- Page Eight-A .......................... Page Eight-C
......................................... Teardrop Trailer Page 8-B
Left Side with the Top Down -- I painted the tear in dark purple to match my truck in July of 2000. This was the first time I ever painted base/clear coat. I also painted the flames myself. When the truck was painted it was done by a friend in my garage. I did the prep work (primers and block sanding) and he sprayed the base/clear coats. I laid out the flames and then he shot them. This time I decided to take the plunge and do it all myself. I'm pretty happy with the results and learned a lot. I need to go back and redo a couple of panels with more base purple and/or clear. This tear was painted entirely with a HVLP gun from Harbor Freight that usually sells for around $60. It is a great gun and my paint problems were mine and not the gun. I have more info on the gun on my Tech Info Pages.
Front view with the top down. I covered the seams in the top and where the sides meet the top with 1/8x1 inch metal straps that were painted purple. I tapped 10x24 screw holes into framing straps under the trailer skin. I then attached the strips with button head screws.
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Front view with the top up -- With the top up and the doors open (one on each side) there is easy access to the insides and the bed/seat and kitchen area. Shush, my dog in the picture, likes to stay inside out of the sun and away from the people when she is not trying to get to the photographer. In this view looking at the open door you can also see the wood paneling (imitation) used on the inside of the trailer.
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............................. View of right side of the tear.
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Side view with the top down. This also shows the relationship of the tongue to the trailer body.
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...............................Rear view with the top down.
.......................Tongue Detail -- Under the front of the tongue I have a leveler jack to support the tongue at the proper height when parked. On the side of the hitch for the ball is a handle that makes it easy to roll the trailer around when it is on the roller jack seen in the up position on the far side of the tongue (these are really handy and especially when you have a lot of tongue weight like I do). Right behind the jack you can see the winch (boat winch) which is used to raise and lower the top of the tear.
