Follow us through the complete construction process in building our off-road Teardrop trailer.
It all started back in 1998 when my wife, Diane and I were viewing Visiting With Huell Howser PBS TV series on an annual Teardrop trailer gathering held near Oceanside, California. We said to each other "we gotta get one of those"! We were impressed with the compact 4' width X 8' length size allowing sleeping for 2 adults and the rear hatch opening up to a self contained kitchen. We saw how practical the Teardrop trailer would be to take on our desert and mountain camping trips. One catch though, it must be towed by a four wheel drive vehicle and be able to withstand the punishment of dirt roads, bush scratches, etc. and hold all the provisions for remote dry camping. This created a big challenge for us which required extensive research of the limited resources available.
We decided that the conventional 4'x8' Teardrop trailer size was too small and wanted a double bed and more space in the kitchen area. This really complicated the design process and cost factors, if going off-road wasn't enough! The dimensions of our Teardrop is 57" wide by 106" long. That is tough in a 4'x8' world! We purchased all Teardrop plans that were available. This gave us some great ideas and we chose the basic design of the Teardrop from the 1947 Mechanix Illustrated magazine, but with some steroids thrown in. We will show you the materials used, where to buy them and the itemized costs. Thumbnail and full size images have been added showing you our progress. This site shows how we built our Teardrop and is not intended to be plans. We hope that this site will answer many of your questions and help you design your own Teardrop to fit your individual needs. After all, no two Teardrop trailers are alike. That is what makes Teardrops so interesting and such a challenge to build or restore.
 |
 |
 |
We then gave our off-road Teardrop a real shake down test on it's maiden off-road voyage in Baja. This is where our heavy duty design really paid off. The Outback Tear Trips page will display photos of all our off-road adventures using our Teardrop trailer and will be adding images on a regular basis.
 |
 |
Here is our photo archive of the variety of Teardrops that are out there, some originals dating back to the 1930's and some new. We now have information on the rare Grasshopper travel trailer, manufactured 1978 to 1980. Is the Grasshopper a Teardrop trailer?
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Here is a article we wrote for a southeastern RV newspaper called 'Free Wheelin.'
Larry and Diane Sorensen
Hemet, California
Visitors since January 1999
This Teardrop Trailer Web Ring site owned by Larry and Diane's Outback Teardrop Trailer Construction Page |
||
  |
||
 |
Disclaimer
This site shows how we built our Teardrop and is not intended to be plans. Building a teardrop from information gleaned from this website is an 'at your own risk' business. We do not take any responsibility for your construction or its safety. It's your responsibility to do further research with local, state, RVIA, and DOT regulations. It is also your responsibility to verify with the various manufacturers the suitability of parts you choose to use to construct your teardrop.
Copyright © 1998 - 2006 Outbackteardrop.com
All Rights Reserved
The information, photos or graphics on this Outback Teardrop Trailer website may not be reproduced, republished, copied, or mirrored onto another website, forum or offered on CD, printed material for sale without permission of the owners of Outbackteardrop.com ©.