by Recon26 » Fri Jun 12, 2015 11:18 am
My wife saw the Gidget on Facebook today, and while I have been watching this thread, I only now feel compelled to add my own thoughts after replying to her comment on the Facebook post.
It is my belief that for the home builder of a teardrop or tiny travel trailer, you would have a few different issues that may or may not be difficult to remedy depending on your individual situation:
1. It seems to me that finding a commercially available sliding mechanism with an appropriate weight rating would be rather difficult for a decent price. Since we make our stuff one off, you have to find something that matches up the dimensions of your trailer, the dimensions of your teardrop, or find a healthy compromise of the two to make it feasable. You could always fashion something out of pipe and rollers or ball bearings or heavy duty industrial drawer sliders or something I'm not aware of, but I'm not an engineer. And because I am not an engineer, I tend to over build on a massive scale. From what I've been reading on this forum since I joined not too long ago, many of us do it.
2. I may be way off in my assumptions on this one, but I am not structural/mechanical engineer. Creating the teardrop to be structurally sound while the slide out is in the in or out position could prove to be difficult within the common thread of this forum: remaining lightweight and keeping costs reasonable. In my opinion, because of the sliding unit encasing much of the front of the teardrop, the walls and roof would require some type of additional support over and above the normal amount of structual reinforcing that we would normally require for a teardrop without a slide out.
3. It is my belief that the trailer would need to be made in a more robust manner in order to assist in supporting the teardrop structure. You may have to have an increased GVWR of the trailer to include the additional weight of the slide out when in the retracted or open position. A custom trailer costs more (duh) unless you can design/build it yourself and get the supplies rather easily. Then you have to go through the additional hassle of registering a home built trailer which may or may not prove to be easy in your state/country. Obviously, goodbye tongue box unless you incorporated it into the design of the slide out itself. Not too difficult in itself, but when you start adding things like batteries and the associated wiring or propane and the associated plumbing, it can be difficult from a design and functionality stand point. Can those two things be moved to the galley? Of course. Have fun fitting it into that small space and still having room for coolers/fridge/stove/camp stove/storage/random stuff.
4. Weather proofing the slide out...um, hole? frame? area? may be an issue when in both the open or closed position. I can think of ways to build up a double sided threshold that you could have appropriate weather stripping seal it on both sides, but the other pointed out thing in the way I am imagining it is that the floor would be uneven at the threshold and would cause a bump that would require a cutout for your sleeping matress or a platform of some type to make a flat surface for your sleeping desires.
5. Now, the flat sleeping surface is an obvious issue, unless you built some type of platform that easily slides with the slide out mechanism and them self levels or drops into place to create a flat floor. Then when you are closing up shop to move to the next camp location or to go home from your getaway, it needs to be easily moved back into the stowed position so you could pack up and go at a moments notice. This should be easily done by 1 person. And by easily, I mean a 110 year old person with no eyesight, hearing or feeling in their hands that can't even figure out how to operate a modern light switch has to be able to do it. Preferrably in less than 1 or 2 minutes max.
6. The tow vehicle would have to be able to support the additional weight of the contraption. A full size American pick up truck can do this. However, we are a multinational community, and most of us have cars that do the towing, or very small compact pick ups. The weight rating on my hitch is 10,000 pounds with a 1,000 pound tongue weight (even more if I put the weight distributing equipment on), but again, full size American pick up with a 5.7L HEMI. You may require trailer brakes depending on your tow vehicle, and that adds to the cost and complexity of the issue.
These are just some of the points that stand out in my mind. Now granted, I am a simple minded fellow who has yet to start on his own teardrop build, but I did buy the Harbor Freight 4'x8' Super Duty yesterday, so I'm on my way. I'm also pretty handy when it comes to building things, I have lots of tools and I sure as hell know how to destroy stuff.
Have fun with your stuff, I think the Gidget is a great idea, it just wouldn't really fit with the way I am going to build mine for me and the family.
I see absolutely no advantage in building that way. The disadvantages would be; adding a tremendous amount of weight & expense, sealing not only the top & sides but also the floor against water intrusion, the floors would overlap leaving an uneven surface inside, the slide mechanism would be complicated pita to build & match to the rest of the interior side walls & ceiling. Without sliding it apart, getting inside would be like crawling through a window.
