Let's talk Teardrop Trailers

Here is our Hiker MRXL 5x10 with bunk beds.
mostly camp here is FL but venture up to the Appalachian mountains quite a bit.

 

Does is count, I built it years ago.

 

Not technically a teardrop, I call it a hybrid between a teardrop and squaredrop.

My home built 5x8, flexiride torsion half axles, 31" AT3W, 100w solar with 110ah batt, cowboy shower with 25 gal tank (currently removed due to a leaking weld). We have roughly 10k miles in this trailer and are starting to plan our next one, but we can't decide what we want. 5x8 squaredrop, 5x10 squaredrop, RTT trailer, tent trailer... unsure. What we do want is as light as we can get while still being rugged and sturdy enough for rough rocky trails, try to keep height down so it tucks behind the truck better, and with a little more sleeping room. We wont need a rear galley kitchen because all of that is not built into the truck, so that makes thigns a little easier.

 

Any concerns about the Hiker construction with mild to medium rough off-pavement roads and trails? This is one reason I built my last one vs bought, most companies use skeletonized plywood for the cabin, and I was concerned that over time rough roads would rattle everything loose, but on that same token if it was a big enough issue I would think companies that make off-road trailers wouldn't use wood so...

 

Nice

 

My Little Guy is wood, and has been towed about 40,000 miles in the 10 years I've had it. I have pulled up some pretty rough roads (including Last Chance Canyon in California and Ophir Pass in Colorado), and it is still solid.

I admit I was a little concerned years ago, but it has held up well. I think a lot of companies have figured out how to secure the skelentonized plywood cabin.

Good suspension helps - mine rides on a Dexter Torsion axle.

 

I just crunched the numbers today, my trailer is at almost 16k miles, all of which have been behind my Tacoma which is just shy of 46k miles. I used skeletonized plywood construction and, as you've probably seen in my pictures, I don't shy away from rough roads or washboard though I don't have a breakdown of paved/unpaved trips. I would not hesitate to recommend skeletonized plywood construction to build a teardrop.