Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I won't hijack the door in ramp thread but several of you have mentioned tarp extentions off of some type of frame work. Perhaps the use of easy ups ect for more covered area.

I was at Fort Wayne with Jeff "Nitroxjunkie" when someone pointed out how lucky he was to have a c shaped trim channel on his trailer and showed him how to take advantage of it.



With the use of a simple and inexpensive tarp you can have a wonderful front porch for what ever use you wish.



These are early pictures while in the experimental stages





Our last outing he had purchased some nice aluminum telescopic poles and it looks factory as factory can be.

The tarp is simply doubled over and a fiberglass 1/4 rod is inserted into the fold and guided down the channel." 6 foot fiberglass survey stakes can be found at most farm type store"

So you might look at the drip edge on your trailer you might be one of the lucky one that have this feature already built in.

Here's how I got the sag out of mine . I used some fiberglass poles from an old tent and ran them from corner to corner.





So far it's held up under 20 mph winds.
Not butting in just trying to help.

Great idea for an ultralight awning! Anybody know if this type of aluminum channel can be purchased by itself to add to a trailer?

Twinsteel wrote:Great idea for an ultralight awning! Anybody know if this type of aluminum channel can be purchased by itself to add to a trailer?

Yep!! I did a quick Google for awning rail and this is just the first of many that came up that sell it.

http://www.campersdirect.com/restless/details.php?ITEM=4923014

Twinsteel wrote:Great idea for an ultralight awning! Anybody know if this type of aluminum channel can be purchased by itself to add to a trailer?

Any, and I do mean any Local RV dealer has miles of it that is just plain left over.

Every new awning, slide topper or window awning comes with a piece of awning rail.

And 80% of all coaches already have it mounted to the coach.

Don't let them BS you.

A $10 or $20 dollar bill will get you all you need for the next 10 years.

Happy trails

Len

That is a good idea.

I have also seen some use rope in place of fiberglass rods. Just wrap the tarp tight around the rope and feed it through. Usually requires two people to do this though.

Thanks Bob for starting this thread. I have been meaning to do so but don't get on here much in the summer. I would not have had a clue if a fellow camper had not brought the C channel to my attention. I did some checking and an eBayer was selling plans for an inexpensive awning using this channel and that is where the 2X2's came into play (for testing). Once I figured it out it was golden!

hunter535 wrote:That is a good idea.

I have also seen some use rope in place of fiberglass rods. Just wrap the tarp tight around the rope and feed it through. Usually requires two people to do this though.

Hunter, I have heard that using rope is also an option. I had some driveway reflectors laying around so I popped off the reflectors and used the shafts and they worked great. It can be done with one person but two definitely makes the job easier. I heard these tracks are used for bag awnings. Does anyone know if this is the case?







And not to leave out the "RED BARN".

kevin57 wrote:Here's how I got the sag out of mine . I used some fiberglass poles from an old tent and ran them from corner to corner.





So far it's held up under 20 mph winds.
Not butting in just trying to help.

That's the idea that we have to use the old tent poles. Instead of "plain" legs, we will use the extendable ones from the broken EZUp we got out of the neighbor's trash. Not sure if we will mount them to the ramp itself or just put them on the ground.

Kevin, how did you attach the shock-corded tent poles to your side poles?

I LOVE the idea of a channel. I'll see what the back of our trailer has (don't think we have that option). Perhaps we will check with an RV dealer like Len suggested. I was also pondering snaps (like boat canvases use). Mount them on the trailer and snap the tarp to that.

First we have to get a tarp. HA! The only whole one we have left is HUGE and pretty thin. I'm thinking a better quality silver one will be easier to work with if I have to sew it or mount snaps.

I recall my bag awning in that same chanel. If I am right the bacg was the part that went in the chanel and was sown to the awning material.then you just roll it up in the bag and it hangs on the side of the trailer. I think there was a small self taper screw and washer on each end to keep the bag from slideing out the track on the way down the highway.

Cathy Jo
I drilled a hole in the top of the pole and the fiberglass pole slips onto a S hook.


There's more pics on page 2 of my album.

Here is a storage idea. Attach a 4 inch, or smaller if you can get away with it, plastic drainage pipe under the trailer with plumbers tape. Cap one end and put a screw cap on the end facing the rear of the trailer. I used to this with flags and whips required for riding ATV's on sand dunes. I do not remember where I "borrowed" the idea, but I thought it was pretty clever.

SteveB wrote:Here is a storage idea. Attach a 4 inch, or smaller if you can get away with it, plastic drainage pipe under the trailer with plumbers tape. Cap one end and put a screw cap on the end facing the rear of the trailer. I used to this with flags and whips required for riding ATV's on sand dunes. I do not remember where I "borrowed" the idea, but I thought it was pretty clever.

Yeppers... It's on "the list"... But maybe it will be a whole ladder rack instead of just a couple couplings.. I'm thinking the purple stuff... 8"-10" diameter. We'll see.

Seriuosly?

fishing poles
umbrellas
chairs

The list could go forever. Particularly with a CT.

Kevin,

Does the tarp just rest on top of the fiberglass poles? It kind of looks like the poles are attached tod the tarp. If they are how did you do that?

Todah

Todah
I used the velcro loops and center tie from the old tent, and S hooks on the corners.

Not trying to be alarmist here, but I think that orange spare is just a little too big to safely use on your trailer.