Superlegerra -ish 5x9 foamy - First Trip!

[Shar]

Yes!! Rolling along!

[GoTurtleGo]

The door and the hatch look great, Laura. I know you have expressed apprehension about working on them and I'm sure that you are glad and relieved to be tackling them. Good work!

[The Teardrop Nanny]

There, now don't you feel better now that THAT is done??
And, it FINALLY rained here today!!
Joanie

[lthomas987]

Well..hrm..
So I'm at a variety of stuck spots on this trailer.

The lights aren't working. (likely a ground problem next up individually grounding each light)
The hatch doesn't quite seal at the bottom need to find the right rubber seal for it. (this is easy it just needs doing)
The door is in a terrible state. It fits fine with no hinges. The moment I put it on hinges and try and hang it, it jams shut tight.

I am considering buying a door.

[pchast]

Hi.. On Doors:

First: Do you have enough gap evenly around the door?

Then... How are you hanging the door hinges?

Do you try to install then then hang the door? Are they
overlay type hinges or are you installing them inside the
door opening on the edges? Are you lining your hinges up
with a straight edge against the hinge knuckles? Are
they perpendicular to the door edge? Is there enough
even space around the door after the install for the
arc of the door swing?

Lots can go wrong. But, there is usually a little bit of wiggle
room(leeway) in the install...

Please give us some idea of your procedure that we can provide
a constructive comment.

[Shar]

Hang in there, I do recall from my trailer build that the door and the lights were the two finicky & crazy-making areas. Did you post pics of your door so we can visualize the problem?

[lthomas987]

So I bought a door. It went in quite nicely. Other than that it has a different radius for the corners than the one I built, but in a compatible way so that's all right. When it finishes warming up a bit here I'm going to have to do a bit of filling on the inside and some trim to cover where things didn't fit perfect, but other than that it's great.

I am having problems with my running lights though. My car works fine with other trailers. So I'm pretty certain it's not the car. Nothing works lights wise on the trailer. so my money is on a ground issue but I'll be dipped if I can figure it out yet. Maybe once again in spring. But after that I'm done. As it stands it's campable but not legally tow movable ( due to lack of lights).

SOOOON!

[GPW]

LT. if you have a cheap multimeter (sometimes Free at HarborFreight, with coupon) , you could trace out all the wiring to see where the problem is ... Having experienced many bad grounds on boat trailers over the years ( exposed to salt water here) , we routinely run a dedicated Ground wire all around , AND to the trailer.... that has eliminated many problems ... Just sayin’ ... And we solder all joins and heat shrink and tape the connections ... a bit obsessive , but pretty much eliminates future electrical problems ..
Good Luck !!!

Ps. Yes doors are Tough ... but the second one always goes easier ... just cause’ you know what to allow for ... Carpenters have a trick ... Plumb the Hinge line and adjust the frame to fit the door ... True !!! That allows a little leeway for the structural framing , and flooring not being EXACTLY Perfect ... That’s why doors come with frames , ALREADY hinged !!!

[KCStudly]

Especially on a folding or tilt trailer, dedicated grounds, or at least a dedicated jumper ground across each articulated joint, should be used. The pivot points are reliable electrical conductors.

Nice to see you post again!

[The Teardrop Nanny]

Got a door.....figuring out the lighting next. Keep up the good work! Joanie the Teardrop Nanny

[lthomas987]

It's warming up here, at least in fits and starts, over 60F couple days last week. Below freezing again this morning. But on one of the warmer days I got out in the garage and I finished getting my trailer lights going. Turns out all of my problems were ground related. Which surprises no-one who's ever done trailer lights. They weren't working. Even individually grounding the lights wasn't good enough. I had to go in and use a grinder to take the paint off the frame all the way down to bare metal around the primary ground connector, then I got dim lights. So I went and re-did all the grounds all the way round in the same fashion. Then I had bright lights. Then I hitched the trailer to the car, and the little tilt bed pivots (which are pinned but still wiggle a little, moved and the lights were dim again. Sit on the back bumper, they were bright. Well I REALLY wanted to take it for a drive but I'm not an idiot. Somewhere in the garage is a roll of stranded copper wire and terminals right! I can find it! I can terminate them and put a jumper between the tongue and the frame! Nope. But I did find the romex I had been using the ground wire out of to make the foam cutters early in the project. So.. I made one out of that. Which won't take flexing for long. But we did get to go on a 15 mile test run. Towed like a dream.

This was the first trip out since I took the extra leaf off the springs. It made a HUGE difference. Even mostly empty (the mattress in it's box is the only thing in the camper right now) the trailer didn't bounce or rattle. Not even over some substantial bumps. I'm glad I made the change.

I'll be getting another can of Krylon hammered black next time I got to the store and touching up the spots over top of the ground screws.

My to do list is

• Finish sealing around the door (Great Stuff)
• Finish sealing around small window (Great Stuff)
• Hatch Props
• final sand and paint inside over glue/seal of window
• make plugs for headboard holes
• last 3 screws for super simple electrical system I need 3-inch 6-32 screws. They're on order.

[S. Heisley]

You'll be camping in it this spring!

[ScottE]

You're going to love camping in it!

[lthomas987]

Hatch done but for a bottom seal, but I have an idea I just need to go shopping and see if I can make it work.

I need to find a kid to try and hose it down and get me wet inside to check for leaks.
I need to get some sort of curtains in.

But I did take a nice nap on my new mattress in the camper in the garage last night. I sat down for a few minutes to think, then the dog joined me in the camper and the next thing I knew it was bed time and I had to move back indoors.

Hoping tonight to advance curtains a bit if trap league is canceled due to lightning.

[The Teardrop Nanny]

Isn't it great to sleep in it? If you want quick curtains you can use two fancy hand towels; quick and easy and they absorb extra moisture inside.
Joanie