Howdy from Frisco, Texas - Time to de-lurk.

[Moon]

Howdy y'all.

I still remember the day I saw my first teardrop trailer. My wife and I had just returned from a 4 or 5 day tent camping experience during which it rained about 10". We slogged our gear and two kids to three different campsites trying to escape the flood. After finally washing the mud out of all my cracks, I sat down to see about alternate camping methods. We brainstormed better ways to camp and my wife mentioned that she'd consider a popup trailer or other tow-able camp dwelling. RVs were out from the start, although that didn't stop me from looking at a few motor homes online just for kicks. Whatever we buy or build will have to fit in my half of the two car garage or tow behind a light vehicle. That's the deal we made. At some time during the search, I found mention of a teardrop trailer, did a quick Google image search, and knew immediately that I had fallen down the rabbit hole.

The Trailer for Two was the first one I saw followed quickly by all the old standards ( Kit, Benroy, etc.) , new standards (Cubby), and manufactured (Camp-Inn, Little Guy). I fell in love with the retro styling, the DIY possibility, and the romantic stories of how these little trailers were born of economy, car culture, travel-lust, and love of outdoors.

Since about this time last year, I've been reading the forum often, gathering and studying plans, saving my lunch money, planning, gathering tools, ordering parts, and otherwise being unnaturally obsessed with all things related to tiny travel trailers. I'm currently building a Cubby-like 5x8 teardrop in my suburban garage that I've given the codename of Curiosity. The Northern Tool trailer frame arrived on about the same day that the NASA rover Curiosity landed on Mars and I thought it a fitting tribute. I'll never get to visit space but I can still explore roads, woods, rivers, parks, and trails.



I'm a pretty good fix-it guy but I don't have much wood or metalworking experience. To hone my skills, I took a break from obsessing on trailers mid-year to learn a little woodworking and make a toybox for one of my helpers, age 5. This took us about 4 months. At that pace, the trailer ought to be done around 2017.



I'm grateful to those of you that came before and shared freely. I wouldn't have had the confidence to even start the build without your contributions to this forum and other teardrop communities.

Moon
aka Chad Hayes
Frisco, TX

[M C Toyer]

Welcome aboard.

M C
Pilot Point

[Woodbutcher]

Welcome Chad! You will have no trouble building a trailer. That is a beautiful toy box you made. Talk to your son and see if he wants to donate it to the project. You would already have a tongue box. That could cut the completion date back to 2016. If you need help, just ask. We all did at one point. Have fun making sawdust and don't forget the pictures.

[aggie79]

Welcome Chad! If you haven't already check out the South Central section. I believe Caseydog and Planovet live in your neck of the woods. Try to join us at the Beavers Bend outing in March. Bring a tent if you don't have your teardrop done.

[jss06]

Welcome,

I live just down the road from you in North Carrollton. I built mine for many of the same reasons you listed. I look forward to seeing your build.

[Vedette]

Welcome to the Forum Chad
See not only are you going to get a lot of advice here on the Forum, but you already have some new friends!
As a member you can also view the members albums (under their avatar) and get in on some gatherings..
Good Luck with your build.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[Moon]

Thank you for the warm welcome. I look forward to starting a build journal, attending a gathering as soon as possible, and returning a little something to the community as thanks for what it has given me.

[Junkboy999]

That is great!

Dad is goofing off taking picture and his son is assembling the frame. Ha hahahah


Make sure your son gets a hand in the building process safely. Even if it is just little stuff, he will remember
it and the camping for life. Camping with my family in an old used canvas sided fold out camper are still my
favorite memories.

[Moon]

He's pretty handy. He had a good set of hand tools by the time he was 2. At 3 he was replacing batteries in his own toys.

His idea of building is still a little different than mine though. While I've been working on the trailer, he's taken a length of 2x4, pounded about 200 roofing nails into it, turned it over, and used a wood chisel to break it into several dozen pieces.

He does offer design suggestions too. Since we're building the floor, he wants to make sure I cut a hole in it so he doesn't have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. I'm still trying to decide if that's just good design sense or an opportunity for him to say "pee hole" as many times as he can.

[Oldragbaggers]

Hello Chad, and welcome to the forum. I really enjoyed your introduction. I hope you find building a teardrop to be the wonderful experience it has been for me. Not that it has been totally free of frustration (would that even be normal???) but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Beautiful toy box! You'll have no problems with the teardrop.

Love your little helper, and his building methods. I'll bet he has no stress!!

Take care and please post lots of pictures. If you've been lurking here awhile you know how much we love them!

[AlgoDan]

Welcome aboard Chad, yes you will find all your info on this forum..and with son at your side for the build is priceless..As you said I'm grateful to those of you that came before and shared freely. I wouldn't have had the confidence to even start the build without your contributions to this forum and other teardrop communities. I couldn't agree more..Keep us posted