
Last post on this project. Nearly finished

One last post on the camper subject. We did the trip, 2 months, round the country loop visiting some of the major national parks. There is an extensive blog herehttp://web.me.com/deceiver6/windrose/Welcome.html

I know a lot of this is getting away from woodworking. I started the blog so I'll try and finish it in a few big chunks as some people are still following it. This is the last post for this project

Here is a picture of the inside cabinetry. It's oak with oak trim. It was mostly made from scrap lumber from old kitchen cabinet doors.

The Center console has a master switch, switches for the fans and a voltmeter to get a read on the life of the battery mounted on the tongue of the trailer. The empty space on the left of the panel is where the indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer goes. My Mac laptop is mounted on a pull-out sliding tray. Two speakers are mounted on the sides of that for better sound when viewing things like movies on the laptop. The power for these devices is supplied by a 175 watt inverter so most things run off 110 volts.



On the ceiling where the air vent cap is I have 4 computer fans mounted in wood. The switches on the console allow one/two/or four fans to be turned on. You can also see the marine light next to it. The light contains 24 led's and can be switched to either white light or red light for nighttime.



This photo of the power source was clouded by sunlight leaking into the photo. I have a 12 volt deep cycle marine battery. It's charged by a connection to the hot wire of my vehicle or a marine battery charger (green) Everything is protected by automotive circuit breakers or fuses. Two master battery switches are located on the box. One for cutting in automotive charging while in transit and the other to connect main power from the battery to the trailer while it's parked. What looks like a jumble of wires will come under control with a few nylon ties. It's all done correctly.



The galley has a counter top, shelf, and light like the one inside; white led's for light and red ones to not attract insects.



Here you can see the hook-on shelf I made so that the stove can extend outside of the galley. This stove also comes with legs that are easy to put on that I will definitely us for extended stays. The Camp Chef has a great easy to screw on valve.



So, that's the end of this build. I hope you enjoyed following it and again, sorry for the deviation from woodworking in parts of it. It wouldn't have made much sense without the other stuff.

You can seem more of the rebuild at my personal blog. Follow the directions on the page to see it all.
here
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top