Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hello. I have a question regarding door thickness.

My side walls are made up from 3 ply panels....1/4" outside panel, 3/4" middle panel and 1/8" inside panel and I'll include the .040 outside alum skin, for a total wall thickness of 1.144" (note this measurement uses the actual ply thickness dimensions I'll be using).

When making up the doors, given that there's rubber seals and aluminum trim also installed in the areas where the door will fit, I'm trying to figure out how thick the door should actually be, as the 1.144" dimension will make
the door stick out from the outside trailer surface. In other words, I'm thinking rather than use the 1/4 inch ply panel on the exterior side of the door, maybe that should be an 1/8 inch panel.

Would anyone be able to share how they handled this (or any suggestions would be a help)?

Thanks very much.

EDIT: after I posted this, had a thought. Maybe I leave the door same configuration as the wall, build it with the aluminum trim pieces installed, set it in place making the outside surface of door flush with outside surface of cabin body and put a wood trim piece on inside wall surface that has a routed channel to hold the rubber seal. That way the depth of the channel can be determined when the door is actually installed and I can see how much space is needed to allow for the rubber seal. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks again!

John

If it was me, I would use a 3/4" plywood door. Put a 1/4" inner door stop attached to the backside of the door opening. Put a 1/2" gasket on that stop and make a seal .

It depends on how your seal system is setup.



I believe Vistabule uses a similar system.







Tony

Thanks Tony and Woodbutcher for the replies. That Trim Lock bulb seal looks interesting, Tony. I'll look that seal model up.

I'm thinking a lot of this fitting of the seals will have to be worked when the actual build is taking place. I've read the seals should only be compressed 50% to achieve the maximum benefit.
Just want to plan out as much as I can prior to building, fitting the seals being part of that.

Thanks again.

EDIT: Tony, do you insulate your door(s)?

Tony, do you insulate your door(s)?

I remove as much weight as is reasonable from the doors. And yes, the voids are filled with foam board.



Trim-Lok suggests a bulb compression of 30-50% and says that a fully compressed bulb will take a set and not rebound.

The used Trim-Lok’s Trim Seal with Side Bulb 1/4” edge with a 7/16” bulb (4100B3X1/4A-25).

Tony

Woodbutcher wrote:If it was me, I would use a 3/4" plywood door. Put a 1/4" inner door stop attached to the backside of the door opening. Put a 1/2" gasket on that stop and make a seal .

tony.latham wrote:It depends on how your seal system is setup.

Capebuild wrote:I'm thinking a lot of this fitting of the seals will have to be worked when the actual build is taking place. I've read the seals should only be compressed 50% to achieve the maximum benefit.

* I used the 3/4" thick cut-outs from the sidewalls as my doors, with no windows or insulation. I made a 1/4" door jamb/stop along the top and side of the added 1/2" thick oak boards, used as a framework/brace for the door and the strengthening hardware added to it. The 1/4" jamb was routed from the 1/2" x 3" wide boards.

* The doors were made to reach to the floor, so no lower jamb was used, instead there's an aluminum threshold that the door slides atop (friction-fit), with no seal, except for an external doorsweep that keeps wind-driven rain out.

* I did use a seal pressed/glued/stapled onto the jamb (everywhere except on the bottom of the door, where there is none). Both right/left seals are leftover from a '69 Chevy truck resto project I did, and never used. Since I used flat gate hinges with no offset (so the cut-out doors would sit flush into the sidewalls they were cut from), I had to remove some material from the layered rubber in order to properly compress the seal upon closing. Still, it requires some force to shut/latch the doors...they're water and dust tight, for sure, that way. I perhaps could trim a little more off, for easier operation, but I'm the only one using the trailer, so....

*