Heya from a new guy

[ReggieBell]

My name is Reggie Bell, and I live in Madison, Alabama. Yes I have all of my teeth, I wear shoes, and no I don't ride a horse to work. I work as a geek at The Heart Center in Huntsville. But enough about me..

Well, I spent WAY too much time trolling this site yesterday trying to get an idea for my first build. This site is like crack. I just can't leave it alone.

I was a carpenter in a past life so the woodwork won't be a problem, but I am a little intimidated by the electrical and plumbing side of the build. All the diagrams and photos of the builds have helped a TON.

My wife is 100% behind this project and has wanted me to do this since we saw the special on Discovery. She does have a few requirements though.

1. She wants to be able to pull it behind her Chevy Equinox. I did insist that she add the towing package to the vehicle when she bought it. It has a maximum tow capacity of 3500lbs.

2. She wants seating in the tt as well as a bed for our son. I sketched out a few things and I think this can be pulled off by having his twin bed convert into a table and our bed convert into a sofa. I have seen either or in some of the forum photos, but not both together.

3. She has to have a galley (sp?) kitchen. She doesn't think its a teardrop unless it has one. She also doesn't like cooking smells in the cabin of the camper.

4. Hidden storage for our tent. The only problem with this is the length of the aluminum poles and the weight of the canvas. It will add about 200lbs to the trailer and some of the poles are over 7' long. This is a 12X14 canvas tent from Davis Tent company. It's a monster.

So.. I guess I am also looking for the "holy grail" of campers. Small, efficient, and loaded with features in a 5 x 10 shell that can be pulled with a V6 car. Any suggestions will be well received.

Regards,

Reggie
Newblet in design mode

[Jst83]

Welcome Reggie, As you've found you will find the answers to most problems on here in one way or another. I have a 6'6" x 11'2" Tear
that's a monster and I pulled it 800+ miles to Minden in June with a v-6 Tauras. You should have no problem with that kind of a tow package.

Lots of planning and you'll get just what you want.
Why the big tent if you have the tear?

[ReggieBell]

Well, the tent may be a thing of the past once the tear is built. We had been long time tent campers until I decided to buy a pop up camper. That became more of a pita than tent camping in the rain. So, I upgraded to a 28' monster trailer. This was ok for a while, but my wife complained that it didn't feel like "camping". She is not an RV'er. So.. I did some research on canvas tents and found the one that we have now.

To make a long story short, I think its a crutch that she will hopefully be happy to give up once she takes a few trips in the tear. To me it seems like a perfect hybrid between tent camping and RV'ing.

[tonyj]

Welcome to TearCrack Heaven.

You shouldn't have any problem with a 5X10, especially if you work to build light. The electrical and plumbing won't be as intimidating as you think, and you will be building new skills as you tackle it.

Spend lots more time looking round the site. Lots of great information available here.

Say good-bye to your old life, and enter the new tear addicted frontier.

By the way--take lots of pictures!

[vipercairo]

Welcome Reggie... you have found the right place for plenty of advice and innovation to build your tear. These people are simply GREAT! I'm doing mine on a 5' X 11' monster frame and I think it will have plenty of room for anything I want to put in it. I only wish I had a prior life with some wood working included in it, but I've been in the airplane business since I was 18 (wiring and plumbing I can do).

We love pictures: some even tell you they are the only requirement; they do build one hellova a databse... Hope you get 'er done quickly so we can meet up with you at one of the tear social gatherings that pop up all over the country... You won't ever mingle with a better group of campers!

Carl

[Miriam C.]

To the playground Reggie. I am still waiting to camp in my Td but I can tell you we gave up the tent a long time ago... too old...

You shouldn't have a bit of trouble find what you need here just remember to donate to the picture fund...Keeps the bubble oil level..

[goldcoop]

2. She wants seating in the tt as well as a bed for our son. I sketched out a few things and I think this can be pulled off by having his twin bed convert into a table and our bed convert into a sofa. I have seen either or in some of the forum photos, but not both together.

Reggie-

I have both in mine.

A small 2' wide dinette with table in the front that converts into a bed for our daughter AND a 4' wide convertable sofa/bed in the rear for my wife & I.

The two are separated by a 2' wide aisle with doors at either side.

OH it's 6'+ wide and sleeping side to side NOT front to back.

Total length is 10' (2' front dinette/bed + 2' aisle + 4' sofa/bed + 2' galley in the back).

Check out my album pics...

Cheers,

Coop

[Ira]

Maybe you can store the tent on the underside of the frame--some brackets bolted to the frame, and some securing tethers.