Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I made a huge mistake, I asked someone how to mount a hatch hinge and they told me to cut a 1/2 inch drop from the hinge to the base of the hatch area. Now, I did this and put on the trim on the edge and there is a big gap around the lip of the hatch both sides. I put foam seal on both the hatch and the edges but it's not sealed well enough to keep out all the rain. So here's my plan and I welcome any of yours. I went to a sheet metal shop and had them make some aluminum trim (instead of the 1" overlap on the edges I had them make me 1". But it is a heavier guage aluminum and I am having difficulty bending it to fit the curve of the hatch edge (trailer). Now I plan on taking the trim back to the sheet metal shop along with my trim the didn't work and have them bend it to shape based on my old trim. Then I plan on building up the edges of the body and mounting th enew trim nad using screws sealant to seal from rain etc. Do any of you folks have any ideas? I've been almost 3 years on this thing and want to have it finished by Jun and go to Alaska as I'm 65 an d this may be my big trip.

Try putting weather stripping on both sides of the joint... like this...



Mike...

Got any pics? That would be helpful.

mikeschn wrote:Try putting weather stripping on both sides of the joint... like this...



Mike...

Mike, I did do just that but maybe I did not use a "thick" enough seal. I guess I'll venture a trip to HD and see what they have. Some of that door seal rubber for autos might do the trick but "might" cost an arm and a leg, those seals for autos are $$$. Thanks, John
Addendum: I can't load pictures

Perhaps you could try to take a strip of wood the thickness of the excess gap and glue (clamp it to see if it will work) it to the hatch. Will be an inside curve but will also add thickness and strength to the hatch edge.

Miriam C. wrote:Perhaps you could try to take a strip of wood the thickness of the excess gap and glue (clamp it to see if it will work) it to the hatch. Will be an inside curve but will also add thickness and strength to the hatch edge.

Miriam's idea should work. This is what I did when I wanted my seal a little tighter.

Thanks for all your replies, I'll do as you folks suggested, put two THICK seals on both the hatch and the edge. It'd sure save a lot of needless work.

If you have an Advanced Auto or O'Rieley's close by, they carry an automotive door seal that is self adhesive and stands about 3/4" tall. This should be enough to seal about any goof you might have made. Check it out.

I just bought a 20 ft piece of self adhesive universal sear on Ebay for 23.00. It is 1/2 thick and 3/4 wide and hollow so it should do the trickl\.

Dean_A wrote:

Miriam C. wrote:Perhaps you could try to take a strip of wood the thickness of the excess gap and glue (clamp it to see if it will work) it to the hatch. Will be an inside curve but will also add thickness and strength to the hatch edge.

Miriam's idea should work. This is what I did when I wanted my seal a little tighter.

That is a good idea, the 90 degree trim on the hatch edges. Did you have to anneal it? I'm a bust on annealing.

John6012 wrote:That is a good idea, the 90 degree trim on the hatch edges. Did you have to anneal it? I'm a bust on annealing.

I ended up using stair nosing from Home Depot. It was dead-soft and the short side has a nice soft radius. I attached it with an aircraft rivet tool I borrowed from a buddy of mine.

And just to be clear, I ended up going with the third option in my diagram. I found that the gap was a little wide, so I cut a thin strip of ply and inserted it where I show the red area on my diagram.

--Dean

Dean_A wrote:

Miriam C. wrote:Perhaps you could try to take a strip of wood the thickness of the excess gap and glue (clamp it to see if it will work) it to the hatch. Will be an inside curve but will also add thickness and strength to the hatch edge.

Miriam's idea should work. This is what I did when I wanted my seal a little tighter.

That`s what I have done, I doubled up the skin on the edge of the hatch to fit the seal tighter. Great minds think alike ( or maybe I had a lucky guess!!!)

Mini Renegade wrote:
That`s what I have done, I doubled up the skin on the edge of the hatch to fit the seal tighter. Great minds think alike ( or maybe I had a lucky guess!!!)

I've had to come up with all kinds of innovative ways to cover up my mistakes! I've had to do it so often I'm a freakin' expert by now!

I was sitting here stewing about the trailer and waiting on the rubber seal I ordered on Ebay and an idea hit me....what do you guys think? For those of use who havehad to build up the hatch, why can't we use a square aluminum "tube?" The rivets would certainly be concealed and the rubber seal would fit perfectly on the curvature of the hatch. If the seal I ordered won't do the trick, I think I'll seriously consider the "aluminum square." I gotta get away to Alaska this year, I'm 65 and gas is relatively cheap and who knows what the future holds for all of us. The TD would save a lot on lodging, I was in Anchorage last Jun and the Fairfield Inn (ver nice) cost $229.00 per night but they provvided breakfast. Anyway what do you think about the aluminum trick?