buy, build or sell, we are here to help!
|
buy, build or sell, we are here to help! |
|
If you are looking for a different way to travel, check out http://www.trikesaustralia.com |
I saw one of these cute but practical things called a teardrop camper at a dog show I attended in June 08 and thought, "This is it! This is what I want! I'm gonna have one!!!!" The one I saw was built by an old retired bloke and purpose built and colour coded to tow behind his little Morris, but I immediately thought I can build one myself as I am a boilermaker/builder. So I started asking around for advice and thoughts and discovered not many people new what the hell I was talking about. So next place to look was Google. By that time I had drawn what I thought was pretty close to what I wanted on my lounge room wall and decided that I would do a simple ply walls, floor and skin teardrop on a steel frame, just to see if that was really what I wanted. I had my sceptics, but persevered. It has wheels from my 80 series Land Cruiser, 15x8" rims with 33x12.5" mud tyres, spare wheel, wind up winch under the middle, 15mm cd ply floor and walls, 4mm cd ply skin. I looked at various types of doors but couldn't justify the expense for something I may not even like. So I racked my brain for a solution then I was looking over a short wheelbase 40 series Cruiser when it hit me! These doors are perfect. So I set about acquiring a pair... not easy!! But the ones I ended up with were the full window type i.e. no quarter window vent... even better. They are almost flat. The top of the window frame leans in 30mm. So I stripped it and got the oxy out; heated just the bottom of the frames and there you have it... flat doors, wind up windows, good solid hinges, locks, and I kept a little Toyota theme. It's put together with many screws and plenty of Sikaflex; then painted with a very good quality flexible marine paint. I fitted gas struts to the galley, brass fittings to the inside cupboards and a fold down shelf for my laptop in case the weather is bad or want to have music and DVD's. It has L.E.D. lights and oh, yes... the bit you may not have noticed is the custom made hitch?? I looked at a few types, but found them either too expensive or cumbersome. So I set about building my own. It works like a charm!!! Bedding is a 7 foot futon that I cut about 6 inches off the side, so it was a very snug fit. Being 7 inches thick it is very warm and comfortable, which I need because I LIVE IN VICTORIA! Fly screens on the inside of the window frames mean that when the weather warms up I can roll down the windows and not have little visitors during the night. A solar powered exhaust fan will be fitted soon as the condensation could be a problem, as will a couple of small awnings over the door openings. Next is a larger one over the galley area and a storage box on the draw bar. For the moment I have chocks for the wheels. A hand brake will be on the cards for the future as well as independent coil sprung suspension. Another of my own design and build specials.. it has a couple of good wind down stabilizers on the rear and jockey wheel up front.
Kev Britton's Teardrop, built in Bairnsdale, Vic 2009. Email Kev |
|
This site has borrowed images from
tear-droppers around the world. |
