Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I want to make room for an extra full size bunk in my 'still in the planning stages' teardrop. One thought I has was to make the galley slide out the rear 3 feet on rails.


This would give me room inside to put up a temporary bunk platform when stopped. I'd have to support the galley when it's extended, but that's no big deal, and I'd need some kind of roller/runner system to slide it out.

My question is.. How much of the structural integrity of the tears is based on the cross bracing provided by the galley construction..

Would other aspects of the roof skin provide enough support while parked? When the trailer is travelling, and the galley retracted, I'm sure it would be locked in enough.

And what if the galley were self contained, so that it rolled out, and had legs/wheels to be free standing? Hmm, I might need to do some drawings, as that would free up the full base of the tear for sleeping.

Just some thoughts.

Thanks!!

I am considering a similar solution, but I will only be creating a sleeping loft for a 2 yr. old (a big one though). I will do the following. I currently have no upper cabinets in the galley, simply an “L”-shaped shelf behind the counter. The upper leg of the L will recline into the cabin until level and will then be at the same plane as the lower leg of the shelf and the counter. The combined depth will then be about 36”, though about 6” will be inaccessible due to the proximity of the hatch. This will require that I remove everything from the counter and the shelf, but I am switching to a modular box set up anyway (so I can transport food to the bear locker easier). It’s a real bare (pun intended) to transfer one can of beans at a time into the bear locker. A couple of cleats on either side will catch the upper leg as it reclines into the cabin and will support the crib mattress which I’ll use.

Jeff,
You could down size the rear hatch into something like the trunk on you car. Just bring the hinge point farther down the rear slop of the tear. You could still stow stuff and build the kids loft permenent.

Maybe set the axle farther forward and put the Bear Box/kitchen on the tonge.

I've seen pictures of Teardrops with that are used as a cargo/bike haulers with no structural cross pieces except for the roof spars. Some have removable galley units.

Norm

I built 2 Tears a few years ago with slide out kitchens. The galley is a VERY important part of the structural make up of a tear. Mine rocked back& forth until I put some Beefy angels top & bottom to stop this. On the second one I built a metal frame around the opening on the inside with small angles in the corners. This helped but it still wasn't right. I eventually abandoned the project.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/len19070/ ... pg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/len19070/ ... pg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/len19070/ ... pg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/len19070/ ... pg&.src=ph

Happy Trails

Len

I'm building mine without a kitchen so that I can carry my motorcycle inside. I built it on a utility trailer frame with 6" thick walls with 3/8" MDO plywood on inside and outside. Walls are very ridged. This might be over-kill for your situation, but maybe making the walls thicker than normal might help make up for the loss of the cross support of the cabinets.

Dave

dhillebr wrote:I'm building mine without a kitchen so that I can carry my motorcycle inside. I built it on a utility trailer frame with 6" thick walls with 3/8" MDO plywood on inside and outside. Walls are very ridged. This might be over-kill for your situation, but maybe making the walls thicker than normal might help make up for the loss of the cross support of the cabinets.

Dave

Wasn't this Arne's original plan?