Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Im looking to make a fold out kitchen/storage area in the back of my jeep. I will be removing the back seat. Id like to use it for tailgating and thought you all might have some suggestions. It would have to be removable, light, and lockable. I have built three tears over the past 6 years and sold them all. The reason i can use the tear in the tailgating parking lot is because they raised the price to $100!!!!! to park in the tailgating lot. I thought of this site right away. I know you are some of the most creative people ive seen and would really appreciate your input
-Lightweight
-removable
-Fit in the back of a jeep
-lockable
-Storage for a cooler
-grill storage
-fresh water storage
-water proof
-I was also think of some sort of battery hook up so i could run a stereo off it without worrying bout the jeep battery dying
-Some sort of flood light
-suggestions on types of wood (for bracing? )
-Do i just water proof it or use some sort of epoxy/fiberglass?
-how to secure it to the jeep when its slid in
I know its a stretch for all of this but i wanna get 15lbs of stuff into a 1o lb space
Please help!
Baseball tailgating is in full swing and before you know it the eagles will be kicking off!!!
Bob

Try a Google search for "scout patrol kitchen box". They go by different names, so just follow where Google leads. You'll get some good ideas.
If light-weight is really high on your list of priorities, you might want to lose the battery.
Good luck!

Also google "4WD STORAGE DRAWS" You'll find most of the links are Australian as this is a fairly common setup down here. It's mostly for storage and fridge transport though, do you plan on cooking from the back of the Jeep? Anyway, these should give you a few ideas, some include water tanks but they are typically mounted under the 4WD, the ones that have it in the back use a bladder system.

Also google "Work Light" for the flood light setup, again very common down here and it is usually mounted to the spare tyre carrier.

Couple of manufacturers are:-

Tanamai
Black Widow
4WDSystems
4WDInteriors
4WDStorageSystems

Cheers
Steve

Try this: www.drifta.com.au I built a D200/D300. I adjusted the measurements to fit my stove. I love it.

http://www.drifta.com.au

Lorn

Very cool, i have a notebook thats filling up really quick with ideas, keep em coming, What would you guys suggest i build out of? should i build a standard frame or just screw plywood into plywood with a few supports in the middle? I need some sort of direction as i have no idea where to start
thansk guys
bob

I'm kind of handicapped, because I don't own a jeep, and I can't really visualize how much space you're dealing with. If you've already built 3 teardrops, you probably have a pretty good idea of the strength/weight tradeoffs of various materials and construction techniques that you have to make. The first questions I would ask is if it will be loaded and unloaded with the gear in it, or empty?

I used 3/4" pine x 2" wide. Built a frame for each side then glued and stapled luann to the inside. This made it lightweight and cheap to build.

If they are charging for an 'additional' vehicle due to the 'trailer', then an option could be the uni-trailer where rather connected to your toter vehicle with a single ball, it's actually attached to 2 places along the rear frame. It'll be an extension of the Jeep and not a separate 'vehicle'. Since it's attached and won't pivot, use a uni-tire underneath in the center. It's sort of a box hanging off the backside with a caster wheel underneath to support the extra weight.

Drew up a 4x4x4 box with a step down door.
Plan the step down to rest on an inverted ball mount without the ball and bolt thru the bottom of the step down and thru the ball mount to prevent the patrol box from walking. Adjust the dimensions to fit snuggly in your cargo area. The step down is to get your workshelf to a 35 - 36" work height. The 12" deep doors fit into the outer shell of the box. If the back wall of the box was also shelved you could gravity feed your water by placing it high on the back wall.
The 24"x24"x18" tall junk box could contain a smokey joe jr grill or small white gas stove charcoal and starter and all the other camping hardware. You can pull it out and use it for the grill stand or a seat. If the junk box height was designed to match the step down I could support the patrol box when out of the vehicle as a base. Electrics could be as simple or as elaborate as you could make them. Don't forget your fuse and disconnect switch.

Here's a thought.use a reciever type hitch,with a cargo carrier platform.Then you can build a chuck box/patrol box mounted to the frame of the cargo carrier.It could have levelers on the corners to make it freestanding and you could build up to the height of the jeep without wind drag or trail interference.The only drawback I see is 'departure angle".