TD Manufacture Suggestion: 4 Receiver Tubes? Here's Why...

[Oasis Maker]

This question was asked in another thread of mine, so I pose the suggestion directly to the teardrop manufactures - Little Guy, Camp Inn and the rest. Adding 4 small receiver tubes in each corner (facing side out) provides endless opportunities for teardrop mounted accessories. Why not make it a part of normal production or at least an option for your customers? And for all you members - get to welding! Here's why:

When I originally had my rear hitch mounted for my bike rack, I simply had the welder mount 4 (6 1/2 inch) receiver tubes on each corner. Here's the front receiver tube mounted to my Little Guy rack:



And the rear receiver tube mounted to the frame:



And without that - I wouldn't have this: Teardrop Side Awning Solution!




Or here's something else. 95% of teardrops have rear kitchens and this area is obviously the most used and functional part of teardrop camping. Many teardroppers may be apprehensive about getting a rear hitch to carry bike racks, cargo carriers, etc. because it would be right smack in the middle of the way. But after arriving at your campsite, this...



... quickly turns into this ...





Your bike rack, extra cargo rack, side table, solar panel, whatever, is completely out of the way but still mounted, secured, and functional at your campsite. You could even carry a larger cooler on a cargo rack, or even better, a big hitch-mount grill or some other cooking apparatus, and it would be out of the way but still right there close to your kitchen. Or you could have multiple accessories mounted... the possibilities are endless. Many times I will have my side awning on one side, a 9 foot market umbrella (Automobrella) on the opposite front corner over the platform and door, and finally my bike rack on the other rear corner receiver! And lastly, another good thing is that your rack and bikes are locked and secured to the tear providing good theft deterrent.

The 4 corner receiver tubes don't have to be as heavy duty as your primary rear carrier hitch either because you're obviously not traveling with items attached to the side of your tear. But we estimate my corner sleeves to hold at least 150 pounds each. Put it this way, well over what's needed for the type of stationary purpose we are talking about here. I don't think anything of having my rack with 3 bikes on it. In fact, I have come back to my campsite to see friends actually sitting on the support bars for my side awning! I don't recommend that and let them know it, but point being, those welds are good.

So how 'bout it TD Manufacturers? What do you think? Just send me 25¢ for each receiver you mount or donate it to the wildlife fund to save the whales or something.


Scott G.

This is a quote from the thread about my side awning:

Scott--LiL Guy should look into offering that receiver sleeve mod as an option. The pics you just put up of the receiver sleeve mounts on each corner would be a brilliant extra addition that, if offered as a mfr option, would really enable some cool options for owners.

And when I get the SunSpot into the shop...what perfect addition to my frame.

Well you can bet that Little Guy and other manufactures look in on this forum and take notes, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the side mounts put into production. It just too easy to do it and it makes too much sense. I used to keep in touch with the guys at Little Guy when I first got my tear but it fell off with the challenges I faced in the past year. It was really good when the company made a concerted effort to become a part of this forum though - so they'll get word of it.

Scott G.

[Larwyn]

That's a good idea for sure. And, if your welds are sound, I'll bet those tubes will hold more weight than you are giving them credit for.

Receiver tubes can come in handy almost any place you put one. I have one on my welding bench which I use to solidly yet temporarily hold tools and fixtures which were intended to be bench mounted. I use it to mount a small shear, a ring roller, vise, whatever needs a good solid mount for use but then needs to be moved out of the way to allow full use of the top surface of the bench when the accessories are not in use.

[Teardrop Tickler]

great suggestion, Scott. I am going to bring this to the attention of our design and production teams.

All we offer right now is the straight rear receiver rack but I have ordered one for the side (off of the rear deck) of one of our new RT Sports.

Your pictures help demonstrate the practicality, convenience and flexibility that this offers - nice "article." Do you care if I use it for our 'teardroptimes' ?

[hiker chick]

Scott -- love the new Little Guy website.

The video with the Jeep whipping the teardrop around is something to see.

http://www.golittleguy.com/teardrops/re ... dlines.php

[hiker chick]

Scott -- have you all really dropped the price on the 5-wide platforms to $4995???? -- same as the 4-wide?

The 6-wide MSRP is still listed at $6495.

Slick website.

[Teardrop Tickler]

not the standard 5-Wide Platform, but rather a scaled back version

It's a new model called the ECON

• Available in 4-Wide Retro (720 lbs - $3995) and 5-Wide Platform (900 lbs - $4995)
• One Entry Door/One Side Sliding Window with screen
• Wooden Headliner and Galley/Shelving
• Alufiber roof and aluminum side walls
• White Steel Wheels
• A-Frame Tongue
• No Mattress

[Oasis Maker]

great suggestion, Scott. I am going to bring this to the attention of our design and production teams.

All we offer right now is the straight rear receiver rack but I have ordered one for the side (off of the rear deck) of one of our new RT Sports.

Your pictures help demonstrate the practicality, convenience and flexibility that this offers - nice "article." Do you care if I use it for our 'teardroptimes' ?

Hi Scott, I'm happy to offer this idea up. Copy this post verbatim (with all of the pics as well) and it would be my pleasure to be a feature "article" in 'teardroptimes'. As a teardrop enthusiast, we are all presented with challenges that can be unique to only us and doing this mod has solved many of those challenges for me, one being the great need to creatively utilize and maximize space. This mod has done that (along with your platform on my 6 wide). The other big thing this mod has done is it has enabled me to go one step further on another mod and create the ultimate teardrop side awning. You can check that out here in more detail: Teardrop Side Awning Solution!

We go back a long way now my friend and you know I've always admired LG's pursuit to listen to customers and keep evolving. Owning a teardrop is really a way of living for me - certainly a way of thinking. One day I would love to own a 100% organic, self sustaining small home (w/solar, catch water, composting toilets, etc), but until then, my teardrop is challenging and inspiring me in the same way. Every time I use it, questions arise of how can this experience be more efficient? Or what's the most space saving way of doing this or that?

And finally, this incredible forum that Mike and all of the fine administrators have created for like-minded people to gather and share ideas is priceless. This is the ultimate playground to encourage all of your teardrop dreams to come true! Big ups to Mike!

Scott G.

[Oasis Maker]

That's a good idea for sure. And, if your welds are sound, I'll bet those tubes will hold more weight than you are giving them credit for.

Receiver tubes can come in handy almost any place you put one. I have one on my welding bench which I use to solidly yet temporarily hold tools and fixtures which were intended to be bench mounted. I use it to mount a small shear, a ring roller, vise, whatever needs a good solid mount for use but then needs to be moved out of the way to allow full use of the top surface of the bench when the accessories are not in use.

Thanks Larwyn, yeah, I thought I was being pretty conservative with the 150 pound estimate because I had those receiver tubes welded across the entire 6 inch top surface area to the frame.

Pretty cool all of the uses a receiver tube has for you on your welding bench too!

Scott G.

[TLC]

Excellent idea for a teardrop. I can think of several applications already.
I've seen that same thing done on serious Jeep off roaders. They use them for their high lift jacks. I've also seen them used front and rear on Jeeps and have their winch mounted on a hitch, so as to be able to use it at either end.

Tom.

[cokebottle10]

Great Idea. I also like the idea of mounted one on my work bench. I will do both.

Thanks,
David

[kennyrayandersen]

WOW, SUPER NICE!

As an engineer I get all giddy inside when I see a clever design – I am beside myself and hats off!

[Oasis Maker]

Excellent idea for a teardrop. I can think of several applications already.
I've seen that same thing done on serious Jeep off roaders. They use them for their high lift jacks. I've also seen them used front and rear on Jeeps and have their winch mounted on a hitch, so as to be able to use it at either end.

Tom.

Oh yeah, you know it! That's definitely Jeepin 101. We use every which way possible to mount and rack things. And you gotta be creative with something so small - just like with teardrops. That's a 20 pound propane tank "securely" mounted to the outside of my rear rack. (Kinda tuff to see because I have a black cover over it.) It's up high and out of the impact zone incase of an accident while traveling. Have a Hi-Lift mounted to the front bumper too when I'm doing the serious offroad thing. Glad you enjoyed the post!

Scott G.

[Elumia]

If building from scratch, why not make the side receiver tubes part of the structural frame rather than an add on?

A table seems like a perfect accessory for this system.

a rack that goes over the TD would be cool for canoes, kayaks and coffin boxes for extra gear.

Mark

[traildemon]

side receivers would be a great option for a solar panel mast for charging your batteries...

[bobhenry]

If building from scratch, why not make the side receiver tubes part of the structural frame rather than an add on?

A table seems like a perfect accessory for this system.

a rack that goes over the TD would be cool for canoes, kayaks and coffin boxes for extra gear.

Mark

Absolutely The front and rear frame tubes could be replaced with square tube. 2x2x3/16 whick weighs in at only 4.3 # per linial foot and cost about $2.50 a foot. If you sleeve it down slightly with 1" x 1/8 flat stock a class 2 ball mount will slide right in and pin securely. There are a number of ready made options for the class #2 hitches that could be used or modified to be used. How many options can we make to work with this concept.

1. side table
2. removable leveling jacks
3. mount for shade canopy
4. the swing away spare carrier that converts into a table
5. canoe rack and/or overhead utility rack / cargo box
6. front and / or rear utility or bike rack
7. grill and / or dutch oven table mount

What else can we add to this "accessory list"