Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Folks,

Thinking ahead I am considering attaching a sheet of diamond plate to the lower part of the front of the trailer--a long way off yet!

I have two questions.

How is it attached? Would a bulkhead instead of spars be useful for purposes of attaching it?

Second, anything that would work as well?

Thanks,

Jim

I would think you would attach it as if it were any other sheet of skin. Lots of commercial cargo trailers use DP to keep down on road wear on the fronts.

Gerdo,

I'm not sure what 'attach like any other sheet of skin' means...never have done sheet metal--only ceramic tile, formica, wood flooring. Is there a special adhesive for sheet metal attachment to wood?

Thanks,
Jim

Jim,
I put 8" diamond plate on the front and back. I planned spars to do this. Then I trimmed it with aluminum countertop trim I found at the hardware store, It was made by Maclanburg-Duncan.

kayakrguy,

You should see the material that WarPony has used on the front and top of his tear. It is harden rubber (truck bedliner material) that is silver and has a diamond pattern like the metal sheets. It looks good and he says that it will take a rock too.

Todah

Todah, Steve,

Thank you! I will look at War Pony's build detail...is the hardened rubber cheaper than diamond plate? Hereabouts diamondplate stuff is ummmm....ahhhh...Pricey! My budget has pretty much gone in the tank but I am still trying to keep costs down <g> 'Down' being relative <g>

Steve, did you use adhesive, screws/ both to get the stuff to STICK?
That is one sweet build!

Thanks again,

Jim

AH HAH!!!!! My ears were burning so I had to find out why . The roofing material TodahTear is referring to is tonneau cover material used for making pickup truck bed covers. It is VERY tough and easy to work with. As far as expense goes, it's not cheap........ it was $25 a running yard but was on a 66" wide roll.

I found a place that sell DP .045 thickness for 80 bucks for a 4 x 8 sheet.
http://www.diamondlifegear.com/diamondpiece.htm

I attached mine with self-tapping screws, but I was able to attach the diamond plate to the steel 1 by 1-inch square tubing that makes up my teardrop skeleton.

Here it is:

Jim....a couple of questions...how curved is the front of your project going to be, and how much of it do you want to cover in tread plate....it is available in a variety of thicknesses (sp?) and alloys...just how much you want to cover and how much of a curve may determine how you attach it....from the looks in your album...you could get by with something pretty heavy if you aren't going to bend it....I'd do some exterior carpet type cement, mostly as a sealant, and put in some countersunk screws all around the piece...just make sure you put a stringer in along the front where the top of the material is going to end....Doug

my yoder toter came with it there then i added the the box to mine

Jim,
Here's what I used. It came pre drilled about every 8" It seams where the alum top ended and the diamond plate starts. I also used it for the bottom. I laid a bead of caulk down and then screwed it in the spar.
http://www.mdteam.com/products.php?category=347

I got the diamond plate here. http://www.cutsmetal.com/

Pony, Steve, Eric, Doug and 3B,

Thanks for those pics and the information. That really cleared things up for me.

As for my build, the front wall is strictly vertical until the roof begins to curve about 2.5 feet or so from the floor. So, practically speaking, I could put a 2-3 foot piece of whatever I choose pretty easily (knock, knock, but must plan the spacing NOW before I forget where the spars are...

A practical question...I'm driving a Nissan Altima 15" wheels--just how far up thd front of the T is debris likely to fly? (that's from MY car, not passing trucks etc...

Jim

Sorry about that last note...was talking on the phone while typing....big mistake--multitasking not my thing <g>

I only wanted to say that whatever I choose should be fairly easy to put on my configuration...<g>

Jim

You see how high the aluminum is on my trailer? That is as high as I found rock chips in the white paint. I was always surprised to see how some people put windows in the front of their teardrops. Given my truck's wheel size, length of tongue, and the kinds of roads I must drive down to get to secluded camping sites, I would be replacing the window often if I had one.