Leveling the interior

[TomW]

Hopefully, this post will be discovered by people doing serious interior work before the work is completed.

Now that I have completed several trips which exercised all of my Overlander’s utilities, I have discovered a mistake I did not know I made when the interior was reassembled after gutting it to do floor work - something is out of level.

In order to replace the 4X8 sheet of plywood in the bathroom, and to make it easier to refinish the woodwork, I removed everything from the interior. A couple of soft spots near the door only required Rot Doctor. The entire floor was then leveled (for flatness) with floor leveling compound before rolling out sheet vinyl.

Since the original rivet holes were used to reinstall the interior, it never crossed my mind to check how level anything was. Without really thinking about it, I guess I thought, “It was level when I started; Why would it change?”. My Overlander was in no condition to check anything when I got it, so I have no idea of how well everything worked together.

When camping, I level the trailer based on making the refrigerator happy. The annoying thing is that the kitchen sinks drain fine, but the tub does not - a small puddle of water collects aft of the forward-located drain (meaning it is out of level forward-aft). The lavatory & toilet don’t really count since they will drain at practically any attitude.

It is possible it came this way from the factory although it is just as possible I goofed up something. It may even be that the aft frame & shell combination have sagged. It doesn’t really matter right now as it is, to me, an annoyance, not a severe problem.

I just thought the archives needed a post on a potential stumbling block future restorers may encounter. Check floor, bath, sinks, and refrigerator level during reinstallation.

Tom

[87MH]

Originally Posted by tcwilliams

Check floor, bath, sinks, and refrigerator level during reinstallation.

Tom:

Have you streched a string on the floor (fore to aft)?

Just wondering, as that would tell you (I think) if the frame is sagging.

[markdoane]

Tom,

I have noticed when putting my Tradewind back together that the corners tend to sag, especially if the shell is put back on and the corners are 'tight'. I solved this by pushing up on the corners up until they were level.

Eric (59Toaster) also noticed that his frame had a little sag, and IFRC he jacked up the ends, then lowered until the sides touched the floor.

Your point is very important. If you do a 'shell-off', make sure that the frame is properly supported before you put the rivets back in.