Black Tank Galv Box

[Inland RV Center, In]

Till.

WHOA....STOP.... HOLD UP....ALTO....FREEZE

Your trying to get to Hollywood via the Brooklyn Bridge.

Your approach as per the picture is the reversal of the correct method, to repair the rear end of your trailer.

Call me at 800-8777311 and I will give you the directions.

After that, you can post those directions for others to digest.

Andy

[till]

Thank you Andy!!!

I called Andy at Inland and man did he have the answer. Now the course of action is clear and the trailer will live to camp an other day. (though it still a few years away lost of work to do).

Thank you angain Andy.

I will post the solution later tonight when I get home and draw up the needed parts.

[minkus]

"Holy crap batman!!!"

Talk about a crash course! This is one power packed thread.

1) Streamsaver, when did you come over and take a picture of my floor?

2) till, I think one of the biggest problems is all that white stuff on the ground. I am not liking the cold concrete here in sunny (actually foggy) california. I sure would loose my sparkle in that white stuff.

3) When I go the the casinos in Tahoe, they keep saying "hard ways work" at the craps table. Now I see they are talking about Airstream restoration.

4) What do you get when you work your fingers to the bone?.....


bonny fingers!

I look forward to seeing Andys' attack plan.

Bruce

[till]

Well here it goes.
As you can see from my previous posts, most of the rear of my trailer has been torn out. The PO removed the blackwater tank and most of the surrounding wood, aluminum and steel. (I did not mean to hijack Tom's thread.)
After talking to Andy and looking at my trailer I think I can explain this.

First; I'm going to do a shell removal as I want to replace all the deck. So how you attack this may differ a little. I can explain this via E-mail or PM if anyone is interested.

What you need to do is give the shell some place to attach to the frame, other than the two spots on the frame rails. Being in the fun world of maintenance and working in a machine shop I see where Andy is coming from with "Balance your running gear!" I will not go into this here.

By adding more surface area to attach the shell you distribute the load and get rid of a lot of the sag issues and stress associated with it.

You need to add "wings" to the outside of the frame under the shell. See attached image;



Andy recommends 2 X 2 X 1/4inch, but I am using 4 X 4 X 1/4 inch angle iron (it was a freebie) cut to 4 inches. This is welded (you may bolt it, but I think a weld will be superior) to the outside with the flat facing the wood deck. You will then drill through the "U" or "L" (depending on year) channel through the deck and through the angle iron. Install a bolt in each side.

After you install the "wings" you should also install a 4 inch wide 1/4 inch thick plate between the frame rails (again where the shell will be). Welding is the best here. Again drill and bolt the shell down to this plate. You now have around eight anchor points vs. the two originally there.

I hope that this is somewhat clear. I plan on taking photos as I do this.

[till]

Part two. or the things I forgot to mention......

When installing the "wings" and 4 inch wide plate (spanner plate) the frame will be clamped down and in alignment. I plan on replacing the forward piece of 3/4 inch (I think) angle iron that holds the blackwater tank in place. The rear piece should bolt in place as you will need to remove this piece to get the tank back out. I also believe that there are two straps that go fore and aft to aid in holding the tank up. I will get clarification on this when the time comes to actually install the tank. I will also have to fabricate the sewer hose box. I doubt that this is a structural part of the frame. The bumper is on the other hand, but I do not think I need to go into that here. (You have to remember here that the frame, floor and shell are all part of the strength. Each relying on each other, if one is weakened the whole structure is weakened.)

[Streamsaver]

That sounds like what we are doing to our 68. we are stiffening the frame with a 1/8 steel sleeve that will slide into the frame c channel. Then a bigger rear crossmember to bolt the shell to.
Does anyone know when Airstream switched from a forged c-channel frame to a bent plate steel channel frame? I know it was between 63 and 67. Was it a plan to lighten the trailer? Does the switch in frames relate to the rear end sag issue?

AND has any one thought about replacing the steel frame with an aluminum frame?
I bet it would be expensive!!!

[markdoane]

Streamsaver:
My '59 has a welded rectangular tube frame, don't know if the C channel was maybe a California vs Ohio variation.
Re: aluminum frame-I think by the time you made an aluminum frame strong enough to equal a steel frame, it might weigh as much as steel. To start with, I'd want to make the frame a lot deeper and the flanges a lot thicker. Like maybe 2×6 ×1/4"?

[Inland RV Center, In]

An aluminum frame for a travel trailer was tested by Southwest Research in San Antonio, some 35 years ago.

It was an absolute failure.

The steel coupler attachment area failed, as well as the A frame.

The axle attachments failed as well.

Andy

[Streamsaver]

Thanks Andy and mark.

That is kind of what I thought. Just didn't know for sure. I have looked at aluminum boat trailers and they are always much beefier than thier steel counterparts. How about Titanium? Maybe a carbon fiber titanium composite frame with a anti-gravity hover axle. I will think about that next time I rebuild the Airstream in 2050.

[markdoane]

I think by 2050 frames will be made of buckyball (C60 - buckminster fullerene).

But then, back in 1969 we all thought there would be permanent colonies on the moon by 2004.

[minkus]

Well just came back from working on the airstream today, and I have discovered rot at all the predicted places, and ain't too happy.

We knew there was rot, but didn't think it was too bad. I thought I could use some of my old house restoration techniques to fix it. No such luck.

My bath was complete, in good condition, and I don't want to do a shell-off. So now I need to find out what order to remove the bath fixtures and how. Big bummer, but from what I have read, I am not alone.

So here is to re-reading everything.

Bruce