Remove inner skins before winter?

[crazycuda]

We just picked up our 1977 Airstream Sovereign in early August and we in the process of demolition for the renovation. Most of the interior is removed. My question is should I leave the interior skins installed until spring. I dont know how much the interior skins come in to play for the overall strength of the shell. Living in Michigan we get a good amount of snow but i will be keeping up with brushing it off the trailer but i dont want to do anything to jeopardize the structure.

thanks

[Belegedhel]

Well, there have been several threads discussing whether it is safe to tow without the inner skins. It is a polarizing topic. Those who have towed without the skins can tell you that it is fine, then there are those who maintain that the interior skins are critical to the integrity of the shell.

I have thrown my lot in with the former, my logic being that the exterior skins are held together with bucked rivets every 3/4", and the interior skins are in place with pop rivets every 5-6 inches. I did some simple calcs in one of the afore-mentioned threads, and came to the conclusion that the inner skins offer something like 5-10% in terms of strength, compared to the exterior skins.

Yes, I have seen the pics that one of the forums members submitted of his trailer (without skins) imploding under a load of snow, but who knows, it may have imploded if the skins were in place as well.

So long story short, if you intend to keep the snow from piling up on the trailer, then I don't think it makes much difference whether the skins are in place or not. If pulling the skins means that you spend the next several months making progress on your rennovation, rather than just waiting for spring, then I would say "go full speed ahead."

good luck!