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American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufacturer

PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:22 am
by Treesloth
Hello all.

I'm writing this post to warn people of dealing with this manufacturer. I'll try to keep everything concise.

When I was looking to have a custom teardrop built a couple of years ago, I searched for and talked to manufacturers far and wide. At the beginning of 2015, Bud (the owner of American Teardrop) promised me most everything I wanted in a teardrop design. I placed my order, and picked it up in California in August of that year. It was really awesome, an off-road, off-grid beast that was ready for anything. But the problems with it started very soon after I drove away from Cali towards my home in Florida. First thing was a problem with leaking in the galley when it rained. An incorrectly designed galley hatch was the culprit. And that was just the beginning. I've had SO MANY problems with this thing, I'd happily deem it a lemon. While Bud was responsive enough every time I'd email him, it just all got to be too much. The thing is now literally falling apart, and I've had myriads of hatch problems. In fact, I've never had a totally dry galley after a rain - water ALWAYS finds its way in. I've had problems with the air conditioner unit and the way it was installed, including condensation leaking into my cabin, and my galley is falling apart. I'll be posting pictures of the issues I've had if anyone is interested, but for now I'd just say to STEER CLEAR. There are plenty of other manufacturers that will stand behind their work. Bud fell very short of this.

Thanks for reading - Jim

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Tue Aug 22, 2017 12:09 pm
by BigGoofyGuy
Is this the company?
http://americanteardrop.com/
:thinking:

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 5:31 pm
by Treesloth
Sure is. Owner's name is Bud. He'll promise you the world, but he won't promise his work for very long.

I also now have some new damage, as a result of him not making the framework strong enough to hold up a window AC unit for extended periods of time (i.e. permanently). I'll post some pics.

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 10:34 am
by michaeln
I just bought one of their trailers. First time I washed it, it leaked about 2 cups of water into the galley. Called them, talked to the woman there. She basically said "they do that" and told me when washing it don't run water (even a gentle stream) on the galley hatch hinge area. She said it won't leak in normal rain. I have my doubts, but this is my first taste of their customer support and I am not pleased.

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 9:24 pm
by Shadow Catcher
I have a piece of rubber roofing over the hinge.

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:48 am
by michaeln
Shadow Catcher wrote:I have a piece of rubber roofing over the hinge.


Would you mind posting a pic or two of how you did that?

Thanks!

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 3:11 pm
by Woodbutcher
I don't know what type hinge your trailer has, but I had periodic trouble with a gear hinge leaking, only under very heavy water running off the roof. I solved my problem by screwing a forever hinge on my roof as a deflector. Water now just rushes over the hinge, not up against it. The galley hinge should also over hang the side of the trailer 3/4". Here is what mine looks like and the forever hinge can be bought at Vintage Technologies for about 20 bucks.

Image

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 7:58 pm
by michaeln
Thanks, that looks like a good tip, Woodbutcher. Hopefully others may chime in with alternatives.

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 7:13 am
by michaeln
Customer service seems a very low priority at American Teardrop. I emailed them about my dissatisfaction with the water leakage and damage to the wood, dead silence from their end.

I agree, spend your money somewhere else.

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 8:23 pm
by ae6black
I just stick a fresh strip of Gorilla Duct tape over the hinge at the start of the season. My hurricane hinge leaks like a sieve when you spray a garden hose against it. Living in the laural highlands of Pa, the effect is pretty much the same with wind driven rain. After the tape, no more problem.

Art

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 9:02 pm
by Woodbutcher
Has anyone looked into why the Hurricane hinge leaks? It seems you all have the same complaint. It is near impossible for a properly installed Hurricane hinge to leak when in the closed position. It would seem that the hinge either does not have a good seal under the top edge on the roof side or it was not extended past the side of the trailer 3/4". Can any one confirm this or post some pictures? You should not be putting a piece of tape over the hinge on a new trailer.

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 10:05 am
by michaeln
Woodbutcher wrote:or it was not extended past the side of the trailer 3/4".


Mine is not extended past the side of the trailer at all. It does not even reach to the side of the trailer, let alone past it.

Mind you, this is American Teardrop's "professional" workmanship. I did not make any of this mess.

Image

Image

They don't care. When I called them, the woman said this was normal for it to leak when washing it, but it would not leak in the rain. It did rain last night about 1/2", and it did not leak visibly into the galley.

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 10:54 am
by gudmund
mine is not a American Teardrop brand trailer but these pictures look just like mine and how it was built - mine does not leak when closed but when open, the rain/water feds off the hatch lid, than off each side down into the trailer galley. (and yes I have water damage from this - if I knew than what I know now about teardrops NONE of this would have been built this way!!) The hinge should have been left long ended on each side so as to fed the water over the side walls on each side thus getting the water off and away from the trailer. This last summer I got to look at 2 of these American brand trailer's - one brand new, on it's 1st trip out and a older one - both of them have the same problem due to the way they were built - both look just like these pictures.

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:35 pm
by jsnbergman
michaeln wrote:
Woodbutcher wrote:or it was not extended past the side of the trailer 3/4".


Mine is not extended past the side of the trailer at all. It does not even reach to the side of the trailer, let alone past it.

Mind you, this is American Teardrop's "professional" workmanship. I did not make any of this mess.

Image

Image

They don't care. When I called them, the woman said this was normal for it to leak when washing it, but it would not leak in the rain. It did rain last night about 1/2", and it did not leak visibly into the galley.


Thats not how this works :x , thats not how any of this works!! I am very confused about the installation and why there are so many plates, rivets and goop. The top portion(mounted to the cabin) of that hinge should extend out past the wall. That galley portion should be narrower that the top.

It drives me crazy to see work like this, I hope you can find a resolution.

Re: American Teardrop - why you should AVOID this manufactur

PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:49 pm
by michaeln
jsnbergman wrote: I hope you can find a resolution.


Resolution won't be coming from American Teardrops. They don't want to hear about it.