Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Does anyone have any experience using automobile undercoating to coat the bottom of their teardrop with? I'm not thinking of the metal frame...just the bottom of the floor. I bought a can to try it out on some scrap. It's rubberized asphalt, so it seems as if that would give you a pretty tough, flexible coating.



Brad

bbarry wrote:Does anyone have any experience using automobile undercoating to coat the bottom of their teardrop with? I'm not thinking of the metal frame...just the bottom of the floor. I bought a can to try it out on some scrap. It's rubberized asphalt, so it seems as if that would give you a pretty tough, flexible coating.



Brad

I used about four cans of that to undercoat mine. So far so good and it seems fine.
Philip

Yes,

I didn't want to use roof tar. I tried spray auto under coating



More at http://www.nfdc.net/home/cbdb/Teardrop%20Deck.htm
It was easy, not messy and has worked well for me, I would do it again. That said I do not take the TD through streams.

Dee Bee

I used the roofing tar, but did use spray-on as a touch-up after the floor was mounted on the frame..... never thought about using it only, but I'd give it a shot.... lots easier than using goopy roofing tar.

Thanks for the replies! Sounds like this may be an okay way to go. Here's a shot of my test. This is one coat of spray undercoating, dried 24 hours. As you can see, it scrapes off with a screwdriver so it's not terribly abrasion resistant, but I'm not too worried about that...it's not going to get much in the way of physical wear.



I think the key (as with paint) may be multiple thin layers to build up a little depth.

That said I do not take the TD through streams.

That's a good thing Dee Bee!

Brad,

I used three coats of undercoating over 4 coats of Rust-oleum Professional paint. So far, I have no complaints. I found the idea from Dee Bee and Yes it works great.



gsm

Something that seems like a good idea to me???

Get a sprayed in bedliner company to spary the bottom. It would be really hard and water proof.

Something that seems like a good idea to me???

Get a sprayed in bedliner company to spary the bottom. It would be really hard and water proof.

I agree...would be great. I can think of one problem:

If you look under most t/d's, you will find little dirt... after 3 years and 30k miles, mine still looked like brand new with a bit of dust on it.... in short, not much happens under a tear, including, not much water spray...

I thought the roofing tar was a good idea because of stones, but I see no dents in the tar under mine..... bottom line (pun), is most anything will do...

One thing I did like was the tar did not harden, at least in warmer weather.. you could touch it with no problem, but when I bolted the floor to the frame, the tar was pliable enough to form a perfect seal between floor and frame.

If I were to do it again, I'd probably use the spray.... it is about as cheap as a can of tar, and a lot easier to apply.... I might put it on heavier around the edges, but to my untrained eye, multiple coats are not needed.

One factor with the undercoat to be aware of is that it will not soak in to wood. This is where a tar, paint, or fiberglass epoxy would be better. I painted mine (sealing the wood) and then undercoated it just because I already had all of the materials to do that. Therefore, it saved me some $$$$.

However, your cheapest way would be to use the tar. Although, I think my paint & undercoat will probably last forever.

tar does not soak in, but it does adhere quite well..... to each his own.. I'm not worried about my tar falling off. It didn't fall off the old tear, and I doubt it will fall off my newer model.

It appears there are many ways to skin a cat! Thanks for your thoughts!

Brad

I plan to use the bed liner that you can buy a the local parts store. Had a good test subject a friend used it in his truck and on the floor of his utility trailer that hauls his four wheeler. He has had no problems thus far. I plan on useing the sprayer on mine like he did, since he has the gun.

I plan to use the bed liner that you can buy a the local parts store. Had a good test subject a friend used it in his truck and on the floor of his utility trailer that hauls his four wheeler. He has had no problems thus far. I plan on useing the sprayer on mine like he did, since he has the gun.

David,

Sounds like a good plan...if your friend has had good results with his, make sure and use the same brand and same surface prep as he did. These "do it yourself" products vary widely in quality in my limited experience. Good luck!

Brad

I sprayed my frame with the bedliner and it has held up real well 2 years and 4,000 miles later.