Little Guy Silver Shadow Offroad Teardrop

[Hilldweller]

Congrats on the trailer.

I attached my awning to slide mounts on the racks. If it's raining all night and you still want to use the fan, it's easy to slide the awning across the roof to the other side and cover the entire trailer. Extend the legs and the fan can stay open. Also good that way in the heat to keep sun off the trailer.
We also have an ARS "gazebo" that we haul around with us. If it stays dry, it rides in the trailer between stops. If it gets wet, up on the roofracks it goes. It gets used very frequently over the galley ---- prepare meals and eat under it in comfort.

Here you can see us snow-camping for Thanksgiving. Cold/windy ---- gazebo up with a windbreak to duck behind. Dutch oven going under the big-top is also some welcome warmth on such a day...

Laura & Scott made this awning for his trailer. Same idea but packs smaller.
Just not as versatile for other uses.

Perfect weather here; gazebo is on the racks.
We had just paid our dues in Lake George NY with a couple of days of downpours though. Really nasty stuff and we were very glad to have the cover available.

Here you can see my trailer with the gazebo in back and Rory's trailer with a bigger gazebo over the entire trailer.

 

[vladig]

Nater, sounds like you got an almost identical version



awning is a 2m camping labs i had on the truck before

also keep us posted on the water issue, my pass side door is leaking but i just cover the matures with a garbage bag so it does not wick water

 

[vladig]

found a better pic of the awning, used some pipe u bolts from home depot and some left over steel to make my mounts

 

[CYi5]

We also have some leakage issues. Both side doors let in a bit of moisture after driving down the freeway in horrible rain. I did not think much of it until we got to our spot for the evening and discovered the bed was wet on either side from the leakage. I already have an appointment set up with our dealer, and they seemed very willing to resolve the issue.

My manufactured doors leak in the same place while driving through rain. Not sure if it flies straight off the road into the bottom sill, or it accumulates around the edges of the door then drips down and rolls in .

Seems like an EZ Up might be the most versatile option for shade, being able to move it around for cover or just to cover the trailer itself.

 

[nater]

Quick update on the doors and stargazer window that were all leaking. They removed the stargazer, resealed it, and claim we are good to go. They also found the doors were warped, and adjusted them. I am still waiting to pick it up as they are installing a roof rack while it is there. I will report back on the leaking issue, we have had a TON of rain here in Ohio, so I am sure I will be driving it through the rain soon enough.

As to the awning, we really want to try the ARB style awning due to its quick up/quick down nature. That is something we love about the teardrop in general, and dont want to slow down setting up and tearing down. We also may consider adding a "room" to the ARB awning if all goes well.

 

[Hilldweller]

My Fiamma awning goes up/down fast...
http://store.adventuretrailers.com/categories/AWNINGS/FIAMMA-/

My doors never leaked too. Scott Hubble called me during the build as he was spraying the beast with a hose to make sure.

I snapped a picture on the 4th of July of my heavy-rain set-up.

And I re-installed the Max Coupler

 

[nater]

For those that have a roll out awning (arb, etc), what length did you choose? Also, I have the "prorack" rack system that many of you do, and I was wondering what t-bolts you used? I cant find any information about what t-bolts fit our prorack crossbars?

 

[nater]

Just an update on this... After searching for a while, I finally called Pro Rac (please note the spelling, there is a Pro Rack that is totally different, my mistake), and they sold me the required T bolts for the rack at $1.09 each. I then ordered the 2 meter ARB awning for the side. I also ordered ARB's new awning bracket (p/n OS850) that will hopefully make bolting everything together a breeze. Mocking it up in my mind, I might be able to flip the bracket and hang the awning below my roof rack, not above. I am already pretty close to the top of my garage door, so by lowering the awning, I hope to still be able to store the teardrop in my garage easily.

The wife and I evaluated several options (many of them that every one posted above, thank you!), but we settled on the ARB due to cost and that we were mostly looking to get a place to sit if it was raining. We spent several outings this summer laying the the bed reading because it was lightly raining, so having the awning is going to be a huge plus for us when it is sunny (the wife is fair skinned and burns easily), or raining.

Once I get all the parts, I will throw up some pictures. Up next is a solar panel on the other side of the rack, some jerry can holders, and a tongue box for storage. I also have winter plans to make/install a slide for our camp partner stove.

 

[nater]

The wife and I took a quick road trip down to Big Bone Lick State Park with the teardrop to enjoy the bison herd they have, and to do a small portion of the bourbon trail (we both love bourbon). We headed down to Kentucky on Friday afternoon to set up and have a nice night before hitting the boubon trail on Saturday. On friday night, my wife woke me up to "whats that smell, it smells like burning electronics :ylsmoke:."

After a quick sniff test, we quickly realized it was the USB charger that little guy installed into the headboard. It was not charging the 2 phones plugged into it, and was HOT. We removed the usb cables, and monitored the heat. Even with nothing plugged into it, it continued to get hotter and hotter. At that point, I figured it was shorted out internally, and I unplugged the hot lead going to the adaptor. Please note that all of the other USB chargers in the trailer continued to function properly. I have ordered blue sea replacements for all of the USB chargers which appear to be of marginal quality. I googled, one other person appears to have had this problem (so it appears to be low frequency), just wanted to share.

 

[Hilldweller]

The wife and I took a quick road trip down to Big Bone Lick State Park with the teardrop to enjoy the bison herd they have, and to do a small portion of the bourbon trail (we both love bourbon). We headed down to Kentucky on Friday afternoon to set up and have a nice night before hitting the boubon trail on Saturday. On friday night, my wife woke me up to "whats that smell, it smells like burning electronics :ylsmoke:."

After a quick sniff test, we quickly realized it was the USB charger that little guy installed into the headboard. It was not charging the 2 phones plugged into it, and was HOT. We removed the usb cables, and monitored the heat. Even with nothing plugged into it, it continued to get hotter and hotter. At that point, I figured it was shorted out internally, and I unplugged the hot lead going to the adaptor. Please note that all of the other USB chargers in the trailer continued to function properly. I have ordered blue sea replacements for all of the USB chargers which appear to be of marginal quality. I googled, one other person appears to have had this problem (so it appears to be low frequency), just wanted to share.View attachment 306887

yikes
Give a holler to LG and talk to Scott Hubble. I'm sure he'd want to know about this.

 

[nater]

So, had a moment tonight to remove the "power center" and the USB charger from the trailer and really give it a look. I think I have figured out what happened (although the issue is too small to photograph, so my description will have to do). The USB chargers that Little Guy uses have "pins" inside the USB port. This is a cheaper way to make USB ports, the better way is to instead use spring loaded fingers inside the port. If you look at a computer, phone charger, etc, you will see the 4 fingers inside the port. The pins inside the USB charger had become bent, shorting out the USB port. I am sure this occurred when the wife or I tried to plug in upside down (as we all do). My recommendation? Upgrade ASAP as the 20 bucks an outlet could easily save you a serious problem (fire, dead battery, etc).

Bill- I called today and left a message for Scott Hubble. I have yet to hear back from him, but I will share my findings with him. In the most recent pictures I have seen of 2015 models, it appears as though this issue might already be fixed as the USB ports appear to be different (and perhaps nicer).

 

[geo.greg]

Any updates?

 

[nater]

Well... we are seeing hope that the winter may leave us in the next few months, so the wife and I have started making progress on the trailer again. Not many changes upcoming (just a few really), we are excited to get back out there...

- ARB awning has been added to the side, although I would like to flip the mounting brackets, going to need to break out the welder for that
- Add a box to the front storage platform.
- Remount the battery further back on the tongue to allow the rear door of my FJ to open with the trailer hooked up.
- Maybe add a TV w/ a built in DVD player... I know I know, but the wife likes a few moments of a movie or such before bed, and it would be nice for those rainy days that we spend more time in the trailer.

 

[Sikocycles]

Any new pics or info. Really close on pulling the trigger on a teardrop

 

[keeganxt]

@nater

I've been reading yours and Scotts builds in detail. Any differences and advantages between the 5x8 and the 5x10? You only gain 4in of mattress with the 5x10, is the rest gained in galley space? Any issues on trail with the 5x10, departure angles, etc?