Replacing under covering - Belly Pan

[glarue]

hello all, im 5500 miles into a journey with 2500 more to go and some of the under covering on my minuet is beginning to peal away. ive patched some but will need to perform an extensive recovering sometime soon.
any one tried this.... i understand aircraft aluminum is the preferred material.
thanks, gr

[Belegedhel]

By "undercovering" do you mean the bellypan or bellyskin? If so, yes, people do it all the time. No need to spend the money on "aircraft" grade aluminum. I used .032" 6061 aluminum. You can order it online from places like Air Parts or Aircraft Spruce, or if you are lucky, you live somewhere that there is a sheet metal supplier, and you can avoid the cost of shipping. I believe I used two sheets of 4'x12' in order to completely re-skin the underside of my 21' GT.

[glarue]

thanks belegedhel for this information. i guess it is the belly skin--the part that protects the trailer flooring from water and grim that splashes up underneath. i will look for a supplier nearby for the material you suggested.
ps its cool here in canada. when i left austin the temp was +100.

[Belegedhel]

I could use some cool Canadian weather--it is still getting up in the mid nineties here this week.

Are you planning to do the repair during your travels, or when you get back home? I want to say that I was able to do my entire bellypan with two 4' x 12' sheets, but there may have been an additional 6' sheet in there as well. I ordered my first aluminum from Aircraft Spruce, if I remember correctly. They were able to roll it up, so the box was neither too big or too bulky to ship by standard carrier. The .032 is a little tough to work with, I think the original was .025, and it certainly would have been easier to do the side wraps with something a little thinner than the .032.

[Bex]

Originally Posted by glarue

thanks belegedhel for this information. i guess it is the belly skin--the part that protects the trailer flooring from water and grim that splashes up underneath. i will look for a supplier nearby for the material you suggested.
ps its cool here in canada. when i left austin the temp was +100.

I am in Alberta and have a bunch, where are you?

Bex

[glarue]

hello belegedhel, i hope to make it through the trip before taking on the repair. i will be aided by your advice when i do start the work.

[glarue]

hello bex, thanks for the offer. we departed kenora ontario and will get back into the usa soon. so i will try to find the material later.

[glarue]

hello belegedhel, i spoke before of replacing the belly skin on my 6 meter. when the snow melts i will begin the project. thinking thru the process:
jack up the trailer and remove the axle
remove old skin and rivet new material
reinstall axle
is this the idea....
any tips before i begin. i think i will use the .025 grade.
any special rivets or other requirements....
thanks, gr

[Argonaut20]

3/16" rivets are likely in order here, especially because the head is larger than 5/32". Larger heads make for a longer lasting install. You may not have to remove the axle, but it will make fitting the belly pan easier if you do. I don't know if there are other widths, but Airparts sells the .025 belly pan material in 4 foot widths so plan accordingly.

[DryFly]

Unless you've replaced the axle previously on a trailer that old you might want to determine if you need a new one before starting the project. Since you plan on removing the old axle anyway, you've already got all the labor taken care of. Also you'll probably want to replace the old insulation, and check all the wiring and any plumbing connections that you expose. Also get rid of any rust on the frame and re-paint the exposed frame.
As far as rivets go, you will need the 3/16 wide head aluminum rivets.
Since you're planing on dropping your belly pan, plan on taking care of any issues under the trailer at the same time. Do a search through the forums for rivets and belly pan replacement and you'll find a wealth of information. Here's a link to some of what I did
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...pan-97769.html
Good luck

[glarue]

hello argonaut20 and dryfly, thanks for your helpful advice.
i will proceed with these suggestions to guide me.
i hope to begin the project in apr or so.
use care, gr