Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » anyone built a teardrop camper? 1 2 3

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  Feb. 1, 2009 2:24 p.m. donalson SuperDork

  there's a few trailers up at memas house that need some TLC... ones an older one built from an old airport tram (baggage transport thing)...

  for some reason the idea of building a Teardrop popped in my head... always liked the idea of them... and with my kids starting to get a little older I think it would be fun... could go with the van and everyone would have a spot to sleep or could go with a smaller car and the wife would be OK with camping... she's not exactly a tent kind of girl...

  figure I could build one for pretty cheap if i do it right.... aka grassroots style

  i've been looking online and getting ideas... but know the GRM guys are who I need to come to with these questions so...

  has anyone built one here? any ideas or advice? pics? links? :

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  Feb. 1, 2009 3:12 p.m. patgizz Dork

  i have plans scanned from a 1940's popular mechanics with plans if you want them.

  i've got a spare axle and now that i've got an old truck i figure that's the next project.

  John Brown wrote:"Safety" is my second middle name, it's right after "Screw".

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  Feb. 1, 2009 3:43 p.m. Feedyurhed Reader

  I have never built one but I sure would like to. I think they are cool. Here's a link to a tear drop site for some ideas:

  http://www.golittleguy.com/cms/

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  Feb. 1, 2009 4:06 p.m. dean1484 HalfDork

  http://www.kuffelcreek.com/

  Respectfully, Dean

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  Feb. 1, 2009 5:41 p.m. wlkelley3 HalfDork

  Feedyurhed beat me to the golittleguy site. I saw their trailers at Cabela's when I was in Harrisburg, PA for work last month. Neat little setups. If I was younger I would be all over one of those. I'm getting spoiled in my old age and add to the fact 20 years in the army broke me of the desire to rough it without shower/bathroom facilities.

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  Feb. 1, 2009 7:02 p.m. 924guy HalfDork

  the teardrops are pretty neat, but im with wlkelley, i want a shower that doesnt involve sharing with the neighbors. ill be looking for one of these soon.. (this one is apparently gone, i was too late,,)

  

  insert witty phrase here..

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  Feb. 2, 2009 7:39 a.m. stumpmj Dork

  Shouldn't this be in Off-Topic?

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  Feb. 2, 2009 8:56 a.m. slantvaliant Reader

  I saw one at Gander Mountain with a platform and side ramps in front of the camper for a quad or a couple of motorcycles. Not quite big enough for a Locost, though!

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  Feb. 2, 2009 9:45 a.m. SVreX SuperDork

  I had one. Stanless steel. Really beautiful- towed it behind my El Camino through the 2003 Power Tour.

  Couple of caveats-

  -My wife didn't like it. The whole idea of climbing into a little box wasn't much better for her than a tent.

  -It towed terribly. The problem was that it was too light, and tail heavy. The kitchen in the rear/ bed in the front put an awful lot of weight behind the axles, and it bounced over bumps. Imagine an 800 lb weight tied to your bumper by a chain snapping back and forth from one extreme to the other. The minimalist suspension coupled with the low weight and poor weight distribution was a bad combination.

  Looked cool, and fufilled a nice romanticised nostalgic kind of "road trip" idea, but reality was not as fun.

  For a utility campmobile, a panel van is a better option. But I did have a lot of fun for a while with it.

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  Feb. 2, 2009 3:37 p.m. dean1484 HalfDork

  stumpmj wrote: Shouldn't this be in Off-Topic?

  Naaaa still has wheels and pertains to automotive. And Camping at events is a huge deal. Every try sleeping on the pavement at a race because you forgot to make reservations or you got new R compound tires so there was no $$$ left for a hotel.

  I spent many a night in the back of my cadillac fleetwood brougham parked next to an outlet along the hot pits at NHIS. I would run an extension cord in the sunroof for the TV and what ever else I needed power for. I would usually have a cooler in the trunk for food as well as I would keep the grill in there. People would come out of the woodwork. It was some of the best times / parties that can remember Lots of people eventually showed up.. . Those were good times. The track basically locked us in. so you were not driving anywhere. I would have killed for a small trailer back then it would have been like living high on the hog.

  Respectfully, Dean

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  Feb. 2, 2009 5:54 p.m. donalson SuperDork

  thanks for the reality check Paul... lol...

  "The speed we're allowed to drive should be based on our IQ. This way, Stephen Fry would be allowed to travel at 160 while Kerry Katona would be limited to 2mph" ~ jeremy Clarkson

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  Feb. 2, 2009 7:41 p.m. willy19592 New Reader

  I was going to build one, bought the trailer, started laying out etc. it was going to be a conversion trailer to tow my daughters soap box car behind the miata, and then to sleep in out of state rally's She lost interest in SBD so I stopped building trailer. I have a neat picture of one behind a miata, but I dont know how to post pics here.

  in the mean time you can click here (not mine) http://thompsoncarpentry.com/personalgallery/album16/album_pic

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  Feb. 2, 2009 8:14 p.m. fastEddie Dork

  Sorry just had to post this pic...

  From Kuffelcreek's "brag page"

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  Feb. 2, 2009 8:24 p.m. Tim Baxter Online Editor

  By my last count, there's 4 different ways you can post a pic.

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  Feb. 2, 2009 10:19 p.m. dean1484 HalfDork

  Oh Oh Oh..... I need to get this for my next Taylor project.. ..

  http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/pts/1008744364.html

  Respectfully, Dean

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  Feb. 3, 2009 6:00 a.m. SVreX SuperDork

  donalson wrote: thanks for the reality check Paul... lol...

  Hope I didn't burst any dreams. I hate when I do that.

  I'd say go for it if it inspires you. It inspired me, and I had a great time with it. No regrets.

  It just had a few downsides as well.

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  Feb. 3, 2009 7:28 a.m. akamcfly New Reader

  There's a forum called teardrops and tiny trailers with tons of info about building camper trailers like this.

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  Feb. 3, 2009 7:46 a.m. Strizzo Dork

  Willy: when you're looking at the picture in your online album, right click on it, properties, then click three times on the address, right click, copy, then in the posting box here click on the little camera icon, right click, paste, ok, pithy comment, then post!
  

  
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  Feb. 3, 2009 3:39 p.m. engled

  I built one several years ago, my wife and I enjoyed it very much. Towed like a dream behind a Protege5. I need to sell it as we don't use it anymore. Here is a link to the build page and a few pictures of us camping.

  My Teardrop

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  Feb. 3, 2009 5:55 p.m. willy19592 New Reader

  Y I B, thank you for the lesson Strizza, I never saw that camera, that was only a tiny bit harder than not telling a guy 4 different ways

  I was always looking for the :img/ things and just could find em!

  Willy@isellmiataparts.com

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  Feb. 3, 2009 5:59 p.m. willy19592 New Reader

  engled wrote: I built one several years ago, my wife and I enjoyed it very much. Towed like a dream behind a Protege5. I need to sell it as we don't use it anymore. Here is a link to the build page and a few pictures of us camping. My Teardrop

  Very NICE!

  Willy@isellmiataparts.com

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  Feb. 3, 2009 6:38 p.m. Appleseed Reader

  The HAMB had a ton of vintage style builds a years ago.

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  Feb. 5, 2009 12:18 p.m. donalson SuperDork

  i'll be measuring out the trailer options this weekend... prob won't happen any time soon... but who knows... i LOVE the idea still... we'll see what happens...

  "The speed we're allowed to drive should be based on our IQ. This way, Stephen Fry would be allowed to travel at 160 while Kerry Katona would be limited to 2mph" ~ jeremy Clarkson

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  Feb. 5, 2009 5:39 p.m. SVreX SuperDork

  I should have mentioned....

  The most expensive thing on the entire trailer will be the flexible trim pieces generally necessary to finish it out where the walls meet the roof.

  Come up with a good inexpensive detail on this,and you'll have it licked.

  The one other hard part is getting a good fit on the rear door. Make it too flimsy, and you'll never keep out the rain. Make it too stiff, and it will be too heavy to be practical or stay up in a reasonable way. Hinge design, weatherstripping, latch and lift mechanism are all part of this.

  Good luck!

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  Feb. 5, 2009 7:47 p.m. Woody Dork

  Strizzo wrote: Willy: when you're looking at the picture in your online album, right click on it, properties, then click three times on the address, right click, copy, then in the posting box here click on the little camera icon, right click, paste, ok, pithy comment, then post!

  Thanks! Since I have an aversion to little smiley faces in posts, I never noticed the camera icon before.

  I must have been using one of the other three methods.

  Hey, wow! I can use Bold and Italics, too!

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