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Old 10-20-2016, 11:47 PM   #1
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Jacking up shell from inside wheel wells?

I've got a plan for jacking up my 31foot streamline imperial shell to do some frame and floor repair and I Need feedback! I put together some "cradels" I guess you'd call them that will sit inside the steel sheet metal wheel well covers which are riveted to the skin. I'm going to attach these to 2 scissor jacks to lift of the middle section of the trailer and I'm going to run 2 by 4 cross braces with screws going through well covers and into the afore-mentioned cradles.

What dose everybody think? What other bracing is necessary? I've screwed various boards across the inside ribs to stiffen them up and I will probably be adding more cross bracing.
I've stood on the roof of this thing while the back was sitting on jack and I'm dreading some kind of bowing or wracking. please help
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Old 10-21-2016, 04:57 AM   #2
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This is a tough one for Airstream owners to answer -- not sure how many of us have seen the interior of a stripped Streamline Imperial.

That said, if it were an Airstream, I wouldn't do it. Why?

1) The way you describe it, too much weight will be carried by the wheel well rivets. Shells rarely come off smoothly and it takes extra force to get them up. In Airstreams, this can come from drag from caulk and hidden rivets. You could buckle your shell at the point where the rivets attach.

2) My biggest concern is from raising a large trailer from the low, middle point. As you raise that section, the shell will flex, shortening the distance between the very front and very back. If this happens, there is a pinching, will cause the trailer to be very hard to lift.

Here's a great link to a lot of shell-off renovations that will hopefully help you find the best method for you.
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Old 10-21-2016, 07:13 AM   #3
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We've got a 65 Streamline Duke that needs a new floor, it's my winter project. I think you'll find that lifting the center by the wheel wells will result in some skin deflection and possible perminant damage (and likely some sheered rivets). I'd be more inclined to run some stringers along the bows (body frame verticals) about a foot or so off the floor and then some cross braces off that and jack the body up with jacks on the sub floor. That way you're lifting off the structure not the sheet metal.
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Old 10-21-2016, 08:07 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 65CV View Post
This is a tough one for Airstream owners to answer -- not sure how many of us have seen the interior of a stripped Streamline Imperial.

That said, if it were an Airstream, I wouldn't do it. Why?

1) The way you describe it, too much weight will be carried by the wheel well rivets. Shells rarely come off smoothly and it takes extra force to get them up. In Airstreams, this can come from drag from caulk and hidden rivets. You could buckle your shell at the point where the rivets attach.

2) My biggest concern is from raising a large trailer from the low, middle point. As you raise that section, the shell will flex, shortening the distance between the very front and very back. If this happens, there is a pinching, will cause the trailer to be very hard to lift.

Here's a great link to a lot of shell-off renovations that will hopefully help you find the best method for you.
I forgot to mention that I was planning to create some jack points at the front and rear as well. But I would suspect you are right nonetheless. The reason I had such a plan is because I only have a few jacks to work with (2 scissor jacks that I was planning to replace the old). I want to have the shell sitting at least a couple inches off the frame and level so I can properly level and repair the frame which I suspect is twisted and of course more easily install the new floor. Because I'm working from a slanted driveway and the trailer frame is under load it's very difficult to discern what is square and what isn't.

So long story short I'd like to find a method that dose not Require me to spend too much more $ on more jacks and lumber and I need to have it jacked from the ground to unload the frame.
Thanks for the link!
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Old 10-21-2016, 09:27 PM   #5
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Be careful once that shell is disconnected, it becomes a very effective sail, even in light winds. Check out my thread on Tradewind in the wind about a 62 tradewind I'm rebuilding because of a body of restoration that went bad when the wind came up and the body sailed away. I picked it up for a song but have tons, and I mean tons of hours in it rebuilding the body and putting Humpty back together again.
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Old 10-21-2016, 09:36 PM   #6
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Give this post a look . He did an awesome job on his Silver Streak which is an almost twin to our Streamlines (65 Duke ) and did his floor and frame repair without lifting the shell . Might make your life easy ..
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f417...er-116055.html
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