How did you discover teardrop campers?

[Forrest747]

Well I was bored. Started a new job family in another state and I had run out of outhouses to build for the family. I couldnt tow the popup camper with my Jeep so thought about a smaller alternative. So googling i came across Tom Swenson build blog and thinking i could do that. got the Kuffle creek plans found this site and the rest is history. learned so much more than i ever thought i would. still working on the skills but doing my best.

[wingnut]

My wife made me do it!
Really. We were at a car show about 12 years ago and she saw this restored 49 Chev PU pulling a TD. Ofcourse she had to show it to me, then she declared that we had to have one for our old car. After I retired we did the build. I found this form after the build was well underway. reading about everone elses TD's makes me think I'm in GOOD company.

[len19070]

It was something that snuck up on me over the years.

Sometime back in the Mid 50's as a kid I was camping with my parents and briefly saw my first "Teardrop Like" trailer.

Then a few years later in Junior High I was in the Library thumbing through a Popular Mechanix, or Science or one of those magazines and saw plans for one.

Later yet K.O.A. was having a contest to celebrate its 25 or 30th anniversary and one of the prizes was a Mac-Built Teardrop.

After that I started drawing pictures, looking at axles and in about 1988 or so built my first one. And its still on the road today.

Its owned by some friends in CT. And a few years ago I took some updated pictures of it.



Same kid, 20 some years later.

Happy Trails

Len

[rowerwet]

I 'm a small boat builder, rower and paddler, while searching for cheap or free boat plans and ideas on builds, I ended up at a website by a boat builder with interesting plans. In the list of plans he had he also had a TD like plan for the POD I believe, it is rather square and uses a hatch on the roof for entry, from that I ended up finding out about TD's and spent months reading everything I could.
Two years later I was faced with a long commute, late at night (I tend to fall asleep driving anyway) woke up way to many times on the wrong side of the road, or because I just ran over a reflector stake (thank you! whoever came up with the rumble strips on the highway). Then the gas prices started jumping, I found a place to stay for free at the airport, but then after a couple years lost that as well. I built my TD in a couple weeks, it was basic, though I did build it 5' wide for future camping, all it had was a bed, lights and fans. Worked great for last summer. Then it sat in the garage off its trailer all winter as I have moved closer to work.
Right now I am completing the conversion to a functional (but not finished) two person camper, plan on using it for our 13th anniversary this year.

[GuitarPhotog]

This!



This was my uncle's teardrop on a family camping trip to Big Sur CA, in about 1953. It seems to be a Kit, but note the complete lack of fenders.

We discovered this photo just last week while looking through a box of old photos at my sister's house.

<Chas>

[campmaster-k]

It just came to me after my Alien abduction.