Street side rear outrigger

[davidz71]

I just noticed that the street side rear outrigger has rusted through in a couple places on the lower edges where the lower aluminum panel rivets in place. The rivet nearest the frame has pulled through and the outrigger needs to be replaced. If I removed the rear wheel/tire, drilled out the second rivet, cut the outrigger off with a reciprocating saw and ground it down to the frame, could it be towed a couple miles (tire back on) to a welder for the final weld of a new outrigger. Any other suggestions?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by davidz71

I just noticed that the street side rear outrigger has rusted through in a couple places on the lower edges where the lower aluminum panel rivets in place. The rivet nearest the frame has pulled through and the outrigger needs to be replaced. If I removed the rear wheel/tire, drilled out the second rivet, cut the outrigger off with a reciprocating saw and ground it down to the frame, could it be towed a couple miles (tire back on) to a welder for the final weld of a new outrigger. Any other suggestions?

Sure can.

Just take it easy on the way to the welders shop.

Or, you can hire a mobile welder, but I am sure the cost would be prohibitive.

Andy

[davidz71]

Well, as to be expected, nothing is as easy as it looks. Most of the outrigger has been cut away and then I realized that two screws or bolts are screwed down from the floor through the top of the outrigger. I couldn't be so easy for me to take the platform off my bed and then unscrew them from topside. No, they are either just under the inner fender well lip or just under the water heater. Now, what do I do? Can I just grind them off from the bottom and let the floor rest on top of the new outrigger with a layer of caulk in between? On top of that, it started raining cats and dogs so I had to pick up my equipment and run for the garage.

[davidz71]

I've successfully cut off two of the bolts and then cut perpendicular to the top piece of metal and through the center of the bolt. I've removed about 8" of the outrigger from the frame side toward the aluminum skin. I have found one more screw/bolt near the edge of the outrigger and am having problems getting into that area to get the last 2" of outrigger. I guess I will just keep cutting until it comes loose. Next will be the grinding wheel to the frame and wire brush toward the back in order to zinc phosphate the frame and apply POR away from the weld. I'll also try to treat the outrigger away from the weld also and then finish it up at the weld site. I'm not sure how I will secure the floor to the top of the outrigger.

[davidz71]

I had the outrigger welded to the frame last Wednesday, cleaned the area up and zinc phosphated the weld area again prior to the final application of POR15 then Chassis Black topcoat which I did on Thursday and Friday. Friday evening I used PL polyurethane black to seal the areas where water could be splashed past the outrigger. Today I masked those areas off to allow the rubber to continue curing and then hit the outrigger surface with rubber undercoating to prevent any rock chipping of the POR surfaced outrigger. The tire is now back on and I am ready to rock and roll.

[CA_Tallguy]

I know this is an old thread, but does anyone know if there is a way to re-bolt the shell without major interior deconstruction to remove the wheel well? I am facing the same dilemma on the forward outrigger in the street side wheel well. Help!!

The main ideas right now are....

(1) cut the inner wheel well liner to access then patch
(2) hack the interior just enough to pull up the wheel well (cabinets to be replaced in coming year)
(3) use toggle bolts (big holes required to get up through outrigger and floor)
(4) secure with screws underneath up into the subfloor
(5) somehow make/use brackets to hold outrigger alignment but not bolt down in a way that provides a lot of hold-down action like original bolts

Gotta get this buttoned up pretty quickly!

[perryg114]

Why do you need to remove the wheel well to replace the outrigger?

Perry

[CA_Tallguy]

Originally Posted by perryg114

Why do you need to remove the wheel well to replace the outrigger? Perry

We've replaced it, but it appears to run just under the inner/outer wheel well cover, where it comes to meet the floor, so we can't access the area to bolt it down or fasten it to the subfloor.

[perryg114]

Well that is on top of that wheel well?

Perry

[CA_Tallguy]

I'm confused and not sure what you are asking. My issue is basically the same as the original poster described. The wheel well and liner come down on top of the outriggers on the front/back of the wheels. In my trailer, the outriggers had bolts in the ends that went up into the footer plate for the shell. Also bolted or screwed mid way on the outrigger. Both bolts on my trailer are covered by the flange of the wheel well, I believe. Not sure but with lots of measurements that was our conclusion.

The original poster didn't say how they overcame the issue.

We decided to drive up some screws and lag bolts through the outrigger into the floor and channel from below but I don't think that is as good as securing with a bolt/nut and washers.

[perryg114]

I was trying to ask what you would have to remove to get to the top side of the wheel well where the bolts are.

Perry

[CA_Tallguy]

Oh I see. I think autocorrect changed your "what" to "that" and I didn't get it.

Unfortunately the cabinet next to the fridge plus closet area to some degree, along with a bulkhead/divider wall between the kitchen and mid bath hallway. That would probably be the biggie. The on,y other option that seemed reasonable to actually get a bolt in the wall was to cut an access hole in the wheel well.

I think our screws from below should hold pretty well. I am working through upgrades on the trailer and replacing the cabinets will be coming up so maybe we will try to bolt it up better then.

Overall, I feel the trailer is in so much better shape with the repairs to the outrigger and frame that we made. Except, oops.. We realized that we forgot the insulation on top of the water tank before putting that back.