opinions on floor repair

[Wabbiteer]

The inner liner hides the top of the plywood through bolt that clamps 'C" rail to the outrigger: some say pull the liner for access, some say cut a small area out and patch over it. On my Airstream I'm refurbishing everything but the outriggers untill I have time and the location to pull the interior liners, and yes I am not intending to travel with the trailer untill the shell is well anchored again.

Beware how you position the foam or bubblewrap - the outriggers need to be welded to the ladder frame and you do not want plastics anywhere near the reverse side of the weld.

[wannaroam]

So what type of welder is best to use? A stick welder or a mig?

[tbrom]

I personally like a stick. It penetrates the steel and makes a better weld. A mig is good for spot welds.
Tbrom

[wannaroam]

Thanks!! Boy if you ever want to come down this way and give out some free advice, just say the word. We could have beer or coffee at the ready.

And you could see a dropped belly pan in person, since mine is laying in the yard.

[wannaroam]

More questions, in the rear of our unit from underneath we have found about 2" of bad flooring all around. What is the least invasive method of repairing this?
And I'm back to one of my original questions:is there a way that we can replace the outriggers from below without having to tear the interior apart?

[scottanlily]

just a comment on the welder ,the stick is great for heavier welding like hitches and stuff ,also for frames too .The mig is a great welder also ,but any thing smaller than a 220 volt machine is not big enough to do more than sheetmetal and 1/8 steel ,and the way the machine operates on the 120 volt
is different than the 220 machine,the problem is that you can get a nice bead
of weld going with a mig easy ,and have very poor penetration .the arc welder won't really work right if the heat /amp range is too low or too
high for that matter .so with the mig it takes the knowledge of having the setup right to weld ,the right wire size and so on ,and getting good penetration which you can do easily ,but again it can be tricky .I have an
Ironman 220 hobart machine mig ,great rig ,but I love the Lincoln 225 stick
machine also .I go with the stick if doing heavier structural type welding .The neat thing on the stick is the easy way to just get the right size and rating
rod and adjust the amps and start the welding .that said ,I use the mig for
alot of welding projects .I had a harbor freight trailer a customer brought in
to assemble ,rinky dinky man o man ,cranked up the mig after the trailer
was bolted together and welded it together ,came out great ,good welds
excellent penetration of the steel ,(no weld beads layed on top of the steel )
So the mig seems easier to use than the stick ,but it takes practice to get
it right even so .

scott

[LI Pets]

Originally Posted by wannaroam

More questions, in the rear of our unit from underneath we have found about 2" of bad flooring all around. What is the least invasive method of repairing this?
And I'm back to one of my original questions:is there a way that we can replace the outriggers from below without having to tear the interior apart?

Yes, just drop the bannana wrap.

[tbrom]

With a stick welder you get it set up close the correct temp and control your a hand speed with a mig there is alot more set up and I personally feel it is much more difficult for an unexperienced welder to do a good job with. Most people have a little 110v Buzz box. Both are equally capable of doing a good job it just depends on whom has the stinger!

Tbrom

[wannaroam]

Thank you all for the advice. Luckily for me, my husband is pretty decent with a welder.

[scottanlily]

Yes tbrom ,I agree with you exactly on that comment ,easy to get in trouble
with the mig as it looks like a good weld ,but no penentration of the steel .
Generally with the stick ,if its welding right your in business.

Scott