Rough roads are hard on mass produced travel trailers. They're simply not designed to handle the washboard roads, let alone anything more rough. Partially why my family decided to go with a custom teardrop with RTT for our family of 4. With the annex, you can easily sleep another 2-3 more people for a total of 6-7. Even more if there are kids included.






Please excuse the lack of staking. I was too lazy to do it on this trip.

Man... A small teardrop with an outdoor kitchen would be so great! I was definitely considering this until I saw the prices... It almost seems as I could get more bang for my buck going with a Jayco Baja edition (albeit much less durable).

Can I ask what you use for a bathroom?

Yeah... you can definitely get more bang for your buck with small travel trailers. But it limits you to where you can take them. My family is into dispersed camping and smaller campsites where I KNOW you won't be able to fit a travel trailer. It's really a matter of how you want to enjoy the outdoors.

I did A TON of research into travel trailers of all sorts. I found through reading all the reviews and following different forums, the teardrop lifestyle is what my family wanted. Ultimately, it's about getting outside and enjoying what nature has to give us. Don't get me wrong, all the amenities are great, but it's the experience of what you do when you get there are what matters to me and my family. We don't want to spend time inside a travel trailer watching movies or cooking inside. If we wanted that, we'd just BBQ at home.

It took awhile for me to swallow the cost of a well appointed teardrop, but in the end, it's exactly how we want to spend our time outside.

As far as restrooms, either dig a hole or use the campground pit toilets. There are tons of options for outdoor shower systems available too. In more established campgrounds, there are coin operated showers too.

@Marcocopuffs Check out the Forest River Rpods, they look like they can handle some off road trails and they sleep 3-4 people depending on the model you want. They also come with 15" rims and T/A tires. Trailer also comes Solar power ready, just plug and play. They look pretty cool and I'm also thinking about getting one.

r-pod Travel Trailers by Forest River RV

Another good travel off road trailer is the Starcraft Ar-One 18QB Extreme, also comes with 15" rims and T/A tires, trailer is also Solar power ready. Sleeps 3-4

2016 Starcraft Ar-One 18QB Extreme

I did check out both trailers and I liked the Rpods better.

Good luck and good hunting.

Have you done a write-up on your trailer? Teardrop is the direction I find myself leaning. I love camping in the winter, but I love being warm at night more.

Not officially a write up but a heavy endorsement for the company that built it for me.

Ducmonsta's Build Thread-very pic heavy!

Checked them out thanks!

3000# 2014 Vista Cruiser 19RSD behind a 2016 Trail

So many options. I think I'm going to go with custom build using several of these ideas!!

I went back and forth on this a lot before I built my teardrop. I can't see how some companies justify the price of their little teardrops. I built my own. I'm fortunate enough to have the tools and experience to do it in a few weekends. I'm happy to share my CAD drawings if you you want to take a look at my design. I would do it a LOT differently a second time though. For starters it wouldn't be a teardrop shape. It wastes a ton of space for a cool shape. And forming compound curve steel for the door hatch in the rear that fits tight was not easy. Horizontal doors would be way more practical. DM me if you are thinking of building one and I can point you in the right direction to save a lot of time and effort.

The grass is always greener... there's a lot of days I wish I had an inside shower and inside kitchen. But then there's other times I'm glad I have a small size camper that fits almost anywhere. If the right deal came up I'd consider selling my teardrop and buying a 16-18 footer or so, but for now this works pretty well for me. And storage is a lot easier too.

As far as bathroom I use one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-30109...ds=porta+potty It fits in it's own compartment that's sealed internally from the smell - although it doesn't smell anyway - but I don't think I'd want it inside my 4runner very badly. It's inside this door on the backside of the entry door. It's the hatch on the lower front you can see in the pic below. I usually just set it out on the ground in primitive areas. The intent is to build a slide out aluminum deck that lives underneath the trailer in that area with a grate floor. That way I can add a flip out shower curtain and have a shower or bathroom that's a foot or so off the ground. Maybe this winter I'll get to it. I have a 16 gallon internal water tank, but no hot water, so the shower is gonna be cold!

Attached Images

 

Not endorsing this exact one, but ever thought about one of these?

https://www.amazon.com/Eccotemp-L10-...?tag=hwater-20

I've only used a tankless water heater in an off grid cabin, but it was amazing. Of course, it wasn't a portable one...

I've thought about those. My problem is mostly where to put it. I don't want to mount it on the outside to badly, but I don't know how safe it would be to try to mount it internally somewhere without putting it inside of a metal cabinet enclosure with venting. If they had a version that could be mounted underneath and flat against the bottom I might go for it. The reality is that it's pretty rare that I would need a hot shower. When I'd most want a shower is when I'm camping in the desert areas that are hot and dusty. Especially if you're out mountain biking or hiking. So a cold shower isn't the end of the world. I just have a hose that hooks to the sink and a shower head.

I thought one of these guys might be worth having. https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-BOS...VTAY0DJ1FM8MNR On the flip side I do my best to work for simplicity and minimalism.

Hi @Jetboy ,

This is a great looking trailer. I think I've seen this before, when you first built it.

I think the advantage of the teardrop shape is it's aerodynamic. A square back end pulls a lot of air at highway speeds, increasing drag. Not sure but I think the front end reduces drag from the air vortex behind vehicle, IMHO.

Yes, a square shape and square hatch door would be easier to seal. Just yesterday I was wondering about dirt, road dust and rainwater getting in at the back hatch door.

I don't have the skill, time or finish carpentry tools to build one like yours. I love doing carpentry but most of my projects are rough carpentry around the house. I'll be limited to what I can buy. Yes, they are expensive for what you get.

My favorite so far is the So Cal Teardrops off-road "Buzz Off" without a galley due to it's rugged build, high clearance, light weight and shorter length. It offers a quick and easy place to sleep without pitching a tent. I could camp in the local desert in winter without freezing my butt off.

Dave in So Cal

I'm not totally convinced the teardrop is all that aerodynamic. You'll notice that the back end of most SUV's or even fuel efficient cars aren't shaped that way. I'd guess that the shape of the rear end makes very little difference compared to something like reducing the roof height or moving the trailer closer to the tow vehicle, or even adding a splitter plane on the back (spoiler) where the air delaminates. The "Kammback" designs have proven to be very low drag and still have more useable space. Like the back of a Prius. So I'd have a slightly curved roofline, but a square back. More like this:

And that way the doors open out to the sides - or one side - and you can have a full set of cabinets and fold down table mounted to the door and have a much larger effective kitchen area.

I didn't design mine with any meaningful evaluation of aerodynamics. I just went by what I though looked good. It's okay - but not ideal by any means.