Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Most of the teardrops I've seen have some form of internal storage at the hitch end; sometimes full height, and sometimes about half-height. I can see it's use as a forward bulkhead which stiffens the box, but the odd crescent profile doesn't seem that practical for storage. As you can gather, this is my first TD, so I thought it best to get people's opinions regarding whether one should go for full or half height, or no front locker at all.

Perhaps the fundamental question, which drives the size is "what do people actually store in there?"

Prethanks,
Doug

I'd say that a majority of the tongue boxes (except for Camp-Inn) are not accessible from the inside. They are usuallu an independent box attached to the front.

A full height tongue box would be more difficult to get to items in the bottom, both because of the reach and all the stuff piled on top.

What do people store in there? usually the dirty stuff that you wouldn't want inside like, chairs, BBQ, charcoal, extension cords, wheel chocks, etc. Of course that could be different for one that is accessible from inside.

In my tongue box which is accessable from the outside only, I carry chairs, door mat, shower shoes, wheel chocks, jack stands, extention cord, water hose, and TV antenna. It's a very useful part of the trailer, IMHO.

Mine is going to have the battery in it, among other junk.

Mine will have a bunch of stuff in it but mainly trying to make a design to hold my cornhole boards.

Doug wrote:Most of the teardrops I've seen have some form of internal storage at the hitch end; sometimes full height, and sometimes about half-height. I can see it's use as a forward bulkhead which stiffens the box, but the odd crescent profile doesn't seem that practical for storage. As you can gather, this is my first TD, so I thought it best to get people's opinions regarding whether one should go for full or half height, or no front locker at all.

Perhaps the fundamental question, which drives the size is "what do people actually store in there?"

Doug, the way I read our question I thought you were asking about a storage cabinet in the inside front area of the teardrop. Kind of a headboard storage shelf and locker. Everyone else who answered above seems to think you're asking about an exterior area tongue box. Which area is it you wanted to know about?

If you are talking about the interior, I chose to put a storage locker up front. This is a picture before I completed shelving on the one side for small items like shoes, or whatever, and the other side is for hanging jackets or damp items. The middle area I use for storing pillows or other narrow, tall items. You do have to get creative if you are going to utilized the curved area.

Sorry for the confusion. I was meaning the front locker/cabinet/cupboard inside the cabin, not the tongue box.

Doug

I chose not to put any storage in the inside front for a couple of reasons. One is the length of my tear, another is because I didn't think I would need any extra inside storage because we have a mini van and have all the storage we need. Another reason is because of weight, I didn't think I could afford to add any more weight up front. I have seen some very nice looking storage in the front but we wanted a headboard with a small shelf for glasses, keys, remotes ETC. It is a very hard decision, just think about what you have and where it might fit.
Brwbier

Sorry to add to the confusion, I thought you were talking about the tongue boxes that Camp-Inn uses. It looks like a tongue box but it is more like an bump out for the front closet.

I have one of the forward cabinets that you mention. I call it a blanket chest even though I don't usually put blankets in there, we do put pillows in there. I thought it would be a wasted effort when I was building the trailer but there is a suprising amount of space in there. I keep the bulky items in there like the change room (outhouse tent), pillows, cafeteria trays (for potlucks), mixing bowls (that won't fit in the galley).

The best feature is the shelf that it provides. It is a great place to put your wallet, keys, and other things you don't want to loose. We use it like a night stand.



Edit: forgot to add pic