Hi, everyone, I'm looking for some tips on how to make what should be two quick mods to my teardrop. But I want to make sure that I do this mod correctly to avoid water infiltration into my teardrop.
1- I want to move the license plate from the silly plastic hanger under the light to the back of the galley door. Super simple, but I want to make sure that, given how much rain this will get, I don't create leaks. Has anyone tried this before and if so how did you do it?
2- I'd like to mount my 10-pound propane tank to the outside of the teardrop under the table where we cook.
I'm assuming that the mods would be done basically the same way. My initial plan was zinc-coated lag bolts with metal and rubber washers on each side of the penetration. The idea with that build is that the rubber washers and zinc lag bolts would help prevent water intrusion and different-metal interactions (the teardrop's skin is aluminum, which I know should be non-reactive, but an ounce of prevention vs. a pound of cure and all that.)
What I don't know is if that's enough to prevent water intrusion or if I need something inside of the penetration holes to help prevent damage. For anyone who has done this repair, what tips do you have and how did you go about it? Do I need to do something more preventative like filling the penetrations with epoxy or some other compound to ensure no water infiltrates?
I added two photos of the teardrop's right side. I plan to mount the propane tank on the outside under the table (more visible in the first photo) and behind the wheel. We drive through rain and snow often to camp and, being Colorado, we get rain many of our trips.
The big problem right now is that we keep the tank inside the galley when we travel. It just takes up space that we could use for any of a number of other things. We also, right now, keep it on a small folding table that also takes up space. If we were able to free up the tank's space and repurpose the small table, that would make our lives much easier.
Thank you for your help and tips.
David
1- I want to move the license plate from the silly plastic hanger under the light to the back of the galley door. Super simple, but I want to make sure that, given how much rain this will get, I don't create leaks. Has anyone tried this before and if so how did you do it?
2- I'd like to mount my 10-pound propane tank to the outside of the teardrop under the table where we cook.
I'm assuming that the mods would be done basically the same way. My initial plan was zinc-coated lag bolts with metal and rubber washers on each side of the penetration. The idea with that build is that the rubber washers and zinc lag bolts would help prevent water intrusion and different-metal interactions (the teardrop's skin is aluminum, which I know should be non-reactive, but an ounce of prevention vs. a pound of cure and all that.)
What I don't know is if that's enough to prevent water intrusion or if I need something inside of the penetration holes to help prevent damage. For anyone who has done this repair, what tips do you have and how did you go about it? Do I need to do something more preventative like filling the penetrations with epoxy or some other compound to ensure no water infiltrates?
I added two photos of the teardrop's right side. I plan to mount the propane tank on the outside under the table (more visible in the first photo) and behind the wheel. We drive through rain and snow often to camp and, being Colorado, we get rain many of our trips.
The big problem right now is that we keep the tank inside the galley when we travel. It just takes up space that we could use for any of a number of other things. We also, right now, keep it on a small folding table that also takes up space. If we were able to free up the tank's space and repurpose the small table, that would make our lives much easier.
Thank you for your help and tips.
David