Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

ok, we bought a tear drop that was well built but only half done - then, I found these old doors on the side of a country road, and attached them to the existing table structure built in the galley. now, the problem can be seen below - the door to the galley no longer shuts because of the doors. I feared this would be a problem but was gun-ho and put the doors on. I am really hoping to not have to tear out the insides of the galley, but we really want doors on the cabinets inside the gally and there is no room to do that unless we start over. SO - any ideas? I thought about using rubber insulation and lining the gap. what else can be done other than ripping it all out?

I'm not going to say a thing because it would most likely offend you and then I would get my hand slapped by an admin. It is fixable without tearing into the galley. Think it out and then ask for opinions. That's how you learn to build a teardrop.

thinner spars you have a pattern..otherwise youll have to cut your cabinets back

Yes, those ribs are massive and could easily be cut back to nearly half as broad! Make an accurate pattern first, and if, after all the trimming is done, you have any springback, make a couple of 1/8" aluminum partners and screw them to each of the outside ribs.

Good Luck, and as always ...

CHEERS!

Creative trim work !

Just extend your side profile to match the hatch in the closed position with thin trim. It looks as if you have enough overhang on the skin to cover it !

I had a raw edge on the chuckwagon I wanted to hide and I added a scrap of bronze lexan from an older build to hide it.

Here is the before and after.

I had a little distortion after building the rear hatch, I took a 1/2" flush trim router bit and with the hatch closed ran the router bit along the inside of the hatch to leave an exact profile of the the hatch. It also left room for weather stripping. Based on my experience now I would try a smaller 1/4" or 3/8" flush bit and shave off a bit at a time.

Colorado_Carter wrote:I had a little distortion after building the rear hatch, I took a 1/2" flush trim router bit and with the hatch closed ran the router bit along the inside of the hatch to leave an exact profile of the the hatch. It also left room for weather stripping. Based on my experience now I would try a smaller 1/4" or 3/8" flush bit and shave off a bit at a time.

stupid question, but if you dont ask, you dont know - would I be able to fit a router in that space and trim the wood back while its attached to the galley door?

If the hatch closed before the doors were installed then remove the doors. If they were installed on a face frame, you could trim the doors down and make them inset doors. Those are doors mounted on the same plane as the face frame and would not protrude into the space. All the doors and face frames would be flush.

It is difficult to tell what is causing the interference.

At first glance, it looks like your hatch ribs/spars were notched to clear the counter. Did you raise the counter height when you installed the doors? If so the notches probably won't align with the new counter height. You may be able to increase the size of the notch (on the side closest to the hinge) rather than cutting down the entire length of the spar.

If you didn't raise the counter height, then the depth/thickness of the doors is causing the interference. If this is the case, then you'll need to "thin down" the ribs/spars where they contact the cabinet doors.

If you can't tell what is hitting what, you may be able to place a camera inside of your teardrop and set it for a timed picture. Close (gently) the hatch until the picture is snapped. Then see where things are hitting.

Woodbutcher wrote:If the hatch closed before the doors were installed then remove the doors. If they were installed on a face frame, you could trim the doors down and make them inset doors. Those are doors mounted on the same plane as the face frame and would not protrude into the space. All the doors and face frames would be flush.

I agree that this is the easy quick fix, once the doors are removed get you some clay or silly putty and put it on the corner of the existing cabinets, close the lid and it will show you just how much room you have to correct and modify.

It looks like you could trim the top and bottoms of the
doors some to fit, perhaps.

You also may be able to notch out the hatch spars a little
where they hit the counter/doors. The spars are large and
thick enough that 1/2 to maybe a max of 1 inch notch - just
do what's necessary to give clearance - shouldn't hurt their
function.

If that doesn't solve the problem, then I'd say to re-evaluate
the NEED to use them. In the big scheme of things , I'd set
them aside and save them for a future build, and not delay
your getting this one camp-able. Adapting these doors may
not be worth the cost in time and aggravation for this TD.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

Woodbutcher wrote:If the hatch closed before the doors were installed then remove the doors. If they were installed on a face frame, you could trim the doors down and make them inset doors. Those are doors mounted on the same plane as the face frame and would not protrude into the space. All the doors and face frames would be flush.

^^^^^^^ This x 100. I would make the doors fit flush in the face frames. This will be easier to do and you won't risk messing up the hatch, sides or cabinet structure. Check out Rockler on line to find the hinges that will work for inset doors.