Spurred on by vintagehotrods 32PU/Burro thread. Also Clark and the Scotty boys,thanks for lighting a spark. Recently realized (now that we have a toddler) how much I missed the old popup camper my folks had as a kid. Camping was fun, I looked forward to it. So, thanks to the folks above, I have recenlty been considering some form of small camper for the family to have fun with. I would also like to combine it at times with the hotrod. The ModelA will have a 250Six, right now I have a 4 speed for it, that COULD change if needed. So, here are the questions............what are ideas on small campers. I like popups for the wind resistance thing. Thought of Teardrops, Scottys,Burrows,etc..........any ideas/thoughts? Weight of various campers? Also, if you were starting from scratch what ****** would you use? Stick? Auto built for towing? Any other things I might not be thinking of? Thanks gents and ladies! Input appreciated.
If you built a teardrop, you could use aluminum to keep the weight down and pull with just about whatever size motor or trans you wanted. You could even 'elongate' a teardrop if you were custom building it to put in a second 'bunkie' room for the little one while you and momma have a queen sized bed to yourselves. I'm contemplating building a small camper to slide into the back of the Dubble A once I have it all sorted out. I figure on building it in the teardrop type style, but essentially creating a slide in/out setup. I figure if I build it right, it'll be around 400 pounds or so.
A hundred years ago or so I had a 29 A tudor and I pulled a popup and I pulled the **** outta it.. I had a 283 with a small Rochester 2 bbl and a turbo 350.. Ran good and got great mileage with or without the popup.. At least with a popup you can stand to put your god damn pants on I just bought a new popup and i just came in from training the wife how to lower it. next is raising it and another lowering job then hooking it to the truck.. If I keep my 32 roadster im gonna have to make a nice hitch to pull it behind that too.. Dave oh ya mine new one sleeps 5 or 6 but 6 would be tight and has a fridge and a furnace and weighs in at 1350lbs
My parents tow a 13' Scamp all the time. It weighs about 1000 lbs. However, the bed is way too short for me to sleep in. I have a friend who had a teardrop built by another friend that had a normal queen size matress in it. It was cool, but would be a pain with a toddler. I'm looking into a pop up trailer. This is my first choice, as it only weighs 400 lbs. http://www.leesurelite.com/
That Leesurlight is interesting, a bit more minimal than we may want. I already have a 10x10 tent. I have checked out MilesM's Teardrop, that is a possibility. The standing up thing is important tho...........I remember many weekends we stayed out but were stuck in the camper with rainy weather.
Concur with Tman. You can't stand up or even change clothes easily in a tear drop. Modern pop-ups are heavy. How about just a low-drag, closed utility trailer with all your camping gear in it, including a comfy tent. Or get an old gl*** trailer like the Scamp, strip it out and rebuild it to your liking. Gary
I do have a 9 foot enclosed but I just barely can stand up in it. Ideal would be something like this that was like a popup, might be able to re-engineer it? I have our old 30 footer that I plan on gutting of its parts.....hmm.......
heres my camper behind dads car on the way to the US nationals years ago. might be too tall for some cars, but you can stand up in it. tows like a dream. campers like this can be had for a couple hundred dollars, some times free. you can always remodel the inside. and you can get new sheeting to redo the outside if needed. it's a 58/59 shasta. check out this link for cool ideas http://www.swvca.com/index.html
My wife and I travel in a 1981 13foot Burro. We may pull it to the Vintage Drag race in Sabin MN in a couple weeks with my 2.2L GMC Sonoma to see how that works, we usually use the Surburban. jim h
Check us out at www.bubbastrailerpark.com These units weigh 690 lbs just pulled one to the cinimatic for the spam cook out.... I also pull this trailer to the smokeys each year with my 56 oval beetle... We also sell all parts to build your own unit.....
Thanks Bubba! You have me mulling things over. We (the family) are a ways off on ANY decision, but I am researching this now for several reasons.
Why not build a pop up tear drop? It wouldn't be to hard. you would need to have the roof cut open with a seal of some sort, and then get some water proof canvas, make a scissor lift or some type of lifting frame for the top, you could run it off linear actuaters or make a hand crank set up. you could even if you wanted to put in clear vinyl windows like they have on convertibles. It would be different and pretty cool if you did it right.
http://www.casitatraveltrailers.com/home.html These are certainly not traditional but neat and could be towed by just about any vehicle.
There's plenty of plans for tiny travel trailers (and not so tiny ones) here: http://mikenchell.com/ they can be made to look traditional as well.
I keep talking about building my own camper. I would build it just like a Scotty with a little more flow to the overall shape. I want to build it out of fibergl***...yes fibergl***. It would be light sturdy and leakproof. I would make the sides look like an old woodie car. The shape of the boards with the insets would make it strong. The top would just be flat fibergl*** sheet and would be bonded to the sides (leakproof part) I would paint it to look like an old woodie. Inside...not much different than the Scottie. The inside may only be 6' give or take an inch. I'm 6' and have learned to adjust. The coolest thing I'd like to do is put it on airbags. When you get to your location just drop it on some blocks....hell with jacking it up. With kids you would have to put the table down for a bed for them....or give them a tent for a little privacy Biggest thing you'll have to look out for in your car is brakes. Remember you're stopping the camper and the car. Most smaller campers do not come with trailer brakes. might be smart to install them on the trailer. Clark
What if your trailer weighs more than your rod? What is "ok" in terms of the car weight versus trailer weight? Gary
i have one of those 59' shasta's and they are cool but small. at 6'6" my options are limited so i think a "pop up" teardrop would be cool. i can live with not standing to put on my pants but a bed that's too short ****s!
Equalizer....vintagehotrods mentions a new version of an EQ hitch in his thread.........but we are talking light ****. Clark, thanks for you input, you guys have a TON of experience with these things............was it sawsal that had that crash a few years back?
I just bought a pop up...probably does weigh a couple thousand pounds...but so what? On flat level ground I can't even tell it's back there...on hills maybe a little, but thats what goes with pulling a trailer. Heck ...I have a king sized bed,a queen and a stove and sink....even A/C. Cheaper than a room at a hotel and if I stay at a campground they usually have a pool,showers...as goos as a hotel and only about 30 bucks a night.
I have towed thousands of miles with old cars. I towed an old 15 ft self conatined with my 39 Chevy with a 283. Pulled good. I towed two different pop ups with my 40 Plymouth, and then went up to a 15 ft self contained, then jumped to a 20 ft self contained. I towed the 20 ftr all the way from Pennsylvania to Arizona at 75-80 all the way. It did have an equalizer hitch and electric brakes. The last pop-up I had was a 69 Starcraft and was relatively heavy. It had surge brakes on it, which work well when they are adjusted correctly, and it too towed well. Some of the newer pop-ups have showers and air conditioning, as well as a porta ****ter. I would definately have another pop-up, but really liked the convienence of the self contained.
Here's a link to Sumner's (1FATGMC) PoP Up Teardrop build. http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/teardrop/teardrophomepage.html Hope it helps. GMC BUBBA's teardrop is VERY cool also, but I don't think it's a pop up. He has a cool awning at the door.
I towed one of these around when my son was a toddler. It worked great....for a while. You will quickly out grow it. Getting dressed in the morning is a PITA. I think a pop up will serve you longer and may be more civilized for the "other half" that may enjoy the extra room. You can stand up in a lot of tents...not in one of these. I'd love to have it back now for trips like the Jalopy Showdown. He slept between us and I teased him about being a helicopter when he rolled over at night. Flying elbows at 3 AM can hurt even from a toddler.
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