Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Using adhesive on all of the roof spars and panel edges, will 1.25" brads be strong enough to hold a roof skin in place permanently?

The roof skin is 1/4" "Sandeply" from Home Depot. I am planning on a woody style teardrop and my forward radius is 24".

Since I am assembling myself and do not have any extra hands, I am trying to minimize screws while keeping the actual attachment points as small as possible for easy filling and sanding.

I am prepared to use screws if I need to, but would rather hold and clamp the sheet in place and then hit it with the brad nailer....

I've got a feeling that the brad nails will "pull through" and not hold your plywood skin where it is under stress in the curves.

I've seen on this forum that others have used narrow crown staples shot through the plastic strapping used for crating. After the glue has set the strapping makes it easier to remove the staples.

aggie79 wrote:I've got a feeling that the brad nails will "pull through" and not hold your plywood skin where it is under stress in the curves.

I've seen on this forum that others have used narrow crown staples shot through the plastic strapping used for crating. After the glue has set the strapping makes it easier to remove the staples.

Thank you for the input.

I plan to use ratchet straps to hold the front panel in place if at all possible once it is glued...

I'd rather leave the brads in after the adhesive has set.

In your opinion, if the straps hold the wood in place during the adhesive cure process and the brads just provide that extra "oomph" to hold it, would that work for a permanent solution after the adhesive has set?

I looked at your build and noticed that you used screws through block plates until the adhesive set, and once it set, you removed the screws and filled the holes.. (Fantastic build by the way, spent the morning reading it instead of working...)

I should then be able to remove the ratchet straps and everything should stay in place, with the adhesive being the primary bond, and the brads just being "backup" for the adhesive.

Trim nails nope. Trim staples should be ok. The work better imho if they are shot in at an angle.

I went with the strapping and 1" crown staples. After the glue dried, I "zipped" up the strapping along with the staples and filled the holes. You can't tell they were ever there.

Mike

Toytaco2 wrote:I went with the strapping and 1" crown staples. After the glue dried, I "zipped" up the strapping along with the staples and filled the holes. You can't tell they were ever there.

Mike

So what I am reading from you and others is the glue is strong enough overall to hold everything in place, and no screws/brads are needed..

I think I am being misunderstood in my request...
If I find a way to hold the wood in place while I glue and attach it, whether it be nails/screws/staples, etc...

Would it be OK to leave the brads in place after the glue has set? Will brads make a suitable attachment device to hold the wood in place, in addition to the glue?

I plan to hoist the panel into place and hold it using ratchet straps to conform it to the shape of the trailer and the front curve.
This would be the same thing as strapping with packing strap and stapling..

I ask all of this because I have a brad nailer with a compressor and a ton of brads. These aren't finishing nails. These are "hold it in place with some effort" nails..

If I am reading right and many of you are using JUST glue to hold the outer skin on after the glue has cured, then leaving the brads in won't hurt a thing, and may provide a little extra holding power when the rough roads of Minnesota and Wisconsin come to bear.

I think you could certainly leave the brads in if you wanted to and just fill in the counter sunk hole. The problem that I had was that I used 2 layers of 1/8" ply to skin my roof and both brads and staples would shoot right through the ply. But shooting the staples through the strapping kept them from going all the way through and provided an easy means of removal.

In your case with 1/4" ply, the brads wouldn't shoot all the way through. I wonder, though, if they will provide much if any additional holding power in addition to the glue since it seems to me the brads would pull right out unless the glue you use is strong enough on its own to hold things together by itself.

I don't think its going to make much difference either way so long as you use a good quality adhesive and get good contact between your skin material and the roof spars. The other thing I would be concerned with is to make sure any holes/penetration through the roof material is filled with a good quality filler, preferably epoxy.


Good Luck,

Mike

Synthesis wrote:If I am reading right and many of you are using JUST glue to hold the outer skin on after the glue has cured, then leaving the brads in won't hurt a thing, and may provide a little extra holding power when the rough roads of Minnesota and Wisconsin come to bear.

I used a combination of brads and staples (18 gauge) as long as you have a good contact surfaces with the adhesives, strap the ply to make the bend, and secure with the brad nailer - you should be able to leave em' in. But the adhesive must be truly set before you remove the ratcheting straps or the ply might spring back and the nails would not be able to hold

No expert here...but i did just skin the inside ceiling of my teardrop this weekend. I used brads in a few places where I needed a hand and they held it just fine on 1/8 in. birch ply. I would think the holding power would be even better with 1/4 in. ply. I have a lousy electric brad nailer, so I think the lack of power probably helped to not shoot through. I do wonder how much the 1/4 in. ply will push back while being bent, though.

Justin