Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'd definitely buy from the same manufacturer again. His quality and attention to detail along with the kind of brain that understands the physics of where to place what for strength and safety are all reasons I'd be a repeat customer. The hard part is convincing him to take on another bigger project. I LOVE my tiny trailer but would also like to have a standy version of it. Something that looks exactly the same from the outside but with a 6'x10' footprint instead of the 4'x6' of The Glampette. Twisting his arm but not too hard, I need it to work if I get him to say yes so he can start that other build

cherokeegeorge wrote:I have had my camp inn 9 years. And would buy from them again. The quality is excellent. I've had no major problem just a few small upkeep type stuff.

Ah, small upkeep...like what can be expected for normal maintenance etc on these TDs.

Stacie Tamaki wrote:I'd definitely buy from the same manufacturer again.

Mrs. Law Dawg (ret) insists that we must be able to go and see the units and facilities before deciding. That puts a crimp in the choices but is wise IMO. I figure the Left Coast as far as Oregon is doable.

Love my TCteardrop, and yes----I would buy another. Have hauled it all over Wisconsin the last two years, and haven't had any problems with it. While it's not as fancy or higher end as the Camp Inn (oh how I love the interiors and layout of those), it gets the job done I need it to do. And it was more economically priced for me. Being a more "basic" model, I haven't been afraid to make changes, (such as rearrange the galley shelving or drill holes in it for assorted hangers/hardware). The Camp Inns I've looked at were so nice, I'd be almost afraid to get them dirty! The owners of TCteardrop are very easy to work with, are willing to change or add things to your liking, and from what I've heard from other TCT owners, provide excellent customer service should a problem arise. I'm a happy camper.

yes,,,,,,, Little Guy 2009
But I plan on running this one til I can no longer crawl out of it.

We've only had our Little Guy Silver Shadow 5x10 for 3 months, but so far so good. No issues. The whole family loves it. Any pre-buy questions I had sent to Little Guy were promptly replied to by the president of LG himself. (my local dealer was not too knowledgable). We'll be definitely keeping our trailer for quite awhile before we upgrade, and then it will be a T@B by LG, or we'll go all out and get an Airstream.

Yes, Little Guy 2011 5x10 Silver Shadow. I have put over 13,000 miles on it since April 2013 (yes, that was just last year). I love it!!

Thanks y'all, much to process. The overall compelling question now is maintenance. We have known many trailer owners and the one thing that always caused us to scratch our heads is "Does the owning of these units justify all the repair and maintenance?"...seems they were always fixing something. Judy and I are hoping to be able to focus on getting in the back country a whole lot more than doing repairs/maintenance...really hoping for as close to zero as possible. I'd say that we are drawn to the Nestegg for its durability and waterproof qualities plus built in water storage. We dry camp a bunch and, while not exactly rock crawling, do take the odd dirt road. Second would be the Camp Inn TDs just for quality and old school style attraction.

So to the point; what type of maintenance/repairs do you find yourself doing to your unit? Would you store it, tarp covered, outside or should it always be kept in the garage? If you were able to have absolute design czar status (assuming an ability to plan it right), what would you have or not have built in to your TD for durability and low maintenance?

Stored in a garage, redo the wheel bearings every year wash now and again. Inspect every spring for leaks. Frame really needs to be repainted sooner than later. Maintenance is pretty easy on mine.
Mine has been down some pretty rugged roads, long as the Beetle goes over so does the tear. And since the Beetle has 4 tires I figure 4 wheel drive roads are worth a cautious look.
As you can see I also use it in the winter.

Check out Treeline Teardrops in Petaluma, CA.
We love "the Carmelita" we bought in January.
Their off-road models are incredible and Tom is a master builder.

2012 Little Guy Silver Shadow. I would buy it again but had some smaller things that I had/have to fix: the plumbing leaks (used once never again since then), the gaskets around the door and stargazer window shrink and have to be replaced (a gap is there), and it starts to rust on the tongue. Otherwise about 12k miles on it, and no other problems. And the fiberglass (?) fenders start to discolor because of the sun - I will paint them at some point in time.

One warning though - material seems to be pretty soft and I have small dents on the side where the side tent is, and the veneer is also thin. Be careful with that.

Bit overall I am happy and would buy it again. I still love the birch interior and the overall layout. Since the electric box was relocated in the current model years you even have more space in the galley.