What is a Teardrop Trailer?
   A teardrop is a small camping trailer with a sleeping area for two, and a compact galley (kitchen) area.
   The neat thing about these campers is sleeping off the ground in an insulated cabin, and, the galley is self contained, not much to set up! You can put it on a very small campsite, and tow it with any vehicle, some even use motorcycles!
   The trailer  originated in the late 1930's, with it's  greatest popularity in the 40's and 50's. Lately there has been a revival of interest in these great little campers.
The trailer gets it's name from the "teardrop" shape of the cabin.
   I found many sites that deal with restoration of classic designs. I decided to build a new camper based on a classic shape.
   These pages document my experience with the construction of four Teardrop Trailers.
   See the links page for other info on tears.
Plans
   For my first project,I lurked around the internet, checking out everything that I could find on the subject of Teardrop Trailers. I first got the bug while checking out a post on the Kayak Forum offering a link to the Desert Tears Site. Well, just one look and I got hooked!
   The main area that anchors my research into the Teardrop world is Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers  a discussion group with a cross section of builders, designers, restorers, and folks who just enjoy camping!
  Open to any type of small camper trailer.Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers says it all!
   There are different styles of Teardrop. The classic style is the Kit, or Kenskill.
These trailers are the clasic "egg-shaped" or airfoil profile.
More recently is the Benroy, a boxey shape, more vertical in the front.
   I like the airfoil shape best, so I settled on a plan package from Kuffel Creek Press. I got a CD rom with all the plans and detailed drawings and lists to build a classic camper. The CD is well done, actually a PDF file of the printed version of the plans book. Kevin Hauser did a nice job in the design and execution of this Teardrop.
   There are many ideas that I "borrowed " from the other GREAT builders that I have visited on the internet.
    In my recent projects, I have developed some new techniques, of my own, to make the process easier and quicker. In fact, as of this update, I have produced a Builder's Manual. This is a CD which covers building a teardrop trailer using my methods. This CD also includes a comprehensive list of suppliers of tools and materials to build a nice Teardrop Trailer. There are three classic Teardrop profiles included to start with. These are measured drawings that can be used, along with the manual, to construct your camper.
                                                                                                       Contents and images, Copyright, 2002-2006, Steve Frederick
                                                                      No image or text may be reproduced for any commercial use without permissionUpdated July 14,2006