Lifespan of a "well built" tear with proper Mainte

[Classic Finn]

Ive been pondering the subject for a longtime. If a tear is properly built and maintained in normal usage what in your opinion is the normal lifespan of a tear or caravan in general.?

Starting from the builder wether private or pro in the business.

Also we all know how and where supposedly it is to be stored summer or winter.

But it starts usually of sealing and treating of all wood,ply inner and out and of course material used on exterior. Or craftsmanship in general.

What in the States is the so called length of "legal warranty law" versus warranty or liability given or offered by builder? Or by manufacturer. Is there a law for this? How is the consumer protected if the warranty happens to run out and damage is found shortly there after?

Of course there is also the factor of how the owner or purchaser maintains it such as in a car or anything else.

Has this been discussed ?

Pics to get you thinking about the above..








This tear is believe it or not 6 years old.

Sad. Severe mold which is very bad for your health. Delamination in full. Rot.. and whatever else this brings to mind..

Quote: "the build quality is absolutely abysmal! there seems to be no glue used & the staple fixings are something like 7 to 8 inches apart! There is no continuous sealant under the capping strip & most of the screws holding the capping strip are installed at an angle!"

What are your thoughts, ideas or opinions..

As I might try I cannot to the life of me see any form of compounds or sealants on the ply nor under the cap moulding either. Absolutely no sign or trace of anything applied. Also the grade of ply doesnt look to be top choice.

[pete42]

One saying I have heard is "and you are surprised why?"

a travel trailer I had came apart at one front corner seems the manufacture didn't wrap the side pieces over the front pieces before putting on the corner piece
and water got under and caused rot.
not an easy fix the cause was covered under their catch all "owner maintenance" so I took it apart and like you found staples and nails not screws

pete

[rbeemer]

Heikki,

I told you not show everybody my mistakes

If it was a quality build and maintained I would think you could get 50 years. I think most RV give you 3-5 year warranty, kind of like cars.

If you wanted to get maximum life expectancy, I think you would have to store it inside when not in use.

A lot of life expectancy is based on road conditions also, in the winter do they use chemicals or salts for your roads.

Do you do a lot of off-roading with your trailer, etc.

[Kevin & Sandy]

I sealed and resealed every piece of wood I could, I tried to make the skin and the trim work well together with sealant to make it watertight, I triple painted the underside...etc.

It never sits outside unless we are camping with it. I'd be very disappointed if it doesn't at least outlast me !!!

[Shadow Catcher]

When I was contemplating buying a teardrop I started looking at what fails and in order it is WOOD WOOD WOOD and WOOD followed by rust.
Few spend the extra $ to buy marine grade plywood or coat the supporting bits prior to assembly.
The Lefty Originals are made using marine grade plywood including the cross braces and triple coated with polyurethane prior to assembly.
Just out of curiosity is the one in the pictures a Little Guy or LG clone?

[caseydog]

Storage makes a HUGE difference. I store mine inside a garage when not in use. That means is spends about 30 days a year outside.

Whether it is a teardrop, or a tow vehicle, I can not overstate the value of keeping them in a garage. Being outside 24/7/365 takes a terrible toll on cars and campers.

CD

[halfdome, Danny]

Heikki, Of the teardrops I have built & sold as a private builder, there is no expressed or implied warranty. It's up to the purchaser to inspect the quality of my work which is the highest I am capable of producing. I would expect if properly maintained and stored that they could be handed down to future generations and have a lifespan of an excess of fifty years. I figure this since I cover the floor with plam on both sides and any exposed galley walls are also covered in plam. Plam is a hard surface ( high pressure laminate) and won't harbor mold. Any moisture wipes off with ease. I use water proof/resistant glues and sealants, glue on the aluminum sides and seal everything that could possibly have moisture contact.
Quality materials and finishes play a big part. Taking construction short cuts or using cheap materials to save time and money will shorten the lifespan.
Danny

[Steve_Cox]

Heikki,

Both the trailers I built and sold were warranted to the end of the driveway. The teardrop is 6 years old now and is in better condition than the day I sold it due to the owners care. Fact is, all trailers can leak water, some from the day they were built, others from lack of maintenance. I repaired 2 year old commercially built teardrop that was made in places with particle board. It had leaked at the hatch, was full of mold, and a lot of rot. It was a combination problem. Poor quality of materials, poor hatch design and a lack of maintenance.

[hopefully]

Just out of curiosity is the one in the pictures a Little Guy or LG clone?

x2

[halfdome, Danny]

Heikki, the first and second photo clearly show that this piece of wood was sub-standard grade and shouldn't have been used on a teardrop especially on the hatch (?).
I always use first and seconds grade hardwoods on the top and bottom of the hatch and all spars.
Fir/hemlock (what is shown) are fine for home building but won't last in a teardrop environment.
Is that cardboard under the wide staples?

In this photo the lighter colored wood at the top is dry rot and could have been prevented with proper maintenance.
Proper maintenance would have required a rebuild of the area (hatch?) using quality hardwood and proper construction and sealants.

The third photo looks like the results of water infiltration from the failure of the hatch/above areas but I'm not certain since there's not a photo of the whole teardrop.
The carpet shown can hide/mask the wet area and keep it wet to invite mold and delamination.

Danny

[doug hodder]

Danny...in the first pic...that sort of looks like a chunk of masonite under the staple to me. In the manufactured trailers (mostly standies) that I've been party to tearing apart...most of the "out of site" construction and materials is pretty questionable. Helmlock, rough cut stuff, full of knots, poor fit up etc...I wouldn't be surprised to hear that someone was ripping up old pallets to do the wall construction.

There are lots of different grades of materials that can be used as well as methods to put it all together. If someone is looking for a tear that will have a long life, they ought to get themselves an education on what to look for first. If it's breaking down after a couple of years of use, or existence, chances are it's not going to be a long lifer without a fair amount of maintenance. Just my opinion...others may vary. Doug

[hiker chick]

Ditto on keeping any trailer inside.

My Little Guy is four years old, looking great and hasn't leaked a drop despite many drives, washing and nights camping in thunderstorm deluges.

It's in a storage unit when not in use.

Even the best-built home will need roof repair and other structural maintenance periodically.

Mother Nature is brutal.

[48Rob]

Heikki,

properly built and maintained in normal usage

The first problem is that most commercially available trailers are not properly built.
The second is that most people that buy commercially made trailers feel/believe that "since it is new" no maintenance/repairs are needed for several years.

This would hold to be generally true, if they were properly built in the first place.

Manufacturers and designers may have a great product, and know what they are doing, but often it seems that the communication regarding what is necessary for quality and longevity is lost when the idea is turned over to the assembly line.
Speed and efficiency is needed to make a profit in order to stay in business, but a poor manager can easily mistake speed and efficiency with shortcuts in an effort to make the profits his/her boss requires.

So, with that said, if a manufacturer builds their trailers "properly" using quality materials, and properly sealing all potential leak areas with not one, but two layers of defense, the average customer could/should expect 5+ years before anything more than a light cleaning and bi annual inspections are needed.
If stored indoors when not in use, perhaps 10 years.

The customer (as has been noted) MUST educate themselves about what kind of problems their trailer may experience, how to spot them, and how to correct them before they get out of hand.

Many poorly built trailers that should be repaired under warranty are not, because the customer had no clue that the wet spot inside that they got when it rained was causing anything more than a wet spot that always dried up quickly (they thought) and thus ignored the problem until it was so far gone that the manufacturer was able to use the "customer must perform regular inspections and make minor repairs" clause, thus relieving them of the responsibility of repairs.

So, in my opinion, the average manufactured trailer has a 50/50 chance of having an issue that requires attention within the first two years, and if left unattended, a lifespan of perhaps 5-10 years, by which time it will be a smelly moldy mess up for sale as a "hunters special".


If properly built and maintained in normal usage, a trailer will last a lifetime, and more.

Rob

PS, Casey is correct that inside storage is a good thing, simple math proves that, but inside storage should not be mistaken for "the only safe way" to be able to own/enjoy a trailer.
If you "must" store your RV indoors to prevent water damage, your RV is destined to be a rotted hulk, despite your efforts.

[warbird]

Hi Guys, The pictures are of my 2005 Little Guy Deluxe, I have owned it for the last 12 months, during that time It has been kept in either a heated hangar or in my garage at home, I belive that this was the first LG imported into the UK & I'm told was used by the importers as a 'show model' & demonstrator, Its featured in most of their publicity stuff.
The guy I aquired it from was a disabled biker who bought it to run behind his Harley trike but he never really got on with it so It spent most of the 2 years he had it in a sheltered area of his garden with a cover over it I took it away several times last year behind my custom Chevy Astro day van to car shows where it got more interest shown than my van!!
I noticed in March this year that the side was coming away from the floor as I could see daylight through a gap INSIDE! This I repaired with sealent & bolting the side through the chassis. I picked up some 59 Caddy tail lights & thought they would look good on the LG so I removed the back panel with the lights to replace it with some polished aircraft quality Aluminium & was going to mount the Caddy lights either side just behind the fenders as you can see from the photo's I was presented with a mess!
OK so water can get in & the wood turns rotten, I accept that & I can deal with it (as I have done with some help from good friends in the TCGB here in the UK) what I have a problem accepting is the standard of build!
Obviously the side panels are built up as a unit incuding the thin carpet interior finish before they are assembled onto the floor as there was carpet sandwiched between the base & the sides, also where the rear beam at the base of the rear hatch joins the side there was also carpet! How can anyone expect to make a watertight joint when there is carpet for any water to wick up into? when I peeled back the aluminium edging there was little to no sealent to be seen! I understand that the owner of anything needs to keep an eye on what they have & look after it so it may last for years but in this case that would mean never taking it out in the wet as whatever you do there is no way water could be kept out of this Little Guy!
Anyway, Its well on the way to being better than when it came out of the factory (it wouldn't take much!) I still love it to bits & will keep it for as long as I can.
Cheers
Geoff
Bristol, UK