Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi guys does anyone have experience with building the frame out of aluminum? I'm think of making it with 1 inch square aluminum tubing by 1/8 of an inch it will be 6061 t6 and riveting it to an aluminum angle that will be bolted to my plywood floor I plan on rolling it to make th transition between the walls to the roof and the outer shell will be aluminum sheet riveted to the frame any comments or suggestions greatly appreciated if anyone can point me to a build thread that used similar construction I would really appreciate it thanks in advance

I've never seen anyone rivet an aluminum frame. Weld, yes. What sort of rivets would you use ti tivet an angle to a square or rectangular tube?

Here's a link to a build on this forum that had a structural-riveted aluminum frame:

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=61645

Here's another but I don't believe the build was ever finished:

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=54126

Thanks Tom I saw those Im using a harbor freight trailer I was talking about the actual frame of the teardrop sort of like an airstream like this guy did only in aluminum http://s118.photobucket.com/user/busyjo ... sort=2&o=5 And to the other question I was planing on a countersunk blind rivet (not really sure I never riveted before)

I have a buddy that built a drop in p/u truck camper using 1x1x 1/8 aluminum square tube screwed together with tek screws and hardware store corner brackets, then skinned on the outside with luan underlayment. I can't remember what he used for a final finish, perhaps epoxy paint. Nothing fancy, just rectilinear shapes, but he has done trips to Alaska and the outer banks with it, and it stores outdoors.

Very light weight construction, I don't think he even used insulation.

quack24 wrote:Thanks Tom I saw those Im using a harbor freight trailer I was talking about the actual frame of the teardrop sort of like an airstream like this guy did only in aluminum http://s118.photobucket.com/user/busyjo ... sort=2&o=5 And to the other question I was planing on a countersunk blind rivet (not really sure I never riveted before)

Here's one fine example: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=51991 and another one: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=54344.

To prevent corrosion, you'd obviously use aluminum rivets. And of course they are not as strong as steel rivets. I'd be concerned that after a period of time, the rivets might loosen. If I were to go down this path, I would consider cleaning each joint and applying a quality (3M brand?) epoxy prior to setting the rivet. It'd make for a much stronger joint.

Tony

This trailor was at Lake Cleburne State Park in 2014. It was built be an aircraft sheet metal Technition from Corpus Christi Tx. I can not remember his name, and he does not do anything with computers. He used aircraft construction procedures. Hand shot every rivet. Applied sealer to every rivet. Being in the aircraft maintenance business myself for 46 years, I was very impressed. One of the most amazing builds I have seen. He used a steel trailor frame. When attaching Aluminum to steel, dissimilar metal corrosion is a probability, and must be delt with by sealer or paint between the surfaces.
A properly shot aircraft rivet will not leak or loosen up. Aircraft Cherrylock blind rivets properly shot will not leak or loosen. Cherry locks require a special gun to shot them, and are very pricey.

Robin:

A properly shot aircraft rivet will not leak or loosen up.

Having bucked a few AD rivets, I'd agree that properly riveted––and engineered––aluminum structures do not fail under static or repeated loads. However, joining two butted pieces of extruded square tubing with four blind rivets and a piece of angle aluminum is different than joining two pieces of aluminum sheet using solid rivets set 2" apart. Are four blind rivets per joint enough? I'm not sure, that's why if it were me, I'd clean and epoxy too.

I'd also agree that Cherry type or perhaps Avex blind rivets would be a better choice than Pop brand rivets.

Tony

Okay so here is my plans till now the framework will be all aluminum blind riveted together with cherry rivets and the aluminum sheet metal will be buck riveted to the 1/8 by 1 inch bar stock the frame will be made out of 1by1 by1/8 aluminum tubing riveted to an aluminum angle attached to the plywood floor on the bottom and to a 2 inch aluminum angle frame on the top which will hold some sort of removable roof panel

Two questions 1 I never installed any kind of river can someone explain the process from what I understand it goes like thes drill one hole debut it put in a Cleco clamp drill next hole etc until all holes are drilled debured and clecoed than remove one Cleco at a time and install a rivet in its place now if I'm attaching "spars" to the frame of 1x1s do I drill all the hole on the spar and than river it or just have to do one at a time 2nd is how tall am I able to build the trailer I was thinking 6 feet
Also would love to hear comments about my plan especially from the airplane guys on here

Tried posting a pic of my plans but it's too big to upload