Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Greetings everyone! Been on this board for only a short while, and enjoying everyone's posts and pictures. I was recently "bit by the bug", and have been sketching out designs since. Lately I converted some of the basic designs to .jpg in my Paint Shop Pro program. Thought I would share, and make a formal hello to everyone.



My thought is to build on a 4'x8' chassis. When in the up position, the peak will be close to 6'. However, in the down position, I figure some small cutouts of the side panel should prevent any interferance with the wheels. The top section will be made of a lightweight covering, and the lower section framed in 1x1 steel welded framing to accomodate a "lift system". Plan on "covering" this trailer with some wonderful paint designs to give it a complete gypsy touch. This is all preliminary. I imagine it will morph over time, as I work through each little section mentally, on paper, and eventually in build. When did I realize I was really hooked? When I found myself looking through the Grainger catalog in the shop at work.

~Staci

check out this site it has vardo's and have a look in the links page it has some pop up vardo's
marcel

Great idea...

Based on just a quick look at it I think you might want to move the axel to the back about 4-6" it looks like it is too close to the center now. As such it would give a very light tongue weight, but the result is the vardo would tend to rock on the axel and create a bounce when towing. JMHO

DEE

Thank you for the feedback Marcel and Dee. I've already saved Rae's website, to my Favorites, on her larger scale pop-up vardo build, and have referred to it often. My plan is to go with something smaller scale and easily raised with a simple lift design powered by a hand winch; very similiar to Sumner's Pop-up Tear.....thanks for the great photos, btw. As for the chassis, I'm hoping I can find a pre-built or pre-fab kit for the chassis. I've got a little time, since I'm shooting for this being a "winter" project. Love the input.

~Staci

Staci,

Here's my version of Rae's trailer:



It's 12x7 so not what you're looking for, but drawing it out taught me a few things, as I worked out how I'd seal it and build it. The walls were all wood and I reckoned I had the lift wires and pulleys sorted out, but that's unproven.

The trick with the lift wires, incidentally, is to work out where they can be joined together, without the joint block having to run over a pulley. Sounds real simple...

I'd be concerned if I was trying to fit one of these onto a 4x8 trailer as you are bound to lose at least 2.5 inches on each 'wall', so your inside measurements are going to be 91" x 43" at best - OK on length but mighty tight (or 'romantic' depending on your point of view) on width. I think GeorgeT's Compact GT might be a better starting point - it's 5x8 so that gives you a 55" interior width. It doesn't help with the clearance over the wheels though I suspect the easy solution there is just not to lower the top past the fenders!

Andrew

Check out this honey!

http://www.wonderworkers.com/Gypsy_Wagon.html

So is someone here going to build that 4x8 Gypsy Wagon?

Mike...

P.S. Road_gypsy, are you going to do a lift system like Sum's popup? Otherwise, it'll be much too heavy to "lift up"!

P.P.S. I'll bet a 5x8 version of the Gypsy Wagon would be really comfortable.

I can't find any mention on the net, but we used to go to a German Festival at Hunter Mountain, NY, and each year there was a 'camper' made from an old beer barrel.... about 16-20 feet long (tall enough to stand up in), and I think it was oval shaped. Probably weighed a ton, but was pretty to look at..... Was very dark wood, shellaced I'd guess, all the niceties inside...

mikeschn wrote:So is someone here going to build that 4x8 Gypsy Wagon?

Mike...

P.S. Road_gypsy, are you going to do a lift system like Sum's popup? Otherwise, it'll be much too heavy to "lift up"!

P.P.S. I'll bet a 5x8 version of the Gypsy Wagon would be really comfortable.

I wrote the guy about the plans. He hasn't answered my email yet.

check out the vardo here
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses.htm
marcel

Ah yes, the houses that Jay built...

I've been watching Jay for several years now. Definitely classic. Alas, he doesn't have anything for a 5x8 red trailer...

Mike...

NICE! that may be the thing I'm looking for!

How much of a problem will the non-areo design of a vardo be?

Depending on how fast you drive, maybe 5 to 10 mpg...

Mike...

I'd have to agree with the 5-10 mpg....one of the reasons I'm considering doing this little project as a pop-up. Another thing I have been considering is the weight of the top/lift system. I've been looking into lightweight materials and alternative means of "lifting". I'm targeting this as a winter build if I haven't mentioned already. So, lots of time to work out all them pesky lil bugs on paper/computer first.

So, is it normal to now find yourself following vehicles down the road, with utility trailers, pondering the design that would fit nicely on it?

Hey Andrew! I'm giving serious thought to building something like in your picture above. I'm trying to figure out the lifting mechanism, though. Have you thought it out? Has anyone else got any ideas?