Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Good Morning from Finland folks. Woke up with teardrops on my mind..always in some shape or form..

My question is this. How popular is it to add aluminum to the belly of the tear when building?

I noticed that the ever Famous Grant Whipp has done this on one or more of his teardrop builds..

I was contemplating on doing this on the Kit rebuilds and or on any future builds but is this a bad idea or how much does this help the belly ? Im thinking moisture can get trapped under it..

advice or input much appreciated.

I have demolished several standard camping trailers; 30 - 40 years old. Several had aluminum under the wood floor framing. The trick is the belly pan is bent up at the edge and goes under the wall skins. The only moisture intrusion was where exterior skins had leaked. Wood near the ends or sides were affected but wood inside of this looked almost new. All the wood was untreated.

I plan on using the same method on my build.

I have contemplated this for a couple of reasons. 1 aerodynamics and 2 to protect the gray water tank from rocks etc. You are looking at about $300 for a 4X8' sheet of 3/16 .190. If you have a steel frame you have to be concerned about isolating the aluminum it from the frame (galvanic action).

Shadow Catcher wrote:I have contemplated this for a couple of reasons. 1 aerodynamics and 2 to protect the gray water tank from rocks etc. You are looking at about $300 for a 4X8' sheet of 3/16 .190. If you have a steel frame you have to be concerned about isolating the aluminum it from the frame (galvanic action).

I used 1/8" for the sides of my dump trailer. I got 6 4X12 sheets years ago at a scrapyard, before scrap metal skyrocketed in price. Even though I had no immediate use for them I picked em up and dragged em home. Even with some pretty rough service and stuff banging around inside the trailer, they are undamaged.

I have to think 3/16 plate is more akin to "armor plating" than "protection". I think 1/16 with some supports would be sufficient. If you hit something that requires 3/16 plating, you're gonna have a bigger problems than a damaged gray water tank. In addition, a more forgiving structure will absorb energy, just like a "crush zone" in a car, and soften a major impact. I just watched a TV show where a pick up was rolled (killing one) when it ran over a tire, in the middle of the road, which got wedged in place under the truck and caused the truck to flip. Had the tire hit something with some "give" things might have been different. Ageless's observation that the aluminum was bent up around the perimeter suggests doing so is a good thing. It's gonna take a heck of a brake to bent 3/16 eight feet long. Just my thoughts.

Cheers,

Gus

Like Ageless said, my next build (TD or TTT) will have an aluminum pan under the trailer. I agree with Gus that lighter weight aluminum will work fine - I'm thinking more along the lines of a .040 or 0.25 thickness.

Although I did it for a different reason, asphaltic-based window seal tape around the frame can help isolate the aluminum from the steel.



(On my teardrop, I used stainless steel trailer deck screws to attach the teardrop to the frame. The window seal was to help seal around the penetrations of the trailer deck screws into the frame.)

Tom

Hey there Heikki,

Check your IN box.... I sent you a PM.

Thanks,
Mark and Pat

I had a bit of extra lexan and decided to install a rock guard on the frame right before I installed the floor.

I guess I was just ahead of my time.

I am thinking in terms of skid plate for off road use


and yes lighter weight would be sufficient for non rock bashing use.

Shadow Catcher wrote:I am thinking in terms of skid plate for off road use


and yes lighter weight would be sufficient for non rock bashing use.

Good point. We camp mostly in parks so I didn't think about the off-road aspects.

What is plam? Plastic laminate?

Cliffmeister2000 wrote:What is plam? Plastic laminate?

Correct Danny

I plan on using Coroplast since it is cheap and lightweight under my ttt. The objective being more aerodynamic and splash protection.

Well guys

every bodys build is different, but I think as in realestate, location location location plays a big part in our planning

I'm in So. Cal and my Tear has seen several thousand road miles, many on graded dirt, desert roads, seen some snow (this is not Montreal) and some rain (this is also not monsoon affected AZ) but, we have had similar threads in the past and for curiosity sake, I looked under the trailer again, this always surprises me, the undersides, nice bright blue panels and asphalt coating looks as good as the first day we took her on the road. There isn't even a real coating of dust or dirt.

So the idea of a protective panel is not in my plans for my next trailer, I'd be more worried about trapping moisture, now if I was really 4 wheeling a skid plate to the rear may come into play, but I'm an astronomer and eating dust (which may be fun) really isn't my style.

So...as has been said many times in the past, It's Your build, Build it the way You want It.

alffink wrote:.............. eating dust (which may be fun) really isn't my style.

Mine either.

Cheers,

Gus