Hello from Wrightwood CA

[MojaveSidecar]

Hi All

My wife and I recently retired to Wrightwood California, the gateway to the Mojave Desert and the newly designated San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.

Over the years, we have owned all sorts of RV's/camping systems from motor homes to backpacking equipment... but in our "old" age we have decided to down size.
We have a 95 Wrangler and a 2005 Malibu Maxx as our vehicles along with a couple of Ural Sidecars and a DRZ motorcycle.

Our current RV is a Jumping Jack tent trailer.

http://www.jumpingjacktrailers.com/

We really like this trailer for base camping. It's unique design allows us to carry a motorcycle/sidecar on the top while traveling, and once on site we can unload the bike and pop up the tent and we are camping. The biggest problem with it is that it is not secure in the sense that the tent cant be easily secured plus it takes about an hour to set up/break down camp.

The good news is that this JJ trailer does not have any built ins so we have all the ancillary camping equipment required, propane stove, lantern, heaters, ice chests etc. All this equipment rides in a cargo carrier on the top of the trailer when traveling. There is essentially no storage inside of the trailer while the tent is collapsed.

Living in a mountain forest, we are at risk of forest fire and living a few hundred feet of the San Andreas fault is not necessarily a plus either. In case we need to bug out, we would be limited to what we can carry in the Maiibu wagon, and the soft top jeep plus what ever we could store on the Jumping Jack trailer. In this situation, it seems there would not be enough secure storage we would need to evacuate our "good stuff".

Recently, our kids/grand kids moved from Long Beach CA, to Vancouver WA, so now we have a requirement to do some road trips from Socal to Washington. We want to avoid motels as much as possible and we are looking for something where we can "quick camp". i.e. pull into a camp ground.. pop open the kitchen and the bed is also ready to go.

An additional requirement is that some times I need to go into the city for a while for evening 'get togethers" with friends, and afterwards, I do not want to have to drive. So a small innocuous trailer hooked up to the back of my Wrangler seems like a good solution.

With all these requirements in mind, I am thinking about building a bare bones 5x8 teardrop based on the design from

http://www.theteardroppers.com/

The idea is that I would keep all our camping equipment staged/stored in the teardrop and in a bug out situation, we each would tow one of the trailers behind our cars. We would load the "good stuff" in the TD and be good to go.

For our trips to WA the TD would be the preferred trailer and for those in town get together s, the small trailer behind a small jeep should not be an attention getter.

So.. for a light weight teardrop, what do you guys think of the kit from the teardroppers? I like the fact that there is not a lot of fancy built ins.. because we would want to use the stuff we already have including the camp chef sherpa storage unit that we use with the JJ trailer.

Since this kit will be our first TD, I am leaning towards the birch wood sides with aluminum top and hatch. Is this a good choice?
I am also planning to use the Northern Tool generic 5x8 trailer platform as is... unless there are some better alternatives.

Does this sound like a good way to get into TD trailering?

TIA

Randy and Karen from Wrightwood

[pchast]

welcome!
Its not a bad way...

Have you looked at the plans on this site?
What kind of shop skills and equipment is available to you?
Have you any weight restrictions for towing with those vehicles?

Whatever you decide on we'll love to see pictures.

[bc toys]

Sounds like a good way to go a kit but a small trailer behind anything is a attention getter people love to see them. Oh welcome to this great site.

[Vedette]

Welcome to the Forum
Warning!
Teardrop Trailers are addictive!!
And the new people you will meet as a Teardrop Camper are fantastic!
No other camping experience you can compare to TD camping lifestyle??? You will quickly be absorbed by the use of your TD for more than just an easy way to commute to the kids.
Having said this (and after travelling the California to Washington route numerous times with our TD the past two years) I would recommend to you to go with a Dexter Torflex # 8 rubber ride axle.
You can buy a small utility trailer suitable for your 5' wide TD c/w a torflex style axle or you can have on built.
Trailer frames are easily fabricated to your specs.
We have towed our TD "Miss Piggy" over 21,000 miles over the past 2 camping seasons at speeds that have sometimes exceeded 100 MPH from freeways to the goat trails in the back country of the Humbolt Mountains.
Love our Dexter Torlex #8
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[ctstaas]

Hi Randy That sounds like a great plan. My TD is 4'x8' and is hard to see in my mirrors but plenty long enough. Lots of good learning to do on this site with very cool people. Welcome. Enjoy, Chris

[MojaveSidecar]

Hi All

Thanks for the welcome replies.

Brian, thanks for the tip on the axles. I will investigate that system for my "second" build, my first build will most likely be the guinea pig to see how we like the ergonomics of a TD. I am 6'8", 280lbs and my wife is 5'13". We expect it to be a bit cramped, but if we like the form factor, we may well build something a little larger the second time around.

I am planning to get started sometime after the holidays. I assume I should start a build thread on the forum somewhere to document the process.

Randy from Wrightwood.

[Esteban]

Randy, If you have not purchased the trailer frame and other materials already my suggestion is to build a 5' x 10' teardrop. With your height, and your wife's, you'll be much more comfortable/happier. You also would be able to have a generously sized galley area.

If you are not a welder you can have a local welding shop build the frame for you. I did and it was ready in two days! They can buy steel at lower prices so the cost was not bad.

Spring axles are often good enough. A customized Dexter #9 torsion axles or a Flexiride axle are two top choices for better riding torsion axles. It's wise to order one with brake backing plates (already) installed. You live in the mountains where trailer brakes are very useful.

Best of luck whatever route you take.

6'4" Steve

[MojaveSidecar]

WOW.... I can't believe it has been a year and a half since I last posted... Its amazing how house construction, a part time job with H&R Block and volunteer work with the local property owners association can get in the way.. but now it is time to camp. I have been going back and forth on if I should sell my tent trailer and buy a ready made TD or build one myself.

Since I first posted, our requirements have become a little clearer... we want an off road capable TD to go along with our tent trailer. We are also leaning towards a 5x10 or maybe a 6X10 with a torsion (off road ??) axle. The next choice is Make It or Buy IT. I really like the SoCal Teardrops Offroad TDs
https://www.socalteardrops.com/page.php?p=34&t=Off-Road%20Trailers
but $18K to start seems a little high for this first iteration.. and my wife is not sure she would like it.... never having camped it one.

I do have friends and access to welders etc, but I would probably want to have the frame professionally made... with provision for trailer brakes etc. The rest of the trailer, I could probably construct myself with a little help from my friends.

I tried contacting the http://www.theteardroppers.com/ kit company mentioned in my first post but they seem to have gone AWOL.

So what does the collective say... can I build a decent off road capable 5 or 6 ft X10 TD on my own?

If so... what is the correct forum here to start a build thread.

TIA

Randy from Wrightwood

[Vedette]

Well Randy
Glad to see you back on the Forum and still considering the Teardrop Camping lifestyle (you are going to love it)!
But, first things first.
It has been a year and a half since you last posted!
You sound like a busy guy........Teardrop Trailers are not an easy build and take at least three time longer than you initially expect.
You are not getting any younger, and missed camping time is something you will never get back.
Cost! Again, you can be assured that you can use that 3X factor in your equation.
I am currently on my second build and pretty much right on 3 X more time and more money than I had expected.
Our saving grace is we have Miss Piggy and we can leave on a moments notice to go camping with our new Teardrop Friends!
It is a wonderful experience this Teardrop Family and way of life!
Now back to my 2 cents worth........If you are not sure if you will like it before you invest both time and/or money; go rent one!
It will be the best money you spend. Not only will you see if you are comfortable in one, but you will also see the features you may need or not need to meet your camping expectations.
Off Road on Road? These TDs can be towed pretty much everywhere! Don't limit yourself to a specific use.
We are travelers as much or more than we are campers, thus since my last reply to you we have put another 17,000 miles on MP and our nights slept in count is up to 172.
We will be racking up another 1000 + miles and 4 more nights this coming weekend.
As for size? Be comfortable. We have good Teardrop friends that attend our Gathering that are not small people He is 6' 5" and they sleep in a 6' wide with large dog.
You can see there TD if you watch the Farm Gathering videos in the British Columbia section of this Forum.
Personally, I think you should "BUY" a quality build Teardrop and start the next phase of your life.
There are plenty of good manufactures on the West Coast.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi
PS
Hope to meet you at a Teardrop Camping Gathering soon!