Retro Ride Teardrops

[bobhav]

Hi Bobcape,

I'm very pleased with the way my Retro Ride tows. I towed it from Wisconsin to home with our 2 liter Mazda and this weekend to the farm behind our '06 half ton Chevy. Once I'm on the highway, I'm not aware that I'm towing until I look in the rear view mirror. I do drive conservitively.

Bob H

[Bobcape]

Two weekends ago, I made the drive over to Plover, WI to pick up my Retro Ride Teardrop trailer. Ended up taking 13.5 hours to get there on Thursday and about 15 hours to get home. Lots of little stops on the way back, plus, I was tired! I've never towed any kind of trailer, so my observations are based on zero experience. It was extremely easy to tow on the highway. I ran about 72 mph most of the way home. There was a stretch of interstate in Minnesota that had rhythmic bumps that got the trailer going a little crazy. I slowed way down, like 50 mph, and it pulled better. I called Blake from Retro Ride at my next stop and asked him about it. He said the tires have a fill range of 35-60 psi and were probably near the upper end. He said to bring them down to about 40 psi. Indeed they were at 58 psi. It rode much better over the bumps at 40 psi.

Since I got a late start and had made so many stops, I decided not to drive straight thru on the way home. And, I just happened to have a place to sleep right behind me. Way cool! I brought a little weather station with me and had the guys mount the outdoors sensor under the camper before I left. It showed the overnight low got down to 28. I was warm and comfortable inside. I left a window cracked and had very little condensation in the morning.

This past weekend, Lum (my Springer) and I took it on its maiden voyage. I can't believe how much junk (that I probably don't need) I can fit into the thing! I headed to a favorite camping spot in the National Forest about 45 miles away. The last 8 miles are on a very narrow two-track. About 3 miles before my destination there's a long curve that's always shaded by trees. It still had 10+" of snow and ice. I was hoping I didn't have to back up very far to get turned around. And then I looked at the side of the road and it spoke to me. It said "Camp here, dummy!". It was a beautiful spot. Ended up seeing some elk from my chair the next morning!

The weather was great. Got down in the 20's at night and into the 60's in the days. I was extremely comfortable sleeping in it. Plenty of room and warm. Lum's high metabolism makes him breathe fast all the time. So I had a fair amount of condensation in the mornings. No problem, just opened the doors for awhile in the mornings.

If I said I was happy with my purchase it would be an understatement. One of the best parts was coming home Sunday. Breaking camp was a breeze. And when I got home I didn't have to bring everything inside, most will stay in the camper. Very cool!

I'm heading out tomorrow for a tri-state long range shooting match. It's northwest of Glasgow, MT. About 10 hours away. Never been there before. At least I'm supposed to, we just got 27" of snow the last two days. Hopefully the interstate will be clear fairly early.

Check out my pictures in my gallery. Thanks for all of the advice.

Bob

[bobhav]

Hi Bobcape,

I'm happy to hear that you are enjoying your new Retro Ride teardrop. About the time you made your purchase, my wife and I were getting ready to drive to Minot, N.D.
We drove in snow going and coming. I've been busy with outside work and haven't spent much time on this site. No, didn't have the teardrop with us.

We have had out teardrop out 6 or 7 times and we are learning a few things along the way. Early on, in cold weather, getting warm and staying warm in the camper was a problem. We had a pair of 30 to 50 degree sleeping bags zipped together, but the have a polyester lining. The solution was to buy a piece of 60" wide flannel 4.5 yds. long. The flannel was folded in half and used as a pair of sheets joined at the foot. This added a lot of warmth and comfort for sleeping.

Now that it is warmer, the sleeping bags are stored away, and a comforter is in use. The flannel liner is folded and stored under the mattress. A pair of twin sheets have been sewn together at the foot and are now in use, and yes, my feet stay covered.

We have bought a 9' foot umbrella and it provides shade. It is dropped into the hole in the hitch and the pole is used slightly into the dirt to stabilize the umbrella. It is easily stored in the galley area.

I've made a folding table top to cover the hitch rack. It is hinged in the middle and stores folded in the galley counter.

Lilly and I have many teardrop trips for the summer. CRA will be one of them. We will towing in to Minot in August. In June we spend two weekends camping in Indiana, I think we are going to learn more about our vent/fan.

Bob H.

Two weekends ago, I made the drive over to Plover, WI to pick up my Retro Ride Teardrop trailer. Ended up taking 13.5 hours to get there on Thursday and about 15 hours to get home. Lots of little stops on the way back, plus, I was tired! I've never towed any kind of trailer, so my observations are based on zero experience. It was extremely easy to tow on the highway. I ran about 72 mph most of the way home. There was a stretch of interstate in Minnesota that had rhythmic bumps that got the trailer going a little crazy. I slowed way down, like 50 mph, and it pulled better. I called Blake from Retro Ride at my next stop and asked him about it. He said the tires have a fill range of 35-60 psi and were probably near the upper end. He said to bring them down to about 40 psi. Indeed they were at 58 psi. It rode much better over the bumps at 40 psi.

Since I got a late start and had made so many stops, I decided not to drive straight thru on the way home. And, I just happened to have a place to sleep right behind me. Way cool! I brought a little weather station with me and had the guys mount the outdoors sensor under the camper before I left. It showed the overnight low got down to 28. I was warm and comfortable inside. I left a window cracked and had very little condensation in the morning.

This past weekend, Lum (my Springer) and I took it on its maiden voyage. I can't believe how much junk (that I probably don't need) I can fit into the thing! I headed to a favorite camping spot in the National Forest about 45 miles away. The last 8 miles are on a very narrow two-track. About 3 miles before my destination there's a long curve that's always shaded by trees. It still had 10+" of snow and ice. I was hoping I didn't have to back up very far to get turned around. And then I looked at the side of the road and it spoke to me. It said "Camp here, dummy!". It was a beautiful spot. Ended up seeing some elk from my chair the next morning!

The weather was great. Got down in the 20's at night and into the 60's in the days. I was extremely comfortable sleeping in it. Plenty of room and warm. Lum's high metabolism makes him breathe fast all the time. So I had a fair amount of condensation in the mornings. No problem, just opened the doors for awhile in the mornings.

If I said I was happy with my purchase it would be an understatement. One of the best parts was coming home Sunday. Breaking camp was a breeze. And when I got home I didn't have to bring everything inside, most will stay in the camper. Very cool!

I'm heading out tomorrow for a tri-state long range shooting match. It's northwest of Glasgow, MT. About 10 hours away. Never been there before. At least I'm supposed to, we just got 27" of snow the last two days. Hopefully the interstate will be clear fairly early.

Check out my pictures in my gallery. Thanks for all of the advice.

Bob

[memaggie]

Probably 10 years ago I had talked to a friend about going in together on a t@b trailer. I managed to get over the bug, but now it's back. I went tent camping in the rain a few weeks ago which meant the joy of setting everything back up once you get home and letting it dry.

A friend bought a Retro Ride Teardrop and has used it for a three week trip and a weekend trip. She said that it was great for her, her husband, and their three year old, but they are looking to have a second kid and are probably going to sell their teardrop and go for something a little bigger.

She's offered to sell it to me for about $1,000 less than what they paid for it, and I'm having a really hard time resisting! My boyfriend, on the other hand, seems to think that it isn't a good practical use of money.

Thought I would look here for a little more opinion on Retro Rides. They definitely seem to be a good price, but wanted feedback from others who had used them regarding how well built they are, etc.

Thanks,

Maggie

[bobhav]

Probably 10 years ago I had talked to a friend about going in together on a t@b trailer. I managed to get over the bug, but now it's back. I went tent camping in the rain a few weeks ago which meant the joy of setting everything back up once you get home and letting it dry.

A friend bought a Retro Ride Teardrop and has used it for a three week trip and a weekend trip. She said that it was great for her, her husband, and their three year old, but they are looking to have a second kid and are probably going to sell their teardrop and go for something a little bigger.

She's offered to sell it to me for about $1,000 less than what they paid for it, and I'm having a really hard time resisting! My boyfriend, on the other hand, seems to think that it isn't a good practical use of money.

Thought I would look here for a little more opinion on Retro Rides. They definitely seem to be a good price, but wanted feedback from others who had used them regarding how well built they are, etc.

Thanks,

Maggie

Hi Maggie,
Let me apologize for not getting back to you sooner. Do you and your boyfriend camp? If you are in a long term relationship with him, one of you will need to change your position. Can you barrow the camper and both of you try it out? Decide which is more important to you, the decision my change your relationship.

We have owned ours less than a year and have spent maybe 7 nights camping. The longest tow was 250 miles one way, we averaged 27MPG. I haven't any negative experiences to report. We re in our 60's and it serves our needs. Most of our camping is not with a social group, it is just the two of us. 40 years ago, when we were just married and thinking about starting a family, buying a teardrop would not have been a good decision.

I think I'd better crawl back under my rock, before I give any advice.

BobH.

[Bobcape]

Maggie,
I bought my Retro Ride teardrop in March of this year. I have camped in it more than 20 nights so far. The longest trip was 11 nights. You can read about it here - http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=56465&p=1022923#p1022923.

For me the decision was about upgrading from tent camping. In the past I had viewed the down side to owning a camper as:
* loss of mobility, flexibility
* "hassle factor"
* site selection
* pre-trip / post-trip prep
* up keep, durability

I'm glad I was wrong about most of those. BTW - I have only camped in a campground or designated camp site maybe three times in my life. Not my cup of tea.

Loss of mobility, flexibility - More than once I have setup the trailer and then decided to move to another spot the next morning. It's about a 10 minute proposition to be ready to move. Quicker than with a tent. I've also reoriented my trailer by turning it a little because of the sun or a view, etc. As far as mobility goes, I pulled it to a spot in the Big Horns that the access was questionable even without a trailer. I've found that if I can make it in my TV, I can pull the trailer there. The large tires are a huge asset in snow, mud and rutted dirt roads. It pulls easily on the road and has only a small impact on MPG.

Hassle factor - A friend had a pop up tent trailer for a few years. I based my opinions on that I guess. Hitching and unhitching on uneven ground and getting that thing set up was a pain. Much more hassle than my tents ever were. 3 out of the 4 years that he brought it to the Big Horn Mountains it lost the battle with high winds and needed repairs. With my teardrop I literally pull into a spot I want to camp, lower the jack and unhitch, level it as best I can, set the rear jacks and open the windows and turn on the fan. I'm done. 10 minutes max. Sleeping in a bed with sheets and blankets is much nicer than a sleeping bag. I've stayed comfortable in 25 degree weather with snow. Having a galley that I can arrange the way I like is much handier than living out of boxes and crates for a week. I didn't think it would be a big deal, but having power, lights and a fan that lasts me 10+ days is great!

Site selection - Almost anywhere I can drive to for tent camping, I can pull the trailer. This has become a non-issue for me. It's actually a plus for the teardrop. I don't have to worry about rocky, muddy or uneven spots anymore.

Pre-trip / post-trip prep - This has been the greatest benefit. Because I can leave the essentials packed in the trailer, all I add is water, food and clothes and I'm ready to go. Hopefully I remember to plug it in the day before to charge up. Everything has its place when I prep to head out or return home. The last day of the trip is much easier now. I can either stay longer on site or get home early and not face the dreaded unpacking, drying out and repacking.

Upkeep, durability - This is a little hard to speak to since I've had it less than a year. I've had a couple of issues that were easy to fix and I got support from Retro Ride on them. I made a few changes to the trailer - replaced the lights with LEDs, the fender paint chipped from rocks and started to rust so I took them off and had them Rhino coated, I moved the license light and holder and added curtains. I had a problem on the road in April. We had a late spring storm. About 11" of heavy snow and ice. Ice built up on the trailer light cable. It got so heavy that it pulled the wires out of the connector and I lost my lights. I found a replacement connector about an hour away and got it replaced the next day. I now make sure the cable doesn't hang down much.

These have been my experiences with my Retro Ride teardrop. I have no hesitation recommending the trailer for features and reliability You'll have to decide if it's the right investment for you.

Bob

[Bobcape]

BobH made a great suggestion. See if you can arrange to borrow your friend's teardrop for a two night demo. You really need to wake up in the trailer a few mornings to get a good idea if you're going to like it.

Bob

[memaggie]

My boyfriend and I both enjoy tent camping, but it is just such a hassle to deal with when you don't have ideal weather and have to set everything back up when you get home to dry out before you can even put it away. We actually ended up coming home earlier than intended from our last trip because we knew that we were going to have to set tents back up once we got home to let them dry before packing them up again. I love the idea of having everything basically ready to go when you want to head out on a trip rather than having to get everything ready as well. I'm not a big fan of most campers, because if I'm camping I want to cook outside. So, the teardrop galley seems ideal. I can handle less than ideal weather when I'm camping, but it's the extra work on the back-end that frustrates me. I'd have to imagine sleeping in a 'real' bed is also pretty fantastic.

My boyfriend and I are both in our 30's and no kids at this point, but likely in the future, but that wouldn't be for a few years. So, for the time being at least, it is just the two of us and my crazy little puggle dog. I've been trying to convince him that we need to go and explore the National Parks. Unfortunately, Indiana (where we live) doesn't have any National Parks, so that would mean a more involved trip. Camping obviously makes it a more economical trip, but the idea of setting up a tent at multiple places seems like it would get old after a few times, whereas the teardrop would be quicker to get set up and take down. Ah, not having to cram a tent back into a bag that seems just a little too small...

I need to figure out what kind of a timeframe my friend is looking at to sell her trailer to see if we have a weekend free that maybe we can borrow it and try it out. They live a few hours away from us though, so I'm guessing borrowing it for the weekend would mean going down their way and camping somewhere in that general area. Also, I don't currently have a trailer hitch on my car, so would need to probably make that investment before borrowing it.

Bobcape - I'm going to check out your travels now!

Maggie

[bobhav]

Maggie,

It sounds like you are forming a plan. Good luck and have fun! Will you be at McCormick's Creek next weekend? My wife and I have reserved site #125, we have every intention of being there.

BobH

.

My boyfriend and I both enjoy tent camping, but it is just such a hassle to deal with when you don't have ideal weather and have to set everything back up when you get home to dry out before you can even put it away. We actually ended up coming home earlier than intended from our last trip because we knew that we were going to have to set tents back up once we got home to let them dry before packing them up again. I love the idea of having everything basically ready to go when you want to head out on a trip rather than having to get everything ready as well. I'm not a big fan of most campers, because if I'm camping I want to cook outside. So, the teardrop galley seems ideal. I can handle less than ideal weather when I'm camping, but it's the extra work on the back-end that frustrates me. I'd have to imagine sleeping in a 'real' bed is also pretty fantastic.

My boyfriend and I are both in our 30's and no kids at this point, but likely in the future, but that wouldn't be for a few years. So, for the time being at least, it is just the two of us and my crazy little puggle dog. I've been trying to convince him that we need to go and explore the National Parks. Unfortunately, Indiana (where we live) doesn't have any National Parks, so that would mean a more involved trip. Camping obviously makes it a more economical trip, but the idea of setting up a tent at multiple places seems like it would get old after a few times, whereas the teardrop would be quicker to get set up and take down. Ah, not having to cram a tent back into a bag that seems just a little too small...

I need to figure out what kind of a timeframe my friend is looking at to sell her trailer to see if we have a weekend free that maybe we can borrow it and try it out. They live a few hours away from us though, so I'm guessing borrowing it for the weekend would mean going down their way and camping somewhere in that general area. Also, I don't currently have a trailer hitch on my car, so would need to probably make that investment before borrowing it.

Bobcape - I'm going to check out your travels now!

Maggie

[memaggie]

Maggie,

It sounds like you are forming a plan. Good luck and have fun! Will you be at McCormick's Creek next weekend? My wife and I have reserved site #125, we have every intention of being there.

BobH

I assume that this is a teardrop camping trip? Since I don't know about it, I'm going to guess that I won't be there. Also, I'm supposed to be doing a 10K in Chicago next weekend. (I say supposed to, because I have been really bad about running for the last month or two.)

[bobhav]

Maggie,

It sounds like you are Will you be at McCormick's Creek next weekend? My wife and I have reserved site #125, we have every intention of being there.

BobH

I assume that this is a teardrop camping trip? Since I don't know about it, I'm going to guess that I won't be there. Also, I'm supposed to be doing a 10K in Chicago next weekend. (I say supposed to, because I have been really bad about running for the last month or two.)

Maggie,

It is "The Crossroads of America 2013 Gathering" this will be our first time there. We are really looking forward to it. There is a thread dedicated to it. I think there will be in excess of 150 teardrops and tiny trailers there. The dates are July 25 thru July 28. For me, it sounds like more fun that running. It will be an chance to see a variety of teardrop campers and talk with many owners, oh, and there are planner activities.

BobH.

[memaggie]

Maggie,

It sounds like you are Will you be at McCormick's Creek next weekend? My wife and I have reserved site #125, we have every intention of being there.

BobH

I assume that this is a teardrop camping trip? Since I don't know about it, I'm going to guess that I won't be there. Also, I'm supposed to be doing a 10K in Chicago next weekend. (I say supposed to, because I have been really bad about running for the last month or two.)

Maggie,

It is "The Crossroads of America 2013 Gathering" this will be our first time there. We are really looking forward to it. There is a thread dedicated to it. I think there will be in excess of 150 teardrops and tiny trailers there. The dates are July 25 thru July 28. For me, it sounds like more fun that running. It will be an chance to see a variety of teardrop campers and talk with many owners, oh, and there are planner activities.

BobH.

Unfortunately, it looks like it is still about 3 hours away from me, or I would definitely try to stop by and check out some of the teardrops. Camping does sound like more fun than running a 10K, but I have already paid the entry fee and have a number of friends also running, not to mention that we have a tradition of eating breakfast at a delicious place after Chicago races. They have the most phenomenal white chocolate caramel pretzel pancakes. (My group of friends that I run with have named ourselves 'Team Pancakes' because we run to justify eating delicious things like pancakes.)

[bobhav]

Hi folks,

It was a year ago this last week end that we pulled our new Retro Ride Teardrop home from Stevens Point. Since then we have towed it over 4,000 miles. and have slept in over 20 nights. We have had no major issues. It tows great. It is great to sleep in. We have camped in it in temperatures from 20 to 90 degrees F.

The few problems that we have had we caused inexperience on our part. Blake has been a very patient source of help, we consider him to be a friend.

We have added just a few things. Inside each door is a fire extinguisher and there is a third one mounted in the galley. We have added a coat hook on each inside wall, now when we take our clothes off for bed we have a place to hang them.

Last spring I made a folding table top to use on top of the front cargo rack, It stores on the counter in the galley when we are traveling. It is very handy.

Our trailer hitch had an unused hole in it for a fixed mounted jack. That hole is now what supports our 9' umbrella. The umbrella does a fine job of shading us as we lounge about setting at our folding table. Tapered wooden wedges fit the umbrella pole to the hitch hole. Any yes, the umbrella stores on the galley with 2 folding chairs.

On warm lazy days, we set an electric fan on our table top for an extra breeze. Riley never had it so good!

We keep our teardrop stocked with every thing but water in the winter time. An adventure can start within the next 20 minutes. We store dehydrated soup mixes in the galley with beef jerky on the side. Since it is just Lilly and I, we will just use a half a soup mix the other half goes in a ziplock for next time. A chopped up piece of jerky is some times used to add a bit of flavor to the soup.

We are looking forward to more outings next year. Ten years ago, I never dreamed that I would enjoy life so much in the slow lane.

Bob Haverstock