Should I make or buy doors

[working on it]

If you just want to use a single sheet of plywood for the doors forget about making them and go buy the pre made ones. The single sheet will likely warp over time.

As a simplistic, but practical, way of matching door shape to unorthodox profile, I cut mine out of a sheet of plywood. My regret about this action was doing 2 sides at a time,1.5" thick, with a spiral saw (my bad luck with jigsaws is well-documented). The cutout left a rough edge, which I smoothed and enlarged to allow for the automotive seal. Another regret: I laid one door down flat, but the other was left leaning against a wall for three months, before I sealed them. There was slight warpage on the standing door. None since sealing and installing them.

...the door styles for a pre-made one may not fit with the overall appearance of your build.... Build in some allowance for a D seal, don't make it an afterthought. Think it all through, like Grant said, it's not all that tough. I've done 8 solid doors with no warping afterwards so it can be done.

Like Doug said, and Grant too. It can be done. Mine are not like most others'...they match the profile, are solid, have no windows, have excessively strong (and stable) hinges for their weight, and use two door locks to spread the load. They are sealed from the weather by two coats of poly inside, three out, and have two coats of acrylic enamel on each side as well. If they warp, it's not because I overlooked something. I'll use metal next time!

[halfdome, Danny]

One thing negative about making your own doors out of wood is the wood will expand and contract with moisture changes, even if their clad with an aluminum exterior.

Personally I prefer the vintage look over the manufactured look so I've been working on the problems.
The piano hinge side is held in place the full length but the rest of the door is dependent on one attachment point, the door handle.
Since the door is wood, when you make your door handle tight enough to make a good seal it will make the rest of the door splay out, compromising the seal at one point or another.
Water is so thin & it's always a battle to keep it out under highway pressures.
I've been putting "J" drip molding in front of the piano hinge like Doug had mentioned.

I've been working on this problem for awhile now, and so far, I like the solution I've come up with.
I drove on I-5 in very heavy rain from Olympia to Tacoma and no water in the cabin.



I've placed a nice looking weather resistant chromed thumb latch at the bottom corner and near the top of the door to correct the splay out problem.

You have to physically push the door in near the thumb latches to get them to latch.

I installed 1/8" aluminum strikers and a curb to attach another seal at the bottom by the mattress.
I put another striker plate near the top of the door.

Also a full length piece of 1/8" x 1 1/2" aluminum over the inside part of the "Grant piano hinge".
This gave me a place to apply a 5/16" seal to face the back side of the hinge where it closes together.

I used the same screw holes and it's hardly noticeable from before.

One problem is the 1/8" aluminum is noticeable on your legs when getting in and out of the cabin.
I put car door protection trim from Walmart along the edge but would rather have something better like what Len uses on his hatches.

Don't know what it's called or where to get it.
Danny

[bdosborn]

One of my goals during the Boxcar build was to minimize the number of custom, hand built parts I need for the build.It just takes so long to make all those things. But I refused to put cheaply made or inferior quality parts on the trailer. That being said, I built the man doors and bought the cargo doors. I just couldn't find a man door that was the right size I needed. Of all the things I built, the doors weren't that hard to do. The only tricky thing for me was to make sure the door framing matched the door opening, which wasn't (and never is for me) square. Another thing to consider is the interior look. You aren't going to be able to buy a grain matched door like you can build.









To combat the problem Danny describes, I tried to put the door latch in the exact center of the door rail. The doors didn't lay flush on the teardrop that had the latch off center but I don't have that problem on the Boxcar.

Bruce

[working on it]

You guys are craftsmen, and quality driven; I'm a shadetree mechanic looking to make my own innovations, just to see what'll work and not, function not form. In defense of my solid one-piece doors: If you spread the loads caused by the act of closing/sealing the doors, and waterproof them, then future problems should be nil. Though my cut-out doors are of non-standard shape, I endeavored to spread the loads/forces involved for a tight, even seal all around. I spent some time figuring the most well-distributed loading points before I added the hinges. I did the same figuring the optimal placement for the dual-locks.

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I used three heavy duty gate hinges with nylon bushings, and bolted them on. There will be no sag, considering the light weight of the doors. The slide-locks were chosen for security and to further spread the load. Sealed high and low, the doors are held firmly against the routed interior framework and automotive door-seal.

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I keep them tightly shut at all times; can't warp if they're held flat! Another consideration for the door seal, was that I didn't want to have a raised ledge under the door to crawl over, or to compromise sitting there. I made the doors to sit flush on the floor surface. To seal them from water incursion (or air drafts), I sanded off just enough material on the door bottom to slide over a door threshold (friction-fit); then I added a door sweep on the outside, to block and direct away water and wind entry.

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(Note: the incomplete doorseal in this photo is a scrap used for adjustment/fitting). Lastly, I made my own rain deflectors to block wind-or-highway speed-driven water. The squared angles should also deter surface tension of the water causing "wicking" into the door seals. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I tried things that others may not...I'll report long-term results, good or bad!

[KCStudly]

I put car door protection trim from Walmart along the edge but would rather have something better like what Len uses on his hatches.

Don't know what it's called or where to get it.

Try Trim Lok, which is also available at McMaster-Carr.

[halfdome, Danny]

I put car door protection trim from Walmart along the edge but would rather have something better like what Len uses on his hatches.

Don't know what it's called or where to get it.

Try Trim Lok, which is also available at McMaster-Carr.

Thank You
Danny

[Esteban]

There is a good door making and installatoin Vimeo video by Andrew Bennet of Trekker Trailers. It's about 15 minutes long and of full of good tips and techniques. His doors are solid plywood with an aluminum outer skin. He uses aluminum trim and a piano hinge with part of bicycle inner tube under it for water protection.


Hope this helps a few folks make better doors and installations.

[working on it]

:thumbsup: There is a good door making and installatoin Vimeo video by Andrew Bennet of Trekker Trailers. It's about 15 minutes long and of full of good tips and techniques. His doors are solid plywood with an aluminum outer skin. He uses aluminum trim and a piano hinge with part of bicycle inner tube under it for water protection.


Hope this helps a few folks make better doors and installations.

I like the edge trim on the doors, but I didn't see how he seals it. No offset? 3/4" walls and doors...sounds good to me. HaHa. Don't overlook his cool new-old post WWII trailer video . Lots of good stuff to try.

[Esteban]

[quote= HaHa. Don't overlook his cool new-old post WWII trailer video . Lots of good stuff to try.

His World War pop top teardrop made me laugh. I'm tall and want a solar panel so I'm intrigued. Not sure how weather proof the pop up is. It's a very creative trailer in old garb. Thanks for posting it.

On the door making video he sealed the edges of the plywood with some kind of a sealer. Then used some kind of a clear caulking material (not silicone) under the aluminum trim. Would need to watch again to catch the brand and product number.

[working on it]

I caught that. I meant how does he seal the perimeter of the door when it closes? I see no offset or edge for a D-seal to attach to, nor a lip for a wrap-around automotive door seal to attach to.

[Roo Dog]

WOI,

Self made for us. We started this build with little knowledge of what was available.
Doors are a lamination of ply, ally sheet and steel sheet.
In hindsight we possibly would have done things differently.

RD

[working on it]

Roo Dog- I see how you sealed your doors (I enlarged the pictures; looks like a surface seal on the trailer side?), but I was referring to the Trekker video.

[Roo Dog]

WOI,
Flat seal on the door, contacts the body surface and a P seal on the body which sits between the door and the body.
Door hinges are plastic garden gate variety spaced out from the body so the door seal contacts the body flat with no seal slide across the body face.
The two vertical sections of 1 inch box are very slightly bowed, apex of the bow at the central lock, which tensions the door when closed giving a very good seal. The 1 inch box looks bigger in the picture due to shadow.
We plan to remake the doors, same method but do a better job.
No leaks so far, two years old and had some heavy rain.
RD

[Esteban]

I caught that. I meant how does he seal the perimeter of the door when it closes? I see no offset or edge for a D-seal to attach to, nor a lip for a wrap-around automotive door seal to attach to.

Perhaps a D seal or a wrap-around seal could be attached to the inner Z molding flange behind the door? Might require a Z molding of the right size.

My notes on the Trekker Trailer Teardrop door video: He uses DegaSeal 2000 sealer adhesive under the aluminum extrusions. Looks like a nice product.
The extrusions used on the door look like T molding. One Looked to me like the T was tilted. The other didn't look tilted. Wonder why? Illusion?
On the trailer walls he use Z shaped aluminum extrusions with the flange on the inside so the door closes against the flange.
You're right I did not see any weather stripping between the door and the Z molding. Nor between the door T molding and the campers side wall.
I could not tell if there was an offset between the door and the Z molding...there could be one.
The T molding would hold the outside of the door flush with the outside walls (I think).
The hinge side has the inner tube for a gasket...though water from above could be a problem...so another gasket would be good IMHO.
The top looks like it could use a gasket.
The door handle side looks like it could use a gasket.
The bottom Z molding would cause rain water to spill outside. Wind driven water probably could be stopped with a gasket.

That's my long-winded explanation of what I saw and my concerns. All in all I'm favorably impressed. Adding a sealing gasket looks to be easy enough. Particularly with the right sized Z molding.

Grant Whipp has written he has (rubber) molding/gaskets that will squish down almost completely.

He did give his phone number at the end of the video and said he's open to calls. I did not catch the area code and would not want to post his number here without his permission.

DegaSeal 2000 is a BASF product DegaSeal 2000

Hybrid sealant technology, polyurethane, elastomeric and silicone product. This is a multi-purpose, elastomeric adhesive sealant which provides excellent performance on a wide variety of substrates and applications.

[coyote]

I refrained from answering until I had info. I made mine. Hard head/habit led me there. It was not easy, for me, as stated money/time/ looks desired. It took me about a month. Skill level makes a difference. (I have caveman skill & tools). The more experienced have spoken well, the only thing I might try different ? My uncle, a retired sheet metal worker, said on his job they cut the hole to fit the door, after the door had been built. Dave