Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I keep reading that some people have used hollowcore doors as a floor in ultralight teardrops. I just can't get my head wrapped around this idea.

Can someone explain this to me? It seems like the first time any real weight was put on it, like a man's body, down it would go!

...my buddies coffin camper...the "BedRoll", a MC camper is made with a hollow core door...it sits atop an aluminum frame with a 4" foam mattress on top...he hasn't fallen thru yet...my campers have a 1/2" ply floor, which also sits on a steel frame...no sag to it either.............
madjack

Kevin, I have such a hollow core door for the floor of my little "Stacker" teardrop, which can be seen in my gallery pics. My trailer is 40 inches wide, the door is 36 inches wide. I glued and screwed a matching 2" wooden member to each side of the door, through which I ran the bolts into the HF frame. There are cross members in the frame which keep my butt from falling through to the ground. Total trailer weight, 245 pounds.

Hollow core doors are made of honey-comb construction material and amazingly strong, unless you decide to run your fist through it. I have a 4" foam mattress on top of the door, which I suppose distributes my prone weight enough to not cause a structural problem. I suppose if there was any potential problem, a layer of plywood could be added. So far so good.

Oh, one more thing, in order to shorten the door to the proper teardrop length of 6 feet, I cut 8" off of the end of the door and simply glued and clamped a solid wood member between the upper and lower layers of plywood. If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me.

Roly

I thought about hollow core doors, but the $$ added up to get the number I needed... also, I'd put a sheet of 1/4" ply on top, and cpes the bottom to 'solidify' it....

Obviously some above have done none of this and it has worked out well for them....I don't know if they had metal trailer x-members or not... mine was built with only a perimeter frame.... Also, I needed more internal wood in the floor to attach the galley wall to, and to bolt the spare tire to from underneath... building my own version of it just seemed like the way to go.

I think the h/c/d is a great idea.

HCD's can be deceptive. I guess it's just the thought that it is hollow. In a pinch once, because I had nothing else available, I used one across two saw horses as a scaffold to install the knotty pine T&G ceiling in a family room I was working on. It supported my weight with no problem (and I was a lot heavier then than I am now). Unless you plan on flamenco dancing on it, I don't see a problem with it.

Wow, standing on one!
Thanks, guys!

I'd still recommend another layer, either 1/8 or 1/4 on top to keep from puncturing the door... the skin is very thin...

There is nothing wrong with the concept of a hollow core door. Set one up between two saw horses and sit on it, you will be amazed. But, why not take 1/8 skins, create a grid of wood with foam insets and make your own "door" any size you wish.

dave

Plus....

Two 30" doors butted together will give you a 5 wide; but you are still limited to the 80" standard length (unless you special order) that HCD's come in. For a specialized purpose (ultra small?) it would work. Otherwise I agree with building a sandwich or framed floor. I used 1/4" on my framed floor for Itty-Bitty and it's just fine. The weight savings if I dropped to 1/8" probably would have been negligible.

Ever take one apart? They are not all hollow. They have a grid of corrugated inside.

I landed with one foot on one and got a crack for my trouble. If you can get them cheap go for it. Just use good attachments with the sides. Oh and make sure the outter edges have wood and not a paper covered edge. Glue won't help then.

Don't know how I missed this post until now. Just wanted to add that the floor of my "real motorcycle tear" is a hollow core door. I did drill a series of holes in it and foamed it full, well mostly full. I think the adhesion of the foam adds to the strength of the floor (door)with very little weight added. Insulation value too. With a 4" foam mattress I haven't had any problems.