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New long term project.

azgreg

azgreg

Chicks dig the long ball
DP Veteran
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
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Location
Phoenix, AZ
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Independent
Me and the wife love to camp, but I'm getting to old and fat to sleep on the ground in a tent anymore. A travel trailer is out of the question as I'm not buying a truck. I like my Escape too much and my wife ain't getting rid of her HHR. I don't like pop-ups and neither does she. My wife has always wanted a teardrop camper so I've decided to build her one. For those of you not familiar they are small trailers usually rounded that sleep 2 and the back opens up to expose a small galley (kitchen). Here are a few examples.

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Benroy-open-galley.jpg
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That's actually really cool, but small. Hope neither of you are claustrophobic. :lol:

Cool idea, though. Can you post pictures as you go?
 
Superfly said:
That's actually really cool, but small. Hope neither of you are claustrophobic. :lol:

Cool idea, though. Can you post pictures as you go?
Click to expand...

I'll post progress pics, but I'm not in a hurry here. I'm not going to start until it cools down a bit. Sometime this fall.
 
Cool. I like the idea. Hubs and I have been talking about buying a camper for the 2 of us, when our youngest goes off to college in 2 years. I just don't know - as much as I would like a camper, I have to shower every day. I freak out if I can't shower every day, and in the smaller campers, there's no room for showers or anything. So then you move to a bigger camper, have to have a bigger truck to pull it, blah blah.

We've almost just talked ourselves into staying in cheesy touristy hotels. :lol:
 
azgreg said:
Me and the wife love to camp, but I'm getting to old and fat to sleep on the ground in a tent anymore. A travel trailer is out of the question as I'm not buying a truck. I like my Escape too much and my wife ain't getting rid of her HHR. I don't like pop-ups and neither does she. My wife has always wanted a teardrop camper so I've decided to build her one. For those of you not familiar they are small trailers usually rounded that sleep 2 and the back opens up to expose a small galley (kitchen). Here are a few examples.
Click to expand...

I've seen these around on occasion.
There might event be a club whose members are devotees.
They look really cool, but look like a tight squeeze sleepwise.
This one is my favorite....


View attachment 67186695


Good luck and keep us posted!
 
azgreg said:
I'll post progress pics, but I'm not in a hurry here. I'm not going to start until it cools down a bit. Sometime this fall.
Click to expand...

Nothing gets done in the 602 until it cools down!
 
Superfly said:
Cool. I like the idea. Hubs and I have been talking about buying a camper for the 2 of us, when our youngest goes off to college in 2 years. I just don't know - as much as I would like a camper, I have to shower every day. I freak out if I can't shower every day, and in the smaller campers, there's no room for showers or anything. So then you move to a bigger camper, have to have a bigger truck to pull it, blah blah.
Click to expand...

Yeah...gotta shower everyday....all that road buildup.....sticky/sweaty and not in a good way.

We've almost just talked ourselves into staying in cheesy touristy hotels. :lol:
Click to expand...

I'm a big fan of touristy hotels/motels.
I've found a lot of kitschy mid-20th century motels just off our interstates.
Some of the older ones have a historical gravitas about them.
WARNING: Some of the furnishings and plumbing may be a little "historical" too. Check 'em out before you check in.:)
 
radioman said:
Yeah...gotta shower everyday....all that road buildup.....sticky/sweaty and not in a good way.

I'm a big fan of touristy hotels/motels.
I've found a lot of kitschy mid-20th century motels just off our interstates.
Some of the older ones have a historical gravitas about them.
WARNING: Some of the furnishings and plumbing may be a little "historical" too. Check 'em out before you check in.:)
Click to expand...

:lol: I don't worry too much about furnishings in the hotels I stay in. I'm not one of these people who has to stay in a Marriott when I travel. As long as the bed is comfy, the AC works and I have hot water in the morning and enough towels, I'm good to go. I stayed in a really, really nice hotel once in Chattanooga - cherry furniture, everything was nice and new and sparkly, right? Got in the shower, got completely lathered up with soap, and the water turned off. :2mad: It took about 20 minutes before it was turned back on, all the while I was standing there, soap running in my eyes, etc.
 
radioman said:
I've seen these around on occasion.
There might event be a club whose members are devotees.
They look really cool, but look like a tight squeeze sleepwise.
This one is my favorite....



Good luck and keep us posted!
Click to expand...

Some can be quite elaborate. Mine will be a bit simpler.
 
beefheart said:
Nothing gets done in the 602 until it cools down!
Click to expand...

Same as here. We hunker down here in the summer, like we hunkered down in Syracuse in the winter. We do as little as possible during the day, because the heat is up near 100 every day, and the humidity is at or near 100%. Oppressive.
 
azgreg said:
Me and the wife love to camp, but I'm getting to old and fat to sleep on the ground in a tent anymore. A travel trailer is out of the question as I'm not buying a truck. I like my Escape too much and my wife ain't getting rid of her HHR. I don't like pop-ups and neither does she. My wife has always wanted a teardrop camper so I've decided to build her one. For those of you not familiar they are small trailers usually rounded that sleep 2 and the back opens up to expose a small galley (kitchen). Here are a few examples.

View attachment 67186693
View attachment 67186694
View attachment 67186695
View attachment 67186696
Click to expand...

Pretty cute. Where are the sleeping quarters?
 
JumpinJack said:
Pretty cute. Where are the sleeping quarters?
Click to expand...

The whole thing is the sleeping quarters. Your head at the front with your feet under the cabinets at the rear. The one I'm building will just have room for a full extra long (54"x80") mattress.
 
azgreg said:
The whole thing is the sleeping quarters. Your head at the front with your feet under the cabinets at the rear. The one I'm building will just have room for a full extra long (54"x80") mattress.
Click to expand...

I like it.

Do you hook up to water lines at RV places? Or is it a place to assist while campin natively? You carry weapons with you, I hope?
 
JumpinJack said:
I like it.

Do you hook up to water lines at RV places? Or is it a place to assist while campin natively? You carry weapons with you, I hope?
Click to expand...
This one will only have 12v power for a few lights and a water pump. We usually camp where there aren't any hook ups.
 
azgreg said:
here's a diagram of a typical teardrop trailer layout.

View attachment 67186726
Click to expand...

Very nice. I wouldn't mind having one of those. Only problem is, these days, the wackos that might be out there in the wilderness. I used to do a bit of primitive camping with my ex back in the day. We had a gun, of course. But we generally didn't worry. Nowadays, though, there are so many crazies with guns and knives everywhere, I don't know if I'd risk it.
 



Hubs showed me this yesterday. Looks really cool, and doesn't look as closed in because it can be pulled out for a queen sized bed.

You can also get one with a shower and (I think he said) a toilet. It's more expensive, though.

If we are reading correctly, the most expensive one is only $22,000 Australian dollars, which converts to around $16,000 USD (and that includes shipping from Australia).

And it's lightweight, like 4,000 lbs, so it wouldn't be a huge deal to tow.
 
Superfly said:
Hubs showed me this yesterday. Looks really cool, and doesn't look as closed in because it can be pulled out for a queen sized bed.

You can also get one with a shower and (I think he said) a toilet. It's more expensive, though.

If we are reading correctly, the most expensive one is only $22,000 Australian dollars, which converts to around $16,000 USD (and that includes shipping from Australia).

And it's lightweight, like 4,000 lbs, so it wouldn't be a huge deal to tow.
Click to expand...

I'm budgeting for about $2,000-2,500 and a target weight of 1,000-1,200 lbs.
 
azgreg said:
Me and the wife love to camp, but I'm getting to old and fat to sleep on the ground in a tent anymore. A travel trailer is out of the question as I'm not buying a truck. I like my Escape too much and my wife ain't getting rid of her HHR. I don't like pop-ups and neither does she. My wife has always wanted a teardrop camper so I've decided to build her one. For those of you not familiar they are small trailers usually rounded that sleep 2 and the back opens up to expose a small galley (kitchen). Here are a few examples.

View attachment 67186693
View attachment 67186694
View attachment 67186695
View attachment 67186696
Click to expand...

Or you could buy a 5x8 utility trailer and simply outfit it quite nicely. That's what I did with a trailer I owned outright when I was foreclosed on a number of years ago. Like many I saw my demise at hand and prepped for it, so instead of being truly homeless, I had my little trailer room, that I can actually stand in, though anyone over 5'6" probably can't. I pulled it for years with my wee little Mazda Protege... now like you I have an Escape which I really like so it'll be that much easier.
Anyway, if you just want to build for the sake of it, have at it, but it might be easier to adapt and existing and readily available usually not real spendy basic utility trailer.
 
Summerwind said:
Or you could buy a 5x8 utility trailer and simply outfit it quite nicely. That's what I did with a trailer I owned outright when I was foreclosed on a number of years ago. Like many I saw my demise at hand and prepped for it, so instead of being truly homeless, I had my little trailer room, that I can actually stand in, though anyone over 5'6" probably can't. I pulled it for years with my wee little Mazda Protege... now like you I have an Escape which I really like so it'll be that much easier.
Anyway, if you just want to build for the sake of it, have at it, but it might be easier to adapt and existing and readily available usually not real spendy basic utility trailer.
Click to expand...

Part of it is the build itself. I'm really looking forward to the project.
 
azgreg said:
Part of it is the build itself. I'm really looking forward to the project.
Click to expand...

Those guys on T&TT are really good, they slapped one together in a weekend one time, which is called, interestingly enough, the Weekender. I am partial to the Benroy style myself, it's on my bucket list.
 
it's just me said:
Those guys on T&TT are really good, they slapped one together in a weekend one time, which is called, interestingly enough, the Weekender. I am partial to the Benroy style myself, it's on my bucket list.
Click to expand...

I like the Benroy as well, but my wife is partial to the Grumman 2.
 
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