Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

When I built my sidewalls, without thinking, I made my trailer a little wider than 4', so now while building the hatch I see that I have a problem. My aluminum left over for the hatch is exactly 4' wide, so to be able to install the corner profile I need it to to make it a little wider, so I'll use a 1/8" thick Aluminum flat bar on each side of the hatch like in the drawing bellow.
I have two questions:
1. What kind of rivets should I use so the whole thing is watertight?
2. Any other solution to this? :-)

Thats a good solution you came up with using the 1/8" flat aluminum and then putting angle aluminum over it. I also used rivets too. I think it was 3/16" but not sure. It would also be a good idea to use a good quality adhesive/sealant under the alum and maybe a dab in the rivet holes. Good luck!

LDK wrote:Thats a good solution you came up with using the 1/8" flat aluminum and then putting angle aluminum over it. I also used rivets too. I think it was 3/16" but not sure. It would also be a good idea to use a good quality adhesive/sealant under the alum and maybe a dab in the rivet holes. Good luck!

+1 on what Larry said. I used wide head stainless steel rivets to attach the edge molding to my hatch. They are quite a lot stronger than aluminum. If you go this route, though, you'll need to get a long-handle blind rivet tool rather than the standard blind (pop) rivet tool.



You probably want to watch the placement of your rivets so that you can be sure to have room for the rivet tool. (By the way your drawing shows your details, the tool will need to be from the bottom.) Also, you need to be careful with your selection of rivet depth to sure you dont have to large of a "nub" on the bottom side.

Take care,
Tom

I'd recommend bucked or squeezed aircraft rivets ... unless you are really careful and can align the pop-types so that the "nubs" won't interfere with hatch & seal clearances (referring to your drawing, both inner and outer rivets would need to be moved outward just a bit). Bucking rivets can be a real pain, so if you can borrow or rent a squeezer, you'll be way ahead of the headache curve ... ... check with a local airport that does airplane repair or see if you have a local EAA Chapter with members building an aluminum airplane (the proper squeezer tool can cost about $300!).

Good Luck, and as always ...

CHEERS!

I remember after I installed the rivets I trimmed the inner (nub) just alittle with a rotoary tool and then I used a c-clamp and flattened it out as best I could. I just put the seal right over it then. There are better methods but mine worked fine.

Hi ioan, I followed the link to your build and your camper looks great. The trim looks great and it would be nice to keep that line or close to that line
all the way down the side and hatch, this would be a great place to use VHB tape from 3m. You could bond strips to each edge with a wide overlap
to give it a little leverage. Use the same material as your hatch, what size blank do you need if you were going to make it out of one piece and
what size scrap do you have left? There's a thread talking about the VHB tape, it's good stuff.