From looking at your pics and what I have seen on my unit so far. If I am correct there is a channel end cap all the way around the floor and a floor plate on top of the floor. I can see the end cap channel through the sepeartion and it appears to still be fastened to the frame. If so the floor plate may have seperated from the floor and the body framing, inner and outer skins and floor plate have seperated as a unit.
If this is the case I think I can get to the problem by removing the inner skin. Once removed what is the best way to tye it down again. Considering toggle bolts and fender washers down through the floor plate and floor end cap channel. Once the body is secured down I will rerivit the bannan strip hopping to hit the end of the end cap channel as additional structural support.
By the way this is no stay at home trailer. It has over 115,000 miles on it. At the Tampa trailer show this year one of the factory reps asked if I was considering trading. I said yes if they gave me a new trailer and $5,000.00 we would starting the negotiations.
Your Thoughts?
To avoid considerable work at a later date again, install a front hold down plate.
I want to thank you both for some really great information.
2airishuma your pictures, I had thought the floor cap and the floor plate were 2 separate pieces and the separation had taken place between them. Your pics show it as a single extrusion. The discussion I had with Artsteam clearly indicated just what I have to do to repair my trailer.
I will post pictures on just how I go about the repair as it unfolds. Not wanting to change the exterior of the trailer, and planning to open up the inner skin just for my own consideration, I am planning to install the plate from the inside.
I had spent the first day of recent trip to Newfoundland helping an Airstreamer with an electrical problem and just last week another Airstreamer came to my rescue while broken down in Ct. And now you have jumped in to solve another problem. This is a great group
Well i just got around to opening up the front of my trailer to see just what had seperated. The picture below is of the drivers side front corner. The body skin has completely torn free of the floor channel and hammered some of itself back inside the skin.
At first impression there is not enough material in the skin to rerevit through. I am considering trying to fit a band up inside the body and reviting it to the skin and then reviting that band to the floor channel. This will result in a row of revits just above the bannana strip.
The problem I see with this approach is that row of revits will become the future seperation fail point. If that happens there will be no way to cover the failure.
Click on the picture to enlarge.
I will post aditional pictures depending on how this works.
"The problem I see with this approach is that row of revits will become the future seperation fail point. If that happens there will be no way to cover the failure."
HowiE,
I see no way around this delemia, the attachment point will always be the point of failure.
I attached a piece of flat stock behind the exiseting C channel for reinforcement and added a new piece of sheet aluminum skin.
looks like I am going to have to open up the inner skin because it looks like the complete standing leg of the floor channel has been torn off by the outer skin between the battery boxes. The skin is short in this area and the rivets were set very close to the top of the channel and thus failed there. So far I have just gotten my finger up in there as a check but there is no standing leg at that part of the channel.
I have been told that the inner skin can be removed as one piece but I am considering just cutting the bottom 10 or 12 ins.out and working in an area that will be hidden by the coach.
What alloy material should I get. Not sure that matters since the skin looks like it is very soft but i thought I should ask.
Well i just got around to opening up the front of my trailer to see just what had seperated. The picture below is of the drivers side front corner. The body skin has completely torn free of the floor channel and hammered some of itself back inside the skin.
At first impression there is not enough material in the skin to rerevit through. I am considering trying to fit a band up inside the body and reviting it to the skin and then reviting that band to the floor channel. This will result in a row of revits just above the bannana strip.
The problem I see with this approach is that row of revits will become the future seperation fail point. If that happens there will be no way to cover the failure.
Click on the picture to enlarge.
I will post aditional pictures depending on how this works.
Beautiful example of what happens when the tow vehicle is super heavy duty, enough to tow the Queen Mary, and using hitch bars with excessive ratings.
This damage will happen every time, just give the coach some travel time in miles.
"Beautiful example of what happens when the tow vehicle is super heavy duty, enough to tow the Queen Mary, and using hitch bars with excessive ratings.
This damage will happen every time, just give the coach some travel time in miles."
This is depressing. Any preventive measures that can be taken.
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