Newbie- like the look of teardrops!

[crazycuda]

Hello,

I currently dont own a teardrop or any camper for that matter but i like the look of the smaller campers. I really want to try my hand at building one but it would need to comfortably fit 3 people maybe even 4 in the future. right now we have a young daughter (1 year old) so fitting her into a camper isnt to hard but i would like one that will fit 3 of us as she gets bigger. My tow vehicle can easily tow a large teardrop (towing capacity is 6000 LBS). I am fairly handy and mechanical and i work using CAD software so i can draw up plans but i have been looking for some plans of 4 sleepers that i can modify and make my own.

Tony

[Jeffrayy]

I am kind of in the same boat. My wife and I just had our first child last July. I bought a fixer upper two weeks ago. My thinking is that the Teardrop is kind of a base camp. I will probably sleep in my Hennesy Hammock or back packing tent until our daughter gets a little older. Then she will be tent sleeping. When I was kid we would go camping in my grandfather's camper and us kids always wanted to sleep in the tent anyway. With the teardrop we will have a place to cook without having to set everthing on the picnic table. It will also be a stable place in case of really bad weahter.

[crazycuda]

that is crazy our daughter was born july of 2011 as well. I would prefer to build a camper that will sleep us all inside. i have seen a few designs on here having a small childs bunk or i might be building a 2+2 based on the designs here. just gotta figure out the best base (harbor freight or maybe an old pop up camper frame, or possible homemade frame) and start sketching up my design

I am kind of in the same boat. My wife and I just had our first child last July. I bought a fixer upper two weeks ago. My thinking is that the Teardrop is kind of a base camp. I will probably sleep in my Hennesy Hammock or back packing tent until our daughter gets a little older. Then she will be tent sleeping. When I was kid we would go camping in my grandfather's camper and us kids always wanted to sleep in the tent anyway. With the teardrop we will have a place to cook without having to set everthing on the picnic table. It will also be a stable place in case of really bad weahter.

[Jeffrayy]

Yeah, that makes sense. Not sure about where you are, but we have tons of old, old, used pop ups on craigslist around here.

[crazycuda]

located up in michigan. havent really looked for a camper to use the frame. just more in the concept/decision phase. i think it might be hard to get my wife on board with a small camper but we often go with others so having our own place to sleep might be a plus for building our own. might just have to tell her worst case i can build it, try it out, and sell it if she isnt happy with it and maybe make a small profit if that was the case

[Jeffrayy]

I think that is very true! We have neighbors across the street that had twins last year and just bought a brand new 23 ft. camper. My wife liked the idea of camping with them, but not the idea of having such a huge camper to deal with (storage, set up, pulling, etc.). We have always just tent camped. The teardrop was a step up, but not a giant step up.

[aggie79]

Welcome Tony!

You might want to check out Clint's teardrop. (He's Fishingtomatoseed on the forum.) Clint is building a version of the 2+2 designed to sleep 4-6. Here's a link to his build journal:

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?p=926050#p926050

Take care,
Tom

[Shadow Catcher]

Greetings to you both. I would suggest coming to one of the gatherings if at all possible. The people are as important as the trailers and if you are convincing a wife...
There are a number of designs that folks have come up with to accommodate little ones and of course the optimal when old enough they get their own tent. I tented for 60 years and Nancy and I for most of our married life. One of my goals with the teardrop was to make her life easier and the inclusion of a cook top and hot water heater means that meal prep and clean up are no more difficult than at home and quite frankly she likes having on demand hot water more than just about anything

[crazycuda]

i think if i do build one i will do a metal exterior or glass over a wood exterior. i am really liking the 2+2 design on here. the fact there is a safety hatch for the bunk is a plus. i think if i did build it a 5' tall would be perfect for us. Time to start using sketch up for the basic plans then i can tweak my design on in my CAD software.

[crazycuda]

thanks for the warm welcome. i am part of a car club and made some great friends through that so im sure we could make wonderful friends going to gatherings

[Vedette]

Welcome to the Forum.
We too are Car Club people.
Have had a great time over the past 40 years with the Car Clubs I belong to, but we are now looking forward to meeting a new group of people as we change our lifestyle in retirement.
Good Luck with your project.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[danlott]

In another post you mentioned that your wife is looking to have some kind of bathroom. You might consider Steve's Rondack Lodge design. His design has a front dinette that makes out into a bed. You could easily design bunks in the front and have the rear bed make into a dinette. You could then place a porta potty where the cabinet space is between the bunk beds and the rear dinette/bed.

Here is a link to Steve's website for the Rondack Lodge.
http://www.campingclassics.com/lodge1.html



Dan

[crazycuda]

my plans to build a family camper might not happen. but i might build a teardrop for a hunting camper.

[crazycuda]

well it looks that if i build a teardrop it will be one for me to take on hunting trip. with that being said there are alot of things i might scratch on my design and things i will add if and when i decide to build one. i think a nice man cave teardrop would be in order. maybe even a more rugged offroad styled trailer. time to start my list of wants and needs and begin my designs

[Forrest747]

There are many great campers out there with bunks, lofts and stretchers. What i ended up doing was a queen size bed and then a loft for the the girls.