anyone living in a teardrop full time?

[wilcofan]

Thinking of building one... love my van, but the idea of towing something with a 4 cylinder, and having the ability to unhitch at my campsite is pretty alluring.

 

[wagoneer]

Towed a 1962 22 ft airstream for many years and loved it living in SF has forced me to sell her as storage was costly Live in the trailer work in the van.. ideal

 

[AltTransBikes]

Teardrops are intriguing and of course have pluses and minuses like any unit. They don't offer much more than sleeping space but are a delight to tow. I do think you'd need a pretty robust 4 cylinder though depending on where you are. Pulling through the Rocky Mtns for example is gonna test many 4 cylinders, even with a teardrop. <br><br>The pros/cons on tow vehicle and trailer vs solo self-contained rig can be debated. I lived and traveled for a year+ in a 13' Playpac, fiberglass unit that weighed less than 1000 lbs. It towed like a dream but had zero stealth and when not in use there was the storage issue. It's also nice to pull up, park and go to sleep rather than the need to set the thing up. <br><br>

 

[wilcofan]

This is my thought... My city, like a lot of cities, is facing a crisis of maintaining unimproved lots. Many of these city owned lots can be had for 5-50 cents per square foot. With no sewer cost, water, or utilities, the taxes are also minimal. Most of those lots have city restrictions which don't permit you to build residences on them, but you are allowed to build small outbuildings like garages. My idea would be to have a couple of these in different cities, so I could travel to them, camp part-time and then move on... Also makes for a good bug out strategy in the event of a local or regional emergency... Thoughts?

 

[Cubey]

Why not save your money for a rainy day instead of buying land and constructing a garage on it? You'd have to worry about vandals and vagrants using your garages for whatever they want when you aren't there.

 

[wilcofan]

I wouldn't build garages, just fence it off and maybe put in a gravel driveway and an awning.

 

[idn88]

I looked into teardrops a lot. What I figured out is building your own seems to be a lot of work, and not as cheap as I would have thought at least according the the websites where people list their costs. &nbsp;Depending on your ingenuity and what you could salvage it might be different of course. &nbsp;This forum had a ton of info&nbsp;http://www.tnttt.com/<br><br>It lead me to another option which is a small enclosed utility trailer. &nbsp;There fairly inexpensive and lightweight as well, and you can either go all out inside, or just put up some basic furniture. I found lots of people on the web using them to live out of, especially people that move around the country for&nbsp;various&nbsp;jobs like construction and oil work. I also imagine there pretty easy to resell if it doesn't work out since every contractor uses them.<br><br>The idea that I liked about a trailer in general is your ability to leave it behind when needed, and when you need to change cars you don't have to move your whole house.

 

[baronmcginty]

I have bulit a teardrop based on the free Generic Benroy plans that you can get on the tntt.com site. It is a blast to camp in and I look forward to some day traveling the USA in it. When I had it weighed it came in at 960# empty. With gear I would estimate it closer to 1200#. Many people on the tntt.com site have built them much lighter.

 

[wilcofan]

I've thought about going with a utility trailer in the past. But then I would need my van to tow it, so I'd be in the same predicament! I was looking for something I could tow with a ford ranger or a 6 cylinder car, for better gas mileage, that I could unhitch and drive around the city.

 

[caseyc]

I've seen those teardrop trailers at RV shops.&nbsp; Pretty nifty, but I don't think that I could actually sleep in one, at least not for more than 1 or 2 nights.&nbsp; I prefer a decently decked out van instead.&nbsp; I've also seen those compact trailers that are collapsed when travelling, and you have to prop it up for use.&nbsp; I saw this one couple tear down a collapsable trailer at a camp ground, and boy did it seem like a big&nbsp;chore!&nbsp; First it took a long time to collapse, and it pretty darn nearly took 2 people to hook up the trailer to the vehicle, one person to drive in reverse&nbsp;and another person&nbsp;to give back-up directions to not crash into things.&nbsp; I was exhausted just watching these 2 people packing away their collapsable trailer, and was thankful I have a van instead, haha!&nbsp;

 

[idn88]

I am certainly not saying a teardrop is not a great idea, however I looked at a 5x8 utility trailer. &nbsp;Its tongue weight was i believe only 75lbs, and the trailer weight was under 1000lbs empty. &nbsp;I am sure you could tow this with a ford Ranger. &nbsp;I am not sure about towing anything with a front wheel drive car, but I imagine it would be all about the individual car's specs and distance plus how you drive.<br><br>I do suppose a utility traiiler would catch more wind.<br><br><br>