Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Im outside working on the gas shocks for the hatch. I really dont like the looks of these to be honest but the wife and son said it would help them to lift the hatch a lot easier which I cant blame them for. For right now its what I,ll use but eventually I,ll find somthing else.

Never installed such so now Im wondering as to which way they are supposed to go .. here are some pics. Its 01:16 in the morning on Saturday and its some light so thought Id try them.

1st question - Are they positioned correctly or is the top portion supposed to be out towards the end of the trailer and bottom of the shock in towards to front of the trailer?

Im confused.. And how do I know where they are supposed to be located exactly?

I havent installed them permanently but just with one screw top and bottom so far.

Here are a couple of pics taken a few minutes ago. Looks as though they take up or will take up a lot of space???????





And is there supposed to be a block or plate on the bottom to make it equal in distance to the top?





Best regards Classic Finn

Maybe someone can recommend struts that would look good on this and easy to lift up the hatch??

Any ideas that you may have sure are welcome..

I know that the styles you folks have there in the USA we may not possibly have. But maybe some nice ones could be made or purchased.

Classic Finn

Heikki, I still don't have mine on. I tried the block of wood and it popped off. It just wouldn't hold to the sides. Sonetpro has a thing in the index on how to do this.

Good luck and very glad you feel well enough to be out working on the TD.

Miriam C. wrote:Heikki, I still don't have mine on. I tried the block of wood and it popped off. It just wouldn't hold to the sides. Sonetpro has a thing in the index on how to do this.

Good luck and very glad you feel well enough to be out working on the TD.

Thanks, however can you please tell me where sonetpro,s info is? Ok index yes but

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=11210

Two threads up in the sticky

Miriam C. wrote:http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=11210

Two threads up in the sticky

this is a picture from Endo


http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=8874

This is good help from Grant and Andrew
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... c&start=15

Ohh Wow Im up at 0600 just trying to install and figure out which end is up or down and how far from the hinge and how far down the wall these should be located.. Boy do I need some coffee..

I dont want to drill holes all over the side walls.

Ohh well its summer and its going to be a beautiful sunny day.

I read Grants and Andrews advice about 10 times already.. Coffee Time

I did find a good photo of Robs install.. now only to hope I have the right brackets..

I think the farther out on the hatch & higher up and towards front of trailer for the sides, would give you more mechanical advantage. this of course would have to be calculated ,(fully extended strut & fully retracted)without binding. most struts have a slight swivel ball on each end that allows for vertical misalignment ,so a block would not be required for mounting.my mounts were 24" from hinge for the hatch and 4x7.5" from hinge for sides,(4" down vertically and 7.5"from hinge.)

zukamini wrote:I think the farther out on the hatch & higher up and towards front of trailer for the sides, would give you more mechanical advantage. this of course would have to be calculated ,(fully extended strut & fully retracted)without binding. most struts have a slight swivel ball on each end that allows for vertical misalignment ,so a block would not be required for mounting.

Good Morning Canada.

Thank You indeed. I was dreading the idea of using blocks there .

Im going out to give it a try, yes your correct they do have a slight swivel ball on each end.

Well I never built a tear before so Ive gotten this far.. so Im trying to think positive on this install as well.

Check your e-mails, Young Man
Cheers
Paul

PaulC wrote:Check your e-mails, Young Man
Cheers
Paul

Ok you young whippersnapper

As ridiculous as this may sound but will the hatch stay open at all with one installed?

My hatch is 58 inches wide dont know how that matters or not but thought to mention.

With the Hatch open it sits at 61 inches in height. And I measured it from top of floor or back of floor to bottom edge of hatch at 49.. Does this help any of you since Im trying to give all measurements possible.




The strut fully open is 20 inches. Ive got it at 5 inches from the hinge and the wall at 17 inches.

It might stay open with one, it all depends what the strut is rated at. i found that a stiff breeze caused mine to shut with only one fitted. Mine are rated at 150kg each. The 250kg I had fitted to number two were a little to heavy to shut.
Cheers
Paul

Hmm, as silly as it sounds, do you have a bathroom scale handy. by placing it approx. in the same place as where you might want to mount the strut to the walls , and using a short length of wood as a mock strut, try resting hatch on the wood strut at different measurements from hinge and record weight. I think you will find that as you move farther out on the hatch the weight recorded will decrease. now place scale on ground, and try pushing down on strut until it starts to retract into itself and record weight. I think this will tell you if one strut will hold the hatch up at your planed mounting locations. I would use two struts and ensure that mount locations would hold close to 2 times the hatch weight for safety. rather than drill a bunch of holes in your nice walls, I would suggest making a cardboard mockup of your walls and hatch profile, you could then test your planned mounting locations using two small battens of wood sliding over each other to simulate the struts travel. I hope this makes sence it's late here and my brain is working overtime JIM