Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd pass along this little wrinkle I cottoned onto one day. I actually discovered it while working on a car in the driveway, then began to use it when I went camping.

So it was a blazing hot day and I was in full sun, turning crispy. Thought I'd go grab the beach umbrella for some relief... get the plastic umbrella base and start filling it with water, which is running out a crack... dammit... so I grabbed a spare rim and tire, and put it over the top of the base and it held it down great...

However, that thing had gone all sun brittle and soon cracked up beyond use, and I started using the bottom of a fan stand. Which when camping, took up little space.

But, in thinking about my first trailer build, I thought, hey, I should make a little bolt on gizmo for the spare with a bit of pipe in the middle, for an umbrella stand! Not entirely sure where my spare is going yet, if it's flat on tongue, then it could be useful in place. Thinking of making it a dual purpose part of spare retention system wherever I mount it... you gotta carry that thing around with you "just in case" all the time, may as well put it to work!


Jagged Edges.

Interesting....

I havnt had a spare in my land crusier for 5 years.mind you the all train tyres have pretty thick tread.
I'll get a flat now I've said that lol

I hadn't had one for years, then last month, week after I picked up new car, it found a big self tapping screw on the road.


If you want the rough and ready version, find about 6" of chainlink fence post, and rip down it 2" either crosscut for a 4 bolt or a lopsided 3 cuts for a 5 bolt, then bend those out, mash flat, drill holes, insert bolts, use antiseize because it would suck if this was rusted on when you needed your spare.

Unless you have small/short umbrellas, this probably won't work too well on 8" rims too small, 13" and up should be good.

Sounds like a job for the 3d printer. I think my build envelope is just a touch too small but I'll give it a go at some point in the future.

Cylindrical flanges with bolt patterns are very easy to fabricate using open scad.

A while back I made a flange that connects four inch galley duct. I'm probably going to use it for my air conditioning experiments.

I came up with this idea several years ago...
Edit: the whole image didn't load, but it's a circle of plywood carriage bolted onto my spare tire to use as a step into my camper.

That's a good one too.

A further advantage of finding ancillary uses for the spare is that it is never "out of sight, out of mind" and you're likely to notice if it has gone rotten or lost pressure.

I really like the step idea. My kids have been wondering how they were getting into the teardrop, and so far I'd planned on giving them a folding step stool, but this seems even neater

When I lean back just a little I can easily rest my beer on my spare tire.



Randy

Wolffarmer wrote:When I lean back just a little I can easily rest my beer on my spare tire.

Makes a good rest for a bowl of ice cream, too.

KCStudly wrote:

Wolffarmer wrote:When I lean back just a little I can easily rest my beer on my spare tire.

Makes a good rest for a bowl of ice cream, too.

Beer and ice cream. What a concept.

Randy

Wolffarmer wrote:

KCStudly wrote:

Wolffarmer wrote:When I lean back just a little I can easily rest my beer on my spare tire.

Makes a good rest for a bowl of ice cream, too.

Beer and ice cream. What a concept.

Randy

Nope! Tried that in my younger days, kinda like a rootbeer float without the root...destroyed a perfectly good beer.

Redneck Teepee wrote:

Wolffarmer wrote:

KCStudly wrote:

Wolffarmer wrote:When I lean back just a little I can easily rest my beer on my spare tire.

Makes a good rest for a bowl of ice cream, too.

Beer and ice cream. What a concept.

Randy

Nope! Tried that in my younger days, kinda like a rootbeer float without the root...destroyed a perfectly good beer.

I was thinking along the lines of ice cream with a beer chaser.

I have a recipe for a cheese cake that calls for malted milk balls and Brooklyn Breweries Black Chocolate Stout!

KCStudly wrote:I have a recipe for a cheese cake that calls for malted milk balls and Brooklyn Breweries Black Chocolate Stout!

I see nothing in there that would keep me from at least trying it. I love Cheese Cake!