Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hey All,
I just put my deposite down today on my new trailer. So I thought I'd start a long winded build thread for some help and ideas when needed and documentation of the build in case it helps anyone out like all the threads I've already read on here.

For the past couple of years, I've been camping around with this:





It is/was an all aluminum utility bed on a custom frame, with an Eezi-Awn Globetrotter on top. It was a great setup, and could follow my Bronco anywhere, but setup/teardown was a bit more time consuming than I liked, it's still canvas, so rainy weekends sucked, and it didn't work out as well with a young kid and dog as I would have hoped. Also, I wanted something that would allow me to take my motorcycle with me. I contemplated just extending the toungue and placeing the bike sidways up there, but in the end, I figured that wouldn't work out very well because of the extra width of the bike (7'-3â€

Hi Ron,

YOu've done a lot of research, that makes it easier for me, thanks!

They have a factory just up the road in Waco too.

How much will the trailer weigh, empty.

Would you share the price, either in public or via PM?

Are you starting to gather materials for the rest of the build?

Tom

Wow... I just got a call saying that the trailer will be completed THIS month. Not sure how the completion date went from the end of January, to the end of December, and I'm not that happy about truthfully because it makes timing a trip down there harder, but it's certainly not the worst thing ever as long as the quality doesn't suffer.

Tom,
The website lists a stock 6x12 single axle trailer dry weight as 1200lbs.

The options I have will certainly up that, but I'm hoping not more than a 300-400 lbs. The heavier options I have are the V nose, 4" frame instead of 3", the windows, the extra doors, and .050 skin instead of .026. All worth while additions in my opinion, but certainly leads to a heavier trailer.

As far as price, I don't remember at the moment and don't have the paperwork here, but the website has all the prices for the trailer and optional equipment, which makes things nice for comparison eve if you don't buy from them.

Of course I've started buying parts... That's half the fun. I have a lot of the hinges and hardware I'll need. I have some left-over lights from my last build. Matching wheels and tires I'm taking off of my old trailer. I have the sink and stove for the kitchen pull out, and an awning for the curb side. I'll have to start putting together a list for the rest of the stuff soon though.

Don

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Really interested in that kitchen. Are you making yourself or purchasing?Been looking for a source for something likk this.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any where state-side to buy a good pull out kitchen like I want it, so I'll have to make it myself. I don't think it will be too much trouble though, at least not with the trim/finish level I'll be going for (read: it will probably look like poo, but will be functional).

This biggest decision I'm going through right now is whether to make the kitchen include a DC fridge. If I do, I'll have to do away with the sink probably. Not a huge deal, but not sure which I want more in the slide out. I can always keep the fridge in the front, and just pick it up and move it over to the side, but I'm not sure if I wouldn't enjoy the fridge more than the sink?

Drifta is probably be best known name that makes a version like I want. But they, like most cool trailer specific stuff, are from Australia. I be sure to put a bunch of pictures up when I start mine.

Don

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Basically, I'm going to build a fold up bed in the front like Glenlivet (hope you don't mind me borrowing your picture, let me know...

Borrow away elmo_4_vt! I'm happy that someone thinks enough of my bed idea to use it themselves.
I'll only become disappointed with your using that pic when I have improved the trailer enough that that old pic embarrasses me.

Man you plan everything to 'T'!
Looks like it will suit your needs perfectly.

ps. your three offsite hosted pics or drawings that should appear below the text, '...A slide out kitchen coming out of the 2'x2' door...', don't work.

Edit: Now they work! Good stuff!

I will be interested in where you get the rails for the pull out kitchen. I might be temped to look into that. Right now my kitchen is a couple of coolers, 5 gallon jugs for water and all the cooking done over the fire in dutch ovens or on a coleman grill in a frying pan.

cam_tx wrote:I will be interested in where you get the rails for the pull out kitchen. I might be temped to look into that. Right now my kitchen is a couple of coolers, 5 gallon jugs for water and all the cooking done over the fire in dutch ovens or on a coleman grill in a frying pan.

I won't be using a rail per se. There will be some wheels under it to roll in and out on the trailer floor. There will also be two small wheels (think like roller blade wheels) at the back of the unit on the outside, and they will ride in a track that goes above the wheels, keeping the back from rising up when the balance point is too far outside. It will also have a set of legs on it to support the weight while it's out.

Not sure how clear that is... I'll be drawing something up here shortly that should explain it a little better.

Don

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So I'm back after a 1800mile round trip to Southern Georgia and back to Delaware. About 30 hours of driving in 3 days, but it was actually kind of fun since my wife and I went without the kid. It was a nice break and we hadn't had a road trip since before we were married.

I was supposed to pick up the trailer at the beginning of the year, but due to some "misunderstandings" about the axle placement, it got pushed back until this past weekend. Never got the axle placement where it was agreed to and where I wanted it, and that part didn't make me very happy. The good news is that almost everything else about the experience went very smoothly. All the other options went in like I ordered it, and the factory in GA was very responsive. Overall, I am very happy with Trailershowroom.com, but there are some things that are lost with not dealing in person. In my case, it was because there was a disconnect between the sales staff and the manufacturer's willingness to do certain custom touches, like a non-standard axle placement. This could probably happen with a normal in person dealer too though, so I don't see that as being too much of a detriment. I should have just verified everything with the factory before I put money down to make sure the salesman knew what they were talking about.

Like I said, everything else went pretty well. The trailer seems to be made well, and I'll confirm this as I start taking things apart to make my modifications. The axle placement wasn't a deal breaker, and I'll work around it by changing where I put some of the equipment. I was thinking about putting a spare tire on the back bumper, and now I think I will for rear weight as much as functionality. I also had them move the "kitchen" are back about 1' towards the axle to help some too. The empty trailer has about 180lbs of tongue weight as it stands now. A little heavy already, but I don't know how much it weighs. I'll do that this week when I get it tagged and registered. On the plus side, it towed very well all 900 miles through some REALLY high winds and tracked very well.

Anyway, here are the pictures. The only "quality" issue that I'm not happy about, is that they used different style of lights on the rear between the back-up lights and the stop/turn lights. Still trying to think about what I can do to fix that part.

Here it is at night in the storage yard with 100 other trailers when we first got into town after 13 hours of driving:



And the next morning after picking it up. Took my Dad's truck because it gets much better gas milage:










This coming weekend I'll be able to start taking things apart and check out the little details. I'm going to flip the 4" drop axle to see how it will look with the future suspension.

Let me know what you think. Looks a little plain now, but I think it will really start looking nice with the new wheels/tire and when we put some color vinyl graphics on towards the end.

Don

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I might have missed it but why didn't you just have them put straight axles on the trailer? Would have gave you much more ground clearance and most places even charge 200 less for straight axles... I would also think for rough roads they would hold up better.

8ball_99 wrote:I might have missed it but why didn't you just have them put straight axles on the trailer? Would have gave you much more ground clearance and most places even charge 200 less for straight axles... I would also think for rough roads they would hold up better.

Actually, I didn't ask for the drop axle. They "threw that in" for free. Doesn't matter to me since I would have been getting a new axle and springs anyway. The axle I want is going to be slightly different width to match my truck exactly, will have a parking brake feature, and will have special spring perches.

Don

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Right drop axles are standard on cargo trailers, But they cost more then straight axles.. Most places will knock off 200 bucks give or take if you go with straight axles. I didn't notice that you said you were replacing the axle anyway. Still would have saved you some cash though. I also have to pull my trailer off road a little since we trail ride. So between back roads and parking in fields, ect I went with straight axles. My trailer has about 19" of ground clearance with the stock setup.

Gotcha... That's one very good thing about Trailershowroom.com. The base trailer is just that, very basic, and then they show you what ever option costs to be added on. So the drop axle would have been more expensive. That's why I say the through it in for free. At least with it in there, it will be very easy for me to simulate a couple different height options to help me decide on where I want things. Now I have at least 4 options:

Drop axle, spring under (where it is now)
Drop axle, spring over (2.5" lift)
Flipped Drop axle, spring under (4" lift)
Flipped Drop axle, spring over (6.5" lift, what I'm going to try this weekend since I won't need new spring perches for this one.)

Don

Didn't get too much time to play around over the weekend, but a couple things got done. The sale of the my old trailer is finalized. The new owner came by today, and after changing out the tires (I kept my old tires for the new trailer), it went away to it's new life. Kind of sad to see it go, but hopefully this setup will work better for me. I also got it jacked up to test the fit the 35" tires, took some of the interior paneling off to check the framing, and put some tape lines in to try and help me envision what the finished interior will look like. Pictures kind of suck, but I'll get better ones up and I go.

I looks like I need about 5 inches of lift, which should be pretty easy. Still contemplating about suspension style. It's going to be pretty close fitting into my garage, even with 8.5' doors. An air bag suspension would make things much easier.

With air bags, when you increase air pressure for heavier loads, will they still absorb the bumps well? In my head, it kind of seams like they would get pretty hard when you get close to their max inflation? Anyone have any good experience?

The framing in the walls looks pretty good actually. The studs seem to be pretty square and relatively nice welds. Should be pretty easy to pull things apart and add insulation in a couple weekends once I can get a pass from the wife (after she see progress on me finishing the in-progress kitchen remodel).


With the 35s just sitting there:


A whole shot showing proportions:


A crappy shot showing the interior from the rear door. The tape lines are where the side cabinets will hit the walls, and the open area on the floor when the bed is folded up, allowing the bike to be loaded in. It won't be very easy to understand, but I'm working on a sketch up that should make it a little better.


And a picture of my bike, since I don't think most have seen it... Nothing special, just an '07 KLR:



Don

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