Birth of the wondering wagons

[wagoneercraig]

Clean up kit ? for that horse .Grain shovel and a Pressure washer my friend :Wow1:
Just kidding . He's really a great dog . Tell him it's time for potty and he'll wander off , do his business . And good for the night . But he will tell us he needs to go at night .

 

[wagoneercraig]

Well after a couple weeks of my jeep being jealous of the campers attention. Rebuilt the transmission , Viscous coupling in the t-case And choke issues . I did manege to finish up the fiberglass on the exterior . and fitted the last of the shelving . Next lots of sanding and painting Shelving will be trimmed out with aluminium strips

 

[wagoneercraig]

2-5

 

[wagoneercraig]

Installed the aluminum trim , Finished most of the elect , some touch up paint . Ready for the exterior paint . May work on the frame this weekend .

 

[wagoneercraig]

Extended the rear part of the frame today . And added a bumper and a hitch .

 

[wagoneercraig]

I extended the hitch about 4' . and added the corner structure for the camper shell to sit down in . Ran out of welding wire so i'll wrap it up tomorrow

 

[wagoneercraig]

Well folks i have wrapped it up ( like it'll ever be truly finished ) enough to head out camping . Tomorrow I'll make the tail light brackets and the interior lights . Thank you all for following along on my first foray into building a camper . Craig :smiley_drive:

 

[RandomAbstract]

Great job on the build.

It will never be finished. it's okay, as long as you are enjoying the journey.

 

[Hilldweller]

It appears to be a Little Guy.

hmmmmmm.

I not going to mention the manufacturer because they are a very reputable builder and have a lot of happy customers .

A product failure that goes unreported is both a crime to your fellow Overlanders and to the manufacturer who might benefit from the lesson on design flaws.

I think you should tell us the manufacturer. It's probably an isolated incident, but there are many of us here going the teardrop route and we, as a community, would benefit from the facts.

Just my$.02.

I completely agree.
If I built a product, I'd want it to be the best possible.
Little Guy trailers aren't priced to be lifetime trailers. But they should give a good 15 years of service, ridden hard and put away wet; they should last a good 30 years for people who garage them and keep them relatively clean and still use them often.



Check out my Little Guy build.. It's back at the factory right now getting fixed; I had faith in the company, tried my best not to get hysterical, and gave them the opportunity to remedy the errors they made. I should find out this week (and over the next couple years?) if my faith was warranted.


Your build looks very nice, classy. You're fortunate to have the time, skills, health, and room to do the work yourself.

 

[wagoneercraig]

Thank you so much . I choose not to mention the builder because it's not in my personality . I had tried to contact the builder several times via emails and phone messages. And for whatever reason they may have chose not to respond . Now I have no hard feelings and support them fully . But my personal experience is that nothing good or rewarding comes for me when I have to force issues . So this build is about turning it to a positive and enjoying the fruits of hard labor .
I hope my build inspires folks to get out and enjoy the outdoors and offer another approch to their build . I didn't build a galley in favor of more storage for cloths and whatnots . I look pretty funny flopping around trying to get dressed in the sleeper

 

[wagoneercraig]

My next projects for the camper is to install a 30 gal. tank in the back and plumb it for an instant hot shower unit that will hang on the side . Along with a camp site mess kit and larger storage on the front along with batteries, propane and roof rack system . I haven't decided yet where to mount the spare tire. Under the camper over the axle or on the tongue ? It's an honor for me to have you all following along with my build , Thanks Craig

 

[Hilldweller]

It's an honor for me to have you all following along with my build , Thanks Craig

It's an honor to watch a craftsman at work, Craig; thank you for documenting all of this and letting us in.

As for the flopping around part, I'm 6'5". That's why I had them build it out to a 6'X10'. The bedroom is huge by teardrop standards and we can stretch out in there.
Teardrop travel is pretty cool; you're going to have a great time.

BTW, the shop that builds Little Guy Trailers now is different than the shop that built that one. If they won't become a vendor and sing out, I think it's only fair to point that out. Better quality standards now.

 

[jscotthubble]

Hello all...

My name is Scott...I work at Little Guy and Bill introduced me to the forum.

2 Initial Statements:
1. It is most unfortunate what happened to the trailer (Rot due to leaking/exposed sidewalls/misfit extrusions).
2. Even more unbelievable is the rebuild - well done.

That is the 4th trailer I have seen this year with that problem.
Here's the rub: That and the other trailers were made in Elkhart, IN by the now dissolved company - The Little Trailer Company.
At the end of 2009, I had Little Guy move manufacturing out of Elkhart and down to Sugarcreek, OH.
I work at the factory in an operations role and we have had to repair the poor work that the old manufacturer did from time to time.
Overall, they made a pretty good trailer....but there was a period where they produced trailers that precipitated rot as well as another that caused corrosion.

Should anyone ever have issues, please call Little Guy Worldwide at 877-545-4897.
The manufacturing arm, Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers does the repair work.

Feel free to message me or call us with any types of questions you may have.

 

[Hilldweller]

Thanks, Scott.

 

[wagoneercraig]

Thanks Scott for your reply . Heres an updated picture of the Wandering Wagons . Thanks again and happy trails Craig