Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Heat and humidity were both at 80. I think that was working in my favor.

The front flap seemed to have regained a little spring to it. It was pretty taught yesterday, and when I pushed down by hand a tad today it seemed a little more forgiving, so I took a couple more clicks on the ratchets. Between this and shifting the backers around a little it looked like I could get the first row of screws into the front riblets.



I used some scraps of the ply, about 2x2, as wooden washers under the screw heads just to be sure they don’t pull through (when you sink the flat head screws in the thin ply it tends to move some wood out of the way, and some areas are softer than others).

That went well so I took another round and sank another row of screws.



At some point, as I was fussing about, I heard a distinct click/crack sound… dread . My heart sank a mile and I was instantly on the verge of despair, turning quickly to see the impending doom. However, that didn’t happen. It wasn't a loud snick, but it wasn't too quiet either. I gave it a good once over paying particular attention to the fiberglass patch, but everything looked okay. I guess it was just settling in (fingers crossed).

So it is going to be humid here the next couple of days, which I normally dislike, but if it helps this process at all I consider myself lucky to have the weather pulling in my direction.

I took a few extra pics for perspective.







Then I made up enough of the wood washers to do four more rows of screws, and called it a night (just 1-1/2 hrs).

KCStudly wrote:Your impression of the road and whether it is reasonable to tow my idea of a TD through it would be highly valued input!

I don't necessarily plan on dragging it up all of the spurs, but, as you know, the plan is to drag it across the whole road.

Are you going in at Darby or Elk City?

(Oh, this is so exciting!!! )

We're going in from Darby. I'll be thinking about your 'drop. In the past, I've only been out as far as the trailhead to Salmon Mountain, but I think that must be a bit over a third of the way. From what I've seen, no big problem. But I'll report back.

Tony

p.s. The "bend" is looking good.

Thanks, Tony! I'm excited for you... and I must admit, a little jealous at the same time. More fuel for the fire!

KCStudly wrote:Thanks, Tony! I'm excited for you... and I must admit, a little jealous at the same time. More fuel for the fire!

I was just looking at the road conditions since it wasn't quite open the last time I looked. Today's update reads: "Open (but 4-wheel drive recommended through snow between Dry Saddle and Observation Point – at least for another few days)" That'd be out there in that Sabe Creek country I think.

Snow. Hmfffff. Hard to believe down here at 4000' and 82ºF at ten pm.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOC ... 158968.pdf

TL

Wooden washers are a great idea! Almost enclosed! That's so exciting.

KCStudly wrote:Thank you everyone for sticking with me on this. Like I just said over on Lauren's Father-Daughter build, I don't know when it will be done, but I know what I want it to be like when I get there.

Tonight I sanded the locker divider back down and sealed up the knots. Had some runs that will need to be sanded back before moving on. Not much progress and nothing pic worthy, tho I did clamp the hatch rib template onto the side of the galley to check where the edge of the roof skin will need to end compared to how I had drawn it.

Well, whenever it gets done, it will sure be beautiful!!! Great work, KC! I am on the finishing touches now.... I think I will be camping next week! Good luck!

Bonnie, the wooden washers weren't my idea, but I have long forgotten who to credit them to, but thanks anyway!

Lauren, thank you very much for the kind words, and I am certainly looking forward to your first pics from the wild! Camp on, and don't forget to enter your build into the Hall of fame!

Tony, coming from the Elk City side, the road climbs from Poet at about 5000 ft up onto Dry Saddle just after Burnt Knob. It runs along the saddle ridge at about 7200 ft before dipping to cross Sabe Creek and Sabe Saddle, just after leaving Nez Perce NF and entering Bitterroot NF. At Sabe Creek the elevation is still 6700 ft, and goes right back up to 7200 again at Sabe Vista Point.

Oh man, can you see the drool?

I was able to download all of the USGS maps along the Nez Perce Trail from Elk City to Darby in .pdf format for free from http://store.usgs.gov (... or you can buy hard copies).

They include the following quadrangles:
ID Elk City
ID Moose Butte
ID Trapper Creek
ID Boston Mountain
ID Spread Creek (where Poet Creek is located)
ID Sabe Mountain (including Dry Saddle)
ID Magruder Mountain
ID Beaver Jack Mountain
ID Nez Perce Peak
MT Bare Cone
MT Mount Jerusalem
MT Boulder Peak

It should be quite a ride, with lots of switchbacks, elevation changes and crossing!

Oh man I am itching!

I'm a map guy. Trust me, I''ll have plenty of paper and my GPS enabled tablet.

Not to mention a chainsaw (for snags across the road) and extra food and water. Last time I was out my fingers were purple from huckleberries.

Tony

tony.latham wrote:Last time I was out my fingers were purple from huckleberries.

Nice! We picked huckleberries on Mt Hood.

Back at Mecca this evening we have a couple more very small cracks that have formed on the street side of the front radius.


One at the top of the wood washer on the 2nd row of screws.


And another thru the screw hole just below the fiberglass patch.


These don’t bother me so much by themselves, but do give concern that they might propagate into something more severe, or even catastrophic.

Ben happened to be by when I arrived and recommended wetting the surface to help prevent the cracking, but also said it would probably do whatever it was going to do no matter what. I guess this has been my thoughts all along, but since he is a professional carpenter, I decided to go ahead and wet the outside surface as I proceed.


I’m not sure if it helped any, and some of the moisture wicked around the lower edge, as well as thru one of the screw holes and bled onto the inside slightly. I hope it does not leave a water mark, or at least not one that shows thru the stain.

I changed the backers around a little, hit the ratchets a few more clicks and drove another row of screws; the third row.


Progress to this point.




Taking my time and fussing around in the meantime, eventually I took another click or two on the ratchets and made some adjustments to the backer bars.


I kept spritzing with water and ran a 4th row of screws.


Slowly but surely. The ratchet straps were getting close to bearing down on the upper portion of the curve in areas that were not directly supported by the front riblets, so rather than just cinching them up more I started using wedge shims between the straps and backer blocks. That got me down under an inch to go…


Where I was able to add a 5th row of screws.



The straps were starting to sing pretty good, yet off key, when twanged; they were tight. And while trying to shift the stack of backers and shims the piles popped off of the backers. (Dagnabbit .) So I stuffed them back in there and screwed them in solid to the 2x4. Here they are after they popped out.


I’m not sure if you can see it here, but the tension in the straps looked like it was trying to torque the vent frame down into the roof. The next forward spar and the panel has a slight bow that I expect to spring back once the tension is off, but I am keeping a close eye on this for now.


So all along the cracking has only been on the street side, and I think that side of the panel is stiffer. The strap on that side twangs at a higher note and despite more tension has not pulled down quite the same as the curb side in this last go. The street side is at about 3/4 inch, and the curb side is at 5/8.



In this shot I am looking just slightly off line to show that the ceiling panel is overlapping the front wall by about 1/8 inch; no problem to shave that in place.


In this straight on shot you can see that the side edges of the panels match very well.


On the street side the overlap is a mere 1/16 of an inch; which is about what I had allowed for trimming. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but by using the strip of scrap as a story pole, I was pretty confident in the final measurement, and already knew that the curb side was different by about 1/8 inch (1/16 at the bulkhead and another 1/16 variation in the length of the wall, as best I can tell).


Side to side on the street side the ceiling ran off by only about 1/16, so overall I am thrilled with the outcome (so far).

KC, splitting just like on mine .... You see it splits through several layers...

Yup. Splitting is natures way of kerfing. I can't think of any matter that isn't weaker in tension than it is in compression. Maybe if I had soaked it more before attempting to bend, but then there are issues with that, too.

Like Ben said, it's going to do what it is going to do. So long as the inside surface stays nice, I'm good with it.

Just a thought, but have you considered using a slightly longer stud for tensioning the curve forming? In order to prevent any damage to your vent framing, I would think that if you were to use a 2x4 that sticks out farther than the sides, you could put an eye bolt in each end and use your straps to pull it from some point towards the back of the frame, maybe back where the axle will mount. That way you would be pulling it directly instead of try to wedge under the curve.

I hope you understand what I am trying to say, because I can't figure out how else to explain it and it doesn't read as clear as I picture it in my mind.

KC, as I learned from making ELB’s (over 200) , a simple “backing” or skin to absorb the bulk of the Tension load prevents a lot of problems ... Although initially harder to bend or “tiller” in my case , (because it’s stronger ) surface tension splitting is pretty much eliminated. My wooden TD had a much gentler radius , and over a period of 6 months had begun to split in many places ... and that was wood treated with the mix ( it didn’t rot, just split ) and that, well primed and painted. Disappointing ... Had I even just skinned it after bending , it probably would have been fine , or at least not show the splits ... Plywood .... grrrrrr!!!

Ps. there is wood putty ... if it’s gonna’ do it , then fill it eh ?