SoCal Tear Drop Owners! Post up!

[Semi-Hex]

I spent a bunch of time trying to come up with a better system than the locking basket and the tongue box. I went with the locking basket because we carry a lot of water/weather proof stuff but it is 8"taller than standard and a solid steel bottom. It will be lined with a tarp. The best solid metal boxes by far are made in Australia but the costs to ship them make them out of my price range.

 

[JJMAC]

I spent a bunch of time trying to come up with a better system than the locking basket and the tongue box. I went with the locking basket because we carry a lot of water/weather proof stuff but it is 8"taller than standard and a solid steel bottom. It will be lined with a tarp. The best solid metal boxes by far are made in Australia but the costs to ship them make them out of my price range.

You had your locking basket build 8"taller with the solid bottom? Is that what your saying? Thx.

 

[JJMAC]

Also,

5lb or 10lb gas tank? I was thinking of 5lb for stove and then getting ANOTHER 5lb for hot water on the other side.

Anyone have a recommendation? 5lb or 10b?

 

[Semi-Hex]

I'm not getting it until May but I have two foldable kayaks and I wanted them to fit along with some other speciality gear so I asked if they could and they can. I will be fording small rivers (like the Fremont) and be in very rocky areas (like Mojave) and I thought the solid bottom would be best for my applications. My tongue box will be shorter and not line up and most of my tongue box will be used for solar electric and tools. Standard height is 18" and I will have 26". I'm getting two 10 lb. propane tanks but I'm not getting a hot water heater as I have a solar unit that works very well.

You will find that they are very willing to do modification to most of the things. I have some very special duty add ons and the only thing they balked at was the ceiling window and the back bumper swing out. Heck, I even upgraded all of the lights.

 

[JJMAC]

So...Still trying to put together a list of things I want on the trailer, yet trying even harder to keep the cost down.

Does anyone have the extra drawers in the gallery option? Initially I was determined to have this option but now I am reconsidering just leaving it open for additional storage. Anyone have any insight? Pics?

I assume if you do choose this extra drawer option all of your electronics are re-wired to tongue box? I assume the cost of the tongue box includes said re-wiring?

 

[Semi-Hex]

After awhile, we gave up on the cost. We figured we would be using this for at least 10 years so we figured the extras didn't cost that much and it would make out outings more enjoyable. I'm getting the drawers knocked down to install later if I want them.

I'm also just having the wires pulled to my specs and I will finish the wires the way I need them. I'm having 8 remote control relays, 4 in the front box near the battery and solar controller to run the rock, aux backup, and left and right side flood lights. The 4 in the galley run my porch, red under lights, and a couple of other things. I'll be doing my own solar setup. I'm also putting in a parking brake system.

I already have a Propex heater from my old trailer, so I am having the wood working done for the intake, exhaust and vent lines, I'll be making the shielding out of copper and installing it as well.

I'm doing this not only to save money but I'm a General, Electrical and Plumbing contractor and do this stuff for a living.


Has the heater in a different position.

 

[Keith Starr]

So...Still trying to put together a list of things I want on the trailer, yet trying even harder to keep the cost down.

Does anyone have the extra drawers in the gallery option? Initially I was determined to have this option but now I am reconsidering just leaving it open for additional storage. Anyone have any insight? Pics?

I assume if you do choose this extra drawer option all of your electronics are re-wired to tongue box? I assume the cost of the tongue box includes said re-wiring?

I'll preface this with...it's all about the money! LOL

I do. The pic above is of my trailer. My experience? You can never have too many options to secure cargo. Keeping stuff secured (especially off-road) becomes a priority quickly. I lined my drawers with pick-n-pluck foam from a Pelican case so everything in the drawers has its place and won't bang around. For more galley storage the flipper doors are an option. Probably useful. I just put a couple baskets on the shelves in the galley to keep my stuff from banging around and damaging the counter/walls.

On the subject of storage it looks like they offer a "Marine Interior" which could be pretty useful. I don't have that but I can tell you anything that is on the shelves inside my trailer will be EVERYWHERE by the time I stop driving. So, I just don't store stuff on the interior shelves when driving. I do have the interior drawer and flip down cabinets which I use for more secured storage.

There is a fuse block mounted to the wall behind the drawers, all the 12v stuff is run through that. When I installed the Propex I had to replace the 6-port fuse block installed by SoCal with an 8-port (same brand). If I would have known I would have asked them for a fuse block with some room for expansion! My battery, charge controller, and solar components are in the tongue box.

 

[JJMAC]

Anyone have any pros or cons with 4.5' width vs 5' width? I suppose the queen size bed is a nice feature, but I don't want the trailer too wide and outside the tow vehicles track. We have an f150 as a tow vehicle so it shouldn't be that big of a problem...

Anyone have any preference?

 

[Keith Starr]

Anyone have any pros or cons with 4.5' width vs 5' width? I suppose the queen size bed is a nice feature, but I don't want the trailer too wide and outside the tow vehicles track. We have an f150 as a tow vehicle so it shouldn't be that big of a problem...

Anyone have any preference?

My Tacoma has a 76" track width. The 510 is 84" so my trailer tracks 4" wider on each side. While not technically ideal in terms of following the truck it's adventageous to be able to see the fenders in my mirrors when navigating tight areas. The F-150 is ~79" right? The 459 has an 80" track, closer to your truck. Personally I chose a bit more room to sleep with my girlfriend (we sleep like flamingos lol) over the track width which hasn't turned out to be an issue. Keep in mind this trailer isn't going through the Rubicon, it's more of a base camp trailer, and 4" has never stopped me from getting where I want to go.

 

[Semi-Hex]

I'm going from a 94" JJ to an 84" 510. 94" is almost the limit on busy days at Zion NP so being 10" narrower will be really nice. I'm too tall (6'6") to go any narrower though your milage may vary.

 

[unusedusername]

I have a 4.5' width trailer with 35x12.5 tires. The trailer is about 2" wider then my 2-door Jeep (JK) with the same tires.

I'm very happy that the width on the trailer almost matches up with the Jeep. I wouldn't want to go down a trail where the Jeep fits but the trailer is to wide.

I've backed my jeep in front of a few 510 frames that were not built yet and decided from that that the 510 is too wide and too long for what I want to be dragging behind me. If anything, a smaller trailer would be a bit better, but an expedition type tent trailer doesn't work for on-road camping (truck stops), whereas the teardrop works for both offroad and onroad use cases.

 

[JJMAC]

sounds like the 4.5 may be the way to go then. thanks,

 

[Yulli]

I have the for 459. It tracks pretty well behind my Tacoma.

 

[Keith Starr]

The protective sticker on the front peeled off long ago (awfuly ineffective adhesive)...finally got some Line-X on there.

 

[Semi-Hex]

Was your basket hard to remove and reinstall?