Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Has anyone here built a TD with this rear door configuration.

I have been leaning in this direction as my wife is rather short (5'2") and if she has to lean over the back floor to get to the counter you can bet yours truly will be doin' most of the cooking.
What I am thinking of doing is building the doors and putting a piano hinge across the top with a table top the size of the inside of the door so that when the doors are swung out at 90* to the side the top would flip over and give a table on either side and expose the shelves inside the door itself. I am building 5 wide so the doors would be approx 30" wide and a little lower than the ones shown. Anyone see any major problem with doing it this way if I use piano hinges for the doors and some type of flat clip on the side of the tear to support the table top and hold the door in the open position.
Any opinions? Drawbacks, good and bad points?

I'm building that type of rear configuration. I think your table idea will work. probably will want to make them smaller than the doors so the doors will close easier but the idea is viable. I may do the same thing. But for now, the only goal is to get It road worthy, sleep in it a few times and decide what amenities I want to add.

Checkout my build journal

Here is the first of a few pics that show them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/twisted76017/23625152/in/set-138594/[/url]

There are other options. Take a look at our album and the pic of the galley area.

http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=1863 I hope I did this right!

We took Steve Frederick's idea and expanded it a bit. You can do the same. It's not horribly difficult to do and your wife will appreciate not barking her shins on the end of the TD. When we were building our TD, I insisted on having more food preparation room - which paid out very well while making a veggie lasagna in a dutch oven. No leaning over to reach anything on the counter, either.

AJ

Thanks for the correction!

http://tnttt.com/album_ ... ic_id=1863

You mean this one.......your link is to the thumbnail..

Yep, that would work except I am using something similar to the Cub/Modernistic profile like this

But I don't want to lift the counter to get at the space underneath and I don't really want to wrap the hatch down around, soooo that's why I decided on the barn doors, plus there's the added bonus of a little extra storage in the hollow of the door. It'll just take a little bit of trial and ERROR to get it all lined up I suppose.
One of my concerns was sidewall strength with the doors open, but after I thought about the layout of the galley I concluded that the counter and lower cabinets will be close enough to the rear to give it the neccesary ridgidity in that area.

BTW - I like the way the counters are set up, particularly the swingout brace, very nice idea.

You might check out Kai's (Mextear) kitchen. He made his normal, but
the stove/oven, sink and Ice chest are on the type of roller brackets that are used for kitchen drawers. So he just rolls out the kitchen. check it out in their Teardrop album:

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

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

I have seen it in person. Lois, Kai's wife, says all her Teardropping friends are jealous, because they get their shins bumped continually on the floor, and she doesn't!

You're right. However, another option is to have the counter top swing the OTHER way, towards the upper cabinets. You'd have to watch clearance of the door and other stuff . . . . . And it would get rather crowded with other gear in there. Hmmmm.

Oh, well. If you are basing your design on that profile, then about your options are limited.

Lets see. One more idea. How about a countertop that rolls out of a sleeved area? You know, like a keyboard tray under a desk. The hardware is easily available from most cabinet specialty stores. You wouldn't even need a door on the panel. Just a pin or something to keep the countertop from moving while you are in transit. Something to think about.

Sorry. I guess I am just fixated on the additional counterspace and ease of use (not barking shins).

Re: the swingout brace on ours. It helps to keep the counter stabilized when it is open. Just gotta watch how the hinge is attached so that the counter is actually level as compared to the folded down section of the counter. Ours didn't work out exactly as planned, but it is pretty close.

AJ.

Nitetimes, those half doors are indeed lovely, though you need to design the curve of the back of the tear so they work - for example, the Cub shape isn't really suitable as the 'doors' would be wide at the top, tapering to a point at the bottom - difficult to build.

Another option is to split the tailgate into two parts - from the counter up and from the counter down. It's unlikely that the bottom half can hinge down, as it will either murder your shins or get trodden on, but don't overlook the simple idea of unhooking it and sliding it under the tear.

Andrew

angib wrote: but don't overlook the simple idea of unhooking it and sliding it under the tear.

Andrew

That was one of my original ideas when I first cosidered the split tail. I have been trying to concoct a GOOD slide rail system that will let it lock into place when up then by lifting out of the locks and letting it slide down some type of glide. What I don't want is 1. to have it free at any time (as in all 4 corners attached) 2. have it bind on the way down 3. to have it loose when up and locked (no rattling around) and 4. it still needs to seal good. It's definitely gonna take a little engineering to get it just right. So with all that said and in the time I have to build (about a month) I'm thinking that the swing out doors will have to be used for this one.

Nitetimes wrote:I have been trying to concoct a GOOD slide rail system

Oh! I meant to move it using your hands. Let the bottom engage in some sort of slot and then use a couple of clips at the top. Fancy sliding gear would be nice, but it's not KISS!

Andrew

angib wrote:

Nitetimes wrote:I have been trying to concoct a GOOD slide rail system

Oh! I meant to move it using your hands. Let the bottom engage in some sort of slot and then use a couple of clips at the top. Fancy sliding gear would be nice, but it's not KISS!

Andrew

Yep, I know, that's why it got ruled out on this one. What I really want it to do is slide down into it's own compartment out of site and harms way. But that is going to take some figuring, guess it will have to wait for the next one, if there is a next one. I plan to have a bumper so it should be a challenge to get it to work that way. It's all fun!!!
I never do anything simple, that would make it way too easy and take all the fun out of it. It keeps me amussed what can I say.

Thanks Dr. Dteve for the nice words.

Just got back from 4 days at a place with 5 small water falls (cinco churos) South of Veracruz. Nice time. but lots of mosquitos.

The pepple we went with did not have a TD and all they wanted to do was eat out. guess I need to stick to my "own kind".

kai