Crybaby Teardrop Trailers is a small teardrop building company in Huntington Beach, California that designs custom trailers according to owners' specifications. What really caught my eye with this company was not only their fun name, but that one of their designs featured a galvanized tub for a galley sink. How cool is that? I chatted online with the owner, John and he gave me more information on the company.
Tell us a little bit about Crybaby and what you do.
Crybaby is a small mom and pop teardrop building company. We build completely custom teardrops from start to finish for our customers. We've built the standard teardrop in just about every size and configuration you can think of but the more creative we get, the more we enjoy doing it. We've done things like a toy hauler teardrop, a teardrop customer uses to travel to events and instead of a galley the hatch opens for a custom product display, things like that. We're doing two now that are pretty exciting: an off-road teardrop and one the owner is decorating as a either a "nautical" or "spaceship" style complete with round porthole windows, a beer tap for a pony keg and a rag-top "moonroof".
What do you think makes Crybaby Teardrop Trailers unique?
We are completely unique because, unlike some of our bigger friends, we don't do cookie cutter. Every customer's teardrop is slightly different and unique whether it's wider doors for a disabled customer or custom cabinets. We don't carry any stock to sell or already made trailers, so our customers can be a part of the process from when they order their trailer all the way until their "baby" is finished. Most of all, we're a family run business: my brother, my wife, kids and I are involved in every single trailer. We strive to be artisans and we take our time doing it right.
Tell us about your trailer options and details? What can customers order or what do they specifically ask for?
Because we do everything under the sun, we don't really have a list of options or price list. Our customers come to us with their ideas, we figure out how to do it and how much it will cost. They can order just about whatever they can think of. That being said, our base model, a 4x8, starts at $3,999. Adding things like extra windows, a second door, a sink, cabinets can run anywhere from $75 and up. Sometimes our customers just bring us cool stuff they've found, like old windows, and ask us to incorporate it into their trailer. One of the huge things for us is to make our trailers affordable for families and to let people decide what they really want in their trailer and how big they want to go. We want to offer a great value for money. As for options, most of our customers really want that second door and window — the sinks with the instant hot water tanks are really popular options.
Do you see any interesting trends in teardrop trailers?
The biggest trend we've seen is the off-road teardrop. We started building ours and we've had interest that's just off the hook! It's amazing how many people are interested in a trailer that they can take to places that only tent campers have been before. It's the new frontier and a super way to get out beyond the campgrounds into the wilderness.
Where did your company name come from?
Our company actually started because we are a big blended family. My wife and I had three children each from our first marriage and we love camping. My wife and I also love road tripping and we had upsized into a big trailer to take the whole clan out and about. But when it was just us — without the kids — that big trailer was a production to get out, not to mention the gas to get it anywhere. We wanted something more economical, environmentally friendly and easier to just pick up and go with. We ended up tent camping or sleeping in the truck a lot.
Then, when my wife was pregnant with our youngest "us" baby (lucky number 7!), we decided we needed to get ourselves a teardrop again as a second trailer. I'm a master home builder and a carpenter by trade and had built many teardrops over the years as a hobby and helped a lot of my friends restore and/or build their own, so I knew exactly what goes into building a quality teardrop. My wife wanted all the amenities too: the iPod hook-ups etc. But when we went shopping for a teardrop, we were astounded by the prices for what we wanted. So I started building my own because I knew I could do it for a lot less and before I was even finished people were trying to buy it out of my driveway. It was amazing! So when our baby was born, I was looking for a way to stay closer to home and I started taking orders and the demand has been overwhelming! We just moved into a brand new shop in Huntington Beach. It all started because of youngest crybaby, so Crybaby Trailers just fit as the name.
Do you camp in a teardrop trailer? Where do you like to go camping?
We love camping. In the winter we go to the desert. Mojave and Jawbone are favorites, and in the summer, we'll enjoy beach weekends at Bolsa Chica State Beach here in Southern California or up north of Santa Barbara. One our favorite summer trips was to Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona — the kids just loved Slide Rock! We're hoping to be able to do Glacier National Park and/or Yellowstone with the kids for our next summer adventures. We’ll do it with the kids and the teardrop!
What do you like most and least about teardrop camping?
In my view, there's nothing bad about a teardrop! My favorite thing about the teardrop is how easy it is to get there and how it can go so many places that you can't with the big trailer and is so much cheaper in gas. My wife will tell you she likes to have the bed because in the winter it can get cold. My wife does say the one thing that bugs her is that the teardrops don’t have bathrooms, but we've come up with a solution for that. We've designed a side attachment for the Teardrop that can double as a shower and privacy for a port-a-potty.
Photos by Crybaby Teardrop Trailers
