Quisitive.net

Today, I spent most of the day bending and attaching the exterior trim on the tear. Most of the trim pieces that I ordered from Lil Bear were soft aluminum, so I could easily bend it to fit the curves of the camper. The rest of it had to be annealed before it could be bent.

Is it a bad thing when the hardware weighs more then the frame?

Following the instructions from the Teardrops & Tiny Travel Trailers forum, I applied a light layer of soot from a household candle before heating the aluminum with a propane torch. The soot burns away at the correct temperature to prevent you from heating the aluminum to much. After the metal has cooled, it is much easier to bend to the desired shape. Of course, before I could bend the pieces, I had to drill the holes for the stainless steel screws every four inches along the length of each piece.

While I was driving all of the screws today (thank goodness for power tools) I began to wonder just how many screws go into a camper this size. By my estimate, I have right around 400 screws in the camper so far! Is it a bad thing when the hardware weighs more then the frame?

I also completed the installation and wiring of the battery this weekend. Now the camper has enough power to last for a few days of dry camping as well as a number of plugs inside and out for when the campsite has power. It even has a built in charger so I can keep the battery topped off and ready to camp at a moments notice. Now, if I can just get it finished before the snow files…

Well, we took the tear out for it’s first trip and had a great time. It pulls really well behind the truck and it was easy to forget it was back there. We had great weather with warm clear days and cool nights. Even with the windows and sunroof open, we stayed nice and warm. The only issue we ran into was when we tried to convince Heidi (the dog) that she had to sleep at the foot of the bed. Well, that and only packing DECAF coffee!!! You can bet that before the next trip, I am going to roast and grind some fresh, real, coffee.

This is so much better then tent camping!!! It only took us about 7 minutes to setup camp, and tear down we timed at just 8 minutes. It really seems like we can have “grab abd go” camping if we keep things stocked and ready. The galley worked out well, but we still need to get a line on where stuff goes both in camp and on the road. The bed was very comfortable and we even spent some time in the cabin playing Yahtzee after the sun went down. We are keeping a small pad of paper handy while camping to take notes on what we want to change for the next trip but so far, there is not that much to change.

We went to one of my favorite areas around here (11 mile canyon) and stayed in the Springer Gulch campground. It is a great place to camp at this time of year. Even the fishing was good on this trip! On Saturday, I caught a nice 14″ rainbow trout that we cooked up for dinner in the campfire. Then, I went out again on Sunday and fished for a few hours after breakfast and brought home two more nice trout that are waiting in the freezer.

It seems like the little stuff is what takes the longest. Since the last post we have been knocking out a number of small issues as the tear gets closer to being road worthy. All of the door and hatch seals have been put on, so we should be water tight now. Most of the last minute paint touch up has been done and I think there is only one more coat of polyurethane to put on in the galley. We also replaced the interesting (but useless) swing away tongue jack with a better quality unit from the local farm store. Probably overkill, but I trust it a bit more than the old one.

A lot of teardrop builders seem to have the most trouble with the hatch. For me however, it has been the doors. I just don’t like how they are built. I guess it is because I thought I had a great idea on how they should be built and didn’t pay attention to those folks with more experience. Imagine that… For now, I think they will work, but I have added another item to my “next time” list.

Let’s see, what else have we knocked off the ToDo list? Curtain rods are installed and curtain material is waiting to stitched. Lights have all been installed and tested. Drip rail has been installed. Galley latches have been installed…

I bit more progress today. This morning I started with the side windows and got them installed in the doors and the doors are mounted on the tear. I also got the license plate mount fabricated and the plate and light are installed. After finishing this up, I cut the lumber for another small project before deciding it was time for a break.

It looks like the entire teardrop build will end up taking just over a year of occasional nights and weekends. Not to bad for a duffer like me. Now, I just want to get it out camping at least once this year – but more would be better! My new goal is to take it out for its first “public” event at the “Last Gasp of Summer” in September. It sounds like a fun event with a great group of folks.

Over the last few days, the tear is really starting to come together. The painting is done, the galley hatch is now permanently mounted and the props and holders are in place and the sunroof is in place and sealed. I dry fit the left and right doors, cut the bevels for the hinges, applied some touch up paint to the doors and hatch. So, by tomorrow I should be ready to mount the windows in the doors and the doors on the body.

I also got some of the electrical work done. I wasn’t satisfied with the side marker lights that I had for the front end of the tear, so I went to the local auto parts store and picked out a set of matching oval lights. They look so much better then the square ones that I was going to use. In addition to the side lights, I also installed the tail lights and the inside galley light.