Ready to bite the bullet, I think

[mewton]

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking for a few months while I thought about building a teardrop camper and I want to thank everyone for all the great information on the forum. Any comments or suggestions are very welcome.

I was tempted to buy a trailer and have been tempted to buy the raindrop 560 but between the price tag and the fact that it isn't exactly what I would want makes me think I'm going to end up building from scratch.

The teardrop will have to sleep a family of four. My boys are young (one is two and the other only a few months) and I expect to camp alot with them before they graduate to a tent of their own and my wife and I get the teardrop to ourselves. Does anyone have experience with the raindrop (or similar teardrop setup) and sleeping four inside?

First off, the tow vehicle will be a 2010 Jetta sportswagen TDI with a westfalia european hitch. The car has a lot of torque and is rated to tow over 3000 lbs in europe but only 1000 in the US. I figure it's safe to split the difference and limit myself to 2000 lbs. Actually I'm hoping I can get my dry weight to ~1000 lbs and total packed tow weight under 1400 to 1500. Is this reasonable?

I'm not planning on tricking out my tear too much. I don't plan on having any heaters, air conditioners, water heaters or water tanks. Which is one question I do have, I really wonder how useful the little sinks I see in a lot of teardrops are. They look great and I'm sure the owners love them but the added complexity of water tanks, pumps, and greywater makes me think I'll stick with a couple plastic tubs and water cube with spigot.

I'm planning on a 68" X 10' trailer built over the wheels with bunk beds in front similar to the raindrop 560 for the boys. My brother has been trying to talk me into skinning the whole thing with fiberglass either over insulation or over a 1/8" ply skin. Myself I love the look of the woodies, but the maintenance required of a woody worries me. I really like the look of the aluminum skinned teardrops but fiberglass skin with a nice paint job to match the sportswagen would be really cool too. My brother claims a continuous fiberglass skin will add alot of strength to the torsion box of the teardrop for very little weight compared to an aluminum skin which seals the camper but adds no strength. Can anyone comment on that?

This is my first design, the galley is still being tweaked but I envision the cabin with bunk beds across the front with the top one detaching/rotating down to make a couch like the camp-inn raindrop.

[bobhenry]

I blew up your drawing to be better able to scale it. You left yourself about 3 feet between the cabinets and the bunk. In this 3 feet you need to tuck two kids in and get your head and legs tucked under all these protrusions.

What I have done is to play a bit , shrinking the little cubbies on the galley wall most likely for electronics . (Whether you know it or not you left yourself a wonderful electrical chase under the gallet cabinet) .Think of the boys bedroom as a 2 hole bird house. The light weight wall will help keep them in the bunk and prevent falls. I added a small cabinet in front onto which the bunk platforms hinges down to sleep. In the up position it provides more room for mom an dad when the boys are at grandmas. The front wall swings down from the ceiling and pins , latches or whatever to the bunk floor. You now have a bird house for the boys. This area in the down position will hold lot of camping goodies , clothes, extra bedding, dufflebags whatever when in route. When folded up the boys bedding and mattress will be self storing. It should be between the floor and the wall of the tear when in the upright position. Position the holes in the drop down wall in such a manner as to have your cabin lights protrude thru when the wall is stored in the up position.

P.S. welcome to the insanity Bob Henry

[bobhenry]

Was it something I said

[mewton]

Sorry Bob, no it was nothing you said. Thanks for your input, it made me realize I need to draw this out in more detail and scale everything. Maybe even mock it up in google sketchup or make a model. I'm just working long hours and maybe getting cold feet about the time investment in building my own as opposed to buying. I think I might just get a little utility trailer and tent camp this season while I think this through and maybe save a little money if I decide to buy. Maybe I'll give the folks at camp-inn a call and talk to them about their raindrop, maybe try to see one in person. The only thing about their construction that bugs me is the uninsulated walls and floor. That and I'd hoped to build a similar sized teardrop but make it a bit lighter. Funny thing is a week ago I came close to ordering my axle, but I decided to wait until my hitch was installed and double check all my figures so the deck height came out right.

Don't count me out yet! I'll either order a new teardrop or that axle in the next six months.

[BillandMarijo]

Mewton,
Cant tell you how many different plans I drew up before I took the plunge and decided on one. Hey take your time and enjoy the planning. It does consume your every thought as to how to make it better.
Have fun.
Bill and Marijo

[bobhenry]

Mewton this was my build receipts for Chubby.





He is almost exactly the same size as you are anticipating he is 5'7" wide by 10'6" long and about 5'4" tall .

It is a rough 1st build and still needs some lovin but we are having all the fun we can stand camping and working on it.

I had on hand the osb I framed the box with and a lot of the electrical supplies so the costs would have been a bit higher but worth every penny and every moment I have invested. There wer 2 build threads I followed closely Joanne's dessert dawg and DeeBees builds and I just had to build my own design. If my albuml pics would be any help start at the back and work forward I worked April to Sept weekends only in my driveway so it can be done anywhere. Of course we are all here to help ya over the speed bumps.

[mewton]

Well after tent camping with the boys this summer and agonizing over what to do about a teardrop I pulled the trigger and ordered a raindrop from camp-inn. If my boys were a little older so they could have helped out with a build the outcome probably would have been different but right now my free time with them is too valuable to go off to the garage for a year building a teardrop. In any case now I can concentrate on fixing up the house a little and tent camping until we pick up the trailer next March/April. Thanks everyone, this forum has been a super resource and I'll probably keep hanging out and maybe make it to a couple gatherings next year.
Cheers!