Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I read Joanne's excellent write up on the Desert Dawg and I'd like to know where I can get the fiberglass kit/sheeting that she used to seal up her trailer.

I'm building an off road camper and I think the fiberglass is a perfect coating for the plywood.

Any ideas?

I don't know which "system" she used, but you can start here... www.raka.com .............

Ditto on RAKA.

When you shop, a kit would consist of;
Epoxy Resin and Hardener. 1.5-gal would do an average 5-by-10.(Go easy on the coats, several, thinner is better.)
Glass cloth. I use RAKA's 4-oz weave for most applications. Heavier weaves will use more Epoxy.
Mixing items, cups, sticks, etc.
Plastic putty knife or bondo squeegee.
Foam roller covers.
Latex gloves.

jollymon1375 wrote:I read Joanne's excellent write up on the Desert Dawg and I'd like to know where I can get the fiberglass kit/sheeting that she used to seal up her trailer.

I'm building an off road camper and I think the fiberglass is a perfect coating for the plywood.

Any ideas?

I did use Raka for all of my epoxy & fiberglass supplies. Thanks for the kind words on my build journal!

Joanne

Joanne, thanks for the tip on glassing the underside of the camper. I was just going to coat the wood with roofing sealant but I like the idea of the extra layer of protection. I plan on finishing the trailer this weekend and hopefully start the cabin in a week or two. Glassing the underside will be MUCH easier if I can flip the floor over rather than waiting till it's too late.

Also, did you use just one layer of cloth?

Joanne, Where did you get you leveling jacks?

It looks like Joanne used BAL jacks. Here's a source for them: Light Trailer Jacks. I also used BAL jacks. They're installed facing outward at roughly a 45 degree angle to the back end.

I'm another happy Raka customer...a newbie fiberglassing my trailer. To become comfortable using epoxy I started by sealing the bottom of the floor...an out of sight place to hide any newbie flaws. For extra weather protection I also used black tar over the epoxy. On the side walls I used a lightweight tight weave fiberglass cloth. It was a little difficult to smooth out all the air bubbles. It would have been better to have used an open weave fiberglass cloth that wouldn't trap air bubble nearly as much. Lesson learned...will use 4 oz. open weave cloth for the roof and hatch.

On a boat building web site I learned one layer of fiberglass usually weighs about twice as much per yard as the weight of the cloth. For example by using 4 oz. cloth the fiberglass will weigh about half a pound per yard. Typical aluminum sheet used to skin a teardrop weighs about half a pound per square foot. Using fiberglass as the outer skin is one way to save weight and to get a weather tight teardrop trailer.

I used Atwood stabilizer jacks on the back and (as Steve pointed out) BAL jacks in front. It really makes the trailer rock solid.

I've also used just the rear stabilizers and the front tongue jack and that was solid as well.

Joanne

Awesome!! You guys are such a big help!!

When you shop, a kit would consist of;
Epoxy Resin and Hardener. 1.5-gal would do an average 5-by-10.(Go easy on the coats, several, thinner is better.)
Glass cloth. I use RAKA's 4-oz weave for most applications. Heavier weaves will use more Epoxy.
Mixing items, cups, sticks, etc.
Plastic putty knife or bondo squeegee.
Foam roller covers.
Latex gloves.

Hmmm didja forget about the used credit cards for spreading ??? lol It''s about all mine are good for lol