Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

What's the one thing you wished you knew before buying your first teardrop camping trailer?

I talked with a lot of teardroppers and compiled a bunch of great quotes on this topic. Worth a read, some are pretty funny.
https://teardropgo.com/whats-the-one-th ... g-trailer/

What's the one thing you wished you knew before buying your first teardrop camping trailer?

How many miles are in 12" --as in the difference between a 4' and 5' wide cabin.



Tony

tony.latham wrote:How many miles are in 12" --as in the difference between a 4' and 5' wide cabin.

X2. I'd still have my first teardrop if it weren't 4' wide.

Bruc

I learked on here for a couple years and gleaned all the knowledge I could. Mine ended up being an ultralight 5 wide with 12v only with a large fan. Wouldn't have it any other way.

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when choosing a teardrop trailer builder, make sure they are located within a 'comfortable' driving distance (too/from) for when that "problem" crops up. When there ends up being the need for returning (road time traveling too/from) for a warranty repair issue. Case in point - went 350 miles one way - ordered the first teardrop build and after picking it up ending up having a 'on going' water floor leak problem. A 700 mile 'round trip' towing a trailer can just get a bit too $$costly/time consuming$$ in repair time = especially if it also means leaving it for a few days !!! #2 'teardrop' trailer of today was purchased from a builder 100 miles down the road and after 2 years = "never" have had a problem to this day..... go figure...........

Wouldn't have it any other way.

Friz:

I'm still rankled that you have a bottle opener on your frame and I don't. This malarkey must stop.

Tony

p.s. Newsbreak: I just bought one that I think will fit on my 2" frame.

Beer and camping.

tony.latham wrote:

Wouldn't have it any other way.

Friz:

I'm still rankled that you have a bottle opener on your frame and I don't. This malarkey must stop.

Tony

p.s. Newsbreak: I just bought one that I think will fit on my 2" frame.

Beer and camping.

Ha! The bottle opener came from chasing down my unattached bottle opener at a music festival multiple times. Now, everyone is welcome to use it, and I don't have to worry about how far it has wondered away. The real beauty of these things is that we can customize them to meet our needs exactly. They really become part of our lives.
An interesting note. My community is starting to enforce a rule that your camper can't be parked in front of your house for more then 2 days at a time. Some people are complaining that it takes more then two days to clean them up and put them away. Can you imagine! More then two days to clean up after camping! I wash it in the drive with my car, pull the sheets to wash and unload/drain the cooler. Its usually tucked into the back of the garage and plugged in, the same night I get home.

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Its usually tucked into the back of the garage and plugged in, the same night I get home.

I'm usually taking a nap two hours after we're back.

Tony

This is an old thread -- but I've got cabin fever and can't think of anything better to do that to start an old conversation.

The origioanl question was "What one thing you wish you knew BEFORE buying a teardrop?" Important question to be sure, but the followup is probably more impactful.

"What is one thing you wished you knew before upgrading from a teardrop?"

Upgrading? Perhaps an interesting choice of words. I owned a campinn --- some wuold consider it a botique brand. But considering the prices of all of the teardrops avaialble on the market today it would be hard to convince me that a manufacturer who puts out quality is all that expensvie. I see 2012's that look brand new and have no mechanical problems --- no dry rot, or failing water systems. But, I don't think justification for a percevied high price is what this thread is about.

Before you "upgrade" know why you're upgrading, and what the tradeoffs are. I went from my CampInn to a grand design bunk house because I thought I needed more room for stuff. I could theoretically spend weeks out instead of days, or months intead of weeks. What I really found is more of an excuse to go - but not get outside. We quickly became "those people" who pulled in, setup, closed up, and watched TV inside.

The quality of build on the light towable market is suspect at best. My weekends became filled with worrying if my slide was going to retract, or wondering if the roof was really sealed properly or walking aroudn with a collection of lubricants and self-leveling caulk. Maintenance became a routine chore. All to sit inside and watch TV.

With the Teardrop, it sat poised for its next adventure....ready to go on a moments notice. Fill the water tank, throw the fridge/cooler in the galley, and we're off. Planning was never a major issue because every gas station is accessible, the smallest camp site is just fine. WIth a larger rig, gas stops become challenging especially in small towns with low clearances and small parking lots. Gas-Tanks below 1/4 really start to make you wonder if you'll get there OK.

Stopping in some small town to visit this quirky looking antique shop - parking often requires long walks some times, long walks. It becomes hard to slow down and smell the roses. Soon you won't. You'l just take the fast way, and travel becomes a chore.

Bigger isn't better...its just bigger. Its more to maintain, its harder to move, it costs more to use. Some one told me the same thing when I was looking at my 30 foot plus monster. I didn't listen. In the end --- the day I sold my teardrop was the saddest day of my life, and I regretted it before the ink was dry on the title.

If you must upgrade be sure you know why, and you know the tradeoffs. Rose color glasses are really easy to find when you're looking at a shiny excitgment of a new rig. Be careful you don't get swept away with emotion -- its really easy to do --- and it will cost you fare more than you think

I went from a tear drop, to a 13 ft scamp, to another 16ft scamp, to a tear drop, to an all aluminum Camplite 14DBS with a dry bath, slide, and dual axle. The issue with that is I needed an F150 to pull it and then the mileage was poor. I also need to store it in the winter and in the summer it sat in the driveway getting UV pelted. We sold both the truck and 14DBS in June 2021 and by July we had a 2013 Camp Inn Ultra 550. I park it sideways, in front of our car in the garage,can tow it with our Subaru Outback and we still get 25mpg.

So Gerry you are correct. Come on back to the Camp Inn crowd ....

Campdude wrote:I went from a tear drop, to a 13 ft scamp, to another 16ft scamp, to a tear drop, to an all aluminum Camplite 14DBS with a dry bath, slide, and dual axle. The issue with that is I needed an F150 to pull it and then the mileage was poor. I also need to store it in the winter and in the summer it sat in the driveway getting UV pelted. We sold both the truck and 14DBS in June 2021 and by July we had a 2013 Camp Inn Ultra 550. I park it sideways, in front of our car in the garage,can tow it with our Subaru Outback and we still get 25mpg.

So Gerry you are correct. Come on back to the Camp Inn crowd ....

CampDude,

Oh, Gerry did actually come on back to the Camp-Inn crowd. Gerry is Sweeney from the Camp-Inn forum.

Cary

I started on the smaller end of teardrops. Every once in a while I think about going bigger, then I do the math and see what the trade offs are.

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