Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

**Update: The Woody was replaced with the Explorer Box as our first Tent Topped Camping Trailer. Check out the Explorer Box Thread**

Here is what I've been prototyping. It blends the the natural beauty of wood (marine grade mahogany plywood), almost a queen sized bed, room to stand up, and at a dry weight of ~400 lbs.






The trailer box is 21" tall, 4'x6' at the bottom and 4'-8"x6'-9" on the top.
The frame is 3"x2" - 1/8" square tubing with a leaf spring suspension and a 6' tongue so there is room for bikes in front of the trailer.

Has anyone else out there gone the "soft" sides route and built a tent trailer?

Nice! Are you building this for a specific tow vehicle, because you already had the trailer, or because you got an itch and decided to scratch it?

Cliff

Neat build you are doing there! It remindes me a bit of the one-wheel tent trailer my folks had when I was wayyy little. It also reminds me a bit of the expedition trailers that some of the serious 4 wheel guys build. Did you do the tent yourself?

It certainly is a non-traditional design, but I like it!

Keep up the nice work!

Joanne

Nice work.

Did you construct the tent and supports as well, or were those purchased?

As I mentioned in my intro, I have a small tent trailer company called Compact Camping Concepts. I started building tent trailers a while back when I couldn't find any that met my criteria. This trailer is one I'm currently prototyping and showing to folks for feedback. I plan on creating a DIY'er build manual and plan set for it.

My primary tow vehicle is a Subaru Impreza wagon. I'm also working on a mirco tent trailer that my Miata could tow.

Yes, the old one-wheeled Helites and Australian expedition trailer have influenced my designs.

The tent is one I designed and did the prototype sewing. Right on I'm "shopping" the design with a number of contract sewing shops trying to find someone to manufacture them in low volumes for me. Does anyone know a good contract sewing shop?

Doesn't look like anyone else has built a tent trailer? Has anyone seen any home-built tent trailer?

Unfortunately I don't have time to read all the posts on the forum so I missed your intro. I just hunted it down and read it. Also visited your website. Yours is the first homebuilt tent trailer that I've seen. I would be VERY intimidated at the thought of trying to sew a tent like that. Still, it's a way cool design.

Now that you remind me, my folks trailer was a Helite. The tent folded out similar to yours and it had an aluminum slideout "kitchen" box. Mom loved it because she could pull it so easily without having to worry about backing up the trailer.

If you haven't been to the Expedition Portal forum, you should probably check it out. They have a sub-forum for expedition trailers, home builders and such. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum

So here's a belated Welcome Aboard!!

Joanne

schaney wrote:As I mentioned in my intro, I have a small tent trailer company called Compact Camping Concepts. I started building tent trailers a while back when I couldn't find any that met my criteria. This trailer is one I'm currently prototyping and showing to folks for feedback. I plan on creating a DIY'er build manual and plan set for it.

My primary tow vehicle is a Subaru Impreza wagon. I'm also working on a mirco tent trailer that my Miata could tow.

Yes, the old one-wheeled Helites and Australian expedition trailer have influenced my designs.

The tent is one I designed and did the prototype sewing. Right on I'm "shopping" the design with a number of contract sewing shops trying to find someone to manufacture them in low volumes for me. Does anyone know a good contract sewing shop?

Doesn't look like anyone else has built a tent trailer? Has anyone seen any home-built tent trailer?

Joanne,

The sewing is the easy part, working out the dimensions is a bit of a challenge. Actually I taught myself to sew while making that tent.

Yes slide-out kitchens are great, I'm working on some ideas for either a slide-out or tailgate swing-out kitchen.

Thanks for the pointer to the Expedition Portal, I remember seeing it before, but must have missed the trailer form.

Joanne says:

Now that you remind me, my folks trailer was a Helite. The tent folded out similar to yours and it had an aluminum slideout "kitchen" box. Mom loved it because she could pull it so easily without having to worry about backing up the trailer.

Herer's a link to a bunch of pitures of Heilites!

http://www.singlewheel.com/HeiliteFR.htm

And here's a bunch of single wheel trailers!

http://www.singlewheel.com/

Cliff

Schaney:

Have you seen the Livin' Lite tent campers? They even now designed a truck slide-intent camper. I was thinking of using it on a utility trailer for a combination. Only seen 1-2 listing for sale off Ebay for $2600.







Looks very interesting, except the way to open and close. You have to have some good weather to get it done. Watch me Or if its raining, your bedding will definately get wet. Closing down to go home is probably not a big deal other than to open to air-dry once at home. But when setting up or packing up to move to another location, the interior would definately get wet. A little velcro on the bedding and connection of the canvas to the flip-top would have gone a long way to keep the interior from being weathered.

I would have thought flip-tops have the canvas and the poles attached so that when setup, it pulls the canvas tight through the poles. Isn't how these tent campers work?
To add, I would have like to see access panels to the interior storage under the bench. That way, I wouldn't have to pull the top cover, then open the top enough to get into the camper.

An accessory for you to think about, a pop-out bedding area.

Hi Mike

I've seen their web site and a 5.0 tent trailer in person not the truck camper. The truck camper seems a bit heavy to me at 440 lbs. I think they just came out this year that's propably why they're not showing up much yet on ebay. I did like the quality, fit and finish of the 5.0 I saw.

Lees-ure Lite also make a tent base truck camper called a Lil Diamond. They did it the way I would make a truck camper if I did one and it only weighs 225 lbs, don't know current cost.


I agree with you on the self tensioning setup. On my tent design, you just pull the tent open, it self tensions and your done. You can literally pull into a camp site and be in bed in a minute or two like a Tearfrop.

Yes I like the fold-out design. What manufacture/model is the one pictured?

I've seen the couple motorcycle trailers firsthand but didn't quite like the 'compactness' of the box. Yah, I know, motorcycles can't pull weight, but seriously, I think my tired old 4cyl TJ has less hp/tq than a new motorcycle.

Anyways, the side sleeper is from a camper in Australia, Crossbow. I don't think they still have an active website as my websearch and link no longer work.

However, the US truck campers are now also doing the same thing. New for this year, Lance, Adventurer....




Lances design looks like a tension design for the canvas, but doesn't show how the platform is secured. Adventurers design is similar to a pop-up camper with a swing bow and lock-down center post and the platform is secured through tension cables.
Crossbow's design looks very interesting. The 2 black straps look to hold the platform. The canvas is held out through a swing post and 2 lock downs. The rain jacket is secured through the 3 posts on the exterior. Looks like it requires some inside then outside effort to secure.

Mike,

Yes, 4cyl TJs are lite on power, I pulled a small Rockwood TT to Colorado with my 2000 4cyl TJ. We made it, but it was a slow trip and the short wheel base had the trailer constantly wandering.

I laid in a Lance foldout at a show a few months a go. Overall I liked it, my only complain was it's to short. My head and feet touch the tent, I'm 5'11".

I like the double wall design Crossbow uses, it will help cut down on condensation.

From what I've seen most TT and trailer folddown bed use a simple shock cord and hooks under the bed for tensioning. This is a simple and effective way to do it.

Spent some time looking over your site. I think you have a good thing going there. One question... just to clarify, is the sleeping area 4'8"x6'9"?

Being 6'3" having some wiggle room is nice. And the standing area would be a great spot for our two dogs. Right now our 3 person backpacking tent is cramped with two people, two dogs and backpacks.

If you need someone to put one of these through the paces, I volunteer my services!

Yes the bed area is 4'-8" x 6'-9". We are also a two dog family, although one sleeps on the end of the bed and one on the floor.

It's been slow going getting someone to manufacturer this tent in volume for us. We are currently working with some local sewers to make a couple of them. If your in the area, stop by, I'm always interested in feedback and can possibly arrange the usage of a demo trailer for a night or two.

jaguar7 says:

I've seen the couple motorcycle trailers firsthand but didn't quite like the 'compactness' of the box. Yah, I know, motorcycles can't pull weight, but seriously, I think my tired old 4cyl TJ has less hp/tq than a new motorcycle.

I hate to display my ignorance, but what is a TJ?

Cliff