5000 mile trip in a Teardrop

[Jkester]

Now that we're getting close to completing our new TD my wife has proposed that we make a trip out to Yellowstone (from Virginia) next year. I was thinking the longest trip we would take would be to Florida. This one looks like a 5,000+ mile trip. My first problem (other than getting off work for a month) is whether the 12" wheels/tires will make the trip. I'm concerned about the high speed the wheels will be spinning day after day. Any thoughts on this? Has anyone done a long road trip in a teardrop and what should I prepare for?

Of course I don't even know if it will pull out of the driveway yet so we may be jumping ahead too soon.
James & Rhonda

[burlesot]

I'll be following and living vicariously! My time will come....soon!
Good luck!

TB

[Gage]

Well 5000 miles in one month will be a little tight. We've done three long distance trips with our teardrop and enjoy'd every bitt of it. The main thing is take your time.

2005 trip, 5 weeks:


2007 trip, 7 weeks:


Did a trip back to the Adirondacks in upstate New York in 2009. Sorry, didn't get any pictures because of health and weather. Ended up cutting it short to 5 weeks.


Pictures of 2005 trip http://gages-56.com/NebTrip.html
Pictures of the 2007 trip: http://gages-56.com/Trip07.html

[jonw]

We're planning a trip next April-May from Massachusetts to New Orleans, up to route 66 to California, along Death Valley to Yosemite up to Shasta Dam for the Dam Gathering the first weekend in May. Hoping to visit some northern national parks on the way home via a northern route.

Just finished a two week trip yesterday - no problems and had a fine time.

We have 13in. wheels. I'd recommend greasing your wheel bearings before starting, and just checking the tire tread every few days. You should be able to get replacement tires easily if you need them if you catch them before they get shredded. I don't carry a spare - just a Dynaplug to do quick tread puncture repairs if needed.

Good luck!

[triker45]

Did the same trip to the Adirondacks as Gage did from Oregon and we were gone for 3 weeks.Jerry

[Jkester]

Gage, those road trips looked like a lot of fun. I'm thinking my path may be similar to your 2007 trip. We are looking forward to planning it this winter. It looks like you are probably running 15" wheels (or larger). Any thoughts on making that trip with smaller wheels?

JonW, thanks for the advice. I will repack the bearings before we leave and possibly before we return. That's a heck of a trip you are planning. We went to several National Parks in CA, UT and AZ in 2010 and really liked that part of the country. So different from our side.

James & Rhonda

[NathanL]

I normally get out west at least every other year and sometimes more often. Sometimes it's 3-4 weeks and use the trailer as a base camp for backpacking trips and others it's a camp while hunting for a few weeks at a time. I have pulled everything from 14/15" wheels to 12" ones and never had an issue and that includes parts of TX where the speed limit is 80/85 and Wyoming which is similar.

The last trip I made it back all in one go with only fuel stops and took about 26 hours to cover 1500+ miles. No problems.

[wheat100]

We picked up our teardrop in Michigan and then took a 5,000 trip back home via Austin (home is the Central Coast of California). It was great and we could have gone for another 5,000 miles, easy. Our teardrop has 15" wheels, as reference.

Also, I figure there are a lot of people who use their Teardrops full time, like The Blond Coyote (http://theblondecoyote.com/). She travels through Canada, the lower 48 and now in Alaska with her Suburu and Teardrop. I think the key is maintenance, and if you know there are things that need to be done prior to 5,000 miles, make sure they can be taken care of on the road.

One thing we did was get RV/Trailer coverage on our AAA card so they would tow it if something happened. Definitely brings piece of mind.

Have a great trip!

[CarlLaFong]

My old Honda Civic had 12 inch wheels. I drove the crap out of it. I cannot imagine a small teardrop being harder on tires than a car, especially considering that the drive, steering and 80% of the braking is done by the front wheels of the Honda

[GuitarPhotog]

Don't make it your first trip

Do a couple of shorter shakedown trips in advance to ensure that nothing is going to shake/break loose.

Make sure the DOT date on your tires is less than 5 years ago. Trailer tires can look fine and fail catastrophically due to age, not wear (ask me how I know this )

As several have said, make sure all your periodic maintenance is done before; wheel bearings, etc.

I just returned from 1900 miles in 12 days through Oregon with no issues (due to lots of planning).

<Chas>

[Jkester]

I've got probably 8 months to plan the trip and if I can finish up all the loose ends I will take a 50 mile trip next week. I still haven't been able to check for water tightness as the galley is not quite finished. Hopefully I can get in 3 or 4 trips in Virginia before we try the big one.

Actually the next task is to stop spending money on the teardrop build and camping "stuff". Amazon is becoming addictive.

thanks for all the advise.
James & Rhonda

[Gage]

I know it's not what you have but I would treat it the same. The one thing I would do at each and every rest stop would check for heat in the trailer wheels. It's so simple and doesn't take any extra time to do. Just touch the wheel (or hub cap) close to the hub. Oh, and I also have 15" wheels with light truck tires. Ever sense I had thread separation on one of my trailers years ago I won't run trailer tires on any of my trailers. And being retired, I put a lot of miles on my trailers (all kinds of roads) and no tire problems.

P.S. My first 'break-in' trip for my teardrop when I finished it was for 2100 miles and 14 days. Finish the tear 12:00 noon on a Saturday and was packed and on the road by 3:00pm. Was supposed to meet up with friends at 6:00 in the Valley of Fire (didn't make it). You can see and read about that trip HERE

The secret was, I took my time building and checked everything I did. So I wasn't worried about things coming apart.

[Jkester]

Gage,
your trip to Zion, Bryce, etc would be a great trip in the teardrop. You mentioned camping averaging under $9 per night. What's the secret to finding reasonable places to stay?

James & Rhonda

[Gage]

Gage,
your trip to Zion, Bryce, etc would be a great trip in the teardrop. You mentioned camping averaging under $9 per night. What's the secret to finding reasonable places to stay?
James & Rhonda

Mind you that trip was done in 2002. Also we were able to double up at all but two camp sites (state/national parks), so we shared the cost, mainly national parks.

[digimark]

The boy scout in me wants to suggest you carry a small toolkit: vise-grip, screwdrivers, common sockets, wire cutter/stripper, needle-nose pliers, small roll of electrical tape and some 12-14 gauge wire... It's also cheap insurance to carry an extra set of wheel bearings. Extra bulbs for the taillights and the overhead light (if you have one). A roll of duct tape is always useful. Small can of lubricant.

I have a spare wheel and tire mounted to the outside of my trailer, and we needed it earlier this month. I had an under-inflated tire and hit a large rock at slow speeds that dented the wheel rim in (tire was fine.) If I didn't have a spare it would have been a *real* pain. We also discovered that the emergency jack in my SUV was a kind that was useless for lifting a small trailer that didn't have a built-in lifting point the jack needed. I was able to borrow a friend's scissors jack and change the tire, but now I think I'm going to keep a Harbor Freight bottle jack in my TV. Also check to make sure the lug wrench in your car will also fit the lugs on the trailer wheel.