"Jackal" 5x10 TD Running water.

[JmsCaverly]

Thanks for all the help and knowledge you guys are life savers! I changed out the races today over at the hobby shop I just need to get time to put it all back together.

My wife has one of those laser temps in the kitchen she never uses so it's time to repurpose it in to another tool for the camper! Lol

[JmsCaverly]

My mom made my curtains for me after she seen what the ones I made looked like.

I like them the plaid ones will cover the windows and the purple and white ones will be for the kids bunks.

[ELM]

Your almost on your way to Shasta. Did you do both sides ? I like the curtain material Moms are the best

[JmsCaverly]

I did change both sides, I figured I would just start fresh and have another go at it and this way if they need to be changed in the future I'll just change them all and not worry about which ones are good and bad.

[ELM]

I did change both sides, I figured I would just start fresh and have another go at it and this way if they need to be changed in the future I'll just change them all and not worry about which ones are good and bad.

Good call on changing both sides. When you adjust the bearings it helps to have the wheel bolted to the hub so you can get a better feel of bear adjustment.

[JmsCaverly]

Elm are you going to make it to the Shasta event?

[ELM]

Elm are you going to make it to the Shasta event?

NO I was thinking of going up for a day but I have to many things going on. Have a great time.

[JmsCaverly]

So I'm working on the next part of my build and I'm trying to figure out basically how to put a square in a round hole. Has any one seen those guys around from the Apollo 13 movie I sure could use their help.


So as you can see from this picture I have a rather aggressive radius to the front of my teardrop well I have had planned to install a stargazer window just above the top bunk. I have the window on hand I'm just very very hesitant to cut into the roof and lay down the window as those are made to sit on a flat surface not the radius I have.



So what are somethings you guys think I can do to prevent any kind of leak from happening?

Can I use the pudy tape underneath the window to fill the gap and make a nice silicone seal all the way around? Or would that interfer with the way the Windows built in seal sits?

Bad news is military housing forced us to move this week so now I have got to find time to work out how I'm going to reorganize my garage again. So this just might end up having to be put on the winter project list.

Oh well on to the IRG......


Oooooooor is it not even worth the risk to install the window in the first place? And just do without.

[noseoil]

I think it would be safer to install it in a flat area of the roof. Too many problems on a curve for a good fit over time. The only other way I can see would be to make a "curb" or spigot in the curve that provides a flat mounting surface on the outside, a box made to fit the curve which has a flat mounting area on the outside & seals along the curve.

[ELM]

The star gazer windows I've seen put on a the curved part of the roof look like a leak waiting to happen to me. And if it's put on the flat part of the roof I would think the window would have water sitting or trapped on the glass. That's my 2 cents for what it's worth. Did you make it to Shasta lake.

[KCStudly]

I would call that raised box thing a "church" or a "chase". You might get away with having the church go to almost zero thickness near the tangent point of the radius just to try and keep it somewhat streamlined looking, assuming that the window clamp rings are of similar thickness to your walls. Another thing to look out for is creating a ledge on the top lip where water might tend to settle. If you shape the perimeter of the church so that the top is peaked, the water will run to the sides and off.

Regardless, go to the effort to make a template of the church profile to give you an idea of how much the window will stick out above the surface, and whether you like what that will do to the lines of your profile. I think at least one builder reversed this, by creating a flat spot between two points on the curve and recessing the sides near the ends of the window frame.

You did install framing for this window before skinning, didn't you?

[JmsCaverly]

I think it would be safer to install it in a flat area of the roof. Too many problems on a curve for a good fit over time. The only other way I can see would be to make a "curb" or spigot in the curve that provides a flat mounting surface on the outside, a box made to fit the curve which has a flat mounting area on the outside & seals along the curve.

I did think if this, I saw another builder do the same thing and I really wasn't a fan of it. I didn't like how it suck up off the profile and I think in my case it would be the same result. I think it would ruin the way it looks and would create an automatic eye draw.

I have thought about maybe doing a custom glass install that would have a piece of curved glass to match the profile and some aluminum trim to seal it off nicely. But that's going to be something I'll have to research over the winter.

But a quick Google search just now showed me a bunch of teardrop campers with stargazer Windows that look like they sit just fine. I don't know I'm still secptical about it.

[JmsCaverly]

The star gazer windows I've seen put on a the curved part of the roof look like a leak waiting to happen to me. And if it's put on the flat part of the roof I would think the window would have water sitting or trapped on the glass. That's my 2 cents for what it's worth. Did you make it to Shasta lake.

I would agree I bought it thinking it would all work out but I really don't think it worth the risk now. I did Lidia put on a good event she really did a good job great people really warm and welcoming group my son and duagher loved it and every one love them. Such a fun time my wife was already talking about next year before we even left. Ohhhh and really really good food!!!!

Those potlucks are no joke you have really got to jump in there!!

[JmsCaverly]

I would call that raised box thing a "church" or a "chase". You might get away with having the church go to almost zero thickness near the tangent point of the radius just to try and keep it somewhat streamlined looking, assuming that the window clamp rings are of similar thickness to your walls. Another thing to look out for is creating a ledge on the top lip where water might tend to settle. If you shape the perimeter of the church so that the top is peaked, the water will run to the sides and off.

Regardless, go to the effort to make a template of the church profile to give you an idea of how much the window will stick out above the surface, and whether you like what that will do to the lines of your profile. I think at least one builder reversed this, by creating a flat spot between two points on the curve and recessing the sides near the ends of the window frame.

You did install framing for this window before skinning, didn't you?

Yeah I think I saw that one too I like that a little better but I'm far past that point now, I did create the housing for the window when I was doing the roof framing but I think I'm going to have to find a way to seal up that interior roof. I'll take some pics tomrrow of what it looks like now and see if you guys have any ideas on what I should do. To cover up the hole luckily I have enough left over roof insulation to fill the area.

[JmsCaverly]

So this is what the inside of the camper looks like where the stargazer window would have went.



Now I'm thinking about a custom peice that would be a CNC'd cut name plate with the name of the camper ingraved into it. I think that would look really cool. I think I'll use a 1/2" piece of Purple Heart to match the rest of the camper.

So does any one have any leads maybe from this forum that could do that for me?