Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

At what point did you first take out your tear and camp in it?
What's the bare minimum you can get away with?

My first tear didn't have windows or fenders no license plate. I got pulled over right on the on ramp of the freeway, the police officer asked what it was I told him so next he questioned my blue dots on my pickup. Then he said have a good weekend and off we went with no ticket.

Not too bad "Campable" for me was that the primer was on the wood exterior, fenders on but hadn't been primed yet. Door locks / latches were not 'finished' but were shimmed and tight enough for travel.
Any other boo boos were covered with duct tape.... Thank God for duct tape ! haha

Oh - and I didn't have hatch supports yet so took along a 6' stick to hold it up...

of course other things like interior not painted and no interior shelf yet,

BUT ----- I"m camping in it for the third time now... maybe that's why it takes so long to "finish"

Technically I haven't camped yet, but I am preparing to go on the first outing in a couple of weeks.

None of the interior trim molding is done, either in the cabin or galley. None of the exterior aluminum molding is in place. The gally doesn't have gas struts and the hatch isn't panelled. I still plan on making a side table that hangs off the side of the tear. I have to install a voltmeter in the fuse panel. I may swap out the battery box on the tongue for a larger tool box.

In actuality, the trailer is about 95% done.

Joanne

Our's was just a shell. The Bluebonnet had no windows, no AC, no galley. It was a great campout at Purtis Creek.

All that's been added in the last year or so since the 1st camp-out was a 3" memory foam topper on the mattress and a bunch of stickers on the inside of the hatch my wife has collected. I am getting ready to replace the AC this week. The old Heier 5000 BTU lost it's freon.

I threw some blankets over the doors, put in a cot mattress, my blanky, and pillow and slept in it under the carport a few weeks ago..

It was a cool night about 48* and I stayed warm under a quilt.

I got uncomfortable and went inside to my bed about 4:30am. Cot mattress was only 2" thick.

Mk

I took my cargo trailer out with just a studded wall between the bed and the galley. I had the counter top mounted on a couple of closet brackets so that I could check the height of it when in use. And I used my old waterbed frame for the bed. It worked and I was able to figure out what worked and what didn't.

The windsong galley/bulkhead was not there and the battery and tongue box was not there either. The interior had no varnish. The shocks were not yet installed. It was towed 3,000 miles to Brooks Lake Wyoming with no major problems. The wiring was temporarily pig tailed on the right side wall. The dome light was the only working light when the trailer plug was connected to the tow vehical. All external running lights, tailights,turn signals and brake lights were in operating condition. We used a flaslight in the trailer when disconnected from tow vehical. The roof vent also was missing. The only mishap was one night we were both awakend by shortness of breath due to not having windows vented properly and the 9,000 foot altitude. The Lord was with us. The moral to the story always have the windows cracked!!!!
jplock

As seen on RV Crazy. Filmed 4 years ago.

Mine didn't have the aluminum on when we took it out. I did a rushed job of weatherstripping the doors and neglected the hinge section. The first campout at Cedar Hill was an absloute monsoon. It rained hard the whole time. The water managed to find any possible place of entry. The bed was soaked and we couldn't even sleep in the tear on the second night.

The aluminum and trim solved almost all the leaks.

A picture speak for itself!

Talk about first camp out! And I enjoyed it just if it was a fithwheel. It's mine and under construction. Besides it's paid for. I towed it 130+ miles one way in fair weather and camped in it and just before the storm rolled in that morning I packed it all back in the stake-bed and covered it with the tarp and only one box lid was wet in the cloud-burst rain for 90 miles down the hwy for home with the last 40 mile without rain. Had a great time. It looks a little different now with the shell frame and sides on but can look like that in about 30 minuites again it needed to haul trash or parts.




Pat

Jst83 Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 2:12 pm Post subject: First Camped in Tear

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At what point did you first take out your tear and camp in it?
What's the bare minimum you can get away with?

Heck, I know a guy named Dave who is a member of this board who got to his first gathering and then built thier teardrop right there on the spot. And sleep in it. I don't know if you would say it was finished or not finished.

Gage wrote:Heck, I know a guy named Dave who is a member of this board who got to his first gathering and then built thier teardrop right there on the spot. And sleep in it. I don't know if you would say it was finished or not finished.

I guess Finished is like beauty it's in the eye of the beholder.



Thanks for the stories I feel pretty good about everthing I have done so far

Our galley isn't finished, not all the cabinets are in, drawers aren't done, trim not on. Inside: the lights aren't in, the cabinets aren't finished, trim still needed. Outside: paint job not finished, still need drip rail, porch lights aren't on. Plenty of other little things too, but towable and for the most part water proof.
Martha