Nice '59 Overlander

[Becky B.]

Beautiful undercarriage! It's really a shame no one but you or a service repair person will ever see it....but it's true, the insulation really does make a difference. I redid a 31' undercarriage & even in the summer it was cooler in the trailer after new insulation on the bottom. Be careful with your neck.....I gave myself Vertigo from pressing my head so hard on the concrete while drilling under there....it took me about 4 months to get over it!

[65CV]

It does look good. Nothing like a warm floor.

You know about these, right?

[desertair27]

Originally Posted by 65CV

It does look good. Nothing like a warm floor. You know about these, right?

thanks john, I do and I have some in stock. I was thinking the rivnut might be nice if I need access, easier to remove since I wouldn't have to drill out any rivets.
I'm going have to find something else to work on for a while and stay out from underneath. Maybe it's time to sand and seal the subfloor, at least the front section that's bolted down.

[desertair27]

Thanks Becky,
I can't imagine doing a 31 footer,you're amazing! I'm taking some time away from working under the trailer and I'm back inside working on the floor.
Thanks again
Mike

[desertair27]

Well I've been having a real hard time getting motivated to work on the trailer since the time change. I go out there and just look at things and go back inside to watch TV or read up on Airstream things. I do have some concerns as far as ribs are concerned. I had some inner skin damaged above the door and a few other others,inner skins were cracked in these areas. Now that I have these skins off I see where some ribs don't span from one side to the other. I'm posting pictures of the ribs and my question is this possibly why the inner skins were cracking. I think I understand how the monocoque idea works and the inner skins add strength to the whole structure once in place. It just seems like these ribs continuing from one side to the other even if it ties into the door frame ,window frame and even the Astrodome frame would add substantial strength to the trailer. What'd do think? I'm thinking about making some ribs and adding them in.
Mike

[Aerowood]

Thats what I would do, but i already have the tools to do it.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

That is how they did it. Not all the ribs go all the way across.

[65CV]

It amazes me how different the designs were on Airstreams of the same model and year. I looked through my pics and this is the most comparable. My ribs span all the way across, none are hidden under the insulation. It's Ohio-built -- you mentioned that you thought yours is California-built.

Hard to argue with Aerowood on this forum.

[65CV]

I seem to be picture challenged lately. Here's the pic I mentioned in the previous post.

[Aerowood]

At the very least I would run them up to the closest stringer and tie the stringer and frame together

[Frank's Trailer Works]

I have been looking through photos trying to find examples and this one is all I found. It is of a 1971 Overlander. I know three ribs were half ribs.

[desertair27]

Thanks for the advice and pictures, I'm thinking about trying to make some ribs like Vernon did for his 63 here on post 350 http://www.airforums.com/forums/f109...-71609-25.html tying them into the various frames. These ribs won't be near as strong as the originals but I do think this type of rib made out of .032 sheet aluminum will add some strength and I can't see what they might hurt.
I wrestled a rib out of a 70's trailer hoping I could use a section of this rib in my 59er. It would have worked except for the fact that the 70's rib has 2" depth vs 1.5" depth of the 59er. Oh well, more work!
Mike

[65CV]

Originally Posted by desertair27

...
Oh well, more work!
...
Mike

Don't bump your head!

[desertair27]

Originally Posted by 65CV

Don't bump your head!

no kidding!
Thanks John

[KCN]

Mike -

I have half ribs also. I'm content with my half ribs, but I'm adding tie-ins to the floor channel. I hope that's a good idea, but i'm wary of unintended consequences. For example, I "improved" my rear tie down plate by making it wider, only to discover that when I lowered my shell the extra width interfered with the curved rear panels, so now I have to cut it down to the original size.

All this mono-coque, semi-monocoque, stressed-skin and reinforced shell stuff....doesn't attaching the ribs to the frame then change it from semi-monocoque to reinforced shell? And is that a good idea???

I'm adding floor/frame tie-ins to my ribs, but I have my doubts as to whether it's really the way to go for this era.

Vintage Airstream Forums | The Airstream Trailer Information Resource

Kathy

[nmbosa]

My '59 Ohio built Overlander has the same rib setup as yours. I left it as is and have had no issues through four seasons of camping. Not a single popped rivet or any other signs of excess stress. I beefed up a few things here and there, but generally tried to avoid re-engineering much. It's a trailer not a race car.

[65CV]

Originally Posted by KCN

Mike -

...
I'm adding floor/frame tie-ins to my ribs, but I have my doubts as to whether it's really the way to go for this era.

...

Kathy

Kathy,

I just looked at a video that I took before putting on the inner skins. It's too big to post. I have 5 ribs (I think I'm counting correctly) that go all the way from the floor on one side to the floor on the other.

The best picture I have of the tie-in to the floor is here. It's hard to see, but there was an L-bracket that tied the outrigger to the plywood to the base of the rib. Based on the lack of rivet problems we have, I don't think it would cause a problem. Whether it's overkill or a necessity is another question.

John

[desertair27]

Love and appreciate all the opinions, I'm thinking I'm going to at least tie in a rib to the door way where the largest crack was. Granted I was missing a lot of rivets for whatever reason,maybe the rivets sheared off from poorly balanced tires or something but my front hold down rivets were sheared as well.
Thanks everyone.
Mike

[jonplayers]

I clipped a lot of my stringers to the ribs, added in a couple of rib sections, and clipped all the ribs to the floor/ frame. I found 1/8 inch thick angled aluminum cut into 1" 1/2 pieces worked well for clips. I buck rivited them in place.

[65CV]

Originally Posted by desertair27

Love and appreciate all the opinions, I'm thinking I'm going to at least tie in a rib to the door way where the largest crack was. Granted I was missing a lot of rivets for whatever reason,maybe the rivets sheared off from poorly balanced tires or something but my front hold down rivets were sheared as well.
Thanks everyone.
Mike

You realize that we're all fishing for an invite for a few days in a warm place to stay in southern Texas during the winter -- right?

BTW, need to borrow a rivet gun and bucking bars?