Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Any reason I can't put my aluminum wall skins on if I'm not putting on the roof skin for a week or so?
My wood walls are all prepped, the inner birch ceiling goes in this week, and I figure if i put the wall skins on I can start tackling one of the monster parts of the build, namely the doors. Doing this will also make sure I have the correct amount of trim for all the various surfaces that need it.

I put my wall skins up before my roof skin. I did leave the plastic protective film wrap on in case I scratched it(which I didn't). It should be fine

I don't see why not, that was the way I was planning on doing mine. But of course, I have never done this before either....

I've been lurking here for about 4 months now and my offroad generic Benroy is in the final stages of completion. I have been meaning to post the pics and I wll get around to it soon but I have a drop dead date to get the tear usable by Labor Day.

All that aside, I am skinning the trailer with anodized aluminum from SoCal Teardrops (beautiful teardrops !!!!). The roof skin is .062 and a little tough to work with in the 5' width. (especially over that 19" radius front corner) I have got it so I can get the skin to lay flat with straps but it has to slide a bit to get it down tight to the luan inner skin. I used aerosol 3M77 to glue the wall skins and it worked great but I won't be able to use the same technique for the roof. Has anyone tried using plastic sheeting in between and sliding it out or maybe a different adhesive that is slippery at first then sets up like epoxy or something similar?

I'm open to all suggestions as I have been beaten to reasonableness today by this! I did get a lot done though.

bluzharp, just float your roof aluminum. It works just fine.


Go ahead and put up your walls shoeman. Won't heart a thing.


You know I don't usually give information to unknowns but I feel good tonight. Do you guys have names or is it you have Wants & Warrants and don't want anyone to know who you are. Just want questions answered.

P.S. If this post offends anyone, don't complain to me. PM madjack, he awaits your complaints with open arms.

I am researching this site in preparation to building a teardrop.
I have a couple questions.
1- Float the alum. roof skin??? Why not glue it? Is there a problem with glueing it?
2- Bending and sealing the wall to roof joint. I have seen different techniques to bend this angle
A- Use dead soft aluminum. What is that and where can you get it? Is it not very soft and more succeptable to damage?
B- Heating with a torch to bend. Doe this damage or alter the finish of the aluminum?
C- Cutting the width of one side of the 90 degree angle to bend tight to the radius. This seems a bit extreme, I understand the principle as you cannot bend something on edge, but how does this look? Is it watertight? Is this a common practice? I did see one picture, it looked like a 1/2 to 3/4 wide angle ended up being 1/4 inch in width.

I also had a question about sealing the same roof to sidewall joint on a wood version of a teardrop. What is the technique there?

A third option I was considering was aluminum on the roof and wood sides. Any ideas there?

Thanks GP

I got nuthin' to hide. Name's Geoff and here's a link to some more stuff about me.
http://homes.midmaine.com/~shoeman/inde ... racing.htm

Geoff

Gage wrote:bluzharp, just float your roof aluminum. It works just fine.


Go ahead and put up your walls shoeman. Won't heart a thing.


You know I don't usually give information to unknowns but I feel good tonight. Do you guys have names or is it you have Wants & Warrants and don't want anyone to know who you are. Just want questions answered.

P.S. If this post offends anyone, don't complain to me. PM madjack, he awaits your complaints with open arms.

Thanks Gage. Sorry I've been flying under the radar so long. I'm sure the statutes of limitations are long expired for anything I may have been suspected of perpetrating. I'm just new to the teardrop scene and as Madjack said in the intro, I'm stepping up from tent camping. There is so much great informatiion here, I haven't had to ask much until now. I'll try to get my construction pics up soon.

Well, my wall skins didn't stick. I guess when the sun warmed the aluminum up, that 3M 77 just let go. It didn't come all the way off, thank goodness (I have already trimmed it to the edges). I have trussed it up with clamps, boards, straps and wedges to keep it tight against the walls, but I don't trust the bond now. I am thinking of running a couple of rows of drive rivets on the sides to give a mechanical bond between the 3/4" plywood and the skin. I think it will look nice, giving it sort of an aeronautical touch. The trim will secure the edges.