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Hunter Shadow Teardrop Trailer History
I recently re-acquired the camping itch. It's been quite a few years since I did any camping, so I decided: no more tents for me. I started looking around for something that had a bit more comfort, but was not a portable Marriott hotel.
Tent trailers are interesting, but they need to be set up when you get there and torn down when you leave. They also have the same insulating qualities of a tent. Tent trailers were out.
I had remembered seeing a little hard-sided trailer on one of my road trips. It was shaped sort of like a teardrop laying on its side. I decided to look into it, so I googled 'teardrop trailer'.
I can only say I was surprised at the results. These trailers were quite popular in the 40's and 50's, but kind of died out in the 70's. There is now a big resurgence of teardrops. Everyone is building them and many people want one. Me included.
I don't have the time to build my own trailer, or I would have just ordered some plans. So I looked around to see who was manufacturing them. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that WilTrek, the same people who sold me the snow plow for my truck, also made the Hunter Outdoor Products teardrop trailers. So I put a down payment on a Hunter Shadow HU-1.
For the most part, manufactured teardrops aren't done on an assembly line. They are hand assembled just like you would do at home. I decided to document this assembly, subject to my time constraints. The results are detailed here. First, a little history:
Jim Hunter was on a road trip south from Idaho when he passed by a farm and saw a 1946 Kit teardrop trailer sitting next to a barn. Being in the trailer business, he was intrigued, so he stopped and talked to the farmer about the trailer. He bought it on the spot.
Mr. Hunter then went in to the nearest town and got some bailing wire and electrical wire. He went back and wired up the trailer, hooked it up to his vehicle and continued on his trip.
He hauled that trailer on the entire trip. His big problem was that the trailer's suspension was frozen, and the trailer felt every jolt and bump he went over. When he finally got back to his shop in Sandpoint, Idaho, one entire side of the trailer fell off into the parking lot.
This was actually a good thing, since he intended to take it apart anyway and reverse engineer it using modern parts.
He finally freed up the 'spring inside of a tube' suspension, too. When he got the trailer back down to its frame, he hoisted the frame and dropped it from 8 feet. He had to do this about 10 times to finally break the suspension loose.
Mr. Hunter seems to be retired now, living a life of leisure in Hawaii. He sold his business to WilTrek, who were assembling the trailers for him. Their business is in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which is about 50 miles south of Sandpoint, but still in the Idaho Panhandle. WilTrek is 11 miles from my house.
The Hunter Shadow reproduction retains the classic outlines of the original Kit trailer, but differs in many respects from the original Kit design. It uses a Henschen Dura-flex rubber suspension instead of the old style suspension. The Shadow axle and suspension can support loads of up to 2000 pounds. The HU-1 Shadow is 4' X 8' and weighs just 670 pounds, so there is plenty of support for it. The Shadow also has two cabin doors. The original Kit trailer had one door with a window, and just a window where the other door would be.
The Shadow is built on a welded, square-tube steel frame. It has an adjustable front jack with wheel and two fully adjustable rear jacks. It comes with fenders, but you can get it without them and supply your own. Many people like to do that so they can match the fender style to the vehicle that pulls the trailer.
The Shadow is fully wired for 12 volt operation, with an interior light, galley light and optional heating and cooling fans. It also has cigarette-type 12 volt outlets in the cabin and galley.
I'll talk more about the Shadow with each of the construction pictures.