Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Has any one ever build a td with a padded vinyl top like on a car?
I' just starting to get all my stuff together was I think i t would look pretty cool if done rite thanks for any help on this question and your patience with this new guy
Mike
Lake Fork Tx

Mike...it could be done. I would watch the front of the tear as the rocks from the tow vehicle would tear up the vinyl roof pretty easily...I would also think that you would want to put it on over aluminum....wood underneath would tend to rot out anywhere the vinyl roof was penetrated by a stone...Even on cars...remember how they bubbled up and rusted underneath? I just did a heavily padded nose bra for the tear to protect the metal....I have seen some done though...and they were pretty heavily padded under the vinyl...probably better than just putting the vinyl over the skin...more like the Landau type roofs on the Mercurys...not the cheapie ones like on my 71 Torino....just my opinion, I'm sure that the vinyl roof guys can add more info....Doug

There's one on eBay that has a vinyl roof.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Custom-W ... dZViewItem

thanks again Doug was not going to bring it all the way down just past the curve I have a friend in the plumbing supply business he has some stuff they use for shower pan befor they put the tile down real thick
soft pvc I think will glue to just about any surface was going to glue this down first to keep water away from wood then cover with pad and vvinyl
ant thoughts anyone
mike


Oh yeah what about spray in bedliner for undercouting and stone guard part ways up front

checked out that tear Ken...does that wheel appear out of whack in that fender to anyone other than me? doug

Ken thanks for the reply its been relisted thats the tear I first seen that start this whole pipe dream in my head forgot it had a vinyl roof tho


Tkanks Mike

yup, in the1st pic it looks like the tire is toed-in.....

Ken I don't know if it is toed in, but what I found in building my Woody...Once you put the fender on and trim it out in contrasting wood...it's there...there ain't no going back and redoing it, especially if you do it in epoxy like I did....before I committed on the sides, I dragged it all around and made sure that it tracked correctly....Measured the ball to axle ends a couple of times....then did the side....With a woody done like this one or mine...there's no changing as the fender is trimmed with 1/4 inch material...you can't move the fender once it is done, except for maybe 1/4 of an inch, on the axle adjustment, if you did springs and had some slop in the hole in the spring saddle for the rivit to move in...If you want to move an axel at that point you need to cut it off and reposition it...It looks to me like the fenders are sitting a little low and aft of where they need to be....I dunno....just my opinion....Doug

doug hodder wrote:checked out that tear Ken...does that wheel appear out of whack in that fender to anyone other than me? doug

Doug,

It appears to me that photo was taken with a wide angle lens, if you check the other photo of that side of the trailer the wheel looks parallel to the fender.

Kevin....you're right, it does appear parallel...my thing was that the tire sits too high and too forward in the fender...hey who cares...It's just my opinion...doug

Doug,

Sorry if that sounded like criticism as that was not my intention, I was merely pointing out an observation of my own.

Kevin....no problem....I was just wound up on another thread about oil exploration and maybe my enthusiasm carried over....At any rate....do you think you are going to get to the 2nd Redwoods thing? I hope so, as I would like to see you and visit with you again...I finally broke down and bought a 14" metal chopsaw for the next tear...I ended up junking my old B&D wood chop saw that I doctored a blade into for the last one....doug

doug hodder wrote:Kevin....no problem....I was just wound up on another thread about oil exploration and maybe my enthusiasm carried over....At any rate....do you think you are going to get to the 2nd Redwoods thing? I hope so, as I would like to see you and visit with you again...I finally broke down and bought a 14" metal chopsaw for the next tear...I ended up junking my old B&D wood chop saw that I doctored a blade into for the last one....doug

I'm hoping to be there for atleast one of the days, we'll see how it goes.

Mike,, Ross Wade in Lansing NC is building a RunLite which has a compound bowed roof and a padded top much like the old cars had, You might contact him as far as materials etc,, Ross is gonna use many of the materials of the past to put this thing together,, I wouldnt want to tackle this project but if anybody can pull it off he will be able to,,

chipper

doug hodder wrote:Kevin....you're right, it does appear parallel...my thing was that the tire sits too high and too forward in the fender...hey who cares...It's just my opinion...doug

Thats the way cars of that era were done. If you look a pictures of cars and trucks from the late 40's and earlier that still have the original running gear, they are all like that. My 48 Chevy Panel truck was like that until I swapped out the rear end for a later model. I moved it back about an inch and a half to make it look right.