Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Simple . remove the springs and help the wife ... I understand not being able to get it up by yourself ...

Charlie, I think you could still reduce the stress on the hinge by optimizing your existing struts position in a way to reduce vertical force to the hinge so that when the spring with hatch is in lowered state, it is pushing more away from hinge, not just right up, similar to what was nicely shown and explained how to install gas springs by Noseoil in this post - http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=60248&start=60#p1100424
I wish you success in your efforts. I hope this helps.

OP,
Will try your technique when I return from a trip in a few weeks. Worst case is a I rebuild the hatch with different wall/ceiling attachment method. Joint was just too weak for the upward pressure.
in the meanwhilst, I started work on the interior:

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It sure Looks Good .... Lots of room inside !!!

The interior is shaping up really good Charlie. How is the swing out galley coming along..
gary

Much to my surprise, the swing-out galley works slick. I installed a folding leg that I robbed from an old metal card table frame on the right side to stabilize it in the outside position. Inside with the extra two drawers and outside without them came out at exactly 35". Will add the water supply and faucet when I get back to work in 10 days after our trip.

Back to Beula. I reattached the hatch walls to the hatch roof with a bracket - not pretty but much stronger. I'm now looking at Gary's post that describes the spring installation. Looks like the basic idea is to move the attachment point on the trailer toward the hinge and the attachment point for the hatch away from the hinge (???). Unfortunately, I added a 3/4" plywood hard point to attach the strut to the trailer base and will have to add another if I move it forward. I know nothing about the forces involved but I'm thinking I may need to use stronger springs if the attachment point is moved forward. I have a set of 80# springs if needed. I haven't drawn it out as described by Noseoil but I'm guessing I can move the attachment point about 12" forward on the trailer base and 12" the rear on hatch (???) which should lessen the pressure on the hinge somewhat. Seems simpler to just identify the attachment points with the hatch raised using the 36" extended length.
When I get this done I can add the floor and cut the memory foam mattress to size. Galley, lights, and dinette all seem to work well. Left door and A/C shelf need some adjusting. Still needto install water supply and will post pics.

I found this post that describes how to install gas struts and determine required struts force. Hope it helps in your research for better struts design.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/bolt-together-fiberglass-jeep-tub-trailer-kit-1274811/index237.html#post21833305

OP,
With dumb luck I pretty much did what was described in the jeep forum post. Too much stress on the upper corner f my hard point on the inside of trailer base so will need to reinforce with olts through the exterior with a large plastic washer. Lifts OK and hinge not moving.

Charlie, I would make sure or make/glue-in the new wood reinforcements that are big enough wood pieces embedded in or glued onto the foam under the struts attachment points. It is to ensure that the foam is not yelding under the stress. XPS foam has some of a "creeping" property, which means that if it is under stress it may continue to deform. XPS foam "Foamular 250", for example means it will deform 10% of thickness under 25 pounds per square inch pressure. I would guess that the stress on foam should be at least 10-20 times less than this 25psi value, for example 1-2psi. You can (very roughly) estimate the actual pressure on foam by dividing the strut force by the space area of your embedment piece that is resisting and distributing over the area the struts force into the foam in the force direction. If you could post a picture of your reinforcement, we could discuss it further and may be I could help.

OP,
I added a 1 1/2" X 3" plastic washer on the outside of the trailer and bolted through the hard point and the strut bracket. The foam definitely compresses slightly on the ouside but seems to be firm with the washer in place. I'll take pics and post later. Th