Roof spars bend in the middle!!

[WarPony]

I was installing the inside roof panels today and after I got the skin on the front radius, it makes the center of the spar bow up where the edge of the panel meets it. How the hell do I get it to come down?! I've already glued the thing on!! I'm using a rounded simple front, with a 24" radius for the front curve and 16" centers for the spars. Oh, the spars are laid flat. Is that too far?

I don't want a pooch on the front curve... it'll look like me !!!!

[Geron]

I'm not real sure I understand but based on what I think I hear you say, One option would be to install another spar - edgewise - not flat - underneath the flat one that pooched out. Screw through the flat spar into the one edgewise to pull it down. I know you'd now have a "decorative beam" inside your tear. You could start a trend

I'm already thinking about it. Excellent place to insert screw eyes/hooks to hang thangs at night.

Geron

[ALAN GEDDES]

Is the entire cieling in already ? And do I understand that the outer skin is not on yet ?

[doug hodder]

Maybe you could give more information... I wouldn't flip out on the interior ceiling until you have installed the exterior skin. If you over lay the exterior with 1/4" it may take care of the interior. If the spars are bent, with them caving in on the interior, get creative on the clamps and use them to pull the sides out on the trailer to help pull the bow out of them. Whether it bends in or out you should be able to cure it with this method.Use a bottle jack and a 4x4 to spread, clamps to pull in, and support it while the exterior material cures. I may be missing some information but that's just a thought....doug hodder

[WarPony]

No, no, no........ I put the walls up, then connected them with the ribs and put the interior ceiling skin up. That's where the problem occured.

[Kevin A]

No, no, no........ I put the walls up, then connected them with the ribs and put the interior ceiling skin up. That's where the problem occured.

Do you have any photos of it?

[doug hodder]

Sorry I still stand by what I said. Even if you have the interior skin attached, pressure it up or compress it with clamps until you get what you want, then install the exterior skin. I use epoxy for my adhesieve, so it may be different than a yellow glue. At this point you don't have anything to lose. Just see how much movement you are going to get on the spars and what it is going to do on the interior skin. If it moves the way you want it, then glue it in that postion. you may need to over move the materials in case of a rebound situation. If all else fails, grind the exterior down with a belt sander.........Doug Hodder

[WarPony]

Do you have any photos of it?

I can't get the "teardrops.us" to accept my registry info.

[mikeschn]

You can upload it to your album here...

Click on "Album"->"Your personal gallery"->"Upload Pic"

Mike...

[ALAN GEDDES]

Had a similar problem on first tear. I clamped a piece of 3 in angle iron to it while someone helped get it straight. We even went just a wee bit overbend on it. Then another rib was fastened to it with glue and screws with the grain running in the opposite direction. An extra rib was added just a few inches back to also help take off some of the srain. That took care of most of it and when the outer skin was installed you could not tell there was ever a problem. Hope this helps.

[larryl]

Warpony:

Try to make a support jig out of plywood the radius of your inside ceiling. It has to be a piece tall enough to go from floor to ceiling. Hope this isn't too confusing. Once the support is in place, follow Alan Geddes directions.

Most of my build has been solo, daughter that got me into this project is usually no where to be found when I get to the difficult parts. I had to make this type of support to install my inside skin. Ceiling kept falling down before I made the support. I also spaced my spars 12" apart.

LL

[WarPony]

Larry, I know what you are talking about. I saw somebody here that had done what you suggested. He had the walls and supports up and had a rail that he nailed the roof panel to then put the spars on top of that. It worked real slick but was a little too advanced for me at the time. I'll try that on my next one. I went to HD this morning and got some more clamps and glued and clamped the problem panel and spar together.

Doug, you were right about the clamping part. It came down to where I can live with it. I also bought a 1/4" router bit for my Dremel tool and cut kerfs every inch for the panel that will butt up against the first one. I'm hoping that will help take the stress off of the spars. I should've done that with the first one but I GREATLY underestimated how hard it was going to bend 1/4" ply in a 24" radius!!

I'm really learning alot with this project. Now I need to figure out how to fix the wheel opening I goofed up this morning. It's really off !!

[ALAN GEDDES]

I never could get that measure twice, cut once thing straight.

[WarPony]

......cut once thing straight.

Come again?

[IraRat]

Hey, Pony. How thick is that inside ceiling skin?

Is it like 1/4, and it's so thick that it's pushing up on the spars so hard that the spar can't handle it?