Little Guy Silver Shadow Issues

[Cirque Peak]

Thanks, firelion....... learning as I go along here. I'm willing to bet the Amish quality is right up there with the best. Cirque Peak.

[iplay10us2]

Thanks Firelion for explaining it better than I did.

Little Guy does now make their own Silver Shadow teardrops, but there was a time when they were made by Pleasant Valley.

[TENNJIM]

I have a somewhat similar hinge design and it did not leak at the 16th Dam Gathering which had a lot (A LOT) of water running in the channels with the hatch up. It is a piano hinge with a thick rubber covering held in place by two rain channels-one on the teardrop and one on the hatch. Looking at the pictures, I believe the difference is that the rubber and rain channels extend all the way to the edge of my teardrop on both sides. In fact the rubber hangs out over the edge about 1/8". The strips are down tight sealing the rubber and this effectively channels water well past the ends of the hatch (up or down) so that it doesn't run around the end and drip into the galley.

Jim B / Utah

[tearhead]

You're discovering how obsessive some of us are!! We get onto something and...whoa, Nellie! Anyway...

I checked back to give credit where credit is due for the cotton rope trick (courtesy of Doug Hodder, see in link below). Others in the same thread had different creative ideas about sealing the galley hinge (when parked) with stretchy saran wrap and other things. There's also some fun stuff about "tarpology" that I thought might be fun to take a peek at:

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 09&start=0

[Cirque Peak]

TENNJIM:
The hinge on our Shadow must be different, since the rubber does not extend very far past the end of the hinge, effectively letting the water pour with full force straight into the hatch channel. Too much water, and it overflows right into my top galley shelf, and from there into the interior.
I don't know why they designed ours that way, but I am gleaning a lot of information from all you friendly folk on this forum on how to divert and/or fix things. I will rig up something to extend the effectiveness of the rubber, and channel the water past the present point on the hinge.

Have you had any issues with the strut/shocks screws pulling out of the bottom mounts?

tearhead:
Thanks for the forum link. Very helpful stuff.

[FireLion]

Cirque Peak, you shouldn't have to 'jerry rig' anything. Little Guy SHOULD be bending over backwards to make you happy with their product. Have you had any luck with their customer service regarding your issues?

[doug hodder]

Is this how it looks coming from the manufacturer or did someone do an after purchase repair? Doug

[Cirque Peak]

firelion:
I did not get much satisfaction from Little Guy regarding the rear hatch leaking while it's raining.

From their rep's e-mail in Ohio:
"The hatch is similar to the trunk of a car when the hatch is open it has a tendency to get wet when it is raining."

From the RV dealership's salesman before we bought the unit:
"the rear galley is great for cooking up a meal while getting out of the rain."

I think the dealership realized I wasn't going away, so they rigged up a cover over the hinge and re-caulked a bit around the end, which works to divert water, as long as it's not a hard rain.

Doug: No. ours does not extend that far from the end of the hinge.

[iplay10us2]

Doug:

I am not sure, but I believe it is something that Camping World here might have done. I had never looked that closely at the part of my tear until I went out to take the pictures.

[hiker chick]

Is the hatch leaking when it's closed?

[Cirque Peak]

hiker chick: no, it only leaks when open and exposed.

[humormeplease]

Just bought a new Shadow (2 months now) and have no problems besides trying to correct a scatch that you cannot possibly match unless you paint the entire side or find a decal. Yours may have been made on a Monday or a Friday?

http://www.myphoto.com/humormeplease/5812/33456/m

[TENNJIM]

TENNJIM:

Have you had any issues with the strut/shocks screws pulling out of the bottom mounts?

My struts are a telescoping, rolling star-wheel for lock and release type. I have not had any problem with them or the mounts. Although there are similarities in design , my teardrop is a 2006 Hunter Shadow based upon Hunter's design concept which is older. It has been a top quality unit.

Jim B / Utah

[Cirque Peak]

humormeplease:

Thanks for your photo link. Doesn't look like the struts on your Shadow are pulling out (yet). Ours started to pull out on our last trip in May; they were alright last year on our holidays. Could be the few days of thirty below we had last winter. Still...
Is that a custom air conditioning unit on your unit? That's cool (pardon the pun).

TENNJIM: Are the struts easy to remount on the inside of the galley? And I wonder if I could get away with longer ones to raise the door somewhat?

[caseydog]

humormeplease:

Thanks for your photo link. Doesn't look like the struts on your Shadow are pulling out (yet). Ours started to pull out on our last trip in May; they were alright last year on our holidays. Could be the few days of thirty below we had last winter. Still...
Is that a custom air conditioning unit on your unit? That's cool (pardon the pun).

TENNJIM: Are the struts easy to remount on the inside of the galley? And I wonder if I could get away with longer ones to raise the door somewhat?

You can move the mounting points on most of these hatch struts. I moved the lower mounting brackets on both struts (on the TD end, not hatch end) a few inches so that the hatch would be higher when opened. I was hitting my head on the hatch.

Moving the bracket gave me more headroom. You could move the brackets on your TD to put the screws into fresh wood. You may be able to use longer or thicker screws, too.

CD