Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm using R.W. Johnson's hinges...


The galley hinge is correctly shown in the red circle...

I'm seeing two different thoughts as to how to postion the front hinge for the roof hatch...

I think it was Dave that installed his galley hinge backwards and didn't catch it until about a year later,
after some water damage had occured.
I wonder if the real problem was from wind driven water getting through at highway speeds, while in transit???
If that is so... The postion in the yellow circle would make sense to me.
The position in the blue circle makes sense, if highway and towing factors aren't brought into play...
What to do, what to do....
Install it as shown in the blue circle and have some sort of cowling in front to block wind driven water while towing???
The position in the yellow circle gives me more anchoring surface on the hatch itself...
and I am going to incorporate weatherstripping into the hinge itself, might even incorporate a gutter underneath the leading edge of the opening...
Anyone ever do a front hinge for the roof like this before???

Dean, I think I would be most concerned with water getting past the hinge on the highway.
You can always use an ez up or some other form of shelter over the trailer when it's parked in the rain at a campground.

Dean:

I like the blue idea.

This is just a thought.... and might be practical.
You might consider having a plastic tubing that would fit tight under the lip (in the Blue idea Position) for road travel that would block water from being driven or wicking up into the mechanism while traveling?

Dean, your lifting the roof, not the nose, right? Hinge it the same way as the galley. Keep it simple, don't confuse yourself.



Have a good day.

me...I agree with Gage(really).....................................

Gage wrote:Dean, your lifting the roof, not the nose, right? Hinge it the same way as the galley. Keep it simple, don't confuse yourself.



Have a good day.

Just a little Norwegian Thinkin' in Overdrive...
Thanks Guys!!!
Now I can proceed with the templates!


Did you guys catch that little admin oops?....
I went to quote you and I edited you instead... Got it all fixed.

My picture is smaller than your picture. I got to go to bed, I've got to deliver a car to San Francisco today. Did that Tuesday also. My backup was supposed to do the trip but he's sick so I get to do it. Enough of that.

Have a good day.

Dean,

That roof hatch looks like a good place for a Harsh-Environment Plastic Piano Hinge, won't leak no matter which direction the rain is being driven from, and has a low profile too. It's load rated at 100# per square inch. Got mine at www.mcmaster.com

My new hinge just arrived from R.W. Johnson along with aluminum door hinges and real door locks. I really liked the black color. I did not realize that the hinge needed to be under the roof skin. Can this hinge be retrofitted or did I goof? Since My roof is painted and there is a 2x2 horizontal spar across the end of the roof, could I remove a strip of roof, embed the hinge and patch a strip back in?

Mary
Moms'Nest

Mary, why do you say it has to go under the skin....mine isn't and except for a few who did it thataway for aesthetics most everybody places it on the outside...just remember to seal under it and seal the holes as well.........
madjack

madjack, thanks for reminding me to seal under the hinge. The sides of the hinge are offset. Look at Dean's drawing, the side that goes to trailer roof is lower than the side that goes on the galley roof. Because this is a retrofit, I can't have a galley roof thicker than the trailer roof. I could add a strip of trim on top of the galley side though. if it wouldn't interfere with rain run off. The bottom of the galley will have a strip of trim anyway beacuse it dosen't have any support. Iv'e been waiting for this stuff to come and the weather to get cooler so I can go out and work on it.

Mary
Mom's Nest

I like this hinge! Thanks for the good idea...

http://www.mcmaster.com/ item No. 1588A72
Harsh Environment Plastic Piano Hinge 1/8" Thickness, 1-1/2" Open Width
$2.93 per Ft.


Brick

Steve,
Now you did it...
I'm at a stand still again.

Please give me the "plastic is better" talk... I need to get past that hurdle.

I bought the plastic hinge from McMaster-Carr, too. It seems like it will be easy to make leakproof, even if the teardrop gets rained on with the hatch open. I don't have it installed yet.

Dean in Eureka, CA wrote:Steve,
Now you did it...
I'm at a stand still again.

Please give me the "plastic is better" talk... I need to get past that hurdle.

I really like that 2 inch plastic hinge.....So Far. It's holding up well. I think if ya got that aluminium thing going though, an aluminum hinge might be the way to go. Plastic just worked well with a Woodie. Here's the pictures again, just in case someone wants to know. 1st one is a side view sample of how I installed it. The second picture is the hinge installed.