Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Quick question . What's is the best way to attach the aluminum skin? I was thinking of using double sided tape and than having the trim hold everything in place. Or should I glue the whole thing with a contact cement type glue ? Any help would be great thanks

With mine I chose to pull it tight with tie downs. I used paper underneath to float the aluminum. I trimmed everything off with a T edge and then more trim. I was worried about expansion and contraction in the sun. Which I wasn't sure would be a factor.. If I would glue it down a water based contact cement would be sufficient.
I glued an aluminum panel attached to the galley hatch and so far it seems to be holding up. Good luck.

If I was to glue it down with contact cement would it get the oil can effect ? I'm us ring .040 aluminum mill finish .

Float it, used OSI sealant around the edges. The trim will hold it down.


You're probably thinking like I was. " it will flop around and vibrate in the wind"

Don't worry, it won't, it stays put much better than one would think.

When I did my aluminum skins I cut them slightly oversized so I had some fudge room and lined a thick bead of poly sealant around the perimeter and opening and my buddy and I positioned the skin where I wanted it and while holding it up we used a pneumatic staple gun with 1/2" staples around the perimeter and a router to trim the edges flush. To cut out the openings for the doors I drilled a pilot hole in the corners from the inside out and used a jigsaw from the outside to trim it out leaving roughly 1/2" overhang which I then pounded over with a hammer, stapled on the inside edge and covered it all with trim. I left the infield open with out any sealant or adhesive so it could flex and shrink/expand when it needed to. Turned out great!!! Pics and the process are in my build thread.

Take a look at this thread: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=54767.

There are definitely two camps - "float" and "glue down". In the "glue down" camp, there are two subgroups - permanent bond such as contact adhesive and flexible bond such as carpet adhesive.

Scroll down the above thread to halfdome Danny's comments. He's in the PNW area and has built several magnificent teardrops. In all of these, he used contact adhesive to glue down his roof and wall aluminum.

Personally, I floated the aluminum on my teardrop. In Texas, we have pretty wide temperature swings - 10 degrees to 110 degrees through the year. I do have oil-canning during the hottest parts of the year but it is minimal. The only way you notice it is the oil-canning distorts the reflections on the aluminum. From 20 feet it is not visible.