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Old 05-07-2012, 08:49 PM   #21
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1964 22' Safari
Brenham , Texas
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1
Im curious about lifting the shell off too. I have a 66 Safari and want to do a shell off restoration. Where and how did you lift the shell?
Thanks
Craig
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Old 05-08-2012, 07:28 AM   #22
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1973 21' Globetrotter
Houston , Texas
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Craig,

Look at post #4 of this thread. I used the wooden frames in the picture, positioned over the fore and aft roof vents to lift up the shell (pulling against a 2x8 that ran the length of the roof). I thought I would be clever at the time and use a couple of threaded rods to lift the shell up, and it worked fine, but was really slow going. I have since purchased three 1 ton chain hoists, and I will use two of them to lift the shell again when it is time to put it bak on the frame.

good luck
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Old 05-08-2012, 04:09 PM   #23
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1975 31' Sovereign
Pierre , South Dakota
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Craig,
I am ready to lift the shell. I am going through the fore and aft vents and will use 2x8 inside along the roof with 2 chain hoist.
I am not going to brace up the shell.I have the lower inside skins removed, after I have lifted the shell I will screw 2x4 along the bottom edge to rest the shell on.
It will be a couple of days as I live on the prairie, we have high wind forecast for the next few days, I will work on the gantry's.
Hope my plan works.
Jack
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Old 05-08-2012, 08:23 PM   #24
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1985 34' Sovereign
1958 22' Flying Cloud
1971 31' Sovereign
Zillah , Washington
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Before you lift (I learned this the hard way), use a Sharpie and run a line around the inside perimeter where the c channel meets the skin. This way you can easily see where the correct elevation is when the time comes for reassembly.
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Old 05-09-2012, 09:24 AM   #25
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1968 28' Ambassador
Cedaredge , Colorado
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Just wondering if those are just 4x4 posts and top beam?
I'm looking to pull my shell and this would seem the easiest way for me. Around the wheel wells the shell has started to slide of the frame, so I didn't want to brace the inside as it would put it back in the wrong place.
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Old 05-09-2012, 11:10 AM   #26
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1973 21' Globetrotter
Houston , Texas
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All the beams pictured are 4x4s. I hadn't done any real engineering calcs to confirm the structural safety of the contraption, so a word of caution is probably in order. I can say that the 4x4 frames did not deflect noticeably lifting the shell, and the stripped down frame, but then this is only a 21 ft. trailer. I have seen examples of other folks' lifting frames where they ran doubled 2x6s or 2x8s for the cross beam and made a more "boxed-in" design for the uprights.

Just for yucks, I did an Euler buckling calculation (from an online engineering "calculator") for the 4x4 uprights assuming they are 10 ft long with a 3.5" x 3.5" cross section. This calculation suggests that each of the vertical sections of the frame can take a load of over 10,000 lbs before buckling. Since my whole trailer is only supposed to weigh less than 4500 lbs, I have an almost 10x safety factor (4 x 10,000) in the design. I also just did a calculation for the 4x4 cross beams, and it would suggest that I could lift my entire trailer with one cross beam and only see .5" deflection (again, proceed with caution).

End of the day, if I did it over again, I might use something beefier for the cross beams, just for psychological protection.
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Old 05-09-2012, 11:16 AM   #27
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1963 30' Sovereign
Vancouver , British Columbia
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And another question . .

Awesome thread - very useful information for someone about to lift from above with chain hoists.

We have everything stripped out, ready to go, but wondered if anyone has encountered the belly pan being buck riveted onto the C channel? The buck rivets are not chiselling out. Do I have any option but to lift the bottom of the exterior skin and drill? The rivets seem to be about 3 to a foot.
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Old 05-09-2012, 03:17 PM   #28
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well thought i would wade in, i lifted mine from the bottom up as the guy who owns my barn didn't want me lifting something heavy on his beams!! well if i knew what i knew now!!, these are not heavy, i have a 25' totally stripped out and i would geuss that it wouldn't weigh more than 400 pounds, i braced and lifted it myself with jacks withoutr problem, when ihad to move the trailer from the barn i had to put the frame back on and the door was not secured and the whole body wanted to go sideways and i corrected this by myself (although a change of underwear was required!) so summing up the body is not heavy and if i ever did this again i would run a couple of 4x6 through the windows or a long one through the vents end to end and lift!! the body should hold itself up, many people talk about this semi monocock system but i can tell you that not one of my ribs went to my c-channels, the strongest point i believe was over the wheel wells so my new frame of 24 gauge steel should support that body just fine!! this aint rocket science and when we talk about trailer weight you can talk about fitout/axles and count the body out as a major contributor (although a top heavy air conditioner should be taken into consideration!)
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Old 05-09-2012, 11:01 PM   #29
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1975 31' Sovereign
Pierre , South Dakota
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Choose your 4x4's wisely. Straight vertical grain with no knots If you can find that needle in the wood pile. As small knots as possible and you'll be fine.
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