Floor replacment

[zacfrd]

I have a 77 excella 31 foot and want to replace the floor. First question I have is can I remove the floor without removing the shell. second is how should I go about this task and what should I use in place of the old subfloor?

[68 TWind]

Do you really need to replace all the floor or just sections. If you only have a few bad spots like rear , door, etc. it will be much faster to just replace those sections. It is a major undertaking and will take a lot more time than you think. Don't underestimate the work and time. There are plenty of threads on the forums as to how to do is so I need not repeat, just do a search and you will find enough to read for a couple of days on floor replacement. I have completed replacing several section in my Trade Wind and used 5/8 a/c plywood which isn't really that thick anymore). Had several reasons, first that was what was there, second was to keep weight done and third ease of installation compared to 3/4 ply.
Good luck with your project.

Before you start, buy one of the oscillating saws (Multimax type) from Harbor Freight. That tool was invaluable in doing my floor. The blades that come from Harbor Freight are not very good, but Dremel has a similar type saw and Home Depot has blade for it. They are much better.

[zacfrd]

I want to remove floor to get to frame and look it over. Should I do that from under the trailer?

[bullydogsmom]

If you want to look at the underside, just drop the belly pan. It's a job but much easier than removing the floor.

We replaced both the front section to just past the door and then the rear section, up to the wheel wells of the floor.

Annette

[LI Pets]

belly pan

[Wabbiteer]

Belly pan is no cakewalk - especially if its' iffy too, but you can remove the outer trim, banana wraps and make-up flat sheets then peek at inner frame by dropping outer edges of the main belly panels. Often the most damage is outside the main ladder frames with the exception of the holding tank and rear bumper area...

[zacfrd]

Ok I have removed the interior and the floor dosn't look too bad. There are only bad spots in 2 small areas. 1 is the bathroom and the other is in the front of trailer. My plan is to cut those out replace and leave the rest. I would like to replace the fresh water tank though. I am planning on removing the under skin of the trailer. It is in bad shape and I need ne tank covers. I will fix any frame problems from there. My question is can I remove the tanks from under the trailer? Also do they sell any kind of tank warmers for winter travel? Please let me know if I am off base with this one

[Wabbiteer]

Ideally one should not travel long distances with weight in the tanks, fill FW tank from known good source as close to your destination as possible and dump the BW tank before exiting from camp or first possible place. With a newer trailer maybe its all good, but once these trailers see twenty or thirty years it could be the straw on the camels back scenario, especially with a 31'er.

Yes - there are kinda spendy 120VAC and or 12VDC heating pads that one places under the tanks to ensure they don't freeze - Airstream factory equipment bled off some of the furnace air into the tank enclosures but that doesn't help for several days travel time.

All tanks are removed from underneath for later models like ours.

Replacing the main fresh water tank is comforting as the unknown is pretty scary when guessing what has been put in the tank & what is growing in it now; Before you commit to a new tank remove the old one and give it a look over, it may be acceptable or salvageable.

Note: Joe Somewhen managed to get black tank chemical formaldehyde in mine, by the quantity in the system someone mistook it for RV Anti-Freeze or it was pure sabotage, even draining the hot water tank after several rinses and heating cycles (a week at temperature) the reek of chemicals was nauseating... so the entire system was condemned :/