Hey all,
I'm trying to research how to temporarily, or quickly permanently fix my hinge situation but a lot of the threads are full of dead links and dead pictures. I could use a little help. Yes, I'm the jerk who should be able to find what he needs and is still asking.
I have a 5-yo 8x5 teardrop camper made by a small company (Twin Spruce, no longer exists). Looks like my rear hatch (opens vertically) uses a living hinge. Photos below. I noticed it's coming apart on one end and is leaking.
I have to take two trips with it in two weeks, and have no free weekends between now and then. I'm panic searching through the threads here to understand what the best way to fix this, either temporarily for now (some kind of tape? I worry about the whole hatch ripping off though), or easy/quick permanent (slap a new piano hinge in there? Will it hold? Can I just keep the hitch "shut" and quickly replace it?)
It's a 2" hinge, 61.5" wide. Appears to have some kind of sealant gunk on the underside which stays wet. The split in the hinge is on the right side, almost to the edge, and will probably split to the edge soon.
Any quick/easy temp options that can work for me here? I hesitate to go this route since I assume the entire hatch will rip off if I keep using it, but if you have any reliable ideas I'm all ears. The hatch is heavy and I gotta use it.
As for permanent replacement, am I correct in thinking I can do this in a couple hours?
- Purchase new living hinge (so many options... looking for quality)
- Keep hatch closed, remove screws
- Use wood filler or something in screw holes
- place new hinge, maybe put a sealant on the underside (I'm confused as to why the builder did it this way)
- Screw down new hinge (what kind of screws? The originals are corroding)
Is that it? Should I consider replacing with a different style hinge (I need something that'll go in quickly, unfortunately)?
Full album of photos: http://imgur.com/a/QQKte
Open, view from inside:
On the outside, the tear is nearing the outer corner and the screws are also corroded:
Inside again - soft sealant gunk and poor placement of screws. Not happy about this but whatever: