new guy with a few questions

[jriefle]

hello, i love the forum. i saw my first teardrop at the trasportation museum in st.l mo. my first impressions "wow cool, just what i need". of couse i thought id never find one. so after a little research i found alot of info on the internet. i have a few questions for all you teardrop owners.
im 6'3", and want a camper design to fit two (my wife and i). we have a PT cruiser (wifes car) that will be the vehical we tow the camper with.
ive ordered plans for the modernistic camper from tiny tears and the "camper for two" plans from the old magazine. my questions are these.
1. will the PT cruiser be able to haul the modernistic safley?
2. how heavy are modernistics?
3. what length is the bed section length on "lil guy" campers.
what i really want is a small camper with 7 ft or close to 7 ft sleeping bed length and a hatch for my coleman stove. the "lil guy camper looks like it would fit my length, but i cant tell. has anyone made a camper our bought one with my sleeping length desires? i really like the modernistic, but i dont know if the PT cruiser would be able to haul it through mountainous areas. any help would be great. thanks.

[mikeschn]

I looked at a little guy this weekend. A tall person would not want one of those.

On the other hand, I also looked at a Modernistic this weekend that was owned by "Too tall Mike". He moved the rear bulkhead rearward about 10" and he's got plenty of room to sleep. I would have to guess that the bed in Mike's modernistic was somewhere in the neighborhood of 86" to 90".

As for the weight, you can built it heavy or you can build it light. If you do the later, you won't have any problem towing it with the PT cruiser.

Mike...

[Joseph]

Hey, jriefle

How do you pronounce that, anyway? I can't answer about the Lil' Guy, but I'll take a stab at the first two:

1. will the PT cruiser be able to haul the modernistic safley?

Depends on what it weighs.

2. how heavy are modernistics?

Depends on what it's made of.

I know, I know - you didn't write this forum for a bunch of smart-alecky answers. But since you mentioned building your own, those are the only answers and since you want one with an extra-long bed, I'd definitely recommend doing so.

For example, there are many teardrops built either on the plans I used or so similar to them as makes no difference. Most of these weigh a lot more than the 620# mine weighs (some up to twice as much) and I'm sure there are some few which weigh less. It all depends on materials and construction techniques. I was meticulous in my planning, having gleaned the weights of the various materials I'd be using from members Teardrop Times Discussion Board and various other sources on the Internet. As a result, I was able to further reduce the weight by using a very lightweight, bolt-together trailer frame rather than the heavy-duty bolt together frame used by many builders, or an even heavier welded frame.

More to follow when I have time.

Joseph

[Nick Taylor]

You might want to consider the Ken-Skill design as well. The body of the trailer is 9'6" long and has more room on the inside. I'm 6'5" and I'm very comfortable in mine, albiet it's just me and the dog. I pull the trailer with a PT Cruiser and have no problems.

This is my second teardrop, my first being a 1955 Benroy which is the standard 8 foot length. It was just too small for me.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Nick.

[Chip]

welcome to the craziness,,,as far as your size and tow vehicle,,you can make both work but its gonna take more than a little guy to give you room to un-coil,,or you are gonna have to make some concessions in design,,check ou different member sites and you can get a lot of ideas,,try this one

http://campadk.com/pjsnoozer/

again welcome,,ask a lots of questions and look at sites,,you can put it together,,

chip

[campadk]

Hi jriefle,

Our PT hauls our tear plus canoe and two bikes on the top of the PT no problem. Not recommended for real mountainous areas though. Without the canoe and bikes it might do ok as long as its not a lot of mountains to deal with (I usually shift into 3rd on long/steep hills).

Not sure how much a modernistic weights, but I weighed our tear today and it was 950lbs loaded - 735lbs dry (PT is rated at 1,000lbs max) for reference. Watch your tongue weight too (rated at 100lbs).