Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Guys,
I trying to plan out my hatch skin and I'm having problems understanding how the skin (1/8 laun) is supposed to go.

I believe the skin should extend beyond the hatch end rib and therefore over the edge of the 3/4" side wall. If this is true, is the 1/8" laun (1/4" if double layered) strong enough to support the weather stripping and many years of opening and closing?
Or is there a better way to do this?

thanks,Bob

I was thinking about using T molding from socal teardrops so that I could keep the luan flush with the edge of the hatch rib



Just my thoughts Greg

I follow your line of thought - - - great Idea.

- - - Bob

I ran my hatch skin just past the sidewall edge. Skin is 1/8" luan. It looks closer to 3/16" to me.

I skinned the inside of the extended edge of the hatch with .030" aluminum being sure to wrap it around the top and bottom edges of the extension.

I used 1" x 1/16" annealed aluminum angle to overhang down the side edge of the tear. I riveted the angle to the hatch extension edge. At every seam and rivet I used gray polyurethane caulk to waterproof.

My build site (link below my signature) shows several pictures of the build process I followed for the hatch.

Good Luck!

There are any number of ways to do it. Here is another.


http://www.nfdc.net/home/cbdb/Teardrop%20Hatch.htm

DEE BEE

Good information - - - -thanks for the help.

- - - Bob

Roberto,

I gave this detail a lot of thought too. Ended up stopping the plywood flush with the outside rib and extending only the 0.040 aluminum. I did this because I wanted all the wood behind the rubber gasket. Due to the curve of the hatch, the aluminum is very stiff and doesn't need the plywood skin. I riveted the "L" molding to the overhanging skin with 1/8" short blind rivets. It worked out very well and I am pleased with the result. YOu can take a look at a couple of pictures on my album here on the forum. As you can see, there are many ways to do this.

JLaman