Lift Off Failing - Help!

[ThePooches]

We spent the better part of today deriveting our 1963 Overlander for lift off. However, after deriveting and using a forklift, it wouldn't lift off. We found some random rivets that we missed but literally cannot find anymore. NOTE: We are not removing the floor for lift off since it's so corroded, we need it flat to trace for the new floor on the chassis. In short, we want the top to be removed from the chassis/wood floor.

What is preventing us from lifting off?
Are there bolts that connect the shell to the floor that we are not seeing behind wheel wells or in the floor itself?

Thank you in advance for the help!

Yes, I know there are forums about this but I've been searching and cannot find what we are missing!!

[perryg114]

There should be bolts at the end of each outrigger and at the front and back of the trailer where the shell attaches to the frame. The main structural attach points are at the front and rear. If you are removing the c-channel from the shell these points may not matter.

Perry

[Bubba L]

The shell is riveted to the C-channel around the perimeter. The wheel wells are riveted around the top curve. There is a front hold down plate and possibly a rear one that the shell would be riveted to. When I removed our belt line trim and removed all exterior rivets i could see, I went inside and checked all the rib bottoms. Some were wedged into the C-channel, some were riveted on the interior and some didn't even make to the channel. I went on the inside and pushed out on the lower panels to make sure they were free. When I had lift pressure on the shell, I went inside again and pushed around the perimeter to free the shell. I found a few hidden rivets and took care of those. If all rivets are out, the shell should free up. Also, I lifted the shell with the chassis level. Good luck. Bubba

[Belegedhel]

Speaking very generally (don't know if this is true of your specific year, but these are all things you can check), here are the things that attach the shell to the floor/frame:

1) Elevator bolts that have a head under the ends of the outriggers, and the nut on top of the C-channel--these have to be removed or broken off.

2) Screws that go down from the C-channel into the wooden floor.

3) Your belly skin *might* wrap up and over the C-channel

4) There may be hold down plates in the front and the rear of the trailer. These will be buck-riveted to the shell.

5) Your wheel wells are probably attached to the shell and go under the floor. There may be a double wheel-well in your trailer (ie., an interior cover that was attached to the interior skin and to the floor, then some insulation, and then the real wheel well that is attached to the shell and might go under the floor).

Are you removing the shell from the C-channel, or keeping the C-channel on the shell and disconnecting the C-channel from the floor/frame?

Get a putty knife and slip it between whatever it is you are trying to separate and make sure they are actually separate. If just a few incompletely removed rivet bodies and burrs are left behind, it can be quite surprising how much they can hold up.

Good luck!

[HiJoeSilver]

Check for hidden rivets on the banana wraps. Pretty common to find some on each corner that you can' only see from the inside.

Try sliding a putty knife behind the shell all the way around and concentrate on the spots you have blockage or tight fit.

Others above hit about everything else.

Oh wait wires. Look for wires that pass for grounds down to the frame under the floor. This one bit me, the univolt ground to the frame.

[ThePooches]

Thank you all for your assistance! The following day we found some hidden rivets and also found our fork lift wasn't going high enough. After shortening our straps, we were off! Currently, we're down to the frame and ready for welding work!