Building a teardrop trailer

Ok, this is something I have been contemplating for about 6 months or so now. But, it has gone from "considering" to "I WANT one". I have done some research online, but, it seems, in my area anyway, these are scarce (New England). I was hoping to simply purchase one, but it seems the only manufacturers are on the left coast, so that likely will not happen.
I also notice that a LOT of folks BUILD there own. Now, I am not NOT handy with tools, but I am wondering what the difficulty level of one of these builds is? I have access to likely every tool thats needed. My father is a carpenter, electrician, mechanic, welder...he has done pretty much all when it comes to trades. He is retirement age now, but likely would love to help build something like this. Besides, I'd need a place to store it, as I live in an apt complex.
So, to get to my question; does anyone here own one? If so, what are the good/bad features? This, for me, is for long weekend trips, as an alternative to hotels. I am intrigued with these, as they are spartan by design, and I like that-it will limit my gear. I have looked at several models and amenities, but would be quite happy with a basic design (I like the ones with the internal shelving though).
So, if you use one, how do you like it? What are some of the things to look out for? Did you buy, or build? What made you decide to go this route? How difficult is it to build one (based on rudimentary skills)? Do you regret going this route?

I know its a lot to ask, but, if I am going to go this route, and dump money into it, I want to make sure this isnt a worthless investment for me.

Take a look here
http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/

For a tent camper, a teardrop trailer is revolutionary. At least it was for me. What I love about it:

1) permanently packed (everything but food)
2) fast setup and breakdown (I often don't even unhook it)
3) comfort (sleeping on a bed)
4) security (hard-sided safety, locked doors)
5) fun - teardrops aren't for the unsocial, people flock to see what they are and get a tour.

Mine is a "Little Guy" brand "6-wide platform" model. I had it painted to match my Honda Element (4-cylinder engine).

If I had it to do again, I'd probably get a 5'-wide (queen-size bed). My 6-wide is kept in a 10'-wide storage unit (20' long) and it's a pretty tight fit through the door.

Little Guy also has a new "Silver Shadow" line which is more of a traditional profile and has a very nice kitchen galley. Again, buying today I'd prefer that to my basic model.

Little Guy has dealers all over the country, you can look on their website. They do have dealers in the northeast. I bought mine direct from Little Guy and they delivered it to the storage unit where I keep it near the mountains where we usually camp (about 100 miles from my home).

Teardrops typically have a kitchen galley in the back, accessible by the rear hatch. I had mine built without the galley because I preferred the open space and just as soon cook on the picnic table or on the trailer's tongue box where I can access the cooler in the back of my Element and lounge comfortably on the tailgate under a canopy.

Here's the link to my manufacturer. They are based in Canton, Ohio. The teardrops are actually built in the RV Capital of America: Elkhart, Indiana.

Mine weighs around 900 pounds empty. The Element hardly feels it, except on the steep climb up the Shenandoah mountains.

http://www.golittleguy.com/teardrops/


If I'd been more patient, I'd have gone with a "Camp-Inn" built in Wisconsin. These are widely regarded as the Cadillac or Rolls Royce of teardrops. Yet the basic model is not that much more than a Little Guy. They used to have a year-long wait-list but today's economy has shortened that considerably.

http://www.tinycamper.com/


Teardrops -- manufactured and home-built -- are for sale on the Teardrops & Tiny Travel Trailers forum that Stu referenced. You may want to post a note there that you are in the market to buy.

http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=18

I'm going to post more photos in a few minutes.

There are usually several teardrops for sale on e-bay. Some brand-new.

More pics:

The side walls are 3/4" plywood.

And more pics:

By the way, just about anyone with a teardrop will strongly recommend getting a Fantastic roof vent fan with it.

If I lived in Massachusetts I'd be up at Acadia NP every chance I got.

Your dad would have a blast, I'll bet. If my grandfather were still alive when I learned about teadrops I would have loved to build one with him. He always had a well-equipped shop and built a few houses in his time and most of my college furniture.

Spend the next few weeks scouring the Teardrops & Tiny Travel Trailers forum. There is a wealth of information there and all manner of skill levels -- from the most rudimentary to artisans.

A lot of those folks who've built (the emphasis at that forum is on building but lots of manufactured info, too) find themselves building one after another.

T&TTT has a library of building plans that you can download, for free.

If you go to the T&TTT for sale section and the Newbie section and say in both that you are in the market to buy as well as being interested in building, you could get a great deal.

Best wishes. My first year with the teardrop we camped over 50 nights. Last year about 30 nights. A heck of a lot cheaper, and more fun, than renting a cabin or hotel/lodge room.

And my teardrop is dog-friendly so it gets Gidget's vote!

Seems most people who home-build put around $2k into them. But some have come in under $1k.

The first big decision is the frame. Unless you are a welder or know someone who is, you'll want a pre-fab or perhaps an old pop-trailer or some such trailer than you can tear down and re-use that frame.

Check out the forum at Hoodswoods. In the 2nd section, go to the DIY Projects, about page 3, you will find a forum about teardrop trailers that one of the Hoods has built.

It includes many graphic photos of various stages of the exterior shell.

The construction appears to be much easier and common sense than I ever suspected it could be.

Here's a direct link to the Hoodlum Teardrop Trailer Build thread. Wildman just bumped it so it was easy to find.

I forgot that I had bumped it!!! This getting old really sucks!!!

Thre's a 2008 Little Guy 6-wide "toy hauler" teardrop on e-bay. New. Bidding ends soon.

If it goes for anywhere near it's current bid, it'd be a steal.

And worth the drive to West Virginia to get it.


[ so is there some policy against e-bay links?? ]

I'd find a place to store it first, then check for used trailer locally

Thanks for the pics Dagny! I am going to look into this further. I had a discussion with my father, and he seems to think it'd be cheaper to simply buy one. But, we will see. It will be either a summer project, or a purchase next tax season .
As for storage, my father has plenty of space for that, and I already received his blessing. Its about 40 miles from me, which isnt too bad.
Acadia is certainly a trip I would like to take!I have wanted to go there for years-dont really need a camper for it, I suppose

Here's an interesting "teardrop" for sale in TN by a member of T&TTT. Manufactured. $3500. But it's 4'-wide. I wouldn't want less than a 5-wide.

http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34748

07' Wazat camper. Small and light enough to be towed by most any car. Its all aluminum and weighs in at 640lbs. The camper body lifts off of the trailer bed and becomes a light weight 4'x8' flatbed tilt utility trailer for your lawn mower, atv, or motorcycle.

The camper size is 4'x10' and is perfect for 2 adults to stay high and dry while camping and/or road tripping to avoid high hotel costs. No setup is required, just pull out your chairs and your done.

The camper is powered, either by an extension cord plugged into 110V at campgrounds, or the 12V deep cycle trolling motor battery installed in the back. There are two ceiling lights, two "porch" lights, and a stereo making the large battery last weeks under normal camping conditions.

The stereo is a 60 watt CD Player stereo that sports face off security features and an aux plugin for playing your ipod, and a usb charging plug for phone or mp3 players.

There are 2 doors so you don't have to disturb your partner getting in and out, both with screens so you can let the air flow through on warm nights. There is an electric fan in the roll up roof vent to keep the air moving. The back hatch opens to a flat deck for kitchen counter, or plain ole storage. The bed is 4' wide x 6'9"long so even the tallest of you can fit inside comfortably. (I'm 6' and could stretch out no prob)

The trailer is outfitted with all LED lighting so your sure to be seen while traveling after dark.

I do have a clear title and it has been registered. It does not require registration while being towed in TN but I registered it for towing it out of state. (trailer license is like $13 bucks in TN who wants to be hassled over $13?)

It takes a 1 & 7/8" ball.

Why are the wheels always on the outside? It seems that you could build a wider trailer if you put the wheel wells under the platform bed inside, like in a van.

Is there some particular reason they're made the way they are, for stability or something?

And Dagny, I was seriously disappointed that I had to go down to the ELEVENTH photo to see the thunderpuff lounging on the tailgate. Woman, you really need to get your priorities rearranged! ;-)

Sue

Ease of building, you don't have to fit things around the wheel wells inside if the wheels are outside.

LOL!

In the future, I'll be sure to throw the gratuitous Gidg-pics sooner in the lineup.

;-)

As to the wheels being on the outside, if they weren't on my particular model, the wheel-wells would cut into the bed space. Or the trailer floor would have to be higher. Or the trailer wider, or the wheels a lot smaller.

In teardrops, the bed is the floor.

If you look at the pictures of my teardrop, consider that the floor of the teardrop, which the bed is on, is five inches or so below the bottom of the door. I'll look for an interior pic from when I first bought it and nothing was inside yet.

Some pics from right after it was delivered. It's so white. Mine's the white one on the end of the delivery truck. The camo and olive green teardrops were in route to a Gander Mountain store. I had mine painted in Warrenton, Virginia. They did a sensational job. First trailer they'd ever painted. And possibly the last.

A pic for Susan....

As you can see, my teardrop was stripped down. They'd normally come with a tri-fold mattress, cabinets and galley. I had mine built without those amenities. Someday I'll varnish the walls. Or sell it and buy a Camp Inn.

If anyone has a Gallapagos Green Metallic tow vehicle, I have just the teardrop for them!

That's better... ^..^

I've looked at several sites, and all of them give length and width, but no inside height. About four feet? Less?

Sue

www.crickettrailer.com

Mine is 43" high at the highest point.

The cricket ones look interesting. i was looking to build one a while back and was going to take the basic teardrop shape and turn it around front to back then stretch it up a little taller so one could stand up in it.

Please see this Trailer.

Lee

Nice looking trailer. Only one question for you, does the Samoyed in the picture ride or pull ? Nice looking Sam!

- Eric

Thanks. :-)

Though Gidget excels in bikejoring and dogscootering, we haven't figured out the braking thing with the teardrop.

That looks like one live, alert, happy pooch!

Eugene, I have asked people several times why the teardrop is larger at the front end... you would think it would be more aerodynamically sound if it were turned around.

The only thing anyone has ever come up with is that it's built like an airplane wing -- but airplane wings are designed for lift, something I really don't think would be desirable in a trailer.

Any other thoughts on why the big end is at the front, guys?

Sue

The galley is on the smaller end, and you want that to be free from the towing vehicle so you have room to stand behind the trailer when cooking. That's my guess.

The history of teardrops:

http://www.golittleguy.com/teardrops/teardrop-history.php

Teardrop camper trailers evolved after World War II, and were originally constructed with materials obtained from surplus markets. The chassis were made of steel U channel or from round steel tubing, and the wheels came fromJeeps that were salvaged from sunken ships. The exterior skins were usually made from the wings of World War II bombers.

My manufacturer recently started selling a "reverse teardrop"

http://www.littleguyrt.com/


It lacks cuteness.

The reverse teardrop looks good. Where is the mount for the bicycle(s)?

Thats kind of what I was going to do, since I wanted to go a little taller it would be taller than the vehicle towing it so I wanted the slope in the front, then more flat in the back like that one. Kind of combining a full height travel trailer with a teardrop to make something in between. That plan had to change now that I have a family of 4, can't fit all of us in a teardrop.

Sue,

It is a bit counter intuitive but aerodynamically it is best to have the big part at the front for relatively low velocity airflow. A perfect, smooth teardrop or raindrop shape (blunt front, tapering to the rear) is very low drag with a drag coefficient of about 0.04. Reversing the shape would drive the drag coefficient to probably double it (depending on the specific shape).

For comparison, Formula 1 racers (small front, large rear) have drag coefficients around 0.7 or higher. A Toyota Prius with a blunt front and tapered rear (sort of) has a drag coefficient of 0.26. The Prius depends on an aerodynamic "tricK" to create a static pressure area behind the car so it appears longer/more tapered to the air flowing by.

-Eric

Okay, Eric, thanks for explaining!

I wonder what the drag is on those large motorhomes built like boxes? You would think someone would have redesigned them by now.

Sue

Most RV's have surprisingly decent drag coefficients, typically between 0.32 and 0.45. This is because they are relatively long compared to their frontal area, which reduces a lot of the "form" drag. RV's do have a large frontal area compared to a car which means they experience a lot more drag than something with a smaller frontal area and a similar drag coefficient. They also experience more "friction" drag since they usually have much more surface area.

Several companies keep looking at updates with lower drag coefficients and/or smaller frontal areas, but you have to have something that meets the safety regulations and appeals to buyers which does put some pretty interesting limits on the options.

- Eric