Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

check out the socal teardrop galley and door hinge www.socalteardrops.com mike

I used Grant's hinge also. I liked the fact that you can remove the hatch without taking the scfews out. It will slide out eaither side after its mounted. I slide mine out several times while making my hatch. It was a BIG help. It does not leak either.
Just my 2 sense worth, that ain't worth much!

critter wrote:hey grant,
or any other wood masters out there.im getting to the the stage of my build where im thinkin bout the hatch and hinge.ill be orderin from grant but will need help. will i need like a 1/4 gap between the last spar and the back of the hatch and do those hinges come pre drilled or do you have to drill em yourself, also should they be flush mounted or do you have to route out a place for them?any help would would help! :roll:

Hi, Critter!

You need to allow/plan for a 3/8" gap between the body-side hatch hinge beam and the hatch-side hatch hinge beam (and I'd recommend a 1-1/2"x1-1/2" stock for each). And very important - especially on the Weekender design - the body-side mounting surface must be on the same level plane as the hatch-side mounting surface ... the hinge won't work (or mount) properly if the body-side is level and the hatch-side is sloping down.

The hinge is pre-drilled, and they mount on top (after the surface is finished) and before the edge trim/moldings go on.

Does that help enough ... ;-} ;-} ...?

Good Luck, and ...

CHEERS!

Grant

does anyone know of a hurricane hinge that can be mounted in the opening like a door hinge is normally mounted with just the pivot part sticking up like the geared so-cal hinge?

A long time ago when I first started building Teardrops. Way before I ever had a computer or even knew anyone else that had a Teardrop. I tried everything but couldn't stop my hatches from leaking.

I almost gave up on Teardrops.

Then I heard about a guy in CA. who sold a continuous aluminum hinge. I bought one, installed it, then it rained. Not just a normal rain but Hurricane Andrew (I may be wrong on the hurricane's name). After the storm I went outside (after pumping the basement) trees were down, my shed was gone, no more shingles on the house...it was a soaker.

I went over to my Tear, opened the hatch and it was as dry as bone. A week or so later I ran the hose on it for several hours...still dry. I was ecstatic, I promptly contacted the guy in CA. and told him this story and how impressed I was with his product.

I still buy this hinge from the same guy and wouldn't use anything else.

BTW.. after this happened I started hearing this hinge referred to as a Hurricane Hinge.



Happy Trails

Len

And now you know, the rest of the story!

Mike...

And that pins it down to one of two guys that were in California at that time that was selling what became known as the Hurricane Hinge.

Have a good day.

welp, let me throw my 2 cents into the ring..if i'm not mistaken, on a diffrent board, in a galaxy far far away, someone put a continuous plastic hinge on his teardrop, not only the hatch, but the side doors..well, the doors ripped off after 6 months, and the hatch kept misaligning itself because the plastic wasn't strong enough to hold the weight when it was openened..i'm pretty sure he put a hurrican hinge on the hatch, and regular piano hinge on the doors...but that may have also been a dream i had in a feverish state, so don't hold me accountable for the story.

hey grant,
thanks ,thats exactly what i needed to know.also what is that soft rain stuff you were talking about.got any pics?might work for a few places i have in mind.

please forgive the goop.... btw, that slot originally went straight up, then I realized the hinge had to be perpindicular to the surface, so I had to fill the gap and resaw the top part of the slot.... next time I'll know better.

Arnereil,
That is probably the best picture of how a huricane hinge goes in. Thanks

1 Picture, a thousand fewer words.
Miriam

Gaston,

The hinge you're thinking of is made by Select Hinge or Hager and is called a flush mount continuous hinge. List price on the 83" Select is $90.

GB

You are correct, sort of. There are many manufacturers of those types of hinges, (Select, Pemko, etc...). BUT, you won't have much luck using them, they all have a feature that make them useless for teardrops. The bearing slots allow water to flow into the cabin.

Here is what ours looks like installed. Our newest batch is clear anodized, the black wasn't staying black with the sun beating down on after 4 years.

Good Luck.

I can see how that might be just a teensy bit of a problem. I wasn't aware that you had modified the design. I had read the thread and happened to be walking by a brochure rack at work and noticed that hinge staring up at me. I work for a distributor of lock and security supplies and am continually surprised at the variety of products we carry.

GB

Yeah, we made a few design changes and have them custom extruded for us.