Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

This design was requested - it's a 9.5ft version of the Jim Dandy Sportsman - with the front galley.



Jim Dandy Sportsman

Andrew

The fornt galley gives me the thought to square off the rear and add a slide out for the foot of the bed. Queen size bed maybe? The trailer tounge bothers me though. Maybe swing the galley like some of the Aussie kitchens on the tailgate. Just thoughts.

I say get a swing away or disconecting hitch so it dosnt poke out from under the small wall peice, other than that I think it would be easier to build a kitchen in it and you would have more space for storage and your head!

My conclusion is that this arrangement is quite nice, but doesn't really work because:-
plus - full height at the galley for maximum storage
plus - low part of teardrop is where your feet are, so height not required
plus - (I think) the shape is quite sweet
minus - you bang your shins on the drawbar
minus - you can't get to the galley because the fold-down flap's in the way (as drawn)
minus - half the weight of the galley goes on the tongue
minus - the door is a squeeze between the wheels and the galley and can't be moved back or made wider
minus - you have to crawl down the bed to get to all the storage
If you change to a one-piece galley hatch, it makes the design better - you can stand right up to the galley (no projecting floor like all other teardrops) and the hatch would just clear the tow vehicle (but no rear-mounted spare wheel).

Still, it was intersting to see how it works out.

Andrew

You're correct about the weight. That's a big minus. I saw a Danish Maxi Tear that looked backwards on the frame. I.E. the big end of the drop was on the back. If you did that to this design it would remove a lot of the minus's you mentioned but the wheels would block the doors.

Do not forget about the possibility of a removable tongue. My trailer has this and I fully intend on slipping it out when in camp mode. A couple bottle jacks under the frame will hold the TD in place. The galley in front option also allows for direct access from the rear ala Wild Goose. You could even do some innovative canvas work to open up the space even more. I would not go as far as a fold down door like the Wild Goose, but do like the less claustrophobic cabin. To address the tongue weight, you could move the axle forward. Tongue weight is not too much of an issue unless you are towing with a small vehicle, like some do. I like the innovation.

Carrying the wild goose idea forward or rear as it is you could engineer one of those screen rooms onto the back. I have a inexspenive one from Wally World that would probably work. It is a design to keep in mind.

Andrew, I just got a look at the mark 2.I don't think there's any way it could be made feasable with the axle moved back to 73 inches! It will be tough to make it a go at 64 but i think it will be fine. What about a through storage in the rear cabinet that can be accessed from a hatch on the sides? That way no one has to crawl under the upper cabinet to get to it! Also the upper cabinet has a generous depth to it. So how about installing a sliding organizer on a set of drawer slides to make that space more accessable without having to go shoulder deep to reach everything?
Just a thought or two from my planning!
Mark

Mark72 wrote:Andrew, I just got a look at the mark 2.I don't think there's any way it could be made feasable with the axle moved back to 73 inches!

Arrrgh! Where did that come from? Why did I design that?

OK, I've now reset the Jim Dandy page to the real Mk 2, which is just a Mk1 but showing a removable tongue.

Accessing those storage areas from outside has to make them more useful, but it's a fair bit more work and there's the potential for leaks. You may feel it's better just to have to squeeze down to the end!

Andrew