Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Just trying to figure out how to simple camp with 3 small kids.

Outside dimensions of the box are 7'H x 6'w x 10'L (might shave 1' out of the Height... who knows)

the three bunks are 3'6"H x 3'W x 5'L
The full bed is 5'W x 6'L

Cooking will be outdoors and there will a table mounted to the side. Sides have 2 diff profiles due to me trying to create something I like. Indecision for now..

1/4" ply for sides and top, 3/8" ply for interior dividers and 1/2" for the floor should keep this build light enough for my subaru.

Very lil along the lines of plumbing and electric should make this an easy build. I don't spend a lot of time inside anyway.

Linky to sketchup project file for your editing or viewing pleasure!

Unless you have really BIG kids; a 24" wide pad works. My 12 y/o grandson has plenty of room.

Kids have a bad habit of growing. My 9 year old is 5'2"! I agree that 24" should work for bunk width, but 5' long seems too limiting. Especially if the endwalls have to come out of 10', you're down to 4'10".

Standard RV bunk mattresses are 28" or 30" x75", but plenty of camp mattresses are 20" or 24" x 72", plus you can always do your own cover on any size foam.

When they're teenagers they (and you) will prefer being in a tent- but quick stops or driving rain make an indoor option good. (If you start out with a 5-sleeper... keep it a 5 sleeper)

I've spent 9 years trying to figure out a 4 person trailer design and haven't come up with a non-folding option that's less than 6+ feet wide and 11' long if it includes cooking and toileting areas.

My suggestion to you is to stack the three bunks all in a row 75" long and stretch your body to 11'. Out of 132" that gives 4" for the walls, 75" for the bunks, and 53" across for the big bed. Where your existing rear upper bunk is shown could become cabinets.

Another option is to have a fold-down bunk over the big bed and two across the front. That's definitely possible with 10' and no cooking facilities.

Or just go with The Campster 12. You could make it 10' if the kitchen were scrapped.

you could also trim down the 5' wide bed. Our last two builds had a five wide bed and it slept three of us - two adults and one teenager. Our current build is going to have a 4'wide bed for me and the mrs - the daughter gets her own bed at the front. You might also trim the the interior by the 1 foot - 7 feet is really getting up there

Just noticed the 3'6" height on the 5' bunks. My 70 year old parents sleep in a motorhome cabover which is just over 2' high. Kids could probably do with 18".

In fact I keep trying to get my son to sleep under the bed on our Chalet. It's 14" high!

Edit:
Another thought is to have the bunks (3 high) under/overlap the big bed. The bottom will of course lose width from the wheel well (so maybe a bit wider is better). The middle would cut footroom for the big bed, so make it shorter (presuming that one of your kids will end up shorter than the others). The bottom and top could be 8' long.

Thanks for the replies....

After posting this, I realized I might be a lil tall on this. I can easily cut a foot out of the height which would also bring it down enough to pull it inside the garage. If I need more height, I can throw a drop floor in the very small standing area that is there now.

As for the kids, I have twins and a single. The twins are 1 y/o and a newborn. It would be quite a few years before they need anything longer than 5' for beds. (mama is 4'10") By the time they get that size tents are an option. My wazat was 4' wide and while comfortable, It would have been nice to have 5' wide.

I do agree after playing with a tape measure that 24" would be just fine for the bunks and that just gives more headroom on the main bed. and possibly a small storage cabinet up there too.

I did consider 3 high across the front giving them a full 6' length but sacrificing a lot of headroom. My navy days tell me that its not nice not being able to sit up in bed. which is why I went with the stagger.

As for not stretching the trailer in legth to 11'... Trying to keep it small and lightweight.