I'd think real hard about the shell off, if your frame is OK. I know how much time I am taking and a shell off would really take a while. I am ready to go camping! Another thing to think about, around here (Memphis area) .025 aluminum sheets are available in 4x10 sheets for a reasonable price. Keep in mind the dimension you will need for the belly pan. The factory used long sheet and they were not available anywhere around here. Shipping on rolled up pieces of aluminum that are oversize is very expensive. I cut my new belly pan that goes under the black day today. It was the piece between the frame rails so the 4x10 worked well. Hope to have it in and the bumper trunk built by Saturday.
I appreciate the input. When I look at what I have done and what needs to be done , I sometimes wonder if it's would be easier. But I know nothing, since I have never done this before!
Hi Silverhoot,
I saw in your pics of the notches and added frame tab at the back and it became obvious that these were part of the same repair. In your earlier picture of the notch there was a hole right in front of it, and in the pic above it shows more clearly. They cut the notch, welded in the tabs, perhaps from underneath, and drilled and bolted through it all. The wide notches were for a wrench to get in there, to repair a rear sag problem. I'm finding out interesting things as I go through mine also.
The bellypan should slide out the front pretty easily. Cutting it may be easier for removal, but it shouldn't be necessary unless it's trapped by the axle.
I just did my floor in the last few weeks, with the shell on. If you are removing everything from the interior anyway, it is not hard to do. I didn't remove the C channel from the shell. It was easier for me not to because it was in fantastic shape. At one point I actually had the shell completely detached from the frame and just resting on blocks placed on the frame while I was sliding the new floor pieces into place. On my safari the front of the water heater opening is right at the front edge of the rear-most piece of flooring, so I was able to use the hole where I'd removed the water heater from to allow me to jockey the last piece of my floor back in under the C channel. I used Tite-bond III waterproof woodglue along all of the floor seams to keep them together forever. Another thing that helped me a lot was using 5/8" smooth siding for the flooring. You can get it anywhere with 1/2" lap joints, to keep the panel seams landing on the center of the frame members.
I knew eventually somebody would come up with a reasonable explanation for those notches. I think you probably hit the rivet on the head. I like your idea about the 1/2" lap. One question is about the seams landing on the frame members. Are the frame members at 4 ft spacing? Thanks for solving the notch mystery.
I always hesitate to say that what you find when you look at your frame will match what I saw on mine. I have 4' spacing all the way from the back to the front, and the front piece was cut at about 36" to fit the trailer length.
It's too late to tell you this bit of info, I'm afraid. I was able to do a shell-on floor replacement without having to drill out the bucked rivets that secure the bellypan to the outer shell and C-channel. I don't have a riveter to replace these and I don't want an olympic rivet shaver for $300 either. It probably added a couple of hours to my time spent under the frame but I believe it was time well spent. I'm on a very tight budget with this, so I can't really justify the tool purchase for things I may use only once. It also allowed me to keep the shape of the corners very much intact being that the C-channel stayed attached the whole time.
I have some fairly recent pics on my blog, and many more. If you need to see anything in particular let me know. I just put my floor in and insulated the shell with Prodex, and since my last post, I and a friend of mine reinstalled the rear endcap. It's been a very productive couple of weeks for me. I'm taking my safari to Burningman in two weeks.
I hope your project is going well!
Rich
Since the Dexter dealer claimed the 32 down is not available, I ordered 22.5 down. Well...just got off the phone with Dexter and they ARE available in the #10 which is what I ordered. So, the question is should I change my order from 22.5 degrees to 32 degrees down? Anybody know exactly how much higher the trailer would ride with 32 down? My axles were ordered last friday, so I probably don't have much time to change. I measured the distance to the top of the ball on my truck and it measures 19.5" if that matters. Thanks
But I did purchase (ouch) six sheets of 23/32 ADX plywood for the floor replacement. Tanks and axles should be here in the next 4 weeks. Been doing some boring stuff, like grinding some old what I think was probably a motorcycle rack welded to the back bumper. Do't think that was such a great idea....
Took me forever to get the grey and black tanks figured out. Here's what I came up with. Have the mounts welded, mounts on one side of tanks are bolted so tanks can be removed if needed. Painted the frame and mounts with a rust encapsulating paint. Going to add some type of strapping since I just don't trust the tanks hanging from the lip only. Wanted the gray and black to connect to one collector which took me a bit to figure out. Now the trick will be to get it exactly how I want it while gluing . I have read others have had a problem with the the glue setting up before they could make the final adjustments.
I strapped the tanks using a method similar to FLYNCLD. Instead of pipe insulating tape I used washing machine hose to cover the strap and bolted the strap to the frame. Also did some repair of the U-channel. There were some cracks and notching that I sistered some material over.
Last edited by SilverHoot; 01-15-2010 at 10:36 AM.
Reason: add photos
Since the Dexter dealer claimed the 32 down is not available, I ordered 22.5 down. Well...just got off the phone with Dexter and they ARE available in the #10 which is what I ordered. So, the question is should I change my order from 22.5 degrees to 32 degrees down? Anybody know exactly how much higher the trailer would ride with 32 down? My axles were ordered last friday, so I probably don't have much time to change. I measured the distance to the top of the ball on my truck and it measures 19.5" if that matters. Thanks
I put a 32 degree Dexter on my Safari and it did not raise the trailer more than an inch or two, I would have liked about 5 or 6! The reason being that I still drag the tail going down or up my driveway, but I do have skid plates.
Someone suggested adding air shocks just to get out the drive drag-free, but that would be way off in the future for me as it doesn't really drag that much.
A side note: I think the bath belly pan works better INSIDE the skid plate if you have them. I put mine outside and think I maybe boo-boo'ed on that, but its not a biggie anyway.
another note: both Pizzachop (no relation ;-) and I have pretty good threads on bath floor repair here at the forums, if you haven't seen them already...
Quick Links
Oh, The wallet is just a little bit lighter isn't it? I'm glad I only have one axle. It's all worth it in the long run. Keep us posted.
Linear Mode
