Offroad Tear-drop, Ground up
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Year: 1996
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Offroad Tear-drop, Ground up
So I started this project about a year ago with the dream of having a small affordable tow-able camper. I wanted it to be small enough the tow easily but still be able to hold all of my gear, wife, and dog. All in all, including registration, raw materials, and misc, I kept the whole price just under 500$ I picked up this hunk of junk, clean title included for 100$. Stripped off all the rotten wood and found the leafs were beyond shot. Other than that it mostly just surface rust.
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After all the excess metal was stripped off I made some quick gussets to the frame to stiffen it up a bit. I then build the main floor out of double ply 3/4"
Plywood. On top of that I added some 2x8 joists the the main sleeping floor would sit. I found some old 31x1050s in my shed and decided to throw them on. At this point I also scrapped the axle that was seized and put a dana35 under it. I did an axle swap in the jeep so i figured id put the 35 to good use.
Plywood. On top of that I added some 2x8 joists the the main sleeping floor would sit. I found some old 31x1050s in my shed and decided to throw them on. At this point I also scrapped the axle that was seized and put a dana35 under it. I did an axle swap in the jeep so i figured id put the 35 to good use.
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#7
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I would say that women have a 7th sense for damp, so you're going to need to keep it waterproof as a duck - especially above the wheels.
But it looks like a really good project!
But it looks like a really good project!
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#8
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#9
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Alright here is a bit more. I started to frame out the main shape using 2x4s. to get the curved pieces I used 3/4" birch plywood. Just using cardboard templates I was able to achieve a decent shape. Once the 2 sides were constructed I simply tied them together with 2x4. you can see that in one of the photos I framed in a rear hatch which acts as the main door. for the interior skin I wanted something different but practical. I used sheets of aromatic cedar OSB. Since the OSB isnt water proof I used sheets of fiberglass reinforced PVC. Most commonly used as bathroom board. to get the roof to shape all I did was slowly work a piece of 3/8 plywood around the curve adding screws about every 3 inches. This roof will also get the PVC skin.
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Just the big door in the back? Seems as if most of the teardrops I've seen have a side door for the sleeping area and the back lifts up for storage/kitchenette type dealio
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