Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Reading about the aluminum diamond plate Tony put on his teardrop, to protect the front from stones, got us thinking.

Our teardrop will have a plastic cargo door on the front. My idea was to attach some wooden 2 x 2 around the bottom and sides as a frame, with routed slots that would hold a sheet of quarter inch plywood to protect the door. Slide it up and out when in camp, and the cargo door can be opened (it will expose the air conditioner).

Shelly thought it would be nice if we could somehow attach aluminum diamond plate to the door, instead of the funky plywood. A non-starter, unfortunately, due to the need to cut it for the rounded door corners and also for the handle/latch combination that is not a neat rectangle.

Then I saw this rubber diamond plate, used for non-skid floors and steps, and such:

https://www.amazon.com/Thermodyn-Rubber ... =8-14&th=1

Wonder if anyone has tried it, or thought about trying it, to protect against stones? 1/8" of rubber would seem like it would provide a lot of protection, though it might wear fairly quickly. I believe I can figure out how to cut it to match the cargo door, and glue it on.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Tom

Thoughts?

Well... I think it would look great and be functional. As long as it can handle UV rays it should be fine.

I see it's also listed on Home Depot's site and maybe a bit cheaper.

Tony

tony.latham wrote:

Thoughts?

Well... I think it would look great and be functional. As long as it can handle UV rays it should be fine.

I see it's also listed on Home Depot's site and maybe a bit cheaper.

Tony

I just asked the question about UV on the Home Depot web page. We'll see if the manufacturer answers.

We have some wooden outdoor steps around our house that could use something like this, if it does well outdoors. Have to see how much we want to buy--it gets cheaper with larger orders.

Tom

I emailed Rubbercal (who make the rubber diamond plate sold by Home Depot) to ask their opinion of the UV resistance of their product, and also what to use for adhesive:

"Thank you for visiting our online catalog at http://www.rubbercal.com

Per your request,
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[My question] We are a small shop building a prototype teardrop camper. We were planning on installing an aluminum diamond plate to the front to protect the camper from small stones and other road debris, but are wondering if your rubber diamond plate would be a better alternative. Does your rubber include sunlight (UV) inhibiting material similar to tires? It appears you recommend Chemrex 941 polyurethane adhesive. Do you know how well that adheres to an epoxy surface? Thank you for your time.
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The rubber is definitely going to be a better option for protecting your camper from road debris because it is a cost-effective solution that also would be quieter than the aluminum diamond plate. I would imagine that the rocks and other debris hitting the aluminum would be quite loud. Rubber is a more forgiving type of material and I don’t think it would issue that much noise when it contact.

Our Diamond-Plate Rubber material is great for use in the outdoors. The only potential issue you would see over time is fading on the color, but the material will not be damaged by UV or ozone. I would recommend this rubber version over the PVC Diamond-Plate Metallic. The PVC version tends to not do as well when exposed to sunlight compared to the rubber.

In terms of glue, we normally recommend using the Chemrex 941 polyurethane glue when bonding the materials onto wood or concrete surfaces. Epoxy is different as it poses complications. Customers have in the past experienced difficulty getting the glue to bond properly onto epoxy surfaces. I hesitate to recommend our glue in this situation. You may be able to find a suitable glue through an adhesives company such as 3M or BASF.

Your samples will be going out in this week’s mailing cycle. In the interim, if you have any other questions or would like to place an order, please do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail or call us during standard business hours (7a.m. until 5 p.m. PST) by telephone toll free 1-800-370-9152 (US customers only) or 1-714-545-3600.

Sincerely,

Sean"

A quick and helpful response!

Shelly is really getting into this idea--she is hoping we can wrap the rubber diamond plate around the 3/8 inch radius corner between the front and the sides (we'll check with the sample to see if it bends that well; we'll warm it slightly first), and run rubber along the lower part of the sides, for additional protection, and a nice two tone appearance. (Doors and frame are black, we plan to use "desert sand" color Monsteliner--a close match to our Taco.)

Our idea right now is to prime and Monstaline most of the teardrop, but leave the epoxy unprimed where we will glue the diamond plate. We will have to find a suitable adhesive that bonds both rubber and epoxy. Be nice if we can buy cost effective portions of the adhesive also--that Chemrex 941 only comes in 2 gallon and 5 gallon containers!

Incidentally, the rubber diamond plate is 0.9 lbs/square foot. I weighed some regular 1/8" aluminum (not diamond plate) and found it is 1.7 lbs/square foot. If we use 4' x 6' for the front and 1' by 10' for each side, we save 35 lbs. Costs are similar, but the adhesive will add quite a bit to that. Also, larger roles of rubber bring down the price per square foot.

Tom

suggestion: coat/finish a 'say' 2ftx2ft piece of what you are building the trailer wall with - use everything just as you are planning to use, than apply/adhere a sample piece of rubber diamond plate to it and "test" it in the sun/heat/rain etc. (soak it in water, etc.) just a suggestion.......thus "testing it" - could the "Rhino" liner paint on coating used in PU beds be a possibility - just another thought......................

If I understand correctly, would you be attaching the rubber ultimately to a wooden framed surface? Rather than adhesive, could you use screws or bolts and might the rubber material act as a seal around said fastener to keep out water?

gudmund wrote:suggestion: coat/finish a 'say' 2ftx2ft piece of what you are building the trailer wall with - use everything just as you are planning to use, than apply/adhere a sample piece of rubber diamond plate to it and "test" it in the sun/heat/rain etc. (soak it in water, etc.) just a suggestion.......thus "testing it" - could the "Rhino" liner paint on coating used in PU beds be a possibility - just another thought......................

Good ideas; thank you. We will definitely be testing on scrap first.

Tom

rjgimp wrote:If I understand correctly, would you be attaching the rubber ultimately to a wooden framed surface? Rather than adhesive, could you use screws or bolts and might the rubber material act as a seal around said fastener to keep out water?

Hi Rob,

This is what the front of the teardrop looks like right now. That is 1/8 inch Baltic birch covered by fiberglass and epoxy.



There is also a hollow space in the front wall, where I have to route out the birch for a front cargo door.



So our idea is to glue the rubber to the (plastic) door, and also glue it to the epoxied front. We'll likely use screws as well, but since the rubber is stretchy we want to glue it so we don't have gaps between the rubber and epoxied surface. We could, I suppose just glue around the edges--saving glue, but we still need to figure out what type is best for this.

Tom

3M has some wonderful products and are very helpful. If you go here:

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/ ... 7497&rt=r3

and scroll a bit to just before they start showing pictures of their products, you will see where you can download a pdf that will tell you probably more than you ever need to know...very thorough.

Back when I was building Rose, this stuff was used on several tears. I considered it too. You might look back in some of the archive threads to see if there’s anything like what you’re considering.

S. Heisley wrote::thinking: 3M has some wonderful products and are very helpful. If you go here:

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/ ... 7497&rt=r3

and scroll a bit to just before they start showing pictures of their products, you will see where you can download a pdf that will tell you probably more than you ever need to know...very thorough.

Thank you Sharon! As a retired engineer, I love reading this stuff. I skimmed through it last night, and now I'm more confused than ever!

I'll need to read it thoroughly and then will probably email 3M. Similar with BASF.

The 3M tapes look interesting. I once repainted a Chevy Corsica (with Rustoleum hammer finish) and had to take off the plastic "Corsica" labels. They were held on by that sort of tape, so if 3M has something that will hold rubber, it might be an option. (I used a long thin knife and slipped it between the label and car to cut the tape, then used some sort of paint thinner to clean off the residue.)

Tom

Sparksalot wrote:Back when I was building Rose, this stuff was used on several tears. I considered it too. You might look back in some of the archive threads to see if there’s anything like what you’re considering.

I will do that. Thank you!

Tom

when I was making my " high aluminum diamond plate pieces (rock guards) after cutting them out I media blasted them with glass beads & coated them with 2 stage catalyzed truck bedliner. I wanted to avoid drilling holes to attach these pieces 3 per side. I talked with the manager @ auto body paint supply shop about the best way attaching these pieces w\o drilling holes & using screws or fasteners. He suggested using 2 side automotive molding tape (3M1/2 x 15' Molding Tape), with the 2 sided tape automotive molding primer (3M Tape Primer 94 1/2 Pint).
These aluminum diamond pieces are ahered tight & not coming off any time soon. Personal I would use aluminum diamond plate prepped good with a good quality 2 stage catalyzed truck bedliner sprayed over it. The bedliner has shown any signs of chipping or coming loose. My wife & I do a lot of offroad dispered camping & run many trails & dirt roads.

My thought; thickness and weight per ft?

I guess I am following the black on white crowd instead of Orange

I guess I am following the black on white crowd instead of Orange

WHAT?!?



Orange is the new silver.

Tony