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Is it because the cut rod length is too short? If so, go to this topic: Door Actuation Rods on the forum.
Here’s another possibility….
My bottom door fairlead could not be aligned so as to bolt the doors properly. I finally arrived at a solution, if not elegant, it is functional. In essence, I brought the fairlead closer so the rod could engage it. Both doors seal nicely.
I thought about doing that. My worry is the amount of wood screw engagement in the door for the fairlead. I will probably just build up the stiffener using scrap wood and do it as shown in the manual. Thanks for the idea.
Well, mission accomplished, sort of. I finish installed my doors over the weekend. I did quite a bit of tweeking while building my doors in hope of eliminating the pull straps. I did accomplish this. How ever my front bottom corners do protrude a little. In retrospect, I think that mounting the door in a relaxed state and pulling the top a bottom together with a strap would pull that corner in tighter. Mine are close enough and compress the gasket well, so i don’t plan any further fiddling.
nice picture! I’m trying to get an idea of where on the northern tool trailer frame I will be mounting the TD. did you position yours as far aft as you could without the doors intefering with the fenders? I was hoping to get the cabin further aft than it is in your picture so that the front of the cabin is right at the front edge of the frame.
thanks
ken
I just trimmed the length of the side rails on the aft end to fit the camper corner to corner. Aside from the rear cross member, everything else is in the factory location. My tongue is still very light.
Mine is mounted on a Harbor Freight trailer.
I cut a section of oak lumber, ~1.5″ high and the length and width of the bunks. I epoxied it to the bunks to provide clearance above the fenders. It worked out just fine. There’s a bit of space above the fenders and it doesn’t interfere with entering or exiting the camper.
I followed the manual and installed the camper’s rear end 32″ from the axle. It is rather light on the tongue, but an added footlocker loaded with gear and spare tire have made the tongue notably heavier. I also bolted a pair of stabilizer jacks onto the the trailer’s rear end to keep the camper from going tango uniform.
Really this is very simple.
You need a length of hardwood as long as the bunk. Rip it to the bunk’s width. Epoxy to bunk. If you need more height, make another piece of hardwood and epoxy to bunk. I used the supplied epoxy thickened with Cell-o-fill.
thanks. I’m an engineer but the part of my brain that helps turn words into pictures is a bit underdeveloped!!
ken
Eric–I am glad to find your advice to glue the door stiffener to the door before cutting the door out. my only question is do you have a suggestion as how to firmly attach the stiffener to the door while the epoxy sets? obviously clamping is out of the question. one quick idea I have is to brace the opposite door against the wall of my workshop using 2X4’s, then using a brace inside that bears against the stiffener on one end and against the location on the opposite door where the exterior brace is.
or, I could drill a few 1/16 holes in the stiffener and the door and stitch in several places, but I’ve already fiberglassed the sides (only one coat of epoxy so far, two more to do) and am leery about punching more holes, all of which will show in the finished product.
thanks in advance
ken
I came up with a solution. I will use a length of wood as a “strap”, across the stiffener, to hold it in place while the thickened epoxy is curing. I will use a cleat, like was used to temporarily attach the bottom to the shell, drill 2 holes in it, and thread a length of steel wire through the holes. then with the cleat on the outside of the shell, I will thread the wires thru one of the cut holes for the door, near the end of the “strap”. I will use such an assembly on each end of the strap, then tighten the steel wire to hold the strap fast against the stiffener. should work. no additional holes needed.
as for where the beveled end of the stiffener contacts the panel 3/4 joint: I will sand the edges of the fiberglass tape smooth, but I will leave a thin layer of it so as to not weaken the joint. then I will use an angle finder ($6 from Home Depot for a plastic one) to measure the angle on the inside of the door, at the panel 3/4 joint, and transfer the angle to the end of the stiffener that needs to be beveled.
ken
Here I am, probably too late again.
Before cutting my doors, I pre-prepared the stiffeners as much as I could.
Then, I cut out one door and within minutes had the stiffener clamped and glued with the thickened epoxy. Once satisfied, I cut out the 2nd door and did same.
To date, both doors have been true to the original angle. I did store them indoors, vertically on their sides until needed.
It sure beat trying to glue stiffeners before doors were cut.
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