31' Shell off ...Tons of fun!

[aircooled4]

Helped Brad (excella80) remove the shell from his 31'er...WOW...He had removed most of the floor, so all that was left to do was lift the shell...lower the frame away. relower the shell on supports back onto the frame, back it into the spot where the shell will rest, raise the shell...pull the frame out from underneath FINALLY lower the shell on to blocking!







Pulling the frame OUT from under the shell...

[moosetags]

Great shots, thanx.

Brian

[aircooled4]

It took about 5 hours to complete the process...Brad is taking the frame to get some work done on it...I think in about a month we will reinstall shell...

[Wabbiteer]

aww gee - that frame looks good as new almost... heh.

Looks like the wheel well outrigger is doubled up - earlier repairs?

The stringers that parallel the main ladder frame beams don't exist on my 1973, are they OEM?

[bgabrielse]

I think both the wheel wells had 2 outriggers in the front of the wheel well. On the other side one outrigger is only half there and there appears to be a metal stub right next to that out rigger. I think the stub is the remains of another outrigger.

Rust is certainly not my biggest problem. I have a crack in one main frame rail and both main frame rails are twisted. My outriggers were all sagging down because of the twisted rails.

Once I had the interior and floor gutted out and discover the other issues I figured why not lift the shell and fix it right. And with Friends like Jay it was kinda fun to lift a shell that big!

Thanks for posting the pictures Jay.

[mew4764]

So Have you got any photos of the bare frame out in the open?

[aircooled4]

No, but we'll get you some! The frame has been repaired and brought back; we'll be putting it back together once it's not snowing and -10°F!!! (Those aren't the actual current conditions here, but it's coming fast!!)

[Foiled Again]

HOLY COW! Now that's impressive. Good luck getting it all back together!

Paula

[Airslide]

Thats a big project! It looks like you were able to lift it perfectly without any stress on the shell. That is impressive.

Vin

[tphan]

that's the craziest ******* thing I've ever seen, to quote Stephen Colbert. Has anyone ever done this to a 34-footer??
Good luck with your project, from someone who grew up in Madison...-tim

[bgabrielse]

Here are a few pictures of the frame and shell apart. As soon as the weather allows I will be sandblasting and then painting the frame. Then the floor and then the shell, and then...a lot more work.

If anyone knows how to get the glass replaced in the wing windows please let me know. Both have the seals coming out, and one is retaining water. I took one to a local glass shop thinking they could pull it all apart and put it back together. Apparently you can't do that with the sealed double pane glass that is in the window. The glass looks to be in good shape, the seals are all just shot between the panes. Any ideas???

[Aage]

From the 1977 Service Manual (is yours the same as a 1977?), this is how to remove the entire wing window, not sure this is quite what you're looking for, but it's a start:





Things can be simpler with one of those books...

[CrzyCorpsman]

I envy you all . I sure wished that my frame had looked as good as yours, excella80. You say that you have a crack in your frame?? Where abouts and what did you do to fix / reinforce it?

If you look at my profile pictures, you'll see that I have two cracks in mine, one large on between the axles on the main frame rail, where there is some buckeling, too and another one just forward of the front axle. I have heard that there is a reinforcement plate that you can get for the frame, but speaking with others, you could also fabricate one, probably for much cheaper.

Once I get home in February, I'll be getting my shell lifted (finally). After seeing all these pictures, I'm feeling more confident that it can ben done. I would have been done by now, if I would have listened to everyone For whatever reason, I didn't think that the 40 some-odd rivets up front, behind where the LP tanks were, held anything on. To my ignorance, it's the front mounting plate So, that where mine sits now. Front mounting plate is the only thing holding it together. Thank God that there were no hurricanes this year or else I would have had to retrieve my shell from the neighbors swimming pool.

Please keep us posted on all of your progress.

[bgabrielse]

Brian,

Your cracks sound like they are in about the same place as mine. The cracks allowed the frame rail to twist out and caused all the out riggers to sag a lot. Can you tell me more about the reinforcement plate. I had a friend helping me get the frame straightened out and welded back together. He did not want to add too much more steal to the frame, in fear of adding too much weight or making it too stiff. But you are making me think I should do more be fore reuniting the shell and the frame.

[bgabrielse]

Aage,

I was able to get the window out. The glass seems to be in good shape, but everything between the two panes is falling apart. I found another thread where someone had a similar issue and they removed the inside pane of glass. Any thoughts on doing that? I just can't put all this work into this trailer and leave windows that look terrible in it.

[CrzyCorpsman]

Originally Posted by excella80

Brian,

Your cracks sound like they are in about the same place as mine. The cracks allowed the frame rail to twist out and caused all the out riggers to sag a lot. Can you tell me more about the reinforcement plate. I had a friend helping me get the frame straightened out and welded back together. He did not want to add too much more steal to the frame, in fear of adding too much weight or making it too stiff. But you are making me think I should do more be fore reuniting the shell and the frame.

http://service.airstream.com/files/l...14bd730003.pdf

Take a look at the link above. This is right off Airstream's website. I know it's for pre-80's, but it may also work for your frame. I don't see many differences from your pictures, but I would ask the experts for their opinion, also. Send Drag'nwagon a pm. He had some work done on his frame and he gave me a few pointers on repairing/reinforcing mine. I'm sure that he would share with you as well.

[qc1500]

Amzaing, i will be in this soon. Have to remove the shell of our 74 sovereign. Is it possible to leave the floor in?

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by qc1500

Is it possible to leave the floor in?

No. The floor is attached to the frame, and not really attached to the trailer, except for some little screws in the floor channel. The full attachment is the outriggers have bolts through the ends, through the floor, and into the bows (upright aluminum frame parts for the shell). There are also many self-tapping screws that hold the floor and frame together. If you really, really wanted to, you could probably support the trailer and floor, and cut out each frame section, pull it out, replace it, and weld it back to everything, then repeat on the other side. That's a lot or work, and magnifies the possibility of a fire when you start welding near that 35 year old plywood in the floor.