Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am considering a Vinyl top on next tear and was wondering what type of adhesive would be best. It would have to be water proof I would assume. Edges could be tacked or trimmed. Probably be laying it over a painted wood surface. Ideas/suggestions ?

I imagine you would get a lot of suggestions here on this site, but if I were you, I'd go to a seatcover shop near you and ask. You know, auto tops were vinyl covered for many years, and I guess some still are. They could tell you about adhesives which will last indefinately.

Vinyl tops are glued on with "Upholstery glue" i.e. plain ordinary contact cement sprayed on both surfaces and stretched onto place. Then all the edges are either tucked under or secured with trim moldings. However the tops only last between 3 and 5 years before they start to show their age.

Dan

Allen,

Find an automotive upholstery supply place near you. They will have the vinyl, or in some cases fabric is used, padding, and the spray glue.

Hi

I concure with Steve H who said go talk to a seat cover place. I knew a guy that did seats and vinyl roofs where part of the job.

I intend to cover my tear with some left over rubber roofing. That includes the hatch and hinge. Currently the tear is covered with bare hardboard. No paint yet. Any thoughts on glue? Sould there be paint on the roof? The change the type of glue used

This is not vinyl, but rubber.



john

john wrote:Hi

I concure with Steve H who said go talk to a seat cover place. I knew a guy that did seats and vinyl roofs where part of the job.

I intend to cover my tear with some left over rubber roofing. That includes the hatch and hinge. Currently the tear is covered with bare hardboard. No paint yet. Any thoughts on glue? Sould there be paint on the roof? The change the type of glue used

This is not vinyl, but rubber.



john

I used to do rubber roofs years....... ago. I know back then the only good glue for them was the contact cement that was made for that purpose. Things probably changed since then so there could be other useable products for them, but your best bet would be to talk to a rep from one of the rubber suppliers. I'm sure they would point you in the right direction.

I'd check with automobile places that do vinyl roof applications. And perhaps marine suppliers of high end boats that use vinyl on sun decks....



3 to go......

Rubber roofing, Is it black or white,,, If black its gonna make the tear real hot by absorbing heat ,,, but if ya want to use any single ply roofing there are two types of glue made just for roofing,,, one is a solvent based contact cement,, the second is a latex adhesive,, both hold very good but the latex is a lot easier to work with,, both can be had in 1 or 5 gallon containers,, the gallons should cost ya about 25 to 30 dollars a gallon,,
I have TPO on my tear which is a white single ply,, so far its working real good,,

chip

Chip, can you keep it clean? I've found even with my uniflex 255 (the expoxy coating), I can not get it back to its 'pure white' color after several months in the elements. When I removed the shore power cover and saw the original white underneath, there was a very noticeable difference... the covered area looked pure as the driven snow, the rest of the tear was 'dirty' by comparison..... and washing doesn't help much..

My rubber roof material is black. Do you know the name of the glue product or where it can be bought.

I know the black will be hot, but I am well insulated and have an over sized A/C.

I am not too sure i will go rubber. I may still fo aluminum,.



john

You could check out a local RV repair/dealer for the rubber roofing. The one down the road from me lists both the material and several kinds of glue in their catalog. I thought about the stuff till I looked at the price, not cheap.
Gary

ALAN GEDDES wrote:I am considering a Vinyl top on next tear and was wondering what type of adhesive would be best. It would have to be water proof I would assume. Edges could be tacked or trimmed. Probably be laying it over a painted wood surface. Ideas/suggestions ?

Alan,

Here are a couple of links to a site with some interesting fabrics at a reasonable price

http://americanhomeandhabitat.com/products/Safara_Tex_FST080.htm

http://americanhomeandhabitat.com/products/heat%20shield%20aluminized%20mylar%20insulating%20fabric%20FHI018.htm

Hey, Bob. That Safara Tex looks like a real viable option for some us. It's not very expensive, and it comes in a very generous width.

I just emailed them for some specifics, like how to adhere and such. It doesn't look like it would bubble up or anything either...looks real thick.

I just wish it came in some other colors, and i wish i could SEE those colors on their site.

They sell a sample pack which includes the 4 available colors--plus a ton of other samples that we DON'T need. If they don't offer to send me just the Safara samples for free, I'll order the sample kit.

And Alan, after I look at it, I'll mail it to you so you can see if it's something you would want. I'm sure not going to buy anything without seeing the color in my hand, since I don't even know if I want to GO this route.

Bob, Thanks for the material info.

Well, gee--I got the answer to my question about how to apply the stuff. I paste the entire e-mail here exactly as I received it:

"The safara tex would work. I do not know of wha tyou can use to put on the material. Thank you
Deanna S.
Sales & Service Rep
American Home & Habitat Inc.
1-866-458-2559
www.ahh.biz <http://www.ahh.biz> "

Doesn't inspire much confidence, huh? You ask how to apply it, and they don't know?

I just replied with my typical Brooklyn attitude requesting a clairification on why she couldn't tell me how to apply a product she's selling. And I was as nice as I could be...really.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FRIDAY UPDATE:

Well, she replied to my email, and here was her response:

"All I know aboutthe material is what is on our website. WE just sell the materail, we have never used anything to put on the back of the materail. I'm sorry that is all that I can can tell you. Thank you"

The typos, as before, are all hers--I just cut and pasted.

No wonder everything's being made in China today. As far as manufacturing goes, this country is in big trouble.