Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm building 5 x 10 x 4ft benroy of sorts working on design I looked a atleast a thousand different teardrop pictures online but never seen one in person, looking for input on where to start the galley hatch there will be a bunkhead installed 82" back from the front which I'm thinking the roof will be flat at that point, which installing the hinge on the flat part of the roof could be bad news or is that ok? also I see some teardrop where the galley hatch stops at counter height, is there a disadvantage to stopping there other then losing drawer space, I keep think it may be nice to have the hatch go all the way to the floor just to give you more roof over your head with the hatch open, I guess im looking for a rule of thumb about sizing the rear hatch the more I Iook at them I like a TC Teardrop profile but maybe bring the hatch all the way to the floor, any input would be great

I say bring it to the floor. My galley hinge point is about 5" in front of the upper bulkhead/ inside cabinet back wall.

My first build, so I really don't know if there is a rule of thumb.

From what I have observed it is the shorter TD's (generally 8 ft), where the bed extends under the galley counter a ways, that will tend to have the hatch end at the counter. Whatever small space remains at the rear is usually accessed from a hatch or cover built flat into the counter top. Many people will use this small space for items that only need to be accessed during camp set-up and breakdown because it is inconvenient to access with stuff on the counter.

Longer TD's (9 to 10 ft) have more useful space under the galley counter and tend to have full length hatches, exception being hatches with very acute rear radii that curl under and prevent a full length hatch.

On TPCE I based my profile on a 'Benroy meets canned ham' shape (high radius with bustle bump out toward the rear) to optimize galley volume and allow the counter to extend back nearly to the edge of the floor (no shin knockers). With the back of the hatch being more vertical, it made sense to have the hinge near the bulkhead so that there would still be rain coverage aft when the hatch was open (at my roof height a flat back hatch would not give enough head clearance when opened if the hinge was closer to the rear).

The arc of rotation of the hatch, overhang and head clearance are all effected by these things, including starting height of floor above ground (i.e. chassis ride height), the length of extension and mounting location of your struts or prop rods which affect the arc of rotation of the hatch (more or less degrees of opening), the shape and length of the hatch, the hinge location and where the lower edge of the hatch ends (...and maybe more things that I am not thinking of at the moment). Seems obvious, but the hatch has to open enough that you don't hit your head, but not so much that it is out of reach when it comes time to close it.

If you study an existing design that you like and emulate it you won't go far wrong. However, if you decide to forge a new path and create your own variation, it is a good idea to make a scale drawing or model to work out some of these details. This can be as simple as a pencil sketch on graph paper cut out like a paper doll or as complex as a full blown 3D CAD model. Many people like to make a full size luan or 1/4 inch ply template of their profile to use for planning and as a router template. This could also be helpful using scraps or cardboard to mock up how the hatch might work and to get a feel for overhang, lifted height, galley reach, etc.

Kudos to you for considering the details and planning these things out before taking the plunge.

I thought about this as well. I'm making a benroy so the curves are pretty limited. I'm planning on putting the hinge maybe a foot before the hatch curve begins. My thinking is that this will give me an extra foot of head clearance when the hatch is open (I'm six foot tall without my cowboy boots on).

As far as the hinge sitting on top of the roof, welp, I'm just going to have to trust it to do it's job keeping water out.

The only down side of doing this
That I can see is that any cabinets are pushed further back into the top of the cabin. Luckily I have long arms.

That's my plan.

Dalorin wrote:I thought about this as well. I'm making a benroy so the curves are pretty limited. I'm planning on putting the hinge maybe a foot before the hatch curve begins. My thinking is that this will give me an extra foot of head clearance when the hatch is open (I'm six foot tall without my cowboy boots on).

As far as the hinge sitting on top of the roof, welp, I'm just going to have to trust it to do it's job keeping water out. That won't be a problem as long as you give the hinge it's proper overhang on the sides.

The only down side of doing this
That I can see is that any cabinets are pushed further back into the top of the cabin. Luckily I have long arms.

That's my plan.

Here's a 4x8' I built for my sis. I tried to talk her out of the fore and aft bottom curves since she lost 8" with those. But she loves it this way it is, so what the heck?

I placed the hatch spar just behind the upper bulkhead and attached both the spar and the bulkhead to each other. They'll be no flexing of the hatch spar.





In the real deal, the rear bulkhead went all the way to the roof. I vetoed the 8" rear shelf she added, BTW.





The fact that Benroys don't have a rear profile that curves back in will help your headspace when your hatch is open.

I think the galley hatches that stop at counter level are because they are 8' long drops and there's limited storage between your toes and the rear of the 'drop. Here's my 5x10' galley. I think you're making a mistake if you stop your hatch at the counter.


Tony