Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Well, I haven't been on this site for a long time. I had a 6 wide Little Guy platform that I used a lot and now it's sold... for a song, but I got a ton of use out of it and many miles.

On order is a Pro-line 14" V nose All Aluminum cargo trailer. It's being made by a family run company about 20 minutes up the street from me. Beautiful trailers. I've ordered barn style doors, A spring loaded outside awning, Ceiling fan, Diamond plate on the outside bottom edge, and a few other things built in. They're leaving out a lot of the screws on the interior wallboard so that I can remove it, insulate and do some wiring.

My plan is to make a camper... but literally a camper. We decided in our 18,000 miles of camping that we do not need or want a kitchen inside the camper. We want a bed to get us off the ground, maybe a TV for a movie or two some evenings, storage, and for the first time a 6'6" interior height. We will be able to put our pants on vertically! We always put the stove on the picnic table and never work from inside or from the rear galley of the teardrop we had. So, not needed now.

More to come....

Congratulations on your new trailer!

We too love our teardrop but are ready for more space. Please post lots of pictures on your build.

We'll be watching. Sounds along the same lines as what I wanted. The most comfortable place to sleep, with lots of storage for too much stuff, and any significant cooking outside. Looking forward to seeing your ideas and perspective.

That's right. The teardrop was good but my wife began saying after awhile, "would be nice to stand up to put my pants on!". And admittedly I began to agree. We always had a good miracle foam mattress in the camper and that one has been saved for the conversion. I want it simple, spacious and bright inside. Since we've small trailer camped for about 6 years, 44 states, and 18,000 miles, we sort of know what we want, what's important and what is a waste of space. Hence, bed, heat, cooling, outdoor living, canopy, and headroom. No sinks, bathrooms, stoves or refrigerators in the camper. We frequent municipal / state / or federal campgrounds. Most usually have electricity and water, good bathrooms and showers. I have a large blue water tote but really, a gallon milk jug is all my wife and I really need for the day. So, what's the point of all the plumbing?

We like to get there, pick up a few things to put on the fire just before arriving, cook outdoors, sit by the fire for awhile till the embers die, then go inside to sleep or maybe watch a movie. The next day we close the doors, pack up a few things, and head to the next state park, or national monument, or scenic setting.

deceiver wrote: So, what's the point of all the plumbing?

More living space, "spacious" as you said. Nothing to winterize. Nothing to freeze. Nothing to leak, inside or out. Nothing to drain. I've got all the public shower places pretty well pegged in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Truck stops and campgrounds mostly, and my own solar shower/portable pump/privy setup if off-grid for a long time. Gravity-flow jug works great for hand washing/dishes/misc., and keeps the water outside where it belongs. I have a portable toilet that's seldom used, as the places I go have plenty of proper places to relieve one's self. More living space.

Check out Rainier70's propane heater for high efficiency. Or, my Dickinson for killer ambiance, I love the little flickering flame. Easy to use and install too.

A Coleman stove is still the portable cooking option I go to. Its 30 years old, give or take, and still burning like new. Put it on any table, the tailgate, the ground, nearly anywhere inside or out. Mostly out.

I'm still buying ice for Coleman Extreme coolers. A 12 volt fridge would be nice, but there's that non-portability thing again, plus more battery juice always being consumed. I like my beverages ice cold too.

Haven't found a good cooling system yet without using 110 volt ac.



Keep us posted when you get started.

Sounds like you have a plan in mind. Good that you have already decided on your needs and can eliminate some of the extras.

I like using one gallon jugs for water. They are easy to use, easy to fill, and I can move them around to adjust my tongue weight. Actually what I use are some clear square "spring" water jugs. They seem to last better when bounced around than the frosted milk jug type. I drive very rough roads!

I tried using the 5 gallon blue jugs, but it seemed like they always leaked and were a pain to move or fill.

On the other hand I only boondock camp so I like -- (need)-- my indoor shower and porta potti. But I too don't have any built in kitchen sink or indoor kitchen setup.

I am looking forward to following your build. I am always game for more good ideas!

Actually, where ever we go we can usually plug in on campsite. I figure a 500-800 watt baseboard heater with thermostat built in is the way to go. Rarely do we need heat and electric (on their time for the cost of the campsite) is a good simple idea.

For cookstoves I had used this beast. A camp chef, 30,000 btu's. But, it needs a bbq propane bottle. I'm going back to the best 1 lb. propane bottle stove I can locate. Good enough and no large bottle to move or tote.

Gonefishin wrote:

deceiver wrote: So, what's the point of all the plumbing?

Check out Rainier70's propane heater for high efficiency. Or, my Dickinson for killer ambiance, I love the little flickering flame. Easy to use and install too.

A Coleman stove is still the portable cooking option I go to. Its 30 years old, give or take, and still burning like new. Put it on any table, the tailgate, the ground, nearly anywhere inside or out. Mostly out.

I'm still buying ice for Coleman Extreme coolers. A 12 volt fridge would be nice, but there's that non-portability thing again, plus more battery juice always being consumed. I like my beverages ice cold too.

Haven't found a good cooling system yet without using 110 volt ac.



Keep us posted when you get started.

And I seem to be in the middle of the road. My camp sites will be varied so I will have a shower stall for "navy" type showers and to hold a potti for middle of the night pee trips for my wife when she goes out with me. A hot water heater is installed for those showers and to perform double duty as a radiant heater. Our cooking will be outside also.

Our Cabelas TeePee performed well for a solid waste toilet stall using the 5 Gal pail and kitty litter method. And we will have AC for those humid nights where there is 120 ac available.

Today the wife and I picked up a new cargo trailer to convert. We ordered it with a few amenities. Extra diamond plate on the side, a 'camper' side door with window and screen door, 11 ft self retracting awning, a window on the driver side, a maxxfan, aluminum wheels, A couple of LED lights inside, and They left interior finish screws out and bagged them so I can take the interior walls off.

Nice. That looks a lot like mine. It also looks the same size 12'.

Looks great. I especially like the diamond plate and permanet step.

The light interior looks great. Is it just plywood, or something else? It appears bright in the photo, in a good way. Whole thing looks like a great start.

The interior is a wallboard that seems to have a rough coating to it. They left off about 70% of the self tapping screws so I could remove them and do insulation and wiring additions.

The floor is this stuff that is supposedly impervious to weather. I triple asked and they said it won't be affected by water, rain, or road salt from the interior or exterior. I asked if I should paint the underside. They said I could but not needed.

The trailer is 12', 17.5' overall.


These guys do a nice job. Family business started 25 yrs ago making snowmobile trailers, now a multi hanger small factory where they custom make all types. I could have had cabinets, AC, Lots of electricity options, etc.... they'll do just about anything. I had to stop the $$ bleeding at some point. Besides I love doing this stuff myself.

after my modified little guy 6 wide platform that was heavy. I couldn't move the thing by hand. This one... you can grab the chain and pull it fairly easily. Curb wt is 1300 lbs.

Seems like the industry or dealers could use a "standard" measurement. In my thread I think️ I mentioned looking at trailers that said 12' v nose. And it was a 9' with 3' v. Beck's, "mega dealer" here in Michigan is known for that. There the salespeople claim that's the right way. Yet all other little dealers say it's 12' + v.
Anyway, looking forward to your build. I'm slow and broke so my trailer isn't going to be done soon. I have a used awning rails and wondered if you could tell me if the vertical arms are drilled into trailer frame or how they are mounted.
Thanks