Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

In my gallery I've posted 2 pictures named pic1 and pic2 so go look at them and you'll see my problem. The right galley wall is 5/8" out of square at the top and the left is 5/8" out of square at the bottom. The walls will not bend, move or anything else. Believe me, I've tried to fix this before posting it. I'm hoping I can get some ideas, short of tearing the thing apart, to fix this.

...the only answer I can give ya, is to build the hatch in place so it matches the opening...measure and cut your ribs/stingers/braces/ect...put them together and place the frame in place in the galley opening...use wedges to secure and hold in the proper place and then skin it...when you remove the hatch it will be sized to fit the oppsessss in the galley opening....................
madjack

thanks madjack but, i think that would be a problem. I've only got a 22" galley hatch to the end. then it's a 90 degree to the floor. I planned to put doors on the back but the way it's out of square I no longer know how to do this with it coming out looking good. Just a note the back is perfectly square. top walls are same distence apart as the bottom.

Is it possible to put a facing on the back wall that could give you a square surface for your hatch?

Without a full picture of the back end, I can't quite see why Madjack's suggestion won't work.

I feel for you, when I got pretty far along, I realized one wall was perfectly square, and the other was off by about a 1/2 inch, fortunately for me, it didn't really create an issue, just a shot to my pride.

I had the something similar with the ladybug hatch - but I did just as MJ said = built it in place - believe me you can't tell the difference

thank parnold. I will upload a pic of the complete back. I just did get an idea. Don't know why I get them after I post The galley is skinned inside and out and I just thought what if I disconnected the skin from the frame where the square is at in the pic's. would you think that would give me some movement on both sides?

I just uploaded the pic of the back. From the picture it doesn't look sq. but that's just the camera lens.

Well you just may have to revise your design a little. Build your hatch in place like Madjack suggested. It'll hid any and all mismatches and you won't even be able to notice that something is off. OR, you could start over. But you don't want to do that either.

I think your orignal plan was to have a short hatch cover the top of your galley opening and then two doors that fold out to cover the lower half of your galley opening. Is that right?

More pics (side view and end on view) would be a definate plus to help sort this out.

Given that the sides are not vertical it's now tough to get the lower doors that were planned to swing out to fit and swing out level. I think that this is your "issue".

Maybe build the hatch in two pieces. The first will cover the upper opening, and a second piece (either hinged to the upper piece or separate and removable) could cover the lower half. This would be a deviation from your original concept (I think) but you could make it work (by building it to fit the trailer as is) and it would solve the issue by eliminating the swinging out doors. If you use a bifold hatch you could first open the bottom hatch and lay it on top of the upper half and then fold up the upper half as originally planned. You might even like this approach more as the side opening doors might be a PITA flapping around when open, if they are not folded back along the outside of the trailer.

Not to worry, if the out of square tail end doesn't bother you enough to square it away, there is a solution out there. Take a break, post more pics and a solution will be forthcomming!

Cheers,

Gus

I still think building the upper hatch in place is the way to go...this has been done numerous times to fix the exact problem you have,,,for the lower doors, you could do the same but they would swing out catewampussed(tech term)...so, use a filler strip to square the lower opening for a hinge and then build in place or build a drop down hatch(in place) for the lower opening.........................
madjack

thanks Gus. that is a good idea and i wouldn't have to worry about the wind catching my doors and knocking the hinges lose. A lot of good ideas here and I think I will do it the way you suggested madjack. After thinking about it that would solve my problem. Would you use a piano hinge on the bottom hatch Gus? Sorry, no more pics here and I don't feel like driving 30 min. to get any right now

Thanks madjack. it's a perfect idea. That's what I like about this site. Lots of brainy people and that is a compliment guy. all of you

timlsalem wrote:Thanks madjack. it's a perfect idea. That's what I like about this site. Lots of brainy people and that is a compliment guy. all of you

As a side note. Build a 'cabinet face' that goes between the side walls and then cutout and build your cabinet doors to that face. The 'out of square' won't even be noticed. You'll find that most all Tears are 'out of square' somewhere. Although you don't see it.

A frame inside will allow your doors to hang right. If you look at mine you will see that the left side frame drops over 1/2". I adjusted everything to make it look right. The hatch decided to act out and after a few weeks finally closed right. Now you can't tell it was out. Well unless you look really close.

Tim, I did the upper and lower hatch deal on mine...I used the living plastic hinge( http://www.monroeengineering.com/hinges ... -hinge.htm ) on both the top and bottom and it worked quite well...sorry, I don't have any specific pics of the setup................
madjack