Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

My wife and I are picking up our new Little guy this weekend and we are totally new to tear drops. We currently tent camp and have owned a travel trailer in the past. We are getting the 6 wide with a/c, FanTastic vent, 110/12 volt package, bike receiver, etc. It is the platform model. Any customization ideas from people who have been there done that would be awesome. (pics would rock to.) I just started exploring this site a couple of days ago and it is great. You guys definitely have some awesome tear drops! Thanks!

Congrats!!

At first I thought your subject line said "9-wide." Dang, I thought, a wide-load!

Everything I've done to my '08 6-wide is in a thread I started and add to on occasion.

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=23387

Here are a few pics from our long weekend that we just returned from today. Never felt better about my teardrop than at 3:00a Sunday morning when a thunderstorm deluge hit.

Welcome aboard the T&TTT! More pics, the better -- as you will hear.

I guess if you had a 9 wide you would need pilot vehicles. That would definitely turn some heads! We are actually driving to North Canton, Ohio to pick up our teardrop this weekend from Little Guy. (We are dealing with Chris.) Its about 1700 miles roundtrip but we plan on camping in the td a couple of nights on the way home. I have been looking at your additions and mods and they are great. Not that you have ever heard this before but the color of you td is awesome and looks great with your Element. I may have to steal that idea for ours. We have a Nissan Xterra that is knight armor gray and I think the tear painted the same color would go great. Anyway thanks for the info and I will get some pics posted as soon as we get some.

dobbur23 wrote:Not that you have ever heard this before but the color of you td is awesome and looks great with your Element. I may have to steal that idea for ours. We have a Nissan Xterra that is knight armor gray and I think the tear painted the same color would go great. Anyway thanks for the info and I will get some pics posted as soon as we get some.

It has been fun having the teardrop match the E but I must caution that it's a lot of work to keep up the teardrop paint job.

And you have to worry about paint chips. So you might consider just having the graphics match your paint.

Little Guy can get custom color graphics. They asked me last year for my Element's paint code because some customer wanted that color for their graphics.

Chris Baum is terrific -- please tell him I said hello!

My husband picked my Silver Shadow up in May. Chris, Scott and Joe were all incredible to work with. Thrilled for you!

I could totally see that kind of paint job being alot of touch up work with all the rocks and such the tow vehicle would throw up. We are not sure yet what we will do with the exterior but I am sure we will figure something out. No rush though we just want to get it and start using it. I will definitely relay the message to Chris. I have really enjoyed dealing with him thus far and look forward to meeting him when we pick up our camper in 2 DAYS!

Thanks alot Dagny and congratulations to you on your new Shadow. I really like the Shadow to but we needed the 6 wide being that we have a great dane, chihuahua,and Parson's Russell terrier (our children) that will be tagging along. I really like the galleys on the Shadows and the interior. We look forward to customizing ours.

Oh and hiker chick that is a beautiful dog you have there to!

dobbur23 wrote:Oh and hiker chick that is a beautiful dog you have there to!

Thank you!

I'd like to see a pic of your canine crew in the teardrop!

You can count on that! They tend to dominate most of our photos when they are with us.

We are heading out to pick up our Little Guy today and I can't wait. Think we are gonna camp in Kentucky one night and Tennessee one night on the way home. Looks like the weather is gonna be great.

Best of luck to you. Am looking forward to your photos and trip account.

Double-check the tire pressure and lug nuts before you leave Little Guy.

And make sure you have the ability to change a tire (appropriate lug nut wrench and suitable jack).

Have you towed a trailer that far before?

I had never towed anything so was (and am) careful to avoid needless complication due to something so simple as tire inflation.

My Little Guy was the first thing I'd ever towed, as evidenced by my initial failure to even use a coupler lock (the paint shop noted the omission).

Another camper advised me to start taking the jack wheel off when towing.

I just did not have a clue about any aspect of towing except tow chains.

But you probably know all this. I didn't.

I will definnitely check everything out before we depart especially with a 800 mile drive home. (Thanks for the heads up!) I have pulled all kinds of different trailers but I guess the farthest I ever pulled one was our 18ft travel trailer about 200 miles. Needless to say I expect the Little Guy to be awesome to pull compared to a 2 ton + travel trailer! Never taken the jack wheel of anything when towing but I will keep that in my mind depending on the clearance. I am also a religous user of a coupler lock. I have seen to many trailers bounce of a ball when they hit a bump or pothole! My wife is in the same boat as you where though because she has never pulled anything. I am going to try to get her to pull it some so she can get use it. Wish me luck on that.


How far have you pulled your little guy? Any cross country trips yet?

dobbur23 wrote:How far have you pulled your little guy? Any cross country trips yet?

Sadly, no cross country trip yet.

The furthest I've pulled it is 280 miles, roundtrip. I keep it in storage near where we usually camp so mileage-wise, it's a little-used teardrop.

Camping-wise.... it's up to around 70 nights.

My 4-cylinder Honda Element pulls it amazingly easily. Have to remind myself it's back there on Skyline Drive, lest I cut a corner....

Definitely love the way it pulls and how easy it is to manuever when it is unhitched.

70 nights camping a year is AWESOME! Due to my job I doubt we will rack up that many nights but I definitely plan on camping alot more than usual due to the convenience of the tear. We camped in it twice already and loved it.

My wife and I are considering the Little Guy 6-wide. How is it with dogs? We have a Great Pyrnese/Bernese Mix and two Queensland Heelers that we would be bringing with us while camping. Our two heelers usually sleep on the bed with us while our Pyrnese stays at the foot since he is really big. We are planning to take extended/long duration trips. Would it be too uncomfortable with 3 dogs?


-Kevin

CaptEditor wrote:My wife and I are considering the Little Guy 6-wide. How is it with dogs? We have a Great Pyrnese/Bernese Mix and two Queensland Heelers that we would be bringing with us while camping. Our two heelers usually sleep on the bed with us while our Pyrnese stays at the foot since he is really big. We are planning to take extended/long duration trips. Would it be too uncomfortable with 3 dogs?


-Kevin

Kevin,

I have a Samoyed and a 6-wide.

Depending on how tall you and your wife are, if you get the 6-wide without cabinetry it might be doable. I think it might be doable only because you are accustomed to the pups being on the bed.

I don't see how you all fit if you get a 6-wide with the cabinets inside.

Please check my gallery, starting at the oldest pics. I got my 6-wide without cabinets, carpet or anything else on the inside. Really opens it up.

You also save a lot of weight because those cabinets are that IKEA-like MDF stuff.

So perhaps at night you can store in your car whatever gear you haul in the teardrop. And you and the pups can then maximize the interior space for sleeping comfort.

Good luck!