Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Can someone explain how aluminum siding is attached to a teardrop wall? People have discussed glue, and I understand rivets, but usually someone pops up with something called "Floating" the aluminum. How do you float aluminum? It seems to mean not being glued or riveted, so is it held on by the trim pieces? I have searched for information, but I keep coming up empty. this might be because I am doing it wrong... I dunno. Any help here would be appreciated. it is not time-critical, as I am working on the frame right now, but I want to know what to do before I get there. Thanks people!

Eric:

Your guess is completely correct, it is essentially held in place by the trim, and there is a little room around all edges to allow for expansion.

I essentially "floated" mine as well with the exception that I stapled mine around the edges to hold it in place.

(maybe my picture will show up after everything gets smoothed out tomorrow)
Yea! I got the pic to work.
I made my own edge trim 3/4 x 1 1/2 so I wasn't worried about covering the staples. When using the store bought edge trim, you would have to be more careful if stapling the sides. They (staples) would have to be awfully close to the edge on the sidwalls, you'd have plenty of room on the top though.

Just my thoughts, didn't say they were good ones.

I think I'm the one who started this floating skin thing. And like that my sides are over trimmed to allow for expansion. The skins are only attached (held in place) to the tear with the edge trim, fenders, sun roof and hatch hinge. For the most part if you glue the skin it will bubble with weather change causing expansion/contraction of the aluminum.

ok, so floating skin is held on by the trim, with the skin slightly undersized to allow for potential expansion. Am I good so far? If the trim is also aluminum, how is it attached? and won't it have the same properties? ...if it is firmly attached to the trailer, won't it be in danger of expanding and coming loose?

And to make things even more complicated, I have a relatively inexpensive source of aluminum in 15 and 25 inch wide strips, as long as I want. I have a relation who makes custom rain gutters. How would one go about floating a strip of aluminum? Has anyone done this? Am I just begging for trouble and hard times? would there be a better way to attach the strips than floating? perhaps having 1, 2 or 3 inch trim pieces covering the butt joints?

Eric, I think you're asking for trouble with having strips as a covering. Especially butt jointing them you are multiplying the potential for leaks by the amount of joins you have. As for floating the skin and where it meets the trim, I drilled o/s holes where my trim screws went in to allow for the expansion thing. I have only done one aluminium TD, all the rest are fiberglass sheet which is glued on.
Cheers
Paul

ok, so the strips of aluminum seem to be out, dang. I was hoping i was on to something... unless the problem is mostly the butt joint? perhaps an overlapping joint covered by trim? I can see the potential for leakage at any joint, so I should probably just bit the bullet and make as few joints as possible. I just don't wanna fork over the cash for large sheets of aluminum.

Hey, Eric!

If you can get those Aluminum strips as long as you want, why not rivet them together lengthwise with about a 1" lap and sealant in each lap (starting in the middle, the top piece overlaps the next outside pieces which overlap the next outside pieces, etc., for the roof anyway ... ship-lap the sides)? That could give it a really different look, be weather-tight, and save you some $$ along the way. Do the same to the Galley Lid. Once put together like that, you could "float" it, or take out the occasional rivet and replace it with a screw to hold it to the side (don't do that to the roof, though).

I've never bothered with oversizing the screw holes or oversizing/undersizing the fit of the aluminum to the sides or the roof ... in my 28 years of building these things, it's never been an issue, and I live where it gets REALLY hot in the summers.

Also, the typical Aluminum trim moldings are quite a bit heavier/thicker than the sheet, so expansion/contraction there isn't really an issue.

Good luck on your project, and in the meantime ...

CHEERS!

Grant

Eric,

Check out this link: http://www.freewebs.com/kc8jwa/Lensidingfinal.pdf
This guy used coil stock to side his camper. I was considering using the coil left over's from a gutter installing friend myself at one time.

Again, just a thought, didn't say it was a good one.

If you glue it and use a flexible glue and completely glue the whole surface, then oil canning will not happen in heat or cold if the glue is applied correctly and the correct glue type is used. I used 30nf by 3M which is water based neoprene contact cement and in both heat and cold have had no bubbling or delam and I can definitely know my aluminum is stuck and not ever coming off unless removed forcefully.

thanks for the replies. I think that I found a cheap source for SS sheets, so I think I will be sidelining the strip idea. I think, with proper overlap, the strips would have worked alright, but who knows. Maybe I will find out on build #2.

WhitneyK wrote:Eric,

Check out this link: http://www.freewebs.com/kc8jwa/Lensidingfinal.pdf
This guy used coil stock to side his camper. I was considering using the coil left over's from a gutter installing friend myself at one time.

Again, just a thought, didn't say it was a good one.

I thought it was a good thought!




Happy Trails

Len