Teardrop Trailer?

All the different ways of solving the shelter problem. To be static or mobile? Roots, legs, or wheels?
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tylerrr
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Teardrop Trailer?

Post by tylerrr »

Thought I would post this...I always thought these seemed kinda cool. Anyone try them?


http://travel.aarp.org/articles-tips/ar ... back.html

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C40
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Re: Teardrop Trailer?

Post by C40 »

Yeah I saw lots of those at the 2017 Rubber Tramps Rendezvous. They seem like a good alternative for people who are minimalists enough to know they don't need a larger trailer. They're going to be cheaper and have less to go wrong. And you can tow them with a car. So they probably make sense for a lot of people to fit modularly with the vehicle they already have. Those who wish could also just build a similarly sized trailer themselves at a very low cost.

There are downsides compared to using a pickup truck with just a basic gem topper or a van. A teardrop has no more space, but you have to tow it. When a vehicle is traveling on only one axle instead of two, it bounces around WAY more. And if you want to camp in a city, you'd be much better off using any kind of van.

saving-10-years
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Re: Teardrop Trailer?

Post by saving-10-years »

@ffj Would love to see what you could build. We built one (well I designed it and DH built it) 7 years ago. Mainly wood, on a caravan chassis with a metal (salvaged caravan) aluminium skin to the roof (v2). We are continuing to tinker every year or two and belong to a community in the UK that get together and show off/compare what they have done. Its a sort of Makers meet for teardroppers. Some answers to questions raised.

1. The rear kitchen can be loaded as a type of boot when travelling so you can balance the weight over that rear axle and it tows well if you do that. We are usually packing weighty awning (see 3) and heavy leisure batteries in the rear so that we can camp off grid. Ours is heavier than fibreglass, a little cabin on wheels.
2. It sort of eliminates two of the things that bug me about tent camping (cooking is on a normal height surface and we have a hob/grill and cooking implements to hand. We do full scale cooking easily when travelling. It has a proper bed (futon in our case) so we can get a decent nights' sleep in a reasonably sound insulated space.
3. With an awning rail along one side we can fix a drive-away awning to it so that - ours has two doors - you can get into and out of your lounge space easily and without getting wet if it rains. (The kitchen also has a canopy to keep rain off, but as we use this on holiday we have a relaxed schedule so usually are not cooking in the rain). The awning provides a bedroom for DS and we have two sizes so +1-3 is also possible.
4. You can store it in a garage avoiding the problems of finding secure parking for a campervan or caravan. At a pinch it becomes a guest bedroom on the drive.
5. Small ones can be towed behind even a Smart car.
6. Its very very cute. This one is one made by a friend of ours http://makezine.com/2015/10/21/steampu ... p-trailer/(a master builder who has now made several). Ours is not as lovely as this but still turns a few heads. His has some nice details like portholes made from Indian platters - plenty of salvage there, his day job is a plumber.

Agree with @c40 that if you want to camp in a city there are better options. You need outdoor space for these to work.

Allagash
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Re: Teardrop Trailer?

Post by Allagash »

I looked at a bunch of teardrops and thought they felt very small. Truck campers felt more roomy. But you need a truck for a truck camper and you need to store it. As others said, pulling a tear drop just for a place to sleep off the ground doesn't make much sense from a ERE perspective. Why not buy a small SUV as your main everyday car or a small pickup truck with shell and just sleep in the back when you want to take a road trip? That way you don't have to tow anything, don't have to store a second vehicle, maintain a 2nd vehicle, buy a hitch, maintain another set of tires, harder to turn and go many places, etc...

saving-10-years
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Re: Teardrop Trailer?

Post by saving-10-years »

@allagash We did consider buying a small SUV first or a retired builders van to remodel (a la C40), but we only operate one vehicle and using an SUV for all purposes would mean that our transport costs went up for the whole of the year every year. A van big enough to camp in would cost more to run (road tax, fuel, purchase, insurance and depreciation) than the 10 year old car we use for everyday (small easy to park hatchback vehicle). We have to have a towbar anyway as its not the only thing we tow.

I am guessing you are not a camper and/or would be using the SUV to house only one, or two sharing intimately? Living three people in an SUV requires a lot of compromise on space when you travel unless you have an extra driveaway awning or extra tents/canopy. Without these you need to pack up camp every time you need to drive anywhere. We are not minimalists (more the homesteader brand of ERE). The teardrop kitchen means that we can have normal sized cookware from the normal kitchen (no special mini stuff required which is kind of ERE as well as working better). The futon as bed means normal bedding.

Having the teardrop (as we have space to store it when not in use) means that we can tuck it away when we want and get it out when we want. The teardrop itself is small but we fitted an awning rail so - just like with many campervans - you have a lot more space under cover outside the cabin if you want it. Basically our teardrop cost around £700 to build 7 years ago. Its probably more than maintained its value (niche market) and we love using it so expect to continue to do this for the next 10 year or so. Ours is wood lined so its like being in a small cabin. Any maintenance we can DIY usually at very low cost, something we are not able to do that with cars.

Tents are much more ERE than an SUV. We have those too. But teardrops are cuter than either! If you want to see pictures of ours PM me. I suspect you have been looking at the fibreglass commercially produced ones?

Allagash
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Re: Teardrop Trailer?

Post by Allagash »

saving-10-years wrote:
Fri Sep 01, 2017 2:32 am
@allagash We did consider buying a small SUV first or a retired builders van to remodel (a la C40), but we only operate one vehicle and using an SUV for all purposes would mean that our transport costs went up for the whole of the year every year. A van big enough to camp in would cost more to run (road tax, fuel, purchase, insurance and depreciation) than the 10 year old car we use for everyday (small easy to park hatchback vehicle). We have to have a towbar anyway as its not the only thing we tow.

I am guessing you are not a camper and/or would be using the SUV to house only one, or two sharing intimately? Living three people in an SUV requires a lot of compromise on space when you travel unless you have an extra driveaway awning or extra tents/canopy. Without these you need to pack up camp every time you need to drive anywhere. We are not minimalists (more the homesteader brand of ERE). The teardrop kitchen means that we can have normal sized cookware from the normal kitchen (no special mini stuff required which is kind of ERE as well as working better). The futon as bed means normal bedding.

Having the teardrop (as we have space to store it when not in use) means that we can tuck it away when we want and get it out when we want. The teardrop itself is small but we fitted an awning rail so - just like with many campervans - you have a lot more space under cover outside the cabin if you want it. Basically our teardrop cost around £700 to build 7 years ago. Its probably more than maintained its value (niche market) and we love using it so expect to continue to do this for the next 10 year or so. Ours is wood lined so its like being in a small cabin. Any maintenance we can DIY usually at very low cost, something we are not able to do that with cars.

Tents are much more ERE than an SUV. We have those too. But teardrops are cuter than either! If you want to see pictures of ours PM me. I suspect you have been looking at the fibreglass commercially produced ones?
Yeah I was coming from the perspective of one person, with a family like you have all these things change. Sounds like you have a great set up for your family. I love your description of your set up, and tear drop kitchens and awnings are so cool and nifty!

For me a single person if I was going to do a lot of week/month long type camping road trips (not full time) I would buy a small used SUV as my only vehicle (there are a lot of smaller, fairly fuel efficient, low cost, highly reliable SUV's these days). And I would just sleep in the back and cook outside. That way nothing to tow and no big truck camper to put on and take off and store.

I have tent camped extensively for 25 years and I'm totally over sleeping on the ground. No more sleeping on the dirt with critters running around my tent (this summer was the last straw as two mice ran up and down the outside of my tent much of the night and I could hear them scratching at the bottom of the tent trying to get in all night). Let alone hearing larger critters rustling around the camp site (especially when you have to go out in the dead of night to take a pee!)!

A very small % of people are equipped, set up, and have the time to build a teardrop themselves, that's great that you were able to do this so cheaply. I love your set up. I love how these guys at Vintage Overland in Colorado USA built out these cool vintage custom heavy duty back country tear drops http://www.vintageoverland.com/ ....course a cheap guy like me wouldn't pay their prices :mrgreen:

If I was younger and going to do it full time like C-40. I might do what Bob Wells did over a cheaprvliving.com and buy a late model cargo van (GMC Savannah or Chevy Express type) or say a 2015 or 2016, maybe with say <15k miles on it and customize the interior for full time living. I am not a mechanic and don't want to learn to be so I would want something reliable that isn't going to be in the shop all the time, and/or break down on me on the middle of nowhere. Bob Wells has been living in a van for 15 years full time so he is the worlds expert on this stuff and has looked at tried lots of options and went with a 2015 Savannah and customized it. But with a family like yours, all my plans would change :D !!

At my age (mid 40's), I think a van would be too small for full time for me. And I have seen enough of the U.S. already in my life so I don't need to run around driving everywhere site seeing. So I would probably get a larger rig for more comfortable living and just plant myself in one place in summer with great weather and another in winter, and do side trips with a smaller vehicle. But of course that costs more.

I have a friend that restored a VW Westfalia and I went camping with him and I absolutely loved it! If I was a more handy type with engines and tinkering with parts, I would look at that option (he replaced the engine and put in a new canvas pop top among many other things). My friend is super handy and has been working on engines for 35 year and tinkering with everything longer, this is is hobby he does for fun and his has a garage and all the tools....things I do not have.

saving-10-years
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Re: Teardrop Trailer?

Post by saving-10-years »

Never had a mouse running over the tent/trailer before. But totally agree about the sleeping on then ground. I had to camp in a tent for a week last month while attending a residential course - anything with wheels was regarded as something that had to stay in the car park which was not where I wanted to spend the week. The noise was difficult to cope with (the teardrop is insulation so better sound proofing than a tent) and I was very very tired by the time I came home again.

We have friends with vintage campers. You definitely need that mechanical knowledge! I really like the set up that c40 has. Another interesting one for converting your box sized car to camper is the Amdro boot jump. http://www.amdro.co.uk/ We may well decide with our next car to buy one of the boxy style cars that one of these would fit into. Only really comfortable for day camping if you are relatively short (we are not tall). Very nice design.

A big advantage of the c40 arrangement or ours is that you can cook relatively well (a full range of meals) whether on or off grid. We like our own cooking and its a lot cheaper. Its also nice to cook in the outdoors - part of the camping experience (I imagine in a van you simply open the big doors and get that same experience.

George the original one
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Re: Teardrop Trailer?

Post by George the original one »

Allagash wrote:
Fri Sep 01, 2017 2:49 pm
I have tent camped extensively for 25 years and I'm totally over sleeping on the ground. No more sleeping on the dirt with critters running around my tent (this summer was the last straw as two mice ran up and down the outside of my tent much of the night and I could hear them scratching at the bottom of the tent trying to get in all night). Let alone hearing larger critters rustling around the camp site (especially when you have to go out in the dead of night to take a pee!)!
Bwah-hah-hah! Yes, I can sooo relate to your experience! Chipmunks that learned to open foil pouches, leaping/scratching mice, snuffling (coyote? bear? opossum? raccoon?), growling (fortunately only a big black dog from local cabins that ran into my vehicle because I'd parked on its nightly prowl path), & curious rattlesnakes.

It always happens when camping where other people routinely camp. Change the location to somewhere else and the night critters greatly diminish. But you're not likely going to find such unused campsite locations if you're using a trailer.

Anyway, tent camping or open-sky camping remain my #1 choice because I don't want the expense & limitations of hauling a trailer just for 2-3 nights.

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