Newbies from Jax, Fl.

[halfkrazy]

Hello, Tim and Sandi from Jacksonville, Fl. here. We are tent campers at this time, but it is time to take a step up without the cost and hassles of a large camp trailer or RV. We hope to pull this trailer with our Toyota Corolla. I do not see any problems at this time with that car . If so we have a GMC pickup that will definitely pull it.

This will be our first time build. We are in the planning and designing and reading, and reading and more reading stages.
We plan on using the Benroy design on a 5' by 8' NT trailer with some of our own mods and maybe a few other ideas that we see along the way. We believe in KISS, and plan on a simple but fun and functional camper. I have some experience in woodworking so not worried about that aspect. My main concerns are electrical and waterproofing.

We will be building our tear mostly in the driveway with a few smaller parts in the garage. I was very concerned about building outside until I saw the following post...

"Re: Building your teardrop outside
Postby tony.latham » Tue May 26, 2015 10:56 am

I saw a guy build a whole house outside once."

I laughed, showed the post to Sandi and said, of course, houses are always built outside. We will construct an ez up canopy/tarp cover to protect the camper when not working on it.

We are thinking maybe a year to 2 year time frame, purchasing parts as the funds are available. We also have some present ongoing projects we need to finish before starting this new adventure. Hopefully it will not resemble Johnny Cash's "One piece at a time."

We would love to meet up with some other builders in our area to get a closeup look at some teardrops.

[buckisland1950]

We would love to meet up with some other builders in our area to get a closeup look at some teardrops.[/quote]

Welcome from Savannah. There is a gathering in Florida at Anatasia State Park in November which might be the closest one to you though it is a few months off. If you check in with the tearjerkers.net website they list a lot of gathering all over the US and Canada. It doesn't matter what you camp in everyone is welcome. Lots of friendly people on all the sites willing to help with ideas or whatever. Another good site is Little Guy forum.

Hope you enjoy your build.

Franke

[cheri832]

Welcome Sandi, Tim, and Franke from a person on the west Florida coast. It took me two years of lurking in the background before I got the courage to just jump in and try. Like Franke said, The Florida Tearjerkers are having a group campout. Nov. 5-8, 2015 at Anastasia State Park near St. Augustine. Last time I looked, there are 38 camp sites booked. Lots of trailers to check out and not too far from you guys. Good luck with your planning. I look forward to meeting you somewhere down the road.

[halfkrazy]

Thank you for the welcome Franke and cheri832, We have signed up with tearjerkers and are looking into the anastasia camping. looks like a good time. We have been lurking for a time now and just decided to jump in and say hello. It will be a short time until we can start building, but we are looking forward to it. Still figuring out how some things go together. Safe travels. Tim & Sandi

[bc toys]

Welcome Tim and Sandy ask anything you might need to know about electrical I've been playing with it for 36 yrs sure somebody can tell you how to do what you want to know how to do and anything you run into just ask weather proofing isn't my area but sure there are lots of peps on here can tell you how to do it

[halfkrazy]

Welcome Tim and Sandy ask anything you might need to know about electrical I've been playing with it for 36 yrs sure somebody can tell you how to do what you want to know how to do and anything you run into just ask weather proofing isn't my area but sure there are lots of peps on here can tell you how to do it

Thank you, I'm sure when we start building we will have many questions.

[rbourne3]

Hi guys. I live just up the road in Fernandina. I'm taking my 4th build for its maiden voyage this weekend. I pull it with a VW trike. I don't build fancy cabinets, just a plain simple place to sleep and stow your gear.I don't have any pics of the current build up yet, but you can find my older ones at http://thebournes.us. Shout sometime if you want to see it in person. Seems there is a pic of my first trike and first tear in my avatar.

[AZ_Desert_Rat]

Hi Tim and Sandi,
Welcome to the site and we are glad you stepped out of the shadows and posted ...
We are waiting to see your plans and build get started and like you, I also like the KISS philosophy and find a little forethought can follow KISS and still produce a project we can be proud of ... with you skills that should be second hand to you ...

Good luck on your build from Central Minnesota ...