Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have been looking at the grasshopper design and have a question about the rear hatch. The hatch includes a short section of roof and the hing is on the roof. It is done this way I assume to add ht to the hatch when in the open position, but with the roof section attached will it not be more prone to leaking? Are the galley hinges you guys are using really water tight?

tjdale

If your talking about the original grasshopper. The hatch is not attached to the roof at all. There is a space of about 4 to 6 inches down from the roof. I did the mini-hopper this same way. I also used a rain diverter and used a piano hinge. Have not had any leaks there but have had a few in other places. My fault.

Bufordt

Dale,

My design for the rugged, (similar to the grasshopper), has the hinge on the back, not on the roof. The hinge itself won't leak.



The most common problem I have heard of is not letting the hinge hang out over the sides far enough. Look at this photo... notice how the water runs down the sides instead of into your galley!!!



Mike...

Grasshopper hindge doesn't go to the end like that. It's really just a sideways door cut into the back of the tear.

Bufordt

Mike,
Your version is called the rugged? Where can I see drawings of it? Thanks, Tim

Actually, I don't have any drawings of it. I only have a solid model, and a few screen shots... Here are the screenshots...

http://www.mikenchell.com/teardrop/wild ... rame6.html

And here's the solid model:
http://www.mikenchell.com/images/rugged/rugged.wrl
http://www.mikenchell.com/images/rugged/rugged2.wrl

Mike...

P.S. If you need the Cortona client to view the VRML (wrl) files above, you can download the free MS Internet Explorer addin here...
http://www.parallelgraphics.com/products/cortona/

Even if the hinge doesn't extend past the edge, a rain gutter could.

Mike, I like your rugged design. Please post more when you get further along. This has possibilities for me. TD