Roof Rack or Tongue Rack on Off-Road Teardrop (1 Viewer)

[Heckraiser]

Hi Folks, I am in the very early planning stages of a teardrop or grasshopper style mini camper trailer. It will be built with off-road use in mind, although I don't plan pull it up any 4-banana trails. That said, I can see getting into a scenario where I might get in a tight spot or off-camber situation either trying to back up a trail to let traffic by or squeezing around a switchback. I have no experience pulling a trailer off road and almost no experience on road (pulled a car trailer about 30 miles, never even had to back up).

I would like to make a storage rack for carrying firewood, extra cooler, bikes or whatever might need carried. The load could potentially be pretty heavy (my firewood tub weighs about 200# fully loaded).

My question is this: would I be better off building the trailer with a longer tongue and a tongue rack, or a shorter overall trailer with a roof rack? As I see it, the pro of a tongue rack would be a lower COG and the con would be a longer trailer that might be tougher to maneuver around trees, switchbacks, etc. The pro of the roof rack would be a shorter and presumably more maneuverable trailer, con being a higher COG. I figure I would need to make the trailer about 24-30" longer to accommodate a tongue rack.

Having no experience with pulling a trailer in an off-road scenario, I'm just not sure how to weigh the pros and cons. I'd love some input

 

[fireball]

Check out the tongue layout on some of the popular off road trailers: socal, moby, AT. They have long tongues and storage boxes, I believe the extra length makes the trailer a bit more maneuverable, and allows you to jackknife the trailer to turn around if need be. It also provides clearance for a swing out tire carrier if you've got on on your TV.

Also consider how often you might be carrying that load up front and make sure it's designed into the overall geometry. With a trailer in the 1500# range you want ~200-250# of tongue weight.

 

[Heckraiser]

Thanks for the info! I always assumed that the shorter the trailer, the easier it would be to maneuver. Maybe I'm off base there... a few sources I've found say it is at least more of a PITA to reverse in a short trailer. Any more input?

 

[deepmud]

Longer is more stable - but there are limits, of course.

Maybe maybe your box for wood tall enough to place your firewood on end - like a rack of balls on a pool table.

Like this Turtleback but full height to the front, with whatever your firewood length preference is as the box height.

That way you get maximum jackknife-ablity /load-ablity on the nose.

 

[Heckraiser]

Hi Guys,

I just thought I would bump this 3 year old thread to get more input on basically (but not quite) the same question.

We've determined that I have too much going on in life to build this trailer myself, so the wife and I are hiring it out. We initially told the guy 5x8 box, but we've now determined that it will need to be at least 5x9 in order to accommodate the wife's bathroom equipment. The builder says 5x9 and 5x10 are the same price. 5x10 would obviously be a little roomier, but again, I keep imagining the extra length as being a hindrance on the trail.

Am I totally off base here? Is a longer trailer easier or harder to maneuver?

 

[stevezero]

check out rustic trail teardrops. I dont have time to build what I want, so I'm having them build their Grizzly Bear model for me. It has a 5ft interior height. (they have a taller or shorter model too) Ours will be equipped with a sherford curve potty, ac, heat, They dont do the conventional galley arrangement. You actually sleep head toward the rear. and I'll build out my kitchen the way i want it. We are trying to convert the axle to 6 lug hubs with brakes, so i can run my other toy/lexus wheels. I dont intend on doing hardcore stuff with it, just getting a bit of overland action and roadtrips to save on hotel bills. They build theirs off a leonard 5x8 trailer chassis, and cnc cut their walls. They offer a platform on the tongue. I'm debating on the platform vs a tongue box.

Rustic Trail Teardrop Campers

Rustic Trail Teardrop Campers