The Teardrop In My Driveway

 I know, I know! I just finished talking about transforming my cargo trailer into a travel trailer and it's part of a succession of rigs I've had that I’d be comfortable living in. 

This was the first of two versions I built on this Isuzu NPR chassis. 

On the left is the second version I built on the Isuzu. For this one I removed the flatbed and built right on the chassis, this time with a hard-sided vertical-lift top similar to the Alaskan Campers (Of which I owned one sometime in the 90's). On the right is a Sportsmobile popup built on a Ford E350 platform. 

For context (on that "living in" comment), counting The Van, from 2002 to 2012 I lived in one of four different rigs on three different chassis parked in the parking-lot at work during most week-days because it was too far to commute daily, and I was perfectly content doing so.

So why am I talking about parking yet another trailer in our driveway?

Well, though it might not look like it because I removed the IHBD FX4 stickers (I Have A Big Dick) from the sides before I drove it off the dealer’s lot (I’m not a fan of advertising, and especially not of false advertising! And along those lines, why is it so difficult to buy a decent ball-cap to wear when driving because it makes a far more effective and versatile sun-visor than the vehicle’s sun-visors, that doesn’t have some garish logo plastered all across the front. And shouldn’t they be paying us for the advertising instead of gouging into our pockets for the privilege?) - OK, climbing back down off my soap-box, for a little while anyway - but despite the lack of signage, I did spring for the not-inexpensive FX4 package on the Ranger for a reason.

 

As useful and comfortable a rig as it was, one of the downsides of The Van was that it was rather large, bulky, and two-wheel drive. I found myself turning away from too many challenging roads because if I got that heavy sucker stuck, it was stuck! True, in addition to many “highway-ed” passes, I did take it over Montezuma, Apache, and the even sketchier Middlemarch (at least on the sandy east side, the west side is pretty tame) passes on less than great tracks, but, due to practicality (or maybe chicken-ness), over the years I also bypassed a number of other challenging forest and BLM roads that may or may not have been interesting.

So, to correct that issue, when I bought the Ranger I got myself a real 4-wheel drive. 2H, 4H, 4L, electronic locker rear-end, skid-plates all round, extra clearance, various driving modes (sand, mud, snow, ruts, rock.), an inclination meter (so I know how far I was leaning just before rolling over, not if I was more inclined towards a hamburger or salad today.), on-dash graphics depicting how the power is being dispersed among the tires, 360° cameras so I can see up-close all around without having to get out – all with heated leather seats, tinted windows, dual climate zones, automatic lights that know when to turn on and off – even when to go bright and dim – and bend around the corner when making a turn, windshield wipers that know when and how fast to flop, adaptive cruise and lane-keeping, the ability to read and display speed-limits on the dash and even automatically adjust the cruise setting as you pass through and back out of towns. (Years ago when I went from the manual in the Isuzu to the automatic transmission in the Sportsmobile I wondered if I was still actually driving or just riding. I’m wondering that all over again now.)

So that’s all well and good, but the only thing is, when you pair the Ranger up with the cargo trailer, as nice as that trailer is, it’s still a cargo-trailer which means it’s pretty close to the ground, a bit boxy and bulky for narrow two-track roads, (Though I did have it on Apache Pass this past February, which, depending on what the weather has been doing, actually only has one short section of real challenge.) and weighs in at somewhere between 2700 and 3000 pounds, so the combo doesn’t exactly scream “back-road-adventuring”.

So I started doing some research into back-road capable options to compliment my setup when the cargo trailer wasn’t entirely appropriate.

The obvious solution was a tent

 

a fancy, quick up and down, plenty of room, tent paired with a cot, folding chair, and folding table to make for a quite comfortable space. – But it would still be a tent. Not exactly Walmart parking-lot capable. (When I am traveling from here to there [something I do a lot with both family and decent public lands so far away], I really dislike the hassle, cost, lost-time, and social interaction of finding a real campsite just for a few hours rest overnight.)

 

How ‘bout a rooftop tent!

Turns out those suckers are heavy and I would need to build a crane system in the barn to get it on and off the Ranger. And clearly there's not enough space in there to make it into a cabin with cot, chair, and table, or even stand up in, and there's also the very real possibility of falling and breaking something when trying to crawl out of it in the middle of the night for - well, you know.

And in the end it would still be a tent.

 

OK. One of those overland style popup shells for the truck-bed?

But again, I would need a crane system to get it off for daily driving.

And Holy Crap! Have you seen how much those cost?!

Enter the teardrop.

Not one of these Tag or Tab highway-ready trailers that are tall enough to stand up in. Nothing really wrong with them except; I already have a highway-ready trailer that's pretty close to the ground; I don’t need or want all the “amenities” they try to cram into a too-small space; and Holy Crap! Have you seen how much those cost?!

 

Nope. I’m looking for a mean, lean, off-road capable, overlander type trailer.

But Holy Crap! Have you seen how much those cost?!

 

Enter the Timberleaf Pika.

Smaller and lighter than the Timberleaf Classic but larger than the really small Timberleaf Kestrel.

Proper teardrop shape for slipping through the air on the highway, counter-space/kitchen area in the back, good sleeping space inside, especially since I travel by myself, no taller than the Ranger’s cab (Interestingly enough, the bug-line on the cargo trailer isn’t down around the height of the tailgate but up around the height of the cab so the primary airflow must stay up there and go right over anything lower than cab-height.), just the right compromise of size verses function, weighs in at less than 1500 pounds fully loaded and ready to go, and when equipped with the off-road package, capable of going wherever the Ranger can go.

But Holy Crap! Have you seen how much those cost?!

Then again, Mom had some money left over when she died, and, even though she was the fiscally responsible one in the family (Dad could not be trusted with money! He was prone to coming home with yet another new toy instead of milk and in 1954 he sent a telegram from England to his very young, very broke, and very pregnant wife asking her to wire bus-fare so he could get back to his Army base in Germany before his weekend pass expired!), I figured she wouldn’t want me to be too practical with my share. At least that’s what I told myself - - -.

In keeping with the whole Forest/BLM-road theme, I went with the off-road suspension. Not because I expect to be doing any actual off-road stuff, just back-road stuff, but for a few (OK, a lot of) extra dolars I got not only the flat topped, step-on fenders,

 buy also the clearance of the Timbren axle-less suspension, electric brakes,

and the three-axis Max Coupler articulating hitch in place of the standard ball-hitch.

The rock-sliders that come with that package are a nice perk as you'll see when I get into the bike-rack, probably in another post.

8" drop hitch carrier on the left, needed so that the cargo trailer tows level. 2" drop carrier for level towing of the teardrop on the right.

This package, which includes big fat 33" tires, means the Teardrop frame is about the same height as the Ranger’s receiver so anything the Ranger can clear the teardrop can clear too. In other words, there's no dragging when negotiating a steep gas-station entry.

There's an 80ah LiFePO battery on-board with a dc-dc charger that trickle-charges when plugged into the running truck (i,e,going down the road), a shore-power charger for those rare occasions when that's available, and a 140 watt Lightleaf solar panel with a Victron charge-controller as well as a Victron battery monitor.

The Lighleaf can be removed from its mount and comes with an extension cord so I can set it out in the sun when the teardrop is in the shade.

I had them install the same Maxxair 7000k powered roof vent that I have been using on rigs for years, a first for the Timberleaf people who usually install the MaxAir rain-sensor powered vent. The 7000k means I can leave the vent open regardless of the weather but that extra overhang of the hood also means I can't have the roof-rack installed. But I have a whole covered pickup bed for carrying stuff in so don't need, or want, the rack anyway.

I also had Timberleaf delete the standard wall-to-wall mattress-for-two and instead I put down a layer of those puzzle-yoga mats to ease the hard floor (and they do a great job at that) and my own single-wide mattress, which opens up the inside space nicely. There's even room in there for my portable toilet and self-contained sink.

So there you have it, or rather I have it. Options in my driveway.

I can go glamping, or at least my version of glamping, in the cargo trailer as long as I stick to decent roads, or I can go camping in the back-country in the teardrop.

I've already spent a variety of nights, BLM land, Cracker Barrel parking-lot, and Texas State Parks, in the teardrop and next time I'll  get into some of the customization I've done - because, well, you know, I can't leave well enough alone.