Drivers: Wendy and Stephen Hughes-Jelen, Seattle, WA

MINI: ’03 BRG/BRG MC CVT named GRNSTRK

TEARDROP: ’04 homebuilt named TR STRK

Thus the title "Streaking Across America"


It started with a vision of something small to sleep in behind our beloved MINI. After much searching, we found the world of teardrops. After finding a local builder and waiting for it to be finished (with customizations of course!) we contemplated a trip suitable to the scale and magnificence of the MINI/teardrop combination we soon would have. We easily settled on the mother of all pilgrimages, Main Street USA, the mother of all roads, Route 66. We didn’t know much about it or the history, but got books and maps and did a lot of careful planning before striking out on the grandest adventure of our lifetimes to date.


[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/584/15070LookingBack.JPG[/imgright]
Our teardrop arrived just in time for the 4th of July and we had a few dry camping runs (and one rainy one) in Washington State in July and August before heading out on our grand adventure. We departed Seattle on Sept. 11th headed for a whirlwind tour of the heartland of America. We knew that 700 miles a day, scheduled for the first three days to get us to Chicago ASAP was ambitious—and never realized how tiring sitting and driving can be. We saw more sunrises in those two weeks than we’ve seen in over ten years, and drove until too bleary eyed to go any further, passing out at the next rest area along with the big truckers. The campground/RV park reservations served as good goals, and a great place to roll into at sunrise and shower at before moving on.


Mt. Rushmore, Black Hills of South Dakota.
[imgleft]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/584/15070MtRushmore.JPG[/imgleft]
The weather as we headed east was ferocious—rain, wind, thunder and lightning, all really cut into our gas mileage and how fast we could travel, since it seemed like we were always going UP hill, and never down (and actually, that’s close since Seattle is at sea level and the middle of the country averaged about 6,000 feet). We ranged between 13 and 20 mpg in the first leg. Once we reached Chicago (after three days) we slowed down to 200-400 miles per day, exploring Route 66 sites and museums during daylight hours, then hitting the interstate to “make time” and roll into our next place well after dark. Most mornings we got a decent start, anywhere between 7 and 9 AM, and considering we haven’t rolled in until 11 PM most nights, that was very reasonable. The one exception was Shady Jack’s Big Red Barn RV Park in Villa Ridge, MO—known to America’s motorcycle enthusiasts as probably the best biker bar/campground combination in the country. Here we got to know some of the locals and taught them some of the fancy city drinks (including an apple martini and a drink called an oatmeal cookie). We didn’t turn in until after 1:30 in the morning, drowning to sleep in the cacophonic chorus of millions of katydids, mixed in with the crickets and grasshoppers (until you hear it, you can only imagine—it’s like a bad movie). We got up the next morning and cooked breakfast (one of the few times we actually cooked since we were trying to cover so much ground we didn’t have time for cooking or dishes) And didn’t actually roll until 1 PM.



[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/584/15070Route66DriveIn.JPG[/imgright]
Nostalgia along Route 66 - abandoned drive-in. This photo was selected as a 2005 NAM calendar winner - you're looking at Miss November 2005!

We took our time during daylight hours. We visited a lot of museums and cafes along the route. The best meal of the entire trip was in Baxter Springs, KS, at Café on the Route. It was 5-star! Driving through the Texas panhandle the MINI temperature gauge hit 99 degrees. Daily we kept our MINI Journal and gas receipts, writing about our adventures.



[imgleft]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/584/15070LeavingKansas.JPG[/imgleft]
We wanted to call someone and say "we're not in Kansas anymore!" but lack of cell signal in this part of the country thwarted our humor.

After five days of Route 66 exploration we rolled into Albuquerque, NM to visit friends, and brought with us rain they hadn’t seen in weeks. We stayed for four days, did laundry and slept in a queen size bed and had regular showers. On my birthday (9/22) we rode our bikes along the Rio Grande and had dinner at a great French restaurant. We shipped several boxes home since we were well over our weight limit and every cranny in the car had something tucked into it, even a piece of Crazy Horse Mountain riding on the floor in the back seat.


[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/584/15070WheelWithPikesPeakMud.JPG[/imgright]

On the way home we made a run up Pikes Peak in Colorado—we were driving right by it, how could we not go up it? Imagine driving 20 miles up a mountain, the top half was a dirt road, to an elevation of 14,100 feet and there were NO guard rails. It was kind of scary, but also exhilarating. This was Steve’s favorite part of the trip, no question, and he plots how he can go back there with his Toyota MR2.






[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/584/15070ViewFromPikesPeak.JPG[/imgright]

On the last leg of the trip we drove 500 miles a day for two days, then the final push was 850 miles with a sleepover at a rest area in eastern WA wine country, Prosser. We enjoyed our last sunrise as we headed west and arrived home at 9 AM the Sunday before returning to work and college classes. We went to bed for a couple of hours, then caught up on mail and our loving kitties that missed us so! It was a fabulous trip, and we congratulated ourselves that it went off nearly without a hitch. I vowed to plan shorter driving days on our next adventure, and began plotting our next trip: Napa Valley wine country!

• 700 miles a day is too much – and 600 is, too. 500 would be about right, and leave time for cooking and dishes. We had to eat out almost the entire trip.

• Never leave home without your hat! For when the sun is going down and shining in your face when you’re trying to drive and the sun visor can’t block it. (We had hats…) You may want to fashion a sunroof cover from cardboard and tuck it between the mesh screen and the glass of your MINI sunroof before leaving home. Really cuts down on glare!

• Don’t take bikes on a long trip when you’re driving hundreds of miles a day, you won’t have time to ride them. And don’t forget they’re up there and drive into a seven story parking garage in downtown Chicago. They have a tendency to stick up too high and break off the gate arm thingy (We’re still waiting to see if we get a bill).

[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/584/15070OldOldRoute66.JPG[/imgright]

• Every pair of pants must have two shirts to match. You can fit a third extra days outfits into the same piece of luggage. And yes, pack a sweater. (The higher elevations are really cold!)

• Pre-print your postcard mailing labels so you don’t have to handwrite everyone’s address. You can send out four times as many postcards in the same amount of time with this one easy step. And invest in the roll of 100 23 cent stamps.

• Eat as the pioneers did: beef jerky (Oh Boy Oberto is the best…), hard tack (Newman’s Own protein pretzels) and dried fruit (whole wheat or regular fig newtons). Along with plenty of water, you can get by with only two real meals and snacking the rest of the day. Well, ok, some M&Ms were stashed in the glove box.

• SIRIUS Satellite radio is a must-have. We had this installed Christmas 2003 and never has it paid off more than it did for two weeks in the car, getting to listen to the best commercial-free music, not even having to change stations if we didn’t want to. We were also packing an iPod, but SIRIUS really made this trip enjoyable. (www.sirius.com)

 

That's a great write up!

Thanks for taking the time to put that all together.

Do you have any pictures of the inside of the trailer?

 

Thanks so much for putting this together! What great advice! I know, because I have taken two cross-country trips in Wanda: last year, when she was a week old, I drove her 10,000+ miles through 22 states. This year, she did about 8,000 miles and I haven't done the state-count! LOL! At any rate, your suggestions are really good.

I love your teardrop trailer! What a fantastic addition for mini-motoring adventures!


Clover

 

Truly an inspiring adventure narrative!
Makes me want to hit the road- Rte.66- again. ( I drove from L.A. to Chicago and back in my MINI two summers ago.)

Did you guys get a chance to hit the Road Kill Cafe in Seligman, AZ?

 

Our Route 66 odyssey has been broken into two parts. We have friends in Albuquerque, so this time we went from the beginning of the route as far as their place, and next time (2006) we will drive from Seattle to Abq, then finish the route in order to the CA coast. Then we will take Hwy 101 home. We had intended to do the whole thing this year, but now I am glad we did not attept it and took a breather in the middle, it was a lot more relaxing.


Wendy

 

that's awsoem....I had dreams of a big long road trip before my mini arived...not that it has changed....LOL...just need to save up....

Make sure you let us know when you guys head out in 2006...I can garuntee some folks in the AZ and NM area that will be willing to meet up and say hi have lunch, maybe cruze for a few miles..etc..LOL..

 

What a great idea, Chris! We could organize a dinner party or something for them! I'd drive from Los Angeles to attend! Then, I could follow them to the end of Rte. 66, which is the Santa Monica Pier!

Let's plan something when the time is nearer...like six months out, or something!

Clover

 

Super!! I wish there were more articles like this. Most of us don't get to see much of other areas of the country. Nice to see it through the eyes of a fellow MINI owner.

P.S. 'noticed you had a cooper. How did it handle the trip (and the trailer and bikes!!!).

 

I love this write-up! How I wish I could do the same.

 

Oh that sounds like a wonderful trip!! And a mountain bike ride on your birthday to boot - awesome.

Thanks so much for sharing. The MINI looks good all geared up with bikes and the teardrop. Congrats on the completion of the trip and here's to the next of many .

Adam

 

How did the Cooper handle the trip?

The Cooper CVT is rated for 1,100 pounds towing capacity - on an earlier trip to Canada we stopped at the scales on the way back just inside the Washington border and had ourselves weighed and the trailer, loaded with kitchen gear, bedding, TV/DVD player in the cabin (one of the modifications we made), battery, and everything else - we were 50 pounds over the official tow rating. The hitch is a "hacker hitch" that was avlbl on minimania.com for a time (the one that is designed for an S and a Cooper). It's rated for 1,000 pounds, but Steve kept telling me to not worry about a few pounds, the thing is made of steel!

The most difficult part of the trip was the first 3 days headed east through the Rocky Mountains. There was incredible wind storms - I have decided it was storming while we were driving across the plains otherwise not a soul would live there, yikes! We were always going up hill, INTO the wind. We were on cruise control and it was set for 75-80, but most of the time the car dropped down to 55 or 60 on an uphill stretch, then would pick back up on the downhill side. At times our mileage got as low as 13.4 mpg, although the bulk of the trip it averaged between 17 and 21 mpg.

After a week of being on the road, the bag of laundry that would ride on the bed during the day got pretty heavy. And as we picked up little trinkets, bits of rock (including a chunk of Crazy Horse Mountaint!), t-shirts, what have you, we had every bit of the car crammed to the gills, and a couple of shopping bags riding on the bed, adding to the weight. Extra shoes rode on the floor behind the passenger seat, along with rocks, the bag of maps/travel guides. Our water supply, in jugs, rode on the floor behind the driver. The cooler rode in the boot, the luggage carefully arranged on the folded down seats, and the bag of snacks rode balanced between it all, reachable from both seats. The Nalgene rode in the glovebox, nice and cold. The beef jerky rode in the door pockets.

When we arrived in NM, our friends shipped home three big boxes of stuff we moved out of the car and didn't need for the last leg of the trip. Clothes, souvenirs, the Route 66 travel guides and maps, every bit to lighten the load.

During the last three days, the stretch headed for home, back across the Rockies, we set the cruise control for 60. The mileage went way up and the car just seemed happier. It relieved a little of our anxiety as well. And we did leave the teardrop at the bottom before going up Pikes Peak. (If you're ever in Colorado, you have to motor up Pikes Peak, don't miss it!)

I have another tip to add to the top seven tips: when booking a place to stay, limit yourself to within 10 miles of the interstate or main route you are following. We couldn't pass up "Jellystone Park" in Colorado. Not only was it pitch black (we were always arriving somewhere after 10 PM), it was about 40 miles off our route and by that time we were begrudging the extra time it took to get there and back in the morning. If you're just going to pass out and then roll again in the morning, it's better to stay close to your route.

Wendy

PS By day three your butt starts to REALLY hurt.

 

Hey, here's the map of the route.


If you ever contemplate Route 66 as a trip, I can make some great map and book recommendations.

By the way, I think it would be a KICK to have folks meeting us along the way in 2006. Most likely it will be in September again - it's a bit cooler and the crowds have died down.

Thanks for all your nice comments - I am glad everyone is enjoying reading about it almost as much as we enjoyed the actual trip!

Wendy

 

Great trip. I don't have my Mini yet (maybe tomorrow night), but it sounds like a really fun trip. We also want to do it (besides in our new Mini) from the seat of our Harley. I've ridden parts of the Mother Road on the bike but not the full route.
Where did you get the cute teardrop trailer? I've seen some like it. I've also seen a new smallish trailer out in bright yellow, (and 2 other colors I can't remember) that might work? We used to pull a small trailer behind the bike.

Thanks for the good tips. Will copy and paste them into a travel file for later reference.
:smile:

keith

 

http://www.tab-rv.com/specs/index.php

I think this is the one you are refering to. Pricey and a little heavy.

My question is how do you put a hitch on a MINI. Can't find anything searching the web. Was it custom made?

 

The T@B is really nice, but it is way too heavy, it weighs nearly 1400 pounds empty, the max even the manual transmission is rated to tow. The teardrop trailer is under 1000, depending on the manufacturer/age, etc.. Ours is 820 empty and hits 1150 when loaded with dishes, gear, and everything else required to live on the road (we drove over a truck scale to see if we needed to get rid of some stuff). We always load as much into the car as possible, aware of this fact.


The hitch we purchased from minimania.com, we bought the actual last one they had in stock last spring. I have seen other hitches of the same design referred to as "the hacker hitch" at photo pages http://user.mc.net/~jdewey/MINI/Trailer_hitch/ I am not sure where you would find one now, but I imagine it could be done. It is unique in that it was designed to fit around the S tailpipes, but works just as well on the MC. The best thing about this hitch is that the visible portion is removable and no one even knows the car is capable of towing. I like not having something ugly hanging off the back of my beautiful car. It was a nightmare to install, however, according to Torklift, the shop we took it to that specializes in hitch installations.

No matter what you end up towing, if it's more than a 300 pound utility trailer (we have one of those now, too), have a brake controller installed. We towed the teardrop for about a month on weekend outings before finishing the brake wiring. When trying to stop you felt like the trailer was going to propel you right thru the intersection. With brakes on the trailer, and the controller is a very fancy balancing kind, you don't even know the trailer is there except when you are trying to get going from a stop. Worth every penny, and the peace of mind is priceless.

 

What a cool trip! I hit tiny little sniglets of Rt.66 on my cross country adventure the summer before last, and every since then I've been dreaming of a whole trip along the remnants!! Awesome! I bought cheesey stickers that I'd meant to incorporate into my Ollie somehow, but I haven't done it yet. Sounds like I have a project for tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing!

 

cut down on your cornering ability?

 

Compared to anything else towing something, not really. We could still pull U-ies on a normal street, that little trailer just follows along like a pup.


Wendy

 

Nice to see someone doing an adventure with a MINI. Thought you would like to see the MINI/teardrop combo that was at the ITG in Minden, NE this year.
Its on this page left side. http://td.roughwheelers.com/ITG2005/...ton/index.html

The following link will take you to several more pictures of the event.
http://td.roughwheelers.com/ITG2005/index.html

edit: After posting here I went to the extreme sport TD you see below.

 

Thanks for the link! There were several tears from the Northwest that went, many people in our club (TOW: Teardroppers of Oregon and Washington). I don't remember anyone mentioning seeing another one, tho. They're pretty proud of us. We'll be on display at the TOW booth at the Northwest Classic Car Collector Showcase at the Portland Expo Center in October.

Nice to know there is more than one - but I think our setup looks the best!

Thanks for sharing,
Wendy

 

Yes it was a great time, My parents run the Motel/Campground where the event was held. The MINI was in the primative camp ground removed a bit from the main group. I can not remember the owners name but he was from Nevada and plates were MATCHBOX on the MINI

Oh and here is what I am thinking of pulling with the MINI.
http://quicksilvertrailers.com/bigbum.htm
or
http://quicksilvertrailers.com/lazybum.htm

 

Stunning writeup. Thanks for your time!

Is it a 'surge' brake setup or is it electronically controlled?

 

A lot of people have been emailing/messaging me with hitch questions.

What I thought was a "hacker hitch" is actually the Hacker hitch, made by Karl Hacker. He makes a stainless steel hitch that fits both the MC and MCS (Crashkarl@aol.com 518-477-9752). This is the hitch we have. When we bought ours we got the last one he sold to minimania.com, we heard he had lost his shop. Maybe after 18 months he is back in business??

The hitch by "The Junkman" mentioned in the list below we have seen - Abe runs in our circle here in the Northwest. But again, I prefer something removable so when I am not towing you don't know I do tow.

Following info found at http://user.mc.net/~jdewey/MINI/Trailer_hitch/
We've been watching this web site for quite some time. Has pictures, and details as follows:

************************************************** *******
Key Words
Mini Cooper S Trailer Hitch tow MCS


Last update September 21, 2005

SOURCES OF MCS TRAILER HITCHES:

Karl Hacker - New York State, stainless steel hoop

The Junkman - West coast, Receiver style

MINIFINI.com Dual round receivers for about $1,000 (out of production).

Rogue Engineering has a hitch that works IF you have changed to their
dual side exhaust system.

Build your own as described here $20 for materials.

For the MINI Cooper (not S), you can buy a hitch made
by Dalan, or get some one in Europe to send you the
MINI Tow hitch. Reese sells a MINI (not S) hitch in
Australia.

MINI TRAILER TOWING CAPACITY:

You should make your own decision about towing things with an MC(S), and how that might affect your warranty.

I have a 2004 MINI Cooper S. On Page 76 of the owners manual under
"Determining cargo limit" it says.

"6. If your vehicle will be towing a trailer, load from your trailer will be
transferred to your vehicle. Consult the manual for transporting a trailer
to determine how this may reduce the available cargo and luggage load
capacity of your vehicle." (The 2005 owners manual says the same thing.)

I do not know what trailer transport manual they are referring to,
but this statement certainly is not "no trailer towing or you lose your warranty" .

I have found specifications on WWW that APPEAR to be MINI specs.

On two European MINI web sites I found that the MINI (not S)
is rated for towing a fair size load.

On the MINI One, MINI One D, and MINI Cooper; an unbraked trailer should not exceed 550 KG (1,210 pounds). For a trailer with brakes the
capacity is 650 KG (1,430 pounds). The UK and Ireland sites have a
Tow Hitch listed as a MINI part. It says on one site, 650 KG, and on the
other site it says verticle load (tongue weight) is 75 KG.

For the MCS they say "trailer not possible". (sure not with the MINI hitch!)

I have been told that folks in Europe do not drive 75 mph when pulling a trailer.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND OTHER INFORMATION:

To see a list of files on MCS Trailer Hitches click here

You will see a file list with two text files, and many photos. Use your back button to get back to the list, after viewing a file.

The directory name is:
http://user.mc.net/~jdewey/MINI/Trailer_hitch

The two photos labeled "Karl_xx" are of the hitch sold by
Karl Hacker. He makes a stainless steel hitch that fits both the MC and MCS (Crashkarl@aol.com 518-477-9752).

The Photos named "Abe_xxx", are of a hitch made by Abe, on the west coast. You can contact him by email at thejunkman2@comcast.net.

See MINIFINI.COM for photos of their system.
As of September 2005, MINIFINI has REPORTEDLY ceased
doing business, and sold out their stock MINI dealers and their
supply chain MAY have the base part and the bicycle rack.
The "TowLink" was never stocked by MINI.

MY HITCH:
All other photos on the site are of my hitch in various stages.

The hitch I built, is similar to the Minifini, and Junkman but is easier to install. Similar to those, the hitch is removed when not in use and only two black crutch tips are visible. With a minor change the receiver could
be concealed behind the rear grills.

I have hand metal working tools, and a welder. The final design took me
about 4 hours to fabricate and install, and contains under $20 in materials.

If you or a friend can use a hack saw, a hand drill, a hand tap, and an
arc welder, you may want to consider building your own. If you did
all the layout and cutting yourself, and had a welding shop finish it,
I estimate the welding time including set up would be under 1 hour.
There is no welding to your MINI, and the only thing you do cut on
the MINI are two plastic trim pieces that can be easily replaced.
These are the same pieces you drill when installing a Sportlink.

I will be glad to answer questions, and tell you about improvements that
I have considered, and my experiences towing things. I can not offer
you advice about the strength of the hitch or the car. I am not an engineer, I am a guy with a hack saw, a welder, and a MINI..

I do not supply hitches or parts.

Happy Motoring!
John

JOHN'S HITCH INFORMATION:

I recently put a home made trailer hitch on my BMW MINI COOPER S
This is a description of how I did it. You may find it useful.

My trailer tongue load is about 50 pounds when I have 1,000 pounds
gross trailer weight.

I attached to the INSIDE of the bottom of the boot floor support box beams, using EXISTING HOLES in the MINI and 3/8" fine thread grade 8 bolts.

All of the available trailer hitches attatch to these points, SOME ATTACH
TO ADDITIONAL POINTS.

The instructions for the Sport Link and the official BMW MINI trailer hitch are very informative. You should read both before considering any trailer hitch for a MINI.

They are available at:

http://motoringfile.com/howto/

There are differences between those instructions and the way I installed this hitch.

I did NOT have to drop my Mufflers or remove the bumper facia to install
this device. I did undo the muffler brackets and let the mufflers hang down to provide room to get my hands and tools above the exhaust pipes.

I removed the plastic fake grills from the rear bumper facia, and cut holes in them for the receivers to pass through as described in the Sport Link instructions.

I cut holes in the heat shield so I could get to the bolt holes as described in the SportLink and MINI instructions.

The hole locations and bracket dimensions for the left and right bracket were the same on my 2004 Mini Cooper S.

Distance from front hole to front of bracket, 1/2 inch (1.3 cm). (not critical)

Distance from rear hole to front hole, 13 5/8 inches (34.5 cm).
{I have had feedback from readers that there are addional holes toward
the middle of the beam, and that a better fit can be had by making
the bracket shorter, and using the middle holes.}

Distance from rear hole to rear of bracket 4 1/4 inches ( about 11 cm)

Distance from rear hole to rear end of threaded coupling, 5 1/4 (13 cm).

I chose to project the coupler through the grills. The dimensions could be
adjusted to conceal the couplers.

Dimensions of the parts was heavily determined by the types of materials I was able to obtain easily. 3/4 " coupling nuts were the largest size I could find. I then found 8 inch by 3/4" bolts were the longest one the local store had. The brackets that bolt to the car are 1/2 by 1 steel from a local store. The 3/8 by 24 holes are easy to hand tap after drilling the proper size hole with a hand held power drill.

TRAILER WIRING WARNING:

DON'T CONNECT YOUR TRAILER WIRING DIRECTLY TO YOUR MINI
TAIL LIGHT SYSTEM. An electronic module {BC1} in the MINI drives the taillights. This module is made of parts that SHOULD protect themselves from your trailer, but the BMW instructions for the MINI OEM tow hitch retrofit kit includes hooking up an isolation module to protect the MINI from your trailer lights load.

The good news is all of the "trailer plug" manufacturers make isolation converters and they cost about $35.00. The key is that the tail light converter has its own wire and fuse direct to the battery, and has a statement on it that it is MEANT TO PROTECT YOUR CARS ELECTRONICS FROM THE TRAILER LIGHT WIRING.

I measured the current draw on mine. It drew less than 1/100 amp from the MINI light circuit to light the 2.5 amp turn signal on my trailer. The rest of the required power came direct directly from the battery. Since the MCS battery is in the trunk, this was an easy hook up.

If you have trouble finding the right converter, buy the trailer light adapter for a PT Cruiser, then cut the Chrysler plugs off and connect it to your MINI lights. Be Sure to use a fuse on the power line at the battery.

To make the connection I did not cut, strip, or tap the MINI wires. I unplugged the MINI connector from the taillights. I then carefully unsnapped the plug cover, and used a knife to release the barb
(twice on each terminal) and pull the wire out of the plug. Then I stripped the module wire and wrapped it around the terminal several times, and reinserted the terminal into the plug, replaced cover, and reconnected the MINI lights. If you ever need to remove it there will be no "evidence".
See the photo named "Mini_wires".

A text file in this directory named "Wiring_color_codes" has the color code for the wires..

MOTOR ON John
MCS 2004
email is similar to j d e w e y a t m c . n e t

 

This information is being posted in response to a private message I received last week.

~ Wendy

Teardrop trailers range from the vintage that has been rescued and restored, to new construction. Ours is a new construction based on the KIT plan from 1947. It was built by a local cabinet maker - you will find many cabinet makers who make these as a sideline since basically it's an oak cabinet on wheels. It's four feet wide so we didn't need additional mirrors to see around it. It reminds you of why you bought a queen bed at home. Now we have a little dog, too! It's a cozy fit.

We paid an extra $100 for a brake axle (I seriously wouldn't tow without one) and his wife made the curtains and mattress cover and pillow shams, too. We paid $6,800. This seems to be very comparable, and personally I think it's a steal since frankly this is superior in quality (latches, handles, etc.) than the Hunter Shadow (based out of Idaho and batch produced by a manufacturer there).

Weight limitations for towing with a MINI are a high priority - and you won't be towing it empty, it will be full of gear. Our teardrop weighs 820 pounds empty and I expect the Hunter Shadow is close. There are other teardrop "manufacturers", but most of them are bigger than this and you won't be able to tow. The MC CVT is rated to tow 1,100 pounds - we went over a truck scale on the way back from Canada once and the teardrop loaded was actually 1,150, a little over. We try to be very conscientious of what's in there, and the cooler is carried in the boot instead of the trailer, because it gives more cabinet space in the trailer, and also it lets you shift some weight to the car (even tho it is near the hitch).

It cost almost $1,000 to get the car ready to tow. We bought the last hitch in stock at minimania.com last year - altho if you look around you may find it, some refer to it as a "hacker hitch". It's designed to go around the twin tailpipes of the S, but works on the Cooper also. There was the brake controller, wiring that in, and plus the installers (we used a place called Torque Lift) said it took them all day working with someone else's design. I don't care - if I let them put one of their deals on the car I would have one of those ugly square things hanging on the back of my car. The tow portion of this hitch is completely removable so when it's not installed, no one would ever know you towed with the car. Which has been great for us since we heard towing breaks your MINI USA warranty. Which we also think is stupid since they actually design and sell a hitch for the MINI in the UK. Bastahds. We looked into having friends in Germany purchase the UK hitch and ship it to us but it was going to be very expensive. Our dealers (we use two) have never said anything about any of the gear attached on the underside of the car. Maybe they can't tell what it's for.

I figure with all the camping gear in it and setting up the kitchen we've got about $10k total into it. But it does double-duty. In case of a natural disaster we have survival gear, food, water filtration system and containers, extra bedding, clothing, an EZ Up shelter, seating, a gas stove, a gas grill, and a way to get out of town if we need to. Everything is in one place. It's comforting. I worry about earthquakes all the time up here.

If you google "teardrop trailer" you will find a ton of information, including several national online communities happy to discuss teardrops. You will also find boards with TDs for sale, and maybe you will be lucky to find a local cabinet maker who makes them on the side!

 

TEKONSHA PRODIGY (TM)
Inertia-Activated Trailer Brake Control for 1-4 Axles
Retails for approximately $149.95

Tekonsha introduces PRODIGY™ the most advanced and intelligent approach to trailer brake controls. PRODIGY, requiring no manual leveling, is a technological breakthrough among inertia-activated brake controls. Equipped with a self-adjusting sensing device similar to the one used in guided-missile technology to allow for easy, flexible installation — from nearly horizontal to nearly vertical — PRODIGY constantly adjusts itself to the position of the tow vehicle.

PRODIGY FEATURES

• Applies power to the trailer brakes in proportion to vehicle's deceleration.
• No level adjustment necessary - it adjusts itself to varying terrain as you drive.
• The only inertial control that works proportionally in reverse - great for backing into tough spots. Digital display depicts voltage delivery to trailer during braking.
• Continual diagnostics check for proper connection, shorted magnet condition and much more.
• Exclusive "boost" feature gives users the ability to apply more initial trailer braking power when towing heavier trailers.
• Power-saving mode reduces drain on battery when vehicle is not in use.
• Preassembled wire harness for simple hookup.*
• Unique pocket mount allows for flexible mounting options.
• Quick and easy disconnect feature allows user to remove and store the control when not in use.
• Made for up to four-axle trailer brake systems.
• Meets N.H.T.S.A. regulations regarding tow vehicle/trailer light activation.
• Limited lifetime** warranty.

* May require additional purchase of vehicle specific component for installation.
** Some conditions may apply.