Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

My "Crocodile Tear" is done -- 469 hours and $593 -- and license plates went on 10/26/06. Build began 1/6/06.

I've put together a 45-pix personal album showing construction. It's under "gyroguy - personal album" on this site.

The "Crocodile Tear" is 4' wide x 4' tall x 8'8" long (body only), overall length 10'8" w/tongue. It was designed by putting everything I wanted in a teardrop trailer on a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood, and designing from there.

I have not posted much on this forum before. It's for teardrop builders, and I had to build one before I had much to talk about.

My thanks to Mike S for encouragement, and to all of you who have posted the answers here before I thought of the questions!

Please take a look at the pix! You'll like the crocodile on the side...

I like nearly everything about it -- why did you hide the JD Green?

The JD green wasn't hidden on purpose... just moved the sheet metal down over it. That way I could fasten the sheet metal to the frame.

I've got a green tongue. Well, the Crocodile Tear has.

Very nice Gyro. You should have posted those all along. They are great build pictures.

The garden hose conduit idea is great!

Ever use bungee cords to keep boxes on a shelf?

I came up with a way to avoid having to put a screw-eye or cup hook into the woodwork. Problem with those is that they always STICK OUT!

I took a small cabinet hinge and drilled a 1/4" hole, centered, and towards the outer edge of the hinge instead of the edge with the hinge pin in it.

It screws flat into the woodwork with the hinge pin side up. When it's not in use, it's just a flat hinge on the wall.

But when you want to attach a bungee cord hook, you put the hook through the 1/4" hole, and that part of the hinge moves away from the wall.

Works great! A place to hook a bungee cord when you want it, which folds FLAT when you don't. Hopefully I've attached an an image of it!

Great job and awesome...very impressive.
Kris

Hi Y'all--

Had the first outing with the Crodocile Tear Dec. 27-30. Four days, 3 nights, including one day/night of thunderstorms and heavy rain. Here's the pros and cons of what I learned.

PROS

1. Nice to sleep in the trailer, like a big tent.

2. Inside grab bar on shelf nice when getting up.

3. Bungee cords kept plastic boxes in place on shelf during travel.

4. Propane stove worked well.

5. Aluminum counter top cleaned up well.

6. Small plastic box in closet holds wallet, keys, etc.

CONS

1. Roof vent leaked, filled up dome light, and dripped inside. Gotta fix!

2. Even with shoe holders, still need to put muddy shoes in plastic bags.

3. Hard to clean under propane stove when bolted down.

4. I put a regular twin mattress 7” high in the trailer… too high.

5. Need fenders in wet weather. (Just got different axle on, didn't have time to put fenders on.)

6. Right rain guard on galley hatch tucked in when hatch was open and buckled when it closed. Easily straightened, though.

ALL IN ALL

Sure glad I built it! The night of the storm, tents blew away, filled with water, and there was running mud on the hillsides. Crocodile Tear dripped a bit inside -- fixable -- and took the wind broadside without a flinch. DOZENS of times better than a tent in rainy weather!

Happy New Year and thanks for more good ideas. Sounds like you had a pretty successful trip all in all and that you will be able to easily solve the few minor problems that you had. Thanks again for sharing your ideas.
Kris

Thanks for the report. I am going to double check my vent. That seems to be where everyone leaks.

Glad you had a good time.