Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi all,

I'm still pretty new to this whole teardrop thing, but I've been lurking about and have been gleaning ideas from other designs, trying to find one that will work for my family. I like the outside galley concept of the teardrop, because it keeps cooking smells and grease outdoors, we will probably usually eat outdoors anyway, so it will save trucking food outside after it's prepared, and it means you don't have to have the floor space or the standing height for the person working in the galley. The only square footage taken up by the galley is the actual galley itself, whereas in a typical camper you have to have room to work, also.

I also need room for my wife and I to sleep, along with our two kids, plus any extras. I decided on going with the bunks in the front, and I'm planning on hinging the top bunk so it can swing down to serve as a backrest so the bottom bunk will double as a settee during the day. This and a planned dinette will provide plenty of room to sit when the weather is bad.

I'm really new to sketchup, but I uploaded my first 3D model here http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ ... 9276f932d6

I am using a 14' long box, but I think I'm going to shave room off the dinette/bed and move the door a little closer to the front to bring it down to a 12' box. I have to do some figuring on this.

Using torsion axles with a slight dropdown will hopefully the spindles roughly at the same height as the trailer frame, meaning the camper floor will be about 12-15" above the ground. My present design has the height as a little over 7' tall. You can't get rid of too much height with bunks, because you want to have plenty of room for the top bunker to lie down without feeling claustrophobic. I have considered lowering the bottom bunk down a bit, but if I make it too low it won't be usable as a settee. I really don't want to get into creating a dropdown footwell -- that seems like more work than I want.

My tow vehicle is a full size van with a small v8 and a class III hitch. So I think the extra size won't be too bad. The camper as designed won't be a standy for me as I'm 6'2". I may even bump it up a touch to make it a standy tear, but I'm trying to not get too carried away -- I'd like the height of the trailer to not exceed the 7' height of my van by much, if at all.

Peace,
Ray

The design is a derivative of the Campster12 I found on here. Actually, I had sketched the design on paper with what I wanted, even the hinged top bunk and then found out someone had already designed one just like I want. I'm just not sure I want the dropped floor, so I'm making mine taller to accomodate the bunks while have a comfortable seat height for the settee.

I have thought about making the lower bunk almost on the floor, but having an extra pair of cleats mounted on the side wall to support the bed frame at a higher position to use it as the base of the settee. Then I could have a piano hinge split the upper bunk in half so that only half the upper bunk would swing down to form the settee seat-back. I'll try to get that drawn in sketchup and post that link in a couple of weeks.

The other idea I had was for a porta-potty closet (cabinet,really) on the floor directly across from the door. Then, just above that I will mount drawer slides with a baggage door cut in the streetside wall. The window-unit a/c will be mounted on a tray supported by the drawer slides so that when travelling, you pull the a/c tray inside the camper. When you get to your site, unlock the baggage door, swing it up, and slide the a/c tray out through the wall. Has anyone done this? I'll try to get that in sketchup, as well.

Peace,
Ray

I was thinking along the same lines. I'll be watching with interest what you come up with. Doug

Also check out the 12' giant teardrop that I did. It's in the hall of fame. or click here: http://www.mikenchell.com/Generic_ET_Photo_Album/

you'd probably have to change the interior to fit 4 people, but the exterior works great!

Mike...

you don't need as much room as you think for kids.
If you look at Starleen2's box or mine you will notice that there is room in even 4 feet to put kid feet under the bed at 90°. That will allow you to move a mattress or cots for day time use.

Mine


Scott's---I am sure he has much better pictures. His first two builds could allow for feet to go under.

Miriam: Well, our 10-year old is larger than the average 10-year old, so he'll need a good-sized bunk. My 5-year old princess is at the 95% in height, too, so I think she is going to be rather tall.

My wife is not what I would call an "avid" camper, either. She is a good sport who agreed to go camping some when we were first married, and with kids in tow she has seen the light. In a hotel room the kids drive her nuts, but camping as a family is really a lot of fun and relaxing. In fact we were in a hotel for an out-of-town wedding and she told me the next time she complained about camping to remind her how annoyed she was with the kids being cooped up bundles of energy in the hotel room.

So that being said, I want to have enough room in the camper so that it feels spacious to her. I want it to be enjoyable and to have enough height so it doesn't feel like we're packed into a little box. If she's going to be a sport about camping I want it to be as comfortable as I can make it for her without going overboard on the size.

The green lantern may design may satisfy you need - I was looking at it the other day and reasoned that if you lower the bed down a few inches you could have a set of queen sized bunk beds in the rear with one in the front - that would make for 5 - or just put cabinets in the front instead of a bed

Roadtripray, this is the 4 person big teardrop-ish trailer I built for my family. It tows and camps very well and has a bathroom. It beats stepping on a snake in the dark.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/knoxretrocampers/sets/72157626945814933/

It is also in the hall of fame with a few build photos. Good luck on your build.