Offroad teardrop build

97kurt

Adventurer
How will you attaching to the frame. Following this build because I will be starting one soon

Before I put the floor together, I mounted the frame for the floor onto the trailer and drilled holes through the frame in 8 spots. Installed T-nuts into the floor to line up with these holes. So when I mount the tear to the trailer I will run a bolt from underneath into each T-nut. I also hope to use some construction adhesive in spots as well to be extra safe.
 

97kurt

Adventurer
Things are getting real.

I made an absolute mess of my garage when I used the router to trim the edges and cut out the door profile. I used a whiteside 3 flute flush trim bit that did not even flinch at .040 the aluminum. Took about 25 min to do all the trimming and about 2 hours to clean up all the alluminum glitter that I made. Vacuum attachment on my router did not help that much at all.

Moved onto the roof with the .063 aluminum (5x10 sheet). I used a skill saw to cut it down which worked great.

Was really worried about bending the .063 stuff after the reading I did a few months back, but it looks like it is not gonna be as bad as I thought. One strap alone nearly holds it to the shape.

IMG_0945.jpg
 

97kurt

Adventurer
The anodized aluminum came from SAF in Redding CA http://www.saf.com/ I ordered enough of it that it was free freight. Looks like their east coast office is in Atlanta.

I got 2 sheets of 4x10 .040 Clear Anodize A31 (SAFC204)
and 2 sheets of 5x10 .065 Clear Anodize A31 (SAFC204)

The .065 was a pain to bend on the hatch and the 5x10 sheets are nearly double the price of the 4x10 ones. If you can live with a seam then go with the thinner stuff.

The trim is Universal Molding 20-1305, ask your local RV retailer to order it for you and you can get 16' pieces for $30 to $35 each.

SAF was awesome to work with, they even sent me samples when I asked.
 

97kurt

Adventurer
From Memorial day weekend.

Its still pretty far from done, but it works great and I probably will not complete the storage area till this winter. Suspension has a negative camber issue already that I am working on, switching out the leaf spring bushings to solid aluminum ones this weekend to see if that helps. If the suspension is a total fail then I will just do leafs like everyone else. The trailer did track perfectly and handled great on the 2+ hour drive to the campsite the other weekend at least. Now I just need a bigger engine :-(

EMyOgDs.jpg
 

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