Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **Shrug53** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 3:43 pm

No, it's a good thought. There are a lot of ways to do it.
I ended up one a really simple idea which would give you, basically, a tent room permanantly attached to the trailer:

It is one of the easier ways, but not especially fancy. If you look at the link to the pdf file I posted in this thread, you will see a little fancier way of doing it.

My personal fav is still Sumners pop-up. That is an awesome piece of work. He may look like an 'aw shucks' kind of guy, but the man is a true artist.

by **Boodro** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 3:56 pm

I do plan on making a tent room for privacy, but I have got to get my Tear done first , then try it out .I have been looking at others tents & will probably use PVC & I have a comercial sewing machine so I will do my own panels out of canvas or poly when I get to that point. There are so many things to do & never enough time. :cry:

by **George T.** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:15 am

Greetings from Colorado George T!

I am working on similar design in theory. A couple of questions for you about your pop-up.

1] What secures the end walls to the popup roof? In the photos, it appears that the top is just resting on the end panels. Is there/will there be some type of track/guide/pivot bar to attach the top to the end panels?

2] It appears that there is a narrow lip on either side of the roof. I assume that the side panels will be hinged at this lip. Since this lip appears lower that the hinge point for the end panels, it looks as though the side panels will lay flat against the roof with the end panels folding down on top of them and the roof covering all.

3] It also appears that you have created a lip all of the way around the base of your popup so that while in the down position, the bottom of the popup roof rests on the roof of the tear with the lip providing a "weather seal". Do you plan on adding any type of weather stripping on the bottom edge of your roof or do you have another sealing method in mind?

It looks like you are doing a good job! :thumbsup:

Thanks for the information and the photos. Keep us posted. I know that I am following your project with interest!

George T in Colorado

by **GeorgeT** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 11:20 am

Greetings George T

1. As of now I have no mechanism to secure the roof of the pop up to its sides. I thought of having a guide as you say that would track underneath a rail of sorts but as it turns out I couldn't figure a way to do that and have room for all sides to lay down flat. Laying the walls down flat on top of each other and flat on the roof of the cabin allows for very little room for attachments to the walls. I plan on just using something as simple and crude as a screen door hook on each side (2) just to keep it from being lifted or blown off when camped. I can't figure it yet until those two sides are installed and I can see for sure what room is left over for a locking mechanism. When the top is down I will use some sort of draw down latch to secure it to the cabin roof. I am designing pretty much as I go. Sometimes trying to visualize how all this comes together makes my little ol' brain hurt.

2. Yes the narrow strip on either side on the roof of the cabin is where the two sides are attached and swing up. The two sides go down first and then the front and back panel lay down on them. The glue is drying on the left side panel now. I hope to have it up today or tomorrow. I'll post a pic. It along with a lot of other things has turned out to be a little more complicated than I had anticipated. This wall has a mirror and light attached for the galley/bathroom area and a night light for my kids bunk. Hiding the wiring behind the frame and running it to the lower cabin has been a little of a challenge but has finally been worked out. The mirror had to be slanted back a might as when I mount the light above it the mirror is too low. The light is a little too thick for the wall but fortunately when folded down it will be in the access hole in the roof of the cabin. Whew! There will be an aluminum strip running vertical on the ends of each of the front and back walls that will serve as a stop and weather seal for the side walls when they are lifted into place.

3. Yes there is a little wall of sorts formed by the bases of the fold up walls that form a weather barrier. The top sits outside this little wall and the weather stripping is attached to the bottom edge as you say of the pop up roof. On the front side (tongue side) of the pop up I am attaching a drip rail to the roof of the cabin turned into the wind to further keep water from being driven under the seal when in transit and to act as a little wind foil.

Hope this helps. I will post pics as things progress. It has been a challenge from the start but now I know that the pop up is going to function properly and do what I had planned for it to do. I was mostly concerned all along about the weight of the roof and if I would be able to lift it by hand from inside. Turns out I can and its smoother and easier that I had anticipated. The roof is 1/4 inch ply with 1x2 ribs and 1x4 framing. The other big "I don't know" was if the weather sealing was going to work out but that too seems now to be no problem. We'll see. Glad to see someone is interested in a hard sided pop up. Some have said they couldn't see any reason or need to stand up. I can see that but I wanted to be able to have a little bathroom where I could dress and clean up comfortably, poop and pee, and have a place where I can make some coffee and breakfast in the morning without going outside if its cold. If I can do those things comfortably I can stay a few days more. I love the looks of the teardrops and some have made some dynamite ones, I just couldn't figure a good way to do all I wanted to in a camper and use the teardrop configuration.

by **steve wolverton** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 12:24 pm

How about something like this?

4x8 closed.

Slide out.

Pop Out

Cherry on top to seal the deal.

I'd love to see something like this.

Steve

by **GeorgeT** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 12:32 pm

Beautiful Steve! But as you can see from my design, if it ain't square or a 45 degree angle I'd be skeerd to build it. :oops:

by **Guest** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:20 pm

Steve,
What happens to the wheel and fender?
(Is that what the cherry bomb is for?)

by **steve wolverton** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:27 pm

Dean in Eureka, CA wrote:Steve,
What happens to the wheel and fender?
(Is that what the cherry bomb is for?)

The easiest way to deal with the wheel/fender would be to have 4 hydraulic jacks lift the teardrop above the trailer before sliding out.

This would then allow for the privacy tent to lower and be used for changing/toilet room, etc. This is obviously the easiest way to do it, no reason to make it complicated.

(yes, I'm kidding)

Here's a few more though...

The camper could be any shape of course.

The side lowered. (tent removed to illustrate)

Tent.

I'd say it's doable. You could do one or both sides this way - you're really creating a popup, that doesn't pop up.

Steve