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ricelake922's avatar
ricelake922
Explorer
Aug 05, 2016

Tearing down the undercarriage including storage bins

Hello. I have a 1996 Monaco Dynasty which I purchased 4 years ago for a good price but never checked the RV thoroughly. If I had I may not have completed the purchase but am glad I did because although there has been frustrating moments if not hours finding good mechanics and reading every day this site to learn. A few months ago I was checking under the RV at the water backlogs valve and to my horror found a great deal of the rails holding up the storage bins were rusting out to the point that some of the storage bins were not being held up underneath. The undercarriage was also decaying. The frame of the chassis is still awesome. So after much research I found an excellent shop in Toronto that has the equipment to do the body work. Stainless steel is being used for the storage compartments as well as the rails and undercarriage. Yes I understand about the weight issue as well as it has been discussed with the shop manager. So....with every project something else that needs to be fixed shows up. Luckily the shop manager is a diesel mechanic and has his propane license. So...the air bags are brittle and will be changed...the plumbing for the water tank is wrong and will be changed. ..the date on the propane tank is 1995 so the tank will be changed...the muffler is starting to deteriorate and it would have been just a matter of time and the oil pan is leaking. He is also changing all filters. This was a big decision for me to do all this work. I am retiring in October and have booked 5 months in Florida. I looked at buying a mobile home in Florida rather than putting all the money into my RV but I like the RV lifestyle and love to drive the RV. it is quite a thrill. So pictures are coming of the demolition and I will also send pictures of the final product. I am very excited. The entire work takes 3 weeks and I will get the RV back on August 22nd. Thanks for reading.
  • ricelake922 wrote:
    There is a law in Canada that a propane tank cannot be filled if the tank is more than 12 years old. Thank you for a he advice of stainless steel against aluminum but to my understanding there will not be any aluminum against steel as there will not be any aluminum at all.

    We have the same law for PORTABLE PROPANE TANKS but it does not apply to permanently mounted ones.
  • As long as the stainless and carbon steel are welded using 309 filler, there shouldn't be a problem. 309 is specifically made for welding 304 and 316 stainlesses to mild carbon steel.
  • There is a law in Canada that a propane tank cannot be filled if the tank is more than 12 years old. Thank you for a he advice of stainless steel against aluminum but to my understanding there will not be any aluminum against steel as there will not be any aluminum at all.
  • I had to replace the floors in my two front bins. I became aware of the problem when I noticed the floor beginning to seriously sag while I was stopped at a rest area, EEEK!

    Be careful about using stainless steel. It has an electrovalence similar to aluminum and quite different from regular steel. What will happen is you'll get accelerated corrosion of the steel framework where it come in contact with the stainless steel. I learned this the hard way with an aluminum cabin cruiser after I began running it in salt water. However, with that said, if you don't drive it on salted winter roads I imagine it'll be okay.

    Steve
  • Can't wait to see the pictures. I would NOT want to see a glimpse of your final invoice.
  • Sounds like a major project. The pictures should be a great learning experience for the rest of us, especially those that live in the salt belt.
  • Why are you changing the propane tank?
    Are the rules different for permanently installed tanks in Canada?
    Are you having a propane problem?
    Is the tank very rusty?