Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Ok, I am building a 4x8 generic that I think looks closest to the "Cubby". I plan to have a door on both sides.

Question is, what are the rules of thumb for door placement, shape, size and direction of hinging.

So far I am guessing that 24" wide seems to be appropriate and with the center of the door being 34" inches from the front of the cabin of the Tear.

I'd love input, advice, experience etc....

Thanks!

My Cubby plans show the door to be 27 1/2 wide x 32 1/2 high. straight edge (hinge side )of door is 18 inches from most forward part of the front radius.

alftinc wrote:My Cubby plans show the door to be 27 1/2 wide x 32 1/2 high. straight edge (hinge side )of door is 18 inches from most forward part of the front radius.

Ok, so that makes it non-suicide. Excellent. :-)

24" might be a little small. Ours is 32 and it works great for us. Don't want to make yours too small to easily get in and out of. I would go with at least the 27 like the post above mentioned.

nevadatear wrote:24" might be a little small. Ours is 32 and it works great for us. Don't want to make yours too small to easily get in and out of. I would go with at least the 27 like the post above mentioned.

Ok, so "wider is better". Does your door open suicide or "normal"?

DasBaldGuy wrote:Ok, so "wider is better". Does your door open suicide or "normal"?

Yep, wider is better. Normal opening is easier to get in and out of. Besides should a suicide door come open by chance while your on the road, it could cause damage that you don't even want to think about.

Like gage said, suicide doors would be suicide! We cut our profile out of cardboard with the door opening and physically actually crawled in and out of the door to test size before cutting. Wider is definitely better. And neither my husband or I are all that wide!

The door on my Itty-Bitty is 24 wide (32 tall) because that's all I could squeeze into it's diminutive profile. While it does work, there are times I wish it was wider and taller.

I have had not probelm with my 24" wide doors. But on the next td I helped build I went to 30".

Barb

My tear is curved in the front. The doors, 32w(x)36H are as far front as I could put them behind the curve. They look fine, and I can get my foam mattress in and out, but it is a tight squeeze.

for me, having the hinge in the front is a given... makes getting in and out a breeze, except when I hit my head on the top door frame.... The doors are limited to a 90 degree opening so an open door awning window will not hit the body of the tear.

I did curve the top/front of the door to match the curve of the roof.

I placed my doors as far forward as I could. Now I think that was a mistake and would have gone as far back to the wheels as I could. That too would probably be a mistake, so I would recommend somewhere in between. Lots of help, huh?

My doors themselves are 30" and sorta GenBenish. Placement came from the TLAR school of design.