Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Need to build the side doors..would appreicate any help for the following:
1.) keeping them flat w/ plywood, framing, etc.
2.) Door jam trim - like aluminum "z" channel, etc.
3.) Space around door.
4.) Hinges, seals, etc.

Photos would be great... I have some ideas in my head, but I'd really like to see what others have done. My walls are only 1-1/16" thick, so I don't have much room to play with - was actually thinking about buying a damaged screen door and seeing if that'd work cut down, etc.

Keith B wrote:Need to build the side doors..would appreicate any help for the following:
1.) keeping them flat w/ plywood, framing, etc.
2.) Door jam trim - like aluminum "z" channel, etc.
3.) Space around door.
4.) Hinges, seals, etc.

Photos would be great... I have some ideas in my head, but I'd really like to see what others have done. My walls are only 1-1/16" thick, so I don't have much room to play with - was actually thinking about buying a damaged screen door and seeing if that'd work cut down, etc.

1) seal the plywood totally...if a stiffener/straightener is needed a piece of 1x3/4 by door length hardwood can be added as a rib and even incorporated as a handle
2) we use a "Z" type of extrusion to give us an interior type of seal...we have been unable to find what we wanted so we made it out of 2 pieces of 1" angle...the "short" leg was cut down the 1/4"
3) with 2 pieces of 1/16 angle making up the door jamb and a piece of 1/16 channel wraping the door and a 1/8th" gap all around the door for clearance, we needed 5/16th minimum gap all around the door...we found this to be too small and increased the gap (before trim) to 3/8th" all around the door
4) we used a stainless piano hinge previously but will use the extreme duty plastic hinge from McMaster-Carr on the next one....for a seal we used "Trim Seal" mfg by the "TrimLok" company and purchased thru Austin Hardware...
...many pics in my build album located by clicking the WWW button in the bottom line of this post.....
madjack

Thanks Madjack. I'm going to go Friday to see if I can find some z channel. What did you use to cut the one leg down so it was straight and even? Your piano hinge, is it surface mounted or but mounted to side of body/side of door?

Wonder if this could be cut down.. this is a pretty cheap door....
http://www.rvsurplussalvage.com/catalog/display.php?product_id=4095

Hey, Keith!

1.) keeping them flat w/ plywood, framing, etc.
• What MJ said works for me, too ... but I've also found that properly installed T-Molding can help minimize post-instalation door warpage.

2.) Door jam trim - like aluminum "z" channel, etc.
• KISS - simple aluminum Edge Molding* ... with 1" T-Molding* on the door and a good weather/Door Seal*, you don't need an inside "jamb"

3.) Space around door.
• I've been using 1/4" all 'round the door except at the hinge, where I increase it to 3/8" (before any trim goes on), and have had no clearance problems.

4.) Hinges, seals, etc.
• While I state that my custom-formed Offset Door Hinges* will only fit doors/walls 1" thick or less, I can probably squeeze another 1/16" out for you ... ...! As mentioned above, I've got Door Seal*, too ...

* http://www.teardrops.net/LilBear/parts.html

Give me a holler ... happy to help any way I can ... [email protected]

Good Luck however you choose to go! and as always ...

CHEERS!

Grant

After reading many posts about problems with doors warping I decided to try something different. I wanted my doors to be 1 1/4" thick so I took 1/2" ply and ran the two pieces in opposite directions with the 1/4" Baltic birch as the inner ply. Outer ply horizontal, middle ply vertical, inner ( finished) ply horizontal. This was done last fall and layed around in trailer in garage all winter with no warping. At least 2/3s of the door is cut out for the window.
Brwbier

Keith B wrote:Thanks Madjack. I'm going to go Friday to see if I can find some z channel. What did you use to cut the one leg down so it was straight and even? Your piano hinge, is it surface mounted or but mounted to side of body/side of door?

Keith...good luck on finding the "Z"...I searched to the point of total desperation and while finding lotssa structural stuff(2"x1/4"), the only lightweight stuff I found was from yellowdogextrusions.com and it was not a stock item and you had to buy a 500#run
...the piano hinge was mounted to the outside of the door body...Grant makes a couple of great points...using T molding is the easiest...we did an interior seal to achieve a slightly sleeker outside appearance and his offset door hinges are a really good stiffener for any set of doors.....
...we used two pieces of angle laid on each other to form the "Z"...they, like all the trim we cut down, were cut on a table saw using a pair of feather board, a couple of spacers and a "pusher" block.....
madjack

Thanks for the tips guys... I'm gonna give it a whirl. I still have my "template" from the TD to keep practicing on... Grant...if you can get another 1/16" that'd work, as mine are 1-1/16" walls... Has anyone ever tried laminating 1/8" to both sides of ridged pink foam w/ blocking at the hinge and latch points.....seems like it'd be light, etc... my doors will have 15x18 windows in them also, so almost 1/3 of the entire door sq. footage.

Well, I found some properly sized Z channel in aluminum... Got it welded up and ready for more modifications...

grant whipp wrote:Hey, Keith!

1.) keeping them flat w/ plywood, framing, etc.
• What MJ said works for me, too ... but I've also found that properly installed T-Molding can help minimize post-instalation door warpage.

2.) Door jam trim - like aluminum "z" channel, etc.
• KISS - simple aluminum Edge Molding* ... with 1" T-Molding* on the door and a good weather/Door Seal*, you don't need an inside "jamb"

3.) Space around door.
• I've been using 1/4" all 'round the door except at the hinge, where I increase it to 3/8" (before any trim goes on), and have had no clearance problems.

4.) Hinges, seals, etc.
• While I state that my custom-formed Offset Door Hinges* will only fit doors/walls 1" thick or less, I can probably squeeze another 1/16" out for you ... ...! As mentioned above, I've got Door Seal*, too ...

* http://www.teardrops.net/LilBear/parts.html

Give me a holler ... happy to help any way I can ... [email protected]

Good Luck however you choose to go! and as always ...

CHEERS!

Grant

if you came up with zero for his sites that is because he retired "80% as he says".
http://www.teardrops.net/teardroptrailerparts.html
Here is where you can find his parts read the top, off his page,
Sooooo....... you understand he has not gotten old and come down with "All Timers or Old Timers " but more " Teardrop Timers "

And is out enjoying Teardrop camping to it's fullest.

Ron see you down the road. Grant

and for those like me who wonder how it turned out.

Keith hope you do not mind, in his album are





so we know how well they turned out.

Keith can you take a shot with the door open and the parts you made showing

Great job by the way.

Getting ready to start my doors. I have lot's of shots of galleys but few of doors.

Ron