Friday Teardrop Photo

This Rebel teardrop trailer by Off the Grid Rentals is being towed by a 2016 Tesla Model X. The trailer was towed from Fountain Valley, California to Flagstaff, Arizona by Dan Edmunds of edmunds.com as an experiment of the Teslas's towing capacity. The trailer was perfect. The Tesla was not so perfect...

Towing a teardrop trailer in the snow

There will probably come a point in your teardropping life when you have to tow in snowy conditions. We have towed the Sunflower in several blizzards and on icy and snow covered roads (she has a good set of tires) without any issues by following these few tips — tips you will be familiar with if you live in colder climates.

1. Slow down. This is a no-brainer. You and your vehicle (and the trailer) will be more responsive to traffic, accidents, ice and slick roads when you are driving 10-15 miles below the speed limit. Another tip is to avoid changing lanes. Stick to the slow lane.

2. Don't brake; downshift. Braking hard on slick roads can cause your car to skid. Instead, when you are coming to a stop, slow down and downshift to a lower gear and then brake lightly.

3. Take the backroads. While some secondary or backroads might not be plowed, they are also less congested. You will have the freedom to drive the speed you need to and less vehicles to deal with. In fact, some secondary roads are owned by counties rather than cities and actually get plowed first or more often.

4. If you begin to slide. Try to correct as soon as possible. The trailer will follow you, but because you are longer than a normal vehicle, the trailer could hit a median, a curb or another vehicle. On very slick roads, the trailer could jack knife. The good thing is that if you do jack knife the trailer, teardrops are so small they won't block as much traffic as a larger trailer. However, it is best to get off the road as soon as possible.

5. Park it until conditions improve. If the conditions are just too dangerous, pull over and get a hotel room (or camp) for the night. You might even need to unhitch the trailer and leave it somewhere until you can come back and retrieve it during calmer weather.

Friday Teardrop Photo

The Sunflower at Clearlake, California. I loved the sign and the beautiful pull over location. When we are towing the teardrop, we tend to go slower than surrounding traffic, and we do pull over to permit passing frequently. It's also good teardrop karma.

Rent a Teardrop Trailer on Airbnb

I just got back from the inaugural Airbnb Open in San Francisco and had an amazing time visiting with hosts from all over the world. However, I seemed to be the only host who knew about teardrop trailers and the potential for them to be used as tiny, little guesthouses.

 I'm an avid traveler and have loved every Airbnb place I've stayed in in various locations around the world including Spain, Morocco, Chile, New Orleans, Asheville, San Francisco, Portland and Paris. You get a very unique view of a location when you stay in someone's house, apartment, Airstream or treehouse.

I was curious if any Airbnb hosts had put their teardrop trailers on the home sharing website and there are a few including John and Kellia in North Carolina who tow their 4x8 teardrop to your chosen location or their favorite campsite, Paul in Portland who rents out his rare teardrop with boat, and Romaine who rents out a charming wooden teardrop at his home in Anglet, France.

If you are thinking of building or purchasing a teardrop trailer, take a look at Airbnb to see if there are rentals in your area where you can get a feel for the tiny trailers.

Photos courtesy of Airbnb

Towing a Teardrop Trailer with a Prius

The appeal of the Prius is irrefutable. The hybrid car from Toyota can get over 50 miles to the gallon and does it with style and roominess. However, Toyota does not rate any of its Prius vehicles capable of towing any weight. That doesn't stop some intrepid Prius owners from giving it a shot.

Pat and his wife Judy tow their 500 lb. homemade wood teardrop trailer with their Prius.

"I think it is workable so long as the trailer is small (4x8) and light (400 to 600 lbs.)," Pat said. "You can't drive very fast—60 to 65 mph on the freeways, but we got 36 mpg on a 2,700 mile trip from Redding, CA to Tucson, AZ, and 38 mpg on a trip to the coast over hilly Highway 36. This is down from 47 mpg without the teardrop."

 Pat and Judy's teardrop was built to go with the Prius and Pat used a technique called "stitch and glue" which is used to build strong, but lightweight, plywood boats.

"It is 48" x 96" x 42" high above the Harbor Freight trailer," Pat said. "The amenities are basic—just storage for all the stuff we used to take car camping. I added roll-out shelves for the ice chest and pantry box under the kitchen counter."

The couple do have to care a little more for their tow vehicle when using it for camping.

"Our Prius has 100,000 miles on it," Pat said. "I changed the transmission fluid, and will do so again in a couple years if I continue to pull a trailer on long trips now and then. The manual recommends against towing anything with the Prius, but there are pre-drilled and threaded holes in the frame to attach an aftermarket hitch to. You have to add trailer wiring off of a tail light in the trunk."

Pat warned that there could be warranty issues if a Prius owner has transmission problems after towing anything with their vehicle since the manual recommends against towing.

"Our Prius has over 100,000 miles on it and is no longer under warranty as far as I know," Pat said. "We haven't had any problems."

The couple save a lot of money on gas, lodging and food while traveling in their Prius/teardrop combo and Pat now has the itch to build another trailer.

"This one will be for solo travel—smaller, lighter, and simpler," he said. "I hope it comes in around 350 lbs."


A thread on the PriusChat forum discusses the options for towing a teardrop trailer with the fuel saving vehicle. One argument is that if a larger motorcycle can tow a teardrop—so can a Prius.


Photos by PriusChat, Outdoor Adventure USA and Christina Nellemann

Friday Teardrop Photo

Gassing up at Chevron near Lakehead, California.

Some people ask me about fuel economy while towing a teardrop trailer and I think it will depend on your vehicle and its own towing capabilities. My Kia Sportage V6 4x4 vehicle gets around 30 miles to the gallon normally, and about 26-28 mpg when towing the Sunflower. In money terms, it cost us about half a tank of gas ($25) to go to our favorite locations about 100-150 miles from our home.

I will be keeping track of how much it costs us in gas to drive the nearly 800 miles up to Yellowstone National Park this August.

My experience with uShip

Several people have asked me about my experience with uShip, an online shipping and receiving service by independent contractors. I hired a uShip transporter to tow the teardrop trailer from the private dealer I had purchased it from in Winter Garden, Florida to my home in northern Nevada. The service has been made famous by A&E's show Shipping Wars where several transporters competitively bid for unique and interesting loads while trash talking each other.

Roy is one of the more colorful shippers on A&E's Shipping Wars.

For my uShip experience, I actually posted a notice on the forum that I was looking for someone to tow the teardrop to me for around $1,000-$1,200 with no immediate deadline. Most of the shippers scoffed at the price of going across the country for such a low amount, but one driver, David, said that he had a motorcycle he was delivering to San Francisco and that he would be happy to bring my teardrop to me. At the time, he was actually in Florida and the pickup would not be out of his way.

I paid a down payment through uShip to have David tow my tear across the U.S. The trip only took him about four days, but just as he was driving into the Eastern Sierras, he got stuck in one of our crazy spring snowstorms and had to stay for a night in Lee Vining near Yosemite. David kept in close contact with me by cell phone and was able to deliver my new baby late the next morning. He had towed her across the country behind a large box truck and she was just fine. At the time, I was not fully aware of needing to pay the driver the final balance on delivery: I thought it was done through uShip. So, I had to scramble a bit to get David a check before he headed to the Bay Area. However, he was just as curious about looking inside my trailer as I was.

In all, the experience was fairly painless and cost me $1,000. I was so lucky to have found a driver who was willing to meet my budget. Before finding uShip, I did contemplate going on a road trip to pick up the tear myself, but with the cost of gas and hotels and missed work, it ended up being more financially feasible to have a professional do it.

Once in a while I will see a teardrop trailer towing request on uShip, and that would actually be one of my dream jobs when I retire: a personal transporter of teardrop trailers to their new, happy owners.


Things to know before using uShip to deliver your teardrop trailer:

1. Read the reviews on the driver/transporter and ask what kind of tow vehicle they have.

2. Keep in contact with the transporter and get a feel for how professional and knowledgeable they are over the phone.

3. Have the money for the shipping ready to go. Also, be sure to have copies of all your sales paperwork sent to the transporter.

4. Leave a full review on the site if you are pleased with the service.

Friday Teardrop Photo

Taken on Highway 1 near Bodega Bay, California.
The fog was so thick you could practically tow a teardrop right over the top of it.

Five Tips for Towing a Teardrop Trailer

If you are thinking of purchasing or building a teardrop trailer, but you've never towed anything before, taking your new camper on the road may feel daunting. Because these miniscule trailers are so light, you'll tend to forget that you are towing it, which can get you into trouble on the road.  In all, you just need a bit of practice before taking off on that first camping trip. Here are a few tips I've learned over the years from towing a teardrop trailer.

 

1. Slow down: I'm a pretty slow driver anyway, but even if you are a faster driver, slow down and stick to the right lane. Other drivers will appreciate it, you'll get better gas mileage, you'll be more prepared to react, and you can appreciate the scenery more.

2. Be ready to brake: Even if your teardrop is really light, don't forget that you have an extra 800 to 1,200 lbs behind you. It will take you longer to come to a full stop and since most teardrops don't require their own braking systems, you and your vehicle are in charge of coming to a complete stop.

3. Watch those curbs and bumps: While coming out of a driveway, or around a corner, watch those sidewalk curbs, planters and other bumpy things that can damage your teardrop tires or even cause axle damage. The tire fenders on my teardrop stick out and I have to really watch it if I go through a tight entrance or even a fast food drive-thru (yes, you can take your teardrop through a Taco Bell).

4. Honey, we spilled the salt: No matter how well you pack your teardrop, things are going to go flying as you motor down the highway. We've had the lid pop off our coffee and send grounds spilling over the rest of our food, the items on the inside shelves usually end up in the bed and clothes in the cupboards will tumble out when we open the doors. Each campsite stop usually requires a bit of cleaning up.

5. Check, check and double check: At nearly every rest stop, we check and re-check the tow hitch, the chains, the tires, the locks on the hatch and the windows, the electrical connections and the teardrop lights and signals. You can never be too careful.