Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **adlibdrama** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:43 pm

I'm hoping to order the hinge for my hatch in the next few days but don't know how long I need it. I don't have the hatch or the rest of the trailer built yet. I'm ordering parts ahead of time since I have two weeks of leave coming up and I'm hoping to get the trailer mostly completed in that time.

The plan is for an outside measurement of approx 64 in. With roughly 2in wall thickness, that will give me a 60in interior.

Now my question. Does the hinge need to be the full width of the hatch? I would like to avoid ordering a 6 foot hinge only to cut off most of the last foot. Would a 5 foot hinge be sufficient? The hinge I plan on using is the hurricane hinge from Grant.

Thanks for the help.

Dennis

by **planovet** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:48 pm

You want the ends to stick out a bit...about 1/2"-3/4" on each side (depending on who you ask). So add 1" to 1 1/2" to the outside width. Grant will cut it to length for you, it doesn't have to be exactly 5' or 6'.

by **absolutsnwbrdr** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:48 pm

A full width hurricane hinge would be preferred in order to keep water from coming in. You could get away with a shorter hinge as long as you had some other way to keep water out.

by **doug hodder** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:37 am

You ought to get it full width + a couple of inches and trim to your needs. Anything shorter will only create headaches for you down the road and a whole lot of extra work. Doug