Today is the day.

[RM66caravel]

I like the way it turned out! Keep it going
Cliff

[Melody Ranch]

Friction jack???

[Dingo Girl]

Originally Posted by Melody Ranch

Friction jack???

Monkey on a Stick Friction Jack by Keysco 77043


This link should take you to a description of a friction jack. AKA Monkey on a stick. Who knew it had another name? It was loaned to me and until then I had never heard of one either.
One thing I should have mentioned was that I only used it on the end curved piece of floor.
I used it as a helping hand to move the floor in under the c channel in the back end of the trailer. I could not push it in there by myself and have been working alone all summer.
the trailer shell was shimmed up , but not enough to to let the piece slide in like butter. It did not take much pressure at all to get it to slide in place.
If I had this to do all over again and I had the room to do it inside i would do shell off. I can see through the process thus far where many things would have been much easier shell off.
Live and learn right.

[Dingo Girl]

Milestone reached this past weekend. The floor is bolted in !
I was able to do this by myself. With the aid of a creeper to roll around underneath the trailer to tighten the nuts. And a magnet.
For the bolts that went up thru the c channel from underneath I used socket head cap screws and attached the Allen wrench to them with a super strong magnet about the size of a quarter. This worked like a dream.
This step of the project took longer than I had anticipated. Lots of drilling , and lots of hours spent under it tightening bolts and nuts.
It really is nice to be working with new clean materials.

[dbj216]

Wow, just seconds ago I finished a post to Melody Ranch's "Red Barn Liner". He was describing his counter bore idea to make the carriage bolts flush. Why didn't I think of that.

But how to tighten these flat head bolts? Your big magnet idea might offer enough resistance. I ended up cutting a screw driver slot in mine so I could get the nuts tight. And I used nyloc nuts to make matters worse. Counter boring a small shallow hole in the subfloor would allow the use of a socket head cap screw and a Allen wrench like you did on the perimeter of your subfloor (inside the C channel).

Learning new things all the time. Like how to use a friction jack to push the subfloor under the shell!

David

[Dingo Girl]

David
I used elevator bolts for floor to frame attachment and SHCS for shell to frame/floor attachment.
I had 3 elevator bolts that I had to go back and slot since they spun in the hole. I too used nylock nuts.
I think the bolts that Melody Ranch has talked about from time to time are the self tapping , self counter sinking kind. Of course I could have him confused with another forum member.
Are you going to bend the bolts over like airstream did originally? Or will you trust the nylocks ?

[dbj216]

I trust the nyloc bolts. And I trust LocTite if so inclined. I did not bend the bolts like Airstream did. That is fast and cheap, but not a good practice.

Years ago I have been known to hammer a nut to make it somewhat oval and it would drag hard on the bolt and be less prone to vibrate loose. I don't do that anymore.

It's just kinda difficult to figure out a good way to retain the bolt when the thing doesn't have a slot, phillips, hex, torx, socket head or any other way of resisting the torque applied to the nut from underneath the trailer. Carriage bolts have a square below the head that is suppose to fit into a square in the mating part. But our Airstreams don't have that.

Actually adhesives would be an option to consider. Our automobiles are assembled using lots of adhesives. Run a bead along the frame rails and cross members for the section of subfloor being laid, position it, put some weight on the top of it, and I believe that subfloor would be there for good. I think this method is impossible unless the shell was off.

Thanks for your reply.

David

[Dingo Girl]

I did not have the heart to take a hammer to my bolts and bend them over.
I trust the way I did it and checked each one with a torque wrench It is better than new and will last longer than I will.
The folks at the estate sale can worry about it next go around.

[ASTailgate]

story stick? how did you do this?

[Dingo Girl]

I will have to find some pictures of the process. It is very easy to do. I'll try to look tonight after work.

[Dingo Girl]

Ok here are some pictures. I used a paint stir stick as my "story stick".
Cut some card board to roughly fit the corner. Tape it in place . Then put the stick up against the c channel & trace the back end of the stick. Do this every inch & a half or so. You can see the tracing in picture. Then get some Luan. cut the 4 x 8 sheets in to strips about a foot wide or less.
Now you will lay the stick back on the card board exactly where you traced it. Now you mark with a pencil at the front tip of the stick in every spot you traced it. This will create the curve.
I traced mine on to the Luan. Cardboard is to apt to shrink and warp so it's not good for the final patterns.
I screwed & glued the Luan together.
It's hard to explain but easy to do.
Be sure to do all four corners as they will all be different.
Hope this helps more than it hurts.

[thiel]

The use of templates is really helpful (and if you really refine the template and then use a router with a pattern bit to cut your final material, you can get a perfect fit).

The "story stick" technique mentioned is a little like a carpentry technique called "scribing." If you have never scribed, it is a VERY EASY way to get an exact fit around an irregular object or curve or whatnot.

Here's are a couple decent videos showing the technique. I think you'll find it a little easier and more effective than the story stick method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M2p2eqg1WM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAM9I6kidx8

[Dingo Girl]

The story stick worked well for me and my floor fit great.
Just don't forget to add the width of the c channel around the perimeter when you cut your floor.

[ASTailgate]

Thanks

[ASTailgate]

Hi there! Did u use Refectix an the walls and subfloor? If so, how is it working out. I'm thinking of doing the same thing

[Dingo Girl]

Reflectex in the walls nothing in the floor.
It's working well.
I used Tyvek tape to attach strips of foam insulation on both sides of the Reflectex. This gives an air gap which is needed to insulate.
You can also cut strips of Reflectex as opposed to the foam. You just have to stack them up.
Hope this helps.

[ASTailgate]

Originally Posted by Dingo Girl

Reflectex in the walls nothing in the floor.
It's working well.
I used Tyvek tape to attach strips of foam insulation on both sides of the Reflectex. This gives an air gap which is needed to insulate.
You can also cut strips of Reflectex as opposed to the foam. You just have to stack them up.
Hope this helps.

Thank you can you please post or send me pics of you inside remodel? Just interested in what you did.

[Dingo Girl]

I'll get a few together this weekend.

[dbj216]

Hi Dingo Girl: Take a picture of that Michigan monkey jack you used to pull your subfloor under the C channel. I still don't know exactly what it is. I feel bad I don't have one in my garage.

David

[Dingo Girl]

Monkey on a stick was not my own. My boss loaned it to me. But here's a stock photo. They are used in autobody repair.