Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hello to all, I hope y'all are doing well. My name is Jerry, located in Baltimore Md, I have been a long time reader and I'having a great time reading your stories and watching your builds. I had the privilege of meeting Miss Becky "Oldragbaggers" and saw first hand, a beautiful lil rig. She was forthcoming with any info and tricks of the trade she could help me with. A true ambassador to the teardrop community.
The reason for this post is, does anyone have an opinion on the CNC machined teardrop kits? I located a kit on ebay, the seller has a really good feedback on his kits. The price of the kit is $400.00. That included walls, doors, hatch, and a few other extras. If anyone has any thoughts on this option, please feel free to pass on to me, what y'all think.

Thank You for reading
Jerry S.

Is there shipping on the kit or can you pick it up? Shipping can buy a lot of tools that you are going to need to finish the project anyway. Doug

Hey Doug, thanks for the reply. According to the ebay post, shipping is included. I have an issue with the whole, "looks to good to be true" kinda things in life . As I said, this fella has a very good feedback on his sales. When it comes to the tools, I have a fairly well put together garage. I've been around cars and trucks my whole life, even dabbled in some home repairs and custom basements. From what I see on here, I have nowhere near the acceptable amount of 3rd hands," Clamps" that I'll need. My question was basically, has anyone built one of these deals, or know anyone that has? Thanks again for getting back to me.
Jerry S.

While I could be incorrect, I think that a lot of the "kit" laser/CNC/water jet kits are relatively new, so referrals may be few. Most of us just use the tools we have and do it ourselves. There are lots of free patterns, or in my case, just draw it out and cut it. Spring clamps are pretty cheap (check Harbor Freight) I've gotten a load of them at Home Depot for a buck a piece too! they aren't "Pony" clamps, but they work just fine...and there is always cement blocks, tires anything heavy to weight the sides.

A big part of building a tear is getting creative and using whatever you have to accomplish your goal. Much can be accomplished with a little creativity. check out my clamps on the latest trailer sides and it ain't a tear! Wheels, lead bars, hunks of railroad iron and I have a load of Kevins Coleman irons (I've used them too, thanks Kevin) whatever does the job.; My stuff turns out pretty good and Ive been happy with the results ....Doug

Yeah, you're absolutely right. I need to stop second guessing myself . I just want my first build to be a great first go round. One thing I dislike is, redoing something. I am interested in the Benroy style, one of the lady teardroppers here showed me her lil rig.. it was a work of art. Like her I will be using a 24 degree radius on the front with traditional Benroy in the rear. Miss Betty explained that it gave a softer contour to the profile. To "kiss" I'm going to do a solid wall instead of cut out insulation, might insulate the roof... not sure yet. Then the entire thing is gonna be fiber glassed, top to bottom. Thanks for the reality check, I tend to veer off track now n then.
Jerry S.

Sounds like you got it figured out. Whether or not you need to have insulated walls kinda depends on how you camp. I'm in No. Cal, but have camped down into the teens and been fine with an insulated ceiling only. Thing is...don't over think it....It's just a tear. You can only cram so much luxury into, at the outside, a 5 x 11 tear profile. If you can't fit it into that footprint, then maybe you need something else. I have a tear, but then I also have a couple of standies. They're both good, just depends on your needs and wants, how you camp, temps you camp in.

Like I mentioned...don't over think it...you can get caught up with details that don't matter and end up with nothing. I hate to tell you this...but typically, the first build doesn't have absolutely everything just right from the get go, there are always going to be some modifications that you want. Many of the things won't be discovered until you use it for a bit. Others may disagree with me on that, but this is my opinion. Doug

I will probably step on a few toes with this statement but A Benroy is a large slab of plywood with two round corners. I drove 60 miles to my buddy Billy's home to help him get started with his build and in 3 hours we had walls completed and spars cut and the manafactured door openings cut in. The walls were standing when I left. It has turned out to be a most beautiful trailer and very user friendly with a well appointed galley. He just needed a little nudge to get rolling. Rounding the corners is as simple as finding the right size round item to trace. A round serving tray or a plastic bucket or a simple beam compass made with a small sliver of wood and a finish nail and a hole drilled on the opposite end for a pencil. Save your $$$ and just get out the jig saw and a new sharp blade and GO FOR IT!

Mr. Bob Henry, what you said makes a lot of sence. I had a moment of doubt, and well.. I'm past it. I figure, if I can redo a home interior, I "should" be able to get this one. Thanks for the advice and input.
Jerry S.

+1 on what Bob said!

Yup to the Ben Roy. I built ours 4 years ago and love the look. I am restoring a Scotty right now and it is much more satisfying knowing I built the tear from scratch than doing the rebuild.. building it yourself allows you to modify as you go. I took a design I found and liked and made it, in my opinion, better.

Thanks for the nice compliment on my tear, Jerry. I don't know about work of art, but I have enjoyed building it, and I know we will enjoy camping in it.

As far as the kit goes.....2 pieces of ply for the walls should cost you $100 at the outside (and I think that's on the high end depending on what you use, but I am thinking of a nice oak faced if you're going woody) + the dimensional lumber for the spars and you're not going to be anywhere near $400, plus you don't have to wait to receive it...you could start building tomorrow, AND you are in control of your profile, no one else. Actually my front radius is 24", but you can play with it until you have something that is pleasing to your own eyes.

Seriously, cutting the walls is really one of the easiest parts of the whole build. If you're nervous about the walls, do what I did, go get yourself a $10 sheet of luan underlayment and play with drawing your profile until you get something you're happy with, cut it out, stand it up, see if you like it, adjust it till you do, then use it as a pattern to cut your wall. This was my first attempt at a wall profile, and after I looked at it standing up I decided to change it up a bit. I was happy I had cut it into a cheap piece of luan instead of into my birch plywood. It was after looking at this that I decided to change the front radius and the door. (It's just clamped to the frame so I could see what it would look like.)



Like Doug says, don't overthink it too much. And don't think about the entirety of the project at once. Take each part in its turn. Get your trailer together, figure out what you want your length and width to be then concentrate on your floor. Insulate or not, what kind of waterproofing, etc. After that's on start playing with the profile. With each piece you finish, and the more it starts to look like a teardrop, the more confident you will feel to continue.

Don't underestimate yourself. You've got this!!!

Hey Jerry,

My name is Alex and I'm one of the co-founders of "The Teardroppers" (The kit that you saw on eBay).

I read over this thread and I'd just like to say/point out a few things.

1st off, our kit is not for everyone, it's designed to take a lot of headache out of certain parts of the build. The sidewalls have indents pre-cut into them for spars, a roof channel, your dividing walls/kitchen counter, etc. while still leaving a lot of room for customization with cabinets, shelves, design, etc.

But, as I said, it is a "Kit" and many people love to start from scratch, trust me, I am one of those people. My first teardrop, I built from scratch and hence why I got into this business to save time, and the trouble of "redoing" as you put it, for other people. Teardropping is definitely a DIY community and you have to go with what fits your needs and wants best.

When it comes to our kits you can check out the "For Sale" post we made in that section of TNTTT, or our website has all the info you could want on them http://www.theteardroppers.com

In terms of doubt about the cost of our kits. We use pre-finished White Birch sheets of plywood which add up to more than $100 for two sidewalls. They are also cut to a profile, door cutout, and include all the indents and channels. In addition, the hatch kit is made of imported Baltic Birch (truly some of the best and strongest wood around for a hatch) and that wood is definitely not cheap at all, trust me. With those sidewalls, all the CnC work done on them, and the hatch being essentially an extremely quick assembly, you get a Lot of bang for your buck. Am I biassed towards my own company...of course, but I already said that the kit has to be For You.

With all of those things considered plus what it costs to package and ship 130 lbs of plywood in a 4x8ftx3" box...trust me, we keep our profit margins low so your costs are low as well. And a nice guide is included to help guide you through the process, its' not amazing but definitely a bonus.

Whether you choose our kit or not, myself and this whole community are here to help. The Teardrop community always helps one another out.

Hello, Alex.. The kit sounds like it takes care of a few major situations, the build I am thinking of is 5x10. Even if I purchased it, I would then have to figure out how to stretch it. My wood extender quit working.. lol. Thanks for the reply and who knows, depending on the outcome, I have a few people interested in a trailer of their own. The 4x8 would be perfect. Maybe I will be purchasing a couple kits in the future.

Thank you
Jerry S.

Stay safe, and keep em tween the lines.