TD neophyte

[rambler65]

Any tear droppers in Nebraska? I'm just curious. I came across many sites last night, and I'm very interested in plans or buying a used one to fix up.

Thanks

[Shrug53]

Man have you come to the right place. There are great plans for sale at kuffelcreek.com
You can also find the oldiriginal plans from magazines at my website at http://www.forgottenclassics.com

This is an awesome place for advice, and I have learned a lot. I am a computer technician by trade, and I restore old cars as a hobby, so I am a pretty good mechanic. But between all the plans and all the great people here, I am fairly confident I can build a trailer of my own even though I have only basic woodworking skills.

You can also find some great vintage trailers on Ebay, but I really like the though of building one specifically for my needs.

Anything you want to know, just ask here! Welcome to our world! We are glad to have you.

[Guest]

Thanks very much. I'm glad there's an encouraging place to come with questions - here's my first. My husband is a bit dubious of our Toyota Echo and towing a TD. I heard back from one dealer that said we could tow it fine (of course he would) and that it would look cute behind our Echo. Rich said, "What if it ruins the clutch or worse then we're screwed, because our manual says it isn't supposed to tow anything. I'm sure it can tow but it's not built to tow." I see VW's tow them and very tiny cars in Europe, so I'm convinced and wonder if anyone out there has a Echo or a small car that can assure him? Ours is 1.5 manual. I was just thinking of basically using it around Nebraska or when we go to see our son in Dallas, it would be nice to not have to stay in a motel. It's too long a drive for me to make in one day in our tiny car. I wasn't planning on going cross country with it or up in the Mts. Again, thanks for your advice, knowledge, and I'm sure this will be a great place to learn and meet some great people! I see there's a TearDrop gathering in Minden NE next June. I'd sure would love to be there WITH our TD. Or to get inspiration to get going and build one!

[tdhombre]

If it's plans you are looking for try Grant's at:

http://www.teardrops.net/LilBear/plans.html

They have a wide variety of plans and the price is right (if you send the paper.)

Kuffle Creek's plans are also very good as Shrug has indicated.

Good luck and enjoy! I built my own and it was a blast - 270 hours of retired bliss! AND I get to use it as well.

More information about the teardrop community can be obtained at:
http://www.teardrops.net/index.html

As far as the Echo towing it, you should have little/no problem with it. You will find that a WIDE variety of tow vehicles are used to transport teardrop camping trailers - others use VW Beetles, PT Cruisers, AMC Metro's(!) amongst others. You might have to modify your driving habits (slower starts, longer stops, etc.) but you will find that these teardrops will (usually) not exceed 700-800 lbs. Your dealer is right, a teardrop would be a great accessory for your small car!

Cheers!

[Shrug53]

Look here:

http://www.tab-rv.com/pdf/Dutchmen2003TowRatings.pdf


It gives you an idea of what you can do. Part of it really depends on weight, and also the strength of the hitch, frame, etc. Really you would be best checking with the Toyota dealer.

According to T@B you should not tow. According to Draw-Tite you can tow 2000#.

I would say you can but keep your unit as small and light as possible. Many of the early plans I have say you can get these down to about 680#

One thing I would do is make sure you have a heavy duty clutch installed. The ones on those cars are kind of wimpy. You should see the monster on my 53 Chevy, it weighs a ton, but there is not much chance of burning it up.

I wish I could give you a more conclusive answer but only Toyota knows for sure.

[rambler65]

Guess I didn't log in earlier as I see my post as a "guest." Thanks everybody for your quick replies and wisdom concerning towing, etc. It gives me hope and something to look forward to. Are any of you going to be at the TD event in NE next June? It would be fun to be part of a teardrop club. Our empty nesting is great, but we do need some other activities to keep us going and learning. I'm impressed with the caliber of people on here, and love everyone's pictures of their td road trips that I've seen so far.

[DANL]

To the Toyota Echo owner,

If you are REALLY concerned about keeping weight down you might want to take a look at the 4 x 8 aluminum utility trailer from Rance Aluminum. The site doesn't have the specs quite right but if you call Randy at Customer Service (574-295-5658), he can give you full details. You could just remove the existing wood deck and build to suit yourself or you could perhaps create a shell of sides and top that would just bolt down to the existing platform with a gasket to seal it and put some carpeting over the deck.

http://www.rancealuminum.com/openwood_main.htm

I have a Rance trailer that I will use as the chassis for my unit. I've had it four years and it has been just great--and no rust.

An aluminum drawbar would be another way to save weight.

[tdthinker]

I LOVE all these old campers! It is amazing to see how the old fith wheels have evolved over time.

[mikeschn]

My husband is a bit dubious of our Toyota Echo and towing a TD. I heard back from one dealer that said we could tow it fine (of course he would) and that it would look cute behind our Echo. !

Of course you could always trade your Echo in for a VW Jetta Diesel, improve your milage, and have no problem towing!

Mike...

[Chip]

Mike, come on , if ya gonna up power then go ahead and get the 350 ford duelly with power stroke diesel,,,might as well go for extended cab or crew cab,,,,,as one of my hero's said and I quote,,MO POWER<<MO POWER,,,ARRRGGGG,,ARRRGGG,,lmao,,,just kidding of course,,,,welcome to the maddness rambler,,,,,,,

chip

[sftiggee]

Get a 350 dually diesel for a 1000 pound teardrop and get a measly 10-15mpg?? Suuuuuuuuuuuure... *note sarcasm*

I'll stick with my Beetle diesel and its 25mpg WHILE towing my 1100 pound tear, thanks... (and thats an auto, the stick shifts will do even better on fuel efficiency mike)

[mikeschn]

The 25mpg sounds good. I only get 13mpg with the Jimmy towing the teardrop. I would like to have something I can tow behind the Jetta.

Mike...

[Chip]

Jolene,,girl I was just funning bout the 350 duelly,,,,Ill stick with little Toyato 4 banger Pre Runner,,pulls good,,pretty good on gas,, and is comfortable on a trip,,,wish it was a extended cab but oh well its not a perfect world,,,,,see ya!!!!!!

[Guest]

Anyone know about the Toyota Matrix/towing? I was at the dealer today, and he said they can tow up to 1500 lbs. Sounds better than trying to tow with our Echo. Do any of you have one or a similar car like a Focus or a KIA Rio Cinco and how they tow? I love the PT Cruiser, but Rich isn't very fond of them for some reason. I think the convertibles are very sweet.

[rambler65]

BTW...that was me who just inquired about the Matrix. I didn't log in. "DOH!"