Doors. Build or Buy?

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Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby RescuedBy4Paws » Wed Feb 01, 2017 5:33 pm

Hey everyone,
Is it better to buy a door or build your own? I'm concerned if I build it myself it will leak. But the ones online are expensive especially if you want two of them. Thoughts?


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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby IndyTom » Wed Feb 01, 2017 6:12 pm

I am building a bit bigger than a standard teardrop, but I am building my own door. Guess I will have to figure out the not leaking thing as I go along.
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My build thread:http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36226

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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby HotRod1 » Wed Feb 01, 2017 6:14 pm

Can't help ya as I'm in the middle of planning my build. I like the look of made doors. With a template they would be mirror images of each other. And then they don't look like an afterthought. No offense to anyone who bought theirs it's IMHO.
I'm building mine and have mocked up the doors with VW roll up windows just to be different. And the door follows the VW door outline.


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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby azgreg » Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:05 pm

Tom (aggie79) has some great info on building doors on his Silver Beetle build starting here: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=26988&start=270
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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby HotRod1 » Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:06 pm

If you create a jam for the door to close against, you shouldn't have a problem. There are shops that sell the moulding used on the original trailers. The semi truck industry uses the same technique and the jams can be found at junk yards.


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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby working on it » Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:39 am

IndyTom wrote:.... Guess I will have to figure out the not leaking thing as I go along.
Given the right circumstances, any door can leak. I sealed my home-built doors with automotive doorseals ('67-72 Chevy pickup seals), held in tight compression; one seal leaked after sitting directly under the spot my canopy chose to constantly drip (pour?) water during a 3-day monsoon. I was away from my trailer for 12 hours, or I would've noticed it. Returning just at dark, I opened the door on the other side (totally high and dry), to find two inches of standing water in the trailer. Fortunately, my sealed floor, and rubber/carpet flooring were not damaged, as I tilted my trailer, and directed most of the water out my main door. My two foam mattresses were both dry, wrapped in plastic covers, and only the rubber/carpet flooring was wet. I sealed the leaking door with duct tape (the good HVAC foil stuff), until I could fix the leak at home. It seems I had a 1/4" gap where the seal met the floor threshold. Water will find a way in!
  1. 86952 marking,cutting two doors at once
  2. 86953 door profile
  3. 86962 automotive seal pressed onto inside jamb
  4. 86964 seal glued, stapled to inside door jamb (1/4" oak)
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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby SwiftRiver » Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:48 pm

This is from one of my other posts and I was wondering if yall wanted to weigh in. Might be an affordable way to not make your own.
So as you all know, premade doors for teardrops are ungodly expensive. I was looking on ebay for them and this came across my radar.

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It is a cargo door for a larger RV. Its dimensions are 28x40 and it is 2 inches thick. I was thinking that I could replace the handle with an RV latch and install it as my main door. Over all it would save more than $150. I know it doesn't have a window, but maybe we can put a peep hole in.
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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby Graniterich » Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:51 pm

Can you open from the inside?
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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby SwiftRiver » Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:59 pm

The idea was to replace the latch with a rv latch.
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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby RescuedBy4Paws » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:17 am

Awesome! Thanks for all the advice!


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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby tony.latham » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:11 am

SwiftRiver wrote:This is from one of my other posts and I was wondering if yall wanted to weigh in. Might be an affordable way to not make your own.
So as you all know, premade doors for teardrops are ungodly expensive. I was looking on ebay for them and this came across my radar.

Image

It is a cargo door for a larger RV. Its dimensions are 28x40 and it is 2 inches thick. I was thinking that I could replace the handle with an RV latch and install it as my main door. Over all it would save more than $150. I know it doesn't have a window, but maybe we can put a peep hole in.


I've been teardropping for four years and one issue necessary is good ventilation. Make sure you have large screened windows on both sides (and a fan).

Building a teardrop is a big project. I've used the commercial doors on all three of my builds and find it remarkable how much labor they save. And they are a pretty decent product that I haven't had problems with.

I'd suggest you look at the hardware costs before you make the decision. Hinges, latches, screened windows, and seals. :thinking:

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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby Graniterich » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:32 am

I have built many both ways, hardware costs about $150 per door vs 300+ , but saves at least twenty hours of work. If a took both kinds through a car wash, my gut says commercial ones might fare better.
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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby Esteban » Sun Mar 18, 2018 4:55 pm

Rough estimates for material costs to build a single teardrop door:

1. Window & trim ring: $90 to $150 teardroptrailerparts.com
2. Door handle & lock: $25 to $32 teardroptrailerparts.com/door-handles or etrailer.com/Trailer+Door+Locks
3. Hinges: $23 (2 hinges) Polar Flush Hinge - Stainless Steel from etrailer.com
4. Door seals: $8 to $10 teardroptrailerparts.com/door---hatch-seals
5. 3/4" Plywood: $10 to $15 (part of a 4' x 8' sheet)
6. Alumunum Skin: not estimated
7. Aluminum trim: est. $50 teardroptrailerparts.com/---aluminum-trim
8. Misc.: (screws, sealants, varnish, misc. supplies, shipping costs, sales taxes) $15 to $50
9. Total estimated cost to build one door: $221 to $330 (plus unknown cost of aluminum skin)

The estimates do not include the value of your time or the cost of tools that may be needed to build a door.

Edited to add: I forgot the cost of rigid foam insulation est. $2, inside 1/8" plywood skin est. $5 to $10, and outside 1/8" or 1/4" plywood skin est. $5 to $10. These would add about $12 to $22 to the above estimates. The lower cost door would now be $221 + $12 = $233. The higher cost door would be $330 + $22 = $352. An aluminum (or fiberglass) skin would increase the cost of both of them.
Last edited by Esteban on Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby KTM_Guy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 5:46 pm

Esteban wrote:Rough estimates for material costs to build a single teardrop door:

1. Window & trim ring: $90 to $150 teardroptrailerparts.com
2. Door handle & lock: $25 to $32 teardroptrailerparts.com/door-handles or etrailer.com/Trailer+Door+Locks
3. Hinges: $23 (2 hinges) Polar Flush Hinge - Stainless Steel from etrailer.com
4. Door seals: $8 to $10 teardroptrailerparts.com/door---hatch-seals
5. 3/4" Plywood: $10 to $15 (part of a 4' x 8' sheet)
6. Alumunum Skin: not estimated
7. Aluminum trim: est. $50 teardroptrailerparts.com/---aluminum-trim
8. Misc.: (screws, sealants, varnish, misc. supplies, shipping costs, sales taxes) $15 to $50
9. Total estimated cost to build one door: $221 to $330 (plus unknown cost of aluminum skin)

The estimates do not include the value of your time or the cost of tools that may be needed to build a door.


I came up with similar numbers. I tried to justify building doors but just can't. Add to that I get a few hours a night 2-3 nights a week and one day on the weekends to work on the tear it would take a month just to build two doors.

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Re: Doors. Build or Buy?

Postby Esteban » Sun Mar 18, 2018 6:43 pm

KTM_Guy wrote:
Esteban wrote:Rough estimates for material costs to build a single teardrop door:

1. Window & trim ring: $90 to $150 teardroptrailerparts.com
2. Door handle & lock: $25 to $32 teardroptrailerparts.com/door-handles or etrailer.com/Trailer+Door+Locks
3. Hinges: $23 (2 hinges) Polar Flush Hinge - Stainless Steel from etrailer.com
4. Door seals: $8 to $10 teardroptrailerparts.com/door---hatch-seals
5. 3/4" Plywood: $10 to $15 (part of a 4' x 8' sheet)
6. Alumunum Skin: not estimated
7. Aluminum trim: est. $50 teardroptrailerparts.com/---aluminum-trim
8. Misc.: (screws, sealants, varnish, misc. supplies, shipping costs, sales taxes) $15 to $50
9. Total estimated cost to build one door: $221 to $330 (plus unknown cost of aluminum skin)

The estimates do not include the value of your time or the cost of tools that may be needed to build a door.


I came up with similar numbers. I tried to justify building doors but just can't. Add to that I get a few hours a night 2-3 nights a week and one day on the weekends to work on the tear it would take a month just to build two doors.

Todd


I spent several months, and many hundreds of dollars for parts and supplies, to build two doors. My doors didn't fit very well because I built them from (unknown to me at the time - "green") lumber that warped as it dried out. The warping worsened in one direction because I fiberglassed the outside skin which increased its rigidity (it could not shrink). As the wood framework dried out the less rigid/weaker inside of the door warped/cupped too much to be usable.

I'm 6'4" tall. I built my doors wider and taller than 26W x 36H which is the larger readily available size for manufactured teardrop doors.

I'm getting two estimates from Challenger Door for 26W x 36H and for 32W x 38H custom built 805 series doors.

I'll probably sell the windows, locks, hinges, seals, etc. I already bought to offset much/most of the cost of buying two manufactured doors.
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