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Old 06-16-2013, 09:13 PM   #301
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Originally Posted by 0557 View Post
I just love that great half-assed AS workmanship from that time period, it's like they were drinking a 12 pack of Schultz bull on the job. Jeez.
Do you really think it is any better today?
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Old 06-17-2013, 07:47 AM   #302
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Here are my thoughts on this subject from another thread http://www.airforums.com/forums/f36/...ml#post1144537.

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Do you really think it is any better today?
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Old 06-17-2013, 08:39 AM   #303
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It still looks like to me that the bottom C-channel that cradles the floor is not there on the corners. I expect it is because it would be hard to form the curved shape without buckling. Maybe I am being hard headed but yours looks like mine.

Perry
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Old 06-17-2013, 09:32 AM   #304
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Perry,
I don't feel like you are being hard headed! You're just being persistent about looking out for me...that's the way I look at it.

Study the pictures here on post 291 and review how we bridged across the gaps and open ended U channel sections and give me your feedback.

Thanks,

Steve
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Old 06-17-2013, 10:48 AM   #305
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Your bridge between the two sections looks fine. I am worried about the weep holes only in the curved sections. On mine the curved areas look like |_| and on the straight walls it looks like the photo of yours below. If you have a weep hole in the C-channel for the curved section and it does not have the bottom lip like on the straight sections the end grain of the wood will be exposed to the water coming out the weep hole.

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Old 06-17-2013, 12:06 PM   #306
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Perry,
On my trailer, the curved extrusions are made just like the straight sides. Enlarge the smaller pictures on this web page from out of doors mart.

Steve
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Old 06-17-2013, 12:23 PM   #307
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It's exciting to be thinking about putting it together and using it.

I've bought the floor. Went with a vinyl composite that click locks together. It is called Traffic Master Ultra Allure in a natural cherry. It's a little spendy but 100% waterproof and undergoes little to no contraction or expansion. It's going to be very pretty. The surface of the floor is molded to look like natural wood and it is slip resistant. Home Depot carries it. Going to be darkening up our cabinetry and plan on pulling the vinyl off the kitchen walls and going with aluminum there. Probably will go with a granite look alike laminate on all counter tops and finishing the edges with aluminum. Sealing, flooring, insulation, and other less fun things first.

I plan to strip and polish the external trailer above the end cap while it's removed. There's a good chance I'll push too hard and dent the thing. Might as well keep the access. I'm going to use acryl R on the seams after we polish it. I don't have parbond but there is a great video on how to apply it. Guy makes it look like a piece of cake. My experience with acryl-R was not pleasant but I did get the wing window to stop leaking. It's just not a pretty job. Good thing for razor blades. I read about using painters tape and a blade to trim out the exposed seam on one of the forums. Tedious work.

You may have seen this but here is a how to video...he makes it look sooo easy.... Looks like the key is the solvent being used.
Anyone know where to find Malco A & L Cosmoline Remover? The video sure makes putting Parr Bond on, real easy. I want to try some of that Malco A & L Cosmoline Remover to see how well it works but I can't find any.
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Old 06-17-2013, 12:47 PM   #308
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Ok I found the image that supports what you are saying. I can see it in this image. The back of my trailer was not made like yours and I have not had the front that far apart. It is good to see that Airstream has made some improvements. Your trailer is 10 yrs newer than mine and the front is totally different since you have that horizontal tank bay up there.

Perry



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Perry,
On my trailer, the curved extrusions are made just like the straight sides. Enlarge the smaller pictures on this web page from out of doors mart.

Steve
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Old 06-18-2013, 10:34 AM   #309
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This is the finished bumper plate redesign. Think it will work. Appreciate your thoughts. I filled every hole with Tempro 635 from the outside and inside. All overlapped sheets have a layer of tempro between them. My trailer's belly skins are in good shape and I was simply too lazy to do it like Perry.

-Cristina
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Old 06-18-2013, 05:06 PM   #310
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Christina,
My thoughts are that you do good work and my hat is off to you! My only suggestion is that you add some TremPro 635 on the Bottom edge of the rub rail trim and along the top.
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Old 06-19-2013, 12:29 PM   #311
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My only suggestion is that you add some TremPro 635 on the Bottom edge of the rub rail trim and along the top.
Steve,
Thanks for the encouraging words. I tend to over think things. I applied acryl-R to the top and bottom of the rub rail. Then wondered if I might be creating a space where water sits and doesn't have a place to drain. The rest of the rub rail is only sealed on top so those weep holes can work. Should the bottom be left unsealed over the bumper area? I remember a couple of drain holes in the corner area.

Yesterday, I put on my gas mask and used the epoxy wood hardener on a damaged floor area under the fridge. Outside compartment seems to be draining (and has been for some time) under the fridge. I've already redone the fridge vent. I really don't want to pull out the fridge and cabinet to replace that floor section right now. Applied epoxy on a soft spot under the front windows. It's a 9" wide area that is very rotted and needs to be replaced but if it firms up we might be able to put that repair off a little while longer. Supposed to wait two days for the epoxy to set up. Then we can add an epoxy wood filler to build the floor back up. Feel like such a cheater but a herniated disc will definitely effect decision making.

Cristina
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Old 06-19-2013, 10:17 PM   #312
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I applied acryl-R to the top and bottom of the rub rail. Then wondered if I might be creating a space where water sits and doesn't have a place to drain. The rest of the rub rail is only sealed on top so those weep holes can work. Should the bottom be left unsealed over the bumper area? I remember a couple of drain holes in the corner area.

Cristina
Christina,
In the back around the "bumper plate" I don't think that there is any choice other than to seal the bottom and the top of the rub rail. Along each side and wrapping around to the front, I don't think that it hurts anything to caulk the underside of the rub rail because the weep holes exit beneath the wraps that wrap around from the flat belly pan area to the vertical sides. so these wraps are a barrier between where the weep holes exit and the rub rail. Maybe others have thoughts on this.

I really like your expression with the respirator on! If I were going to have a picture dictionary, I'd caption your picture as one of the following: exasperation or floor rot-induced madness.
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Old 06-19-2013, 10:35 PM   #313
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Hyperventilation or hiccup cure

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Bryant View Post
Christina,
In the back around the "bumper plate" I don't think that there is any choice other than to seal the bottom and the top of the rub rail. Along each side and wrapping around to the front, I don't think that it hurts anything to caulk the underside of the rub rail because the weep holes exit beneath the wraps that wrap around from the flat belly pan area to the vertical sides. so these wraps are a barrier between where the weep holes exit and the rub rail. Maybe others have thoughts on this.

I really like your expression with the respirator on! If I were going to have a picture dictionary, I'd caption your picture as one of the following: exasperation or floor rot-induced madness.
Maybe this mask will help minimize hyperventilation when you discover new 'spots for improvement'.... or work with the hiccups... ??? Keep up the great effort and mentality..
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Peace and Blessings..
Channing
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Old 06-20-2013, 08:28 AM   #314
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Does your top plate have a lip that goes up under the rub rail. This prevents water from going under the rub rail. What have you changed from the original design?

Perry
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Old 06-20-2013, 10:17 AM   #315
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Perry,
This is something that I haven't dealt with yet, but I have it designed in my mind and I will be showing it. My upper shell is already bolted directly to the frame and will not have the lip going under the rub rail. so I will have a gap from the shell and that is partially hidden by the bottom of the rub rail. Then any water that is shed off the back of my trailer will drip down into the sewer hose area. I am going to drill a number of 1/4 inch drain holes in the floor of the sewer hose compartment so that the rain water will have somewhere to go. Details coming soon.

Steve

Here's a preview that shows the shell bolted to the frame without the lip of the bumper plate going under.

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Old 06-20-2013, 11:22 AM   #316
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What bothers me Steve is what happens when water gets in that compartment and then the lower skins funnel the water to the frame of the trailer. I plan on making a totally separate compartment so water won't get the frame by way of the bottom skin.

My Question was directed at Christina because I was having trouble figuring out what she was trying to do. I think she ran the lip of the top plate under the bumper trim but I am not sure.

Perry
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Old 06-20-2013, 11:38 AM   #317
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Perry,
I plan to caulk the inner perimeter of the sewer drain hose compartment with TremPro and then I'll be drilling intentional drain holes in both the hose compartment and a grid of holes in the belly skin and some along the outside of the frame rails in the lower body wraps. I want the holes to be big enough to let the water out and small enough to not let insects get in easily.

I think Christina does have the lip of the plate between the body and the frame, but she can chime in on this.

Steve
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Old 06-21-2013, 07:11 AM   #318
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I think she ran the lip of the top plate under the bumper trim but I am not sure.

Perry[/QUOTE]

My epoxy set up nice under the fridge but it's still soft under the window. Repaired the outside refrigerator compartment last night. The caulk in there had the consistency of chewing gum. I added a rail and sealed with tempro 635 after cleaning everything up. Will probably add a drip rail if the water is still getting in there.

Hopefully you men can see the design clearly and embrace the functionality of my bumper plate redo. The old bumper plate was cut in the shape of the back of the trailer and sits on TOP of the aluminum flashing. That flashing is the same thickness as the bumper plate. @1/16" or so. You can't see how it sits because the rubrail hides the interface of the flashing and bumper plate. Aesthetically, other than the rivets through the bumper plate, the appearance of the original design is maintained.

I think someone named Top described a similar design. I left the rub rail off the schematic but did put it on the trailer. Small feeling of panic, Perry, shouldn't this work?

Cristina

Ps. Perry, why don't you use that metal tube drain design in the bumper storage compartment? Seems like that would work. My compartment had holes and T shaped drain nails going down to run the water out through the skins.
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Old 06-21-2013, 08:04 AM   #319
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Christina,
I think that what you have done will work far better than the original design. I like your diagram. It really helps me to understand what you have done to try to address one of the roots of rot. That could be the title of a thread or a forum here at Air Forums: "The Roots of Rot".

I like your photo of the before condition. It's pretty satisfying to look at before and after pictures!

Before


After


Steve

BTW
Lots of times I ask myself questions like:
Q - Where do you start and where do you stop?
Q - How good is good enough?
Q - Why am I doing this?
A1 - So we can go camping again.
A2 - It's satisfying to fix things to be better than they were to start with.
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Old 07-02-2013, 05:40 PM   #320
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I'm playing a little catch-up here. I'm really at least a month beyond where these pictures are showing you.

Here's the old belly skin (trash except of some value as a pattern).


Here's the new belly skin. All that I could find locally was some .025” H3003, which was more that I really needed for this task. It was 48” wide and I needed a piece about 60X80 so I bought 10 feet, cut it in half, and riveted it together with a lap joint. That gave me a piece that was 60” wide and then we cut it to length.


Once we had it drilled and “Clecoed” for riveting, Ralph spread TremPro 635 on the seam and then we riveted it together.


Now it’s really riveted together. We used buck rivets. If I were going to do this again, I’d use 1/8” pop rivets as the sheet metal is too flimsy with no frame to rivet it to and it’s a little more difficult than is necessary for what this sheet of metal does.


This is under the frame prior to installation of the belly skin so you can see the aluminum angles supporting the 1” rigid insulation panels. If you want to look at the insulation and the aluminum angle brackets from above, take a look at this post.


Here’s the belly skin “Clecoed” into place for the pop rivets.
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